Friday, April 29, 2011

Springtime Sugar Cookies

I couldn't resist decorating cookies for spring, and so I made chicks, butterflies, lambs and bunnies for Easter. I LOVE decorating sugar cookies. They turned out really cute, but I couldn't seem to get photos that did them justice.

Thursday, April 21, 2011

FFWD Week #30: Mustard Batons

Not being the biggest mustard fan, I admit to being somewhat wary of this week's recipe. However, having some puff pastry in my freezer and a jar of Dijon in my fridge, I gave it a whirl. I didn't measure anything very exactly, and just spread a thin layer of mustard on the puff pastry - this turned out to be perfect, flavourful, but not a kick in the face! This was definitely the quickest FFWD recipe yet, it took practically no time at all!

Thursday, April 14, 2011

FFWD Week #29: Chocolate & Vanilla Eclairs

Mmmmmmm! I was so excited for this recipe, and it did not disappoint! I made half of the recipe and made around 30 mini eclairs. Even with being so small, they took over 20 minutes to bake. I decided to go with chocolate pastry cream to fill these, and I am so glad I did, it is so delicious!!!! Seriously, my dreams are made of stuff like this chocolate pastry cream. I've been spreading the leftovers on chocolate-chip oatmeal cookies, yum! The vanilla glaze provided quite the challenge! When I was mixing it I kept thinking it should be thinner, but then it would drip right off of the eclairs. I decided to top them with some sprinkles that I bought when I made cake donuts a few weeks ago. I definitely want to make full-sized eclairs someday soon, and try different flavours!

Thursday, April 7, 2011

FFWD Week #28: Garlicky Crumb-Coated Broccoli

Garlic - check Butter - check Bread Crumbs - check Broccoli - check Lemon Zest - check. Could this be anything but delicious? No, no I don't think so! I made this Cinnamon-Sugar Pull Apart Bread the other day. My apartment smelled amazing. It is all gone now. Sigh, I miss it.

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Baked Mini Cake Doughnuts with Sprinkles

Brunch is a meal that needs to be shared. The other day I was lucky enough to share brunch with some lovely friends, and I made these mini doughnuts. This recipe really impressed me, they were very flavourful. I dipped them in lemon glaze and topped them with sprinkles. The sprinkles made them really beautiful.

Baked Cake Doughnuts - from Doughnuts by Lara Ferroni

Makes 18 mini doughnuts

3/4 cup plus 1 Tbsp All Purpose Flour

1/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour (I used white pastry flour)

1 tsp baking powder

1/3 cup superfine sugar (I used regular granulated sugar)

1/4-1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp salt

2 Tbsp unsalted butter or vegetable shortening

1/4 cup milk, scalded

1/4 cup plain yogurt

1 tsp vanilla

1 egg beaten

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Sift the flours and baking powder together into a large bowl. Whisk in the sugar, nutmeg and salt. Add the butter and use your fingers to rub it into the dry ingredients as you would in making a pastry crust, until evenly distributed. Add vanilla, milk, yogurt and egg and stir until just combined. Do not overmix or else your doughnuts may be rubbery.

3. Use a piping bag to fill each doughnut cup about 3/4 full. Bake 6-10 minutes until the doughnuts are light golden brown and spring back when touched. Let cool slightly before removing from pan. Glaze as desired.

Lemon Glaze

1 1/2 cup powdered sugar

3-4 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

Friday, April 1, 2011

Almond Joy Oatmeal

Oatmeal is awesome. It is comforting and filling and can be doctored up with an endless amount of delicious things! This morning I made Almond Joy oatmeal from Live Well 360. When I added the vanilla & almond extracts I was sure that I had added too much, but once stirred together, it was delicious. I halved the recipe, but kept the full amount of almonds and I also used sugar instead of stevia. I also topped my oatmeal with a spoonful of Greek yogurt, because it makes everything better!
Today, I ate my oatmeal out of a green mini loaf pan with a hand carved spoon, just because I can =)
Almond Joy Oatmeal (from Live Well 360)
Makes one serving or two smaller ones
1/2 cup (40g) rolled oats
1/2 cup skim milk
1/2 cup water
pinch of salt
1/2 medium banana, sliced into thin pieces
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp almond extract
1 tsp stevia
7 g almond butter
7g mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
7g coconut flakes, sweetened
4g almond slivers, toasted
Directions In a medium size pan, heat the oats, milk, water, and salt over medium heat. Once the mixture begins to simmer, approximately 5-6 minutes, stir in the sliced banana. Continue to stir, almost whipping, until the banana breaks down and the mixture thickens and becomes creamy, about another 3-4 minutes. Add the vanilla extract, almond extract, and stevia, and stir until incorporated. Pour into a serving bowl and top with the almond butter, chocolate chips, coconut shavings, and slivered almonds.