Category for baking

Gathering new traditions: fika

mixing-bowl

Some days I find myself stumped on what to share here. I love sharing stories and photos of what I’ve been up to. But I’ve got to come up with all of that good stuff first! Some days I don’t feel like I have good stories to tell and nothing seems to be coming together. Like this post – I’ve been waiting to share it for at least a couple of weeks while I try to come up with some story to share with you. But this recipe is too good to keep to myself, so here it is.

pan

I don’t know much about fika, but browsing through the January issue of Saveur, a photo of a sweet bread stopped me in my tracks. Reading more, it appears that fika is the Swedish concept of an afternoon coffee break, with snacks. I’m in! As a regular Instagrammer, I’ve seen people posting about their afternoon fika, so the concept is not foreign. But I’m no expert on all of the real details. So imagine my delight to find not only a recipe, but the mention of an upcoming book devoted to fika recipes. I may have even pre-ordered it!

caramel

Without even really planning it, I’ve spent most of the winter so far with my own little interpretation of fika. As the early grey gathers on weekend afternoons, we’ll gather in the kitchen with candles and snacks arranged on the table. We spend some time chatting, browsing magazines or better still, drawing. And since finding this recipe, a few of our weekend gatherings have been accompanied by the sweet warm waftings of cinnamon and cardamom. I hope it will inspire some gatherings of your own.

tea

Swedish Cinnamon and Cardamom Bread

This recipe appeared in the January 2015 issue of Saveur and is ever so slightly adapted here.

Serves 8 to 10

FOR THE DOUGH

7 tbsp. unsalted butter
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2 tsp. active dry yeast
4½ cups flour, plus more for dusting
¼ cup sugar
1½ tsp. cardamom seeds, lightly crushed
½ tsp. kosher salt 

FOR THE FILLING AND TOPPING:

½ cup granulated sugar
7 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
1 tbsp. ground cinnamon
1½ tsp. cardamom seeds, finely crushed
1 egg, beaten
Pearl sugar, for sprinkling

Make the dough: Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Remove from heat and let cool just slightly. Stir in milk and yeast; let sit until yeast is foamy, about 10 minutes. Whisk flour, sugar, cardamom and salt in a bowl. Stir in yeast mixture until dough forms. Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 3 minutes. Return dough to bowl and cover with a clean dish towel. Let rest in a warm place until dough is doubled in size, about 1 hour.

Make the filling: Mix granulated sugar, butter, cinnamon and cardamom in a bowl until smooth.

Assemble the bread: On a lightly floured surface, roll dough into an 11″ x 17″ rectangle, about ¼″ thick. Spread filling over dough, leaving a ½″ border along edges. Working from one long end, roll dough into a tight cylinder. Transfer seam side down to a parchment paper-lined  rimmed baking sheet. Cover with dish towel; let sit in a warm place until dough has doubled in size again, about 45 minutes.

Bake the bread: Heat oven to 375°. Starting 1″ from one end of the dough, make crosswise slices with a serrated knife, spaced 1″ apart, three-quarters of the way through dough. Gently fan dough slices away from the center, alternating left to right. Brush dough with egg and sprinkle with pearl sugar; bake until golden brown, about 22 minutes. Let bread cool completely before serving, if you can hold yourself back that long! Best enjoyed the day it is baked, it will reheat perfectly for breakfast the next morning.

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On Collecting and Buckwheat Cakes…

sifter

For the past several years, my mom has been taking me to an antique store in a little town called Summerland. It’s a great shop and an even better town, but I’ll save that story for another day. For the longest time, I haven’t had much of an interest in antiques. But somewhere in the midst of working on this blog, I decided I needed to add some items to my kitchen. New pans, old dishes – at this point, I’ve added a little of both. There is a satisfaction in heading into a kitchen store and coming out with just what I need. But I’ve learned the thrill of the unexpected treasure found while rummaging in some antique collection.

Back in the little antique shop in Summerland, I found a worn muffin pan tucked away on a dark shelf of baking odds and ends. How exciting can a muffin tin be, right? But this little pan looked like it would turn out cakes, not just standard issue muffins and that has to be worth something. It hasn’t been the most well used of some of my finds, but things are turning around for my little pan.

pan

See, back when I was in Seattle a few months ago, I spent a little time tasting treats around town. I don’t think I can go downtown without stopping at Dahlia Bakery, part of the Tom Douglas megablock of dining establishments. This time around, I tasted a buckwheat cake with a whiskey glaze – a satisfying treat that feels wholesome and dessert-like at the same time. The cake was flecked with thick bits of oatmeal and drizzled with just enough of a sweet whiskey glaze. It was so good, I went back for a second one another day and this time I took notes.

I don’t really develop recipes – there is something about that process that sounds daunting. Probably because it is so precise and there is all this pressure to come up with a recipe that actually works for you. So when I came home, I had no plans to recreate it. I figured there would be a recipe out there for buckwheat cakes. As it turns out, that’s not really a thing and I couldn’t turn up a single recipe that looked right. So before that flavor memory faded in my mind, I decided I’d get baking on my own. Happily, these little cakes came together quite easily and we’ve been enjoying them most every weekend since.

platter

Tom’s version was labelled “flourless” so it made me think that these cakes had the potential of being gluten free. The final version I’m sharing here is just that, but if you’re not worried about a little wheat flour, feel free to sub out the gluten-free flour for a regular all-purpose blend. But the buckwheat is what makes this recipe unique, so don’t be afraid to try that out.

I’ve made this recipe two ways – frosted with a whiskey glaze or sprinkled with a light dusting of powdered sugar. The original cakes I tasted included the whiskey glaze, but I wanted a kid-friendly option! Try them both and pick your favorite. They both seem fitting in this winter season!

Buckwheat Oatmeal Cakes with Whiskey Glaze

Inspired by Tom Douglas’s Dahlia Bakery in Seattle
Makes about 10 muffins

¾ cup (110g) buckwheat flour
¼ cup (35g) all-purpose flour or all-purpose gluten-free flour mix
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1 cup (255g) applesauce
½ cup (50g) thick oatmeal
⅓ cup (60g) vegetable oil
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice or cinnamon
¾ cup (165g) sugar
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt

Glaze, optional
½ cup (75g) powdered sugar
2 tablespoons whiskey

Heat oven to 350 and prepare muffin pan.

In a small bowl, combine the buckwheat and all-purpose flours, and the baking powder.

In a large bowl, whisk together the applesauce, oatmeal, oil, eggs, spice, sugar, soda and salt. Add in the flour mixture and stir until just combined.

Divide the batter amongst the tins so they are about ¾ full. Bake until puffed and starting to darken, about 25 to 30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the middle just comes out clean. Cool the cakes in their tins for a minute or two, then remove and allow to cool on a cooling rack.

If using, whisk the powdered sugar and whiskey together until smooth and just pourable. Drizzle the glaze over the cooled cakes and allow to set. Or sprinkle with sifted powdered sugar once the cakes have cooled. Any leftover cakes will keep in an airtight container for a couple of days.

 

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Cornbread skillet goodness

table

Last week, snow fell. It was a skiff, really, but with the dip in temperatures that accompanied it, that little dusting has managed to stay around all week. When the weather is cold and it is dark before I head home in the evenings, I feel like an extra measure of comfort is needed. I know I must have told you that when autumn comes around, my plans for cooking seem to make a turn all on their own. Suddenly, soup sounds like a good idea and I make at least one pot per weekend. One giant pot that simmers for hours on the weekend, then is doled out into quart jars in preparation for the week ahead. And as this ritual repeats itself over the first weeks of fall, my freezer fills up with lunch options. Corn chowder, red lentil and cream of cauliflower, portioned out and ready for a quick meal.

ingredients

If I am going to have soup for dinner, I like to pair it with a salad or some bread. Hot buttered slices of toast work well, as do savory little muffins. But really, what I want most with my soup is a skillet of cornbread. For one thing, once the oven is turned on in the evening, the kitchen just feels that much more cozy. And this recipe is quick enough that by the time the soup is warmed up and the table set, there is cornbread ready to come out of the oven. Around here, we top it with some butter and perhaps a slice of cheese. We’re a divided house when it comes to a sweet topping though, but a drizzle of maple syrup always wins out for me.

cornmeal

This recipe came to me a few years ago when Tina shared it as an idea for a gluten-free quick bread. I’ve been making it several times a week already this season. In fact, it’s so good that I may have made it several nights in a row when my parents visited us. The three of us don’t eat the whole pan, but I like to toast the leftovers the next morning with a hard boiled egg, or make open-face sandwiches with more soup at lunch. And with Thanksgiving just around the corner, I couldn’t help but think that leftovers would make a tasty stuffing come next week.

slice

Recipe note: In my opinion, the main ingredient to watch is the cornmeal. Don’t be lulled into thinking any old grind will work. Stone-ground cornmeal gives a much better texture and bite to the cornbread. And meal that’s labelled for grits works really well, in my experience.

Skillet Cornbread

Recipe from Gourmet
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1 1/2 cups yellow cornmeal (preferably stone-ground)
1 tablespoon sugar
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1 3/4 cups well-shaken buttermilk (do not use powdered)
1/2 stick unsalted butter

Preheat oven to 425°F with the rack in the middle. Heat a well-seasoned 10-inch skillet in the oven for about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile stir together the cornmeal, sugar, baking soda and salt in medium bowl. Whisk together eggs together in a small bowl and measure buttermilk in a large measuring cup.

Remove the now hot skillet from oven, taking care as the handle will be very hot. Add butter and return to the oven for about five minutes to melt. When the butter is melted, remove the skillet from the oven, swirling to coat bottom and sides (butter may brown and it’s delicious). Whisk hot butter into the buttermilk mixture and return skillet to oven. Stir cornmeal mixture into buttermilk mixture just until evenly moistened but still lumpy.

 

plate

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Good morning granola bars

napping

We are not the most devoted of campers, we pretty much stick to basic car camping in campsites where there are actual bathrooms. We pick campsites for scenic views and proximity to day hikes or breweries, depending on the situation. There is a little kid in my life and these things make camping easier. We pack coolers of ingredients for full-on fancy camping meals and a set of bocce balls for afternoon entertainment. Once we get out there, camping is a pretty carefree way to spend a weekend. There is little to do besides cook up the food we’ve brought along and relax. In the evening, we build a fire and sit around it. Sometimes we play card games or watch for stars in that dark sky.

press

This fall we’ve been doing a lot of camping. Maybe it is an unconscious attempt to draw out the season as the cooler weather and shorter days set it. On every trip, I’ve been returning to the same recipe for granola bars. They are tasty and portable. I’ve packed up these bars for early morning kayak paddles, long rides in the car and hikes into the hills. And on camping trips, they are the perfect snack to tide me over between an early morning wake up and actually being alert enough to start cooking breakfast at the campsite. We tumble out of the tent, start heating up water for coffee, pull out the pan of granola bars and everyone is happy.

bars

I’ve been working to keep these bars from getting too crumbly and the best advice I have is to chop things up – the nuts, the cherries. The smaller pieces seem to stick together that much better. Of course, you can help matters out by storing them carefully. I’ve found returning them to their pan or some other container helps them keep their shape. And since these bars have become a breakfast staple, I’ve been using them to clean out the pantry, substituting different nuts, various chocolates and even some peanut butter chips I found, along with any kind of coconut flakes I can find lurking in the cupboard. Another breakfast note – I don’t like too much sweetness early in the morning, so I’ve been lighthanded with the sugar, even going with a little less than what I have listed here on a batch where I used up the rest of my sweetened coconut.

 

GOOD MORNING GRANOLA BARS

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen and Orangette

 

1 ½ cups (160 grams) quick-cooking oats

⅓ cup (35 grams) oat flour, or quick-cooking oats pulsed in a food processor

⅓ cup (65 grams) to ½ cup (100 grams) sugar (see above)

1 cup (110 grams) raw walnuts, chopped into rough pieces

½ cup (25 grams) unsweetened coconut flakes

½ cup (85 grams) chocolate chips or chopped chocolate of similar size
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¼ cup (40 grams) dried cherries, halved

½ tsp. fine salt

1/3 cup (85 grams) peanut butter

1 tsp. vanilla extract

6 Tbsp. (85 grams) unsalted butter, melted

6 Tbsp. (120 grams) honey

1 Tbsp. water

 

Heat oven to 350°F. Prepare an 8-inch square baking pan with a little butter or baking spray. Line pan with parchment paper so it covers the bottom and two sides of the pan with a little overhang. Lightly grease the parchment paper.

In a large bowl, combine the oats, oat flour, sugar, nuts, coconut flakes, chocolate chips, dried cherries and salt.

In a medium bowl, stir together the peanut butter, vanilla, melted butter, honey and water. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients and give everything a good stir to combine thoroughly. Transfer to a prepared pan and press the mixture into the pan. A spatula works pretty well, but a damp hand or piece of plastic wrap will help as well.

Bake for about 30 minutes, until the bars are golden all over with some browning on the edges. Don’t be surprised to find the bars are still a little soft to the touch, they will firm up as they cool.

Transfer the pan to a wire rack to cool completely or even overnight. When cool, run a knife along the around the edges of the pan and use the parchment paper to lift the bars out of the pan. Cut into bars.

To store, place bars in an airtight container. Or do like I did and slide the bars and the parchment paper back into the pan for storage. I think it’s the best way to keep them from crumbling.

 

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Cherry picnic cake

I am calling it Summer Chop Madness, but it seems like most meals around here involve some kind of chopped salad. I’ve been busy shopping at the farmer’s market, as well as my favorite family farm and the best way to use the great selection of fresh veg is with giant salads. I should also mention the crazy heat that we’ve been sweltering in, as I am sure it has had a part in this. On a hot summer evening, a cool salad bowl is just what I want to eat. We’re not talking about a leafy green number – these salads have enough heft to carry a meal. Wedges of newly dug potatoes, handfuls of the best green beans and no end of cucumbers. But more on that later. With all of this talk of salad, I feel I am within my right to bake cake or two.

slice

I have no favorite summer fruit. I cannot be pinned down to just one top pick. I love them all in their turn – the few weeks when each one has a little window of perfection before giving way to the next one on the list. For us, cherries have been enjoying their time to shine. While I can’t get enough of a just-warm cherry clafoutis, like this one, I do have a new cherry recipe to add to the mix this year. I found this amazing recipe for a cherry picnic cake just about the time cherry season was starting. I’ve been baking it on a weekly basis ever since. And now that we are nearing the tail end of our season, I am finally getting around to sharing it with you.

pans

After my first time baking this cake, I spent several evenings standing at the kitchen sink with a dark apron and a box full of cherries to be pitted. You see, this recipe is just as happy with fresh fruit as it is with frozen. I imagine myself pulling this cake out of the oven on a grey winter day, when the smudge of a juicy cherry will make a slice of pound cake seem like the sweetest treat. And all of my cherry pitting efforts will be well rewarded in that moment.

cake-pan

But for now, I’ll be serving thick slices of this cake in the garden or packed up for a picnic. It travels so well and you know you won’t go wrong when you finish off a meal with this treat.

picnic

This cake turned out perfectly the first time I made it, so I haven’t changed a thing from the original recipe. I did make one swap, toasted walnuts for the pecans called for in the original recipe. Go with your favorite flavor on that one. And while a 6-inch cake pan may not be in your cupboard, I made do with a 6-inch soufflé dish the first time around. Since then, I added a pan to my collection. I know it is going to be well used!

CHERRY PICNIC CAKE

Recipe by Tara O’Brady via Herriott Grace

Makes 2, 6-inch round cakes

For the cake

2 cups plus 2 tablespoons (256 g) cake flour

1 1/4 teaspoons salt

1 cup (227 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature

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1 1/3 cups (275 g) granulated sugar, plus extra for sprinkling if not using the glaze

4 large eggs

Seeds scraped from a vanilla bean or 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 tablespoons thick yogurt or sour cream (not nonfat)

1/2 cup chopped, toasted pecans or walnuts

1 cup pitted dark cherries, fresh or frozen

For the glaze (optional, but recommended)

1 1/4 cups (142 g) confectioner’s sugar, sifted

1/4 cup heavy cream

A pinch of salt

Preheat the oven to 300°F and position a rack in the middle of the oven. Butter two 6-inch round cake pans and line both the bottom and sides with parchment. Butter generously.

Sift flour and salt together in a bowl, set aside.

Combine butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer and cream on the medium-high setting for 8 minutes. Scrape down the bowl regularly. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the vanilla. Turn the mixer down to low, mix in the flour in two additions, alternating with the yogurt until just combined. Do not overmix. Fold in the nuts with a spatula. Spread one-quarter of the batter between the prepared pans, then scatter with a few of the cherries. Continue to layer dollops of batter with cherries until finished. Smooth the tops with a spatula, then sprinkle with granulated sugar if you are not planning to glaze the cakes later.

Bake the cakes for about 60 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through baking. They are done when a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack for 20 minutes before unmolding. Return the cakes to the cool rack and allow to cool, right side up, until completely cool.

If you are making the glaze, whisk together all ingredients until smooth. The glaze should be soft enough to drizzle nicely from a spoon. If more liquid is needed, add more cream one teaspoon at a time. Spoon the glaze over both cakes and allow to set for at least one hour before cutting.

These cakes keep nicely at room temperature for a few days and will look lovely under a cake dome or loosely covered in plastic.

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Slicing into breakfast

pitted

This is a story about breakfast, but not my breakfast. This is the breakfast I have been making for my husband ever since I spotted this recipe early this year in the January issue of Bon Appétit. First, I should tell you that I don’t usually worry about making breakfast for anyone during the week. We are more of a fend-for-yourself household in the mornings. Sean has a coffee routine he follows with almost religious fervour. He doesn’t deal in big productions, simplicity is the story of his morning. I prefer to take my breakfast to work to eat when I have a little more of an appetite. And I take a big enough bowl of fruits and grains to fill me up for the morning.

mix

Enter this delicious oat bar. It is like a granola bar, only better and packed with oats, nuts and seeds. Mix and match ingredients to add in favorites or suit specific tastes. It is already gluten free, but can be vegan or nut free if needed. Bake up a loaf and prepare for a week of easy and portable breakfasts. We might not be eating breakfast together, but we have been baking this morning treat together just about every Sunday for the last several months.

melted

But don’t limit this bar to just breakfast. It packed up perfectly for winter adventures for months around here. Paired with the sweetest winter citrus, it made for a great snack out in the snow. I can’t help but think it will be equally at home packed up for a summer adventure or stashed away as a ready-made camping snack. Tuck a slice into the back pocket of a cycling jersey or feast on a quick bite after a run. And if dessert is needed, pair a slice with some ice cream or fresh fruit. There is not stopping this oat bar.

loaf
I feel like I must make mention of the dates in this recipe. Sean takes a pretty tough stance on dates, they just are not his favorite. So the first few times I made this recipe, I kept that little detail from him. Trickery in cookery? Why yes, sometimes we must all resort to it. And in this case it was a success. He now knows that there are dates in the bar, but still is a big fan. I hope you’ll give them a shot!

breakfast

Breakfast Oat Bars

Adapted from Bon Appetit

Mix and match your favorite nuts and seeds in this bar. Swap out the almonds for walnuts, cashews or other favorites. Coconut also makes a tasty addition.

6 large Medjool dates, pitted and chopped
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½ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons unsalted butter or coconut oil
2 cups old-fashioned oats
½ cup almonds or other nuts
½ cup shelled sunflower seeds
½ cup pepitas
2 tablespoons sesame seeds

Lightly coat a glass loaf pan with oil, then line with parchment paper, leaving the edges out of the pan. (See picture above.) Heat oven to 350.

Combine dates, maple syrup and salt in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Turn heat down to medium high and cook to soften, about 10 minutes, stirring often. Remove from heat and mash the dates until they combine into a thick paste. Add butter and stir to melt and combine. Set aside to cool for a minute or two.

Stir oats, almonds, sunflower seeds, pepitas and sesame seeds in a large bowl. Add the date mixture to the bowl and stir to evenly coat. Spoon mixture into prepared loaf pan. Tightly pack the oat mixture into the pan with a spatula. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes or until dark golden brown. Remove the pan from the oven and allow to cool for five minutes. Run a knife around the edges of the pan to ensure the bar does not stick as it cools. Transfer to a wire cooling rack and leave the loaf in its pan until it is cool, even overnight.

Wrap tightly and slice when ready to use. Keeps for a week of delicious snacks.

baked

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Recipe fail

fog

I don’t often spend much time regaling you with tales of recipe missteps. It seems like there is not much of a story there, only small oven fires. Of course I do have my fair share of disappointments, recipes that leave me with a pot of something that turns into leftovers for days. I’d rather forget some of those forays. But the truth is, part of the adventure of cooking is that it leads us down some unexpected paths.

The interesting thing about working on a food blog is that I get to be pretty adventurous with my cooking. There are not many meals in constant rotation at our house. Sure, we have our favorites, but more often than not, I am trying out some new recipe in hopes that I might happen upon something pretty or tasty enough to share with you here.

My fridge door is in constant flux with my most recent obsessions. I jostle for magnets and space with my son’s artwork – recipes and paintings side by side in the kitchen. There is a little counter, just the right size to catch the clutter, including a stack of cookbooks that I have been referencing and magazines I’m still reading.

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Whether it is my favorite magazine, a menu ingredient I just can’t shake or Instagram, I am always gathering ideas. Recently, a passing conversation on moonpies inspired a taste-off event – I baked up a batch to compare them to the standard convenience store staple. Goodness, they were delicious. And if you are really patient, I might even share them with you here one day.

cake

Not so long ago, there was a foot of snow outside and it was Valentine’s day. I decided that I needed to bake a cake. With the chill of winter all around me, citrus sounded so good. I wanted something easy – the kind of cake you stir together before dinner without pulling out a mixer and dirtying a stack of bowls. It smelled heavenly in the oven, filling the kitchen with citrusy wafts. And since we were celebrating, I topped it off with a swirl of cream cheese frosting. In the end, it just didn’t up being all I had hoped it would be. As pretty as it looked, I feel like I would have to tweak the recipe before I would be happy sharing it here with you.

Until then, I’ll keep cooking.

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Pai & I make cake

above_ingre

I bet that if I snuck into your kitchen right now and took a peek in your fridge or maybe even your freezer, I would find a bag of cranberries. That blessed extra bag of cranberries that you bought for the holidays just in case and never ended up needing.

I have had those bags of cranberries before. They start out in your crisper drawer and then as time goes by, reality sets in and you realize that you aren’t going to use them in the near future and they silently slip into the depths of the freezer. Then one day, months from now when you open up the freezer, freshly back from a run (or at least this is what happened to me) and in serious need of something to eat, you realize that the blueberries are all gone and no, a cranberry smoothie will not do the trick. So before you let those cranberries sneak up into the freezer, haul them right out and get busy making this delicious Cranberry Orange & Pecan Coffee Cake from Joy the Baker.

icing_action
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Better yet, do what I did and turn your coffee cake baking into an event with a friend! Brew yourself a pot of coffee, we made Irish Coffee and then get a bak’n. All of these ridiculously lovely photos were taken by the ever so talented Joann Pai. Hand modelling by myself.

coffee

slices

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The past is behind us and oatcakes are in our future!

P1080153

The past is behind us right? Well in that case perhaps we shan’t waste time talking about how a short summer hiatus some how turned into a full summer break and basically a fall break too. Let’s just say things have been really busy and good times were had all around. Perhaps at some point in the future I will tell you about my unexpected trip to the Caribbean and move to a new house. But we aren’t talking about that now that is for sure.

I am not a big fan of the time change that happened a few weeks ago. I have hardly stood up from my desk at the end of the day and it is already dark out. I have given up my forest trail running in favour of blocks and blocks of uneven kind of lite sidewalks. I have started falling asleep on the couch at about 7:30 most nights and to top it all off I forgot some of my potted plants out on the patio and the frost has killed them! My plants lives are on your head time change!!! This whole time change thing has really thrown me off my game!

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Such males viagra sales in india ejaculate semen within one or two minutes of penetration into her genital passage, create more contact and friction during lovemaking and offer her enhanced sexual pleasure. And you would want to realize the root cause of problems, viagra pfizer 25mg pinpoint appropriate solutions and implement these solutions in the best possible manner. The device can be worn discreetly under clothing (even at work, if a man has a low-exertion job) and needs to be applied consistently for cialis purchase a course of months. Your get viagra cheap signs of despression symptoms are different as well. The one good thing that the cooler darker days afford me is afternoon tea. Nothing is quite as comforting on a chilly afternoon as a pot of milky tea. But, there is something that can make that afternoon pot of tea even better, Scottish oatcakes. A few days ago I was scanning through Flipbook when I noticed a recipe for oatcakes. A little spot in my heart is dedicated to these lovely little treats but for some reason I have never baked them at home. They have always only been an occasional store-bought treat.

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The recipe narrative drew me in right away, I too wanted to be walking the Scottish moors with my thermos full of hot tea and a package of oatcakes in my pocket. Honestly now, who could say no to a cookie chock full of oats that can double as breakfast. Certainly not me! Visit Food52 if you find yourself in need of a salty sweet treat to accompany your afternoon tea.

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Birthday girl

fresh

In my memory, there is a cherry tree in the backyard of my grandmother’s house. It is taller than the house and shades the back bedroom, where I often sleep when I visit. On the sticky hot summer evenings when we throw the windows wide, I can hear the breeze ruffling the leaves, lulling me to sleep. Its sturdy, spreading branches make this cherry tree more inviting to climb than the peach trees further down the yard.

cherries

With a cherry tree, it seems that you could pull your way up into the tree with little effort and vanish among the thick green leaves, finding a comfortable perch and your own personal cherry picking heaven. And while I don’t often take to climbing other people’s trees out in the picking orchards these days, I do love that experience of climbing deep into the tree on a towering ladder. Suddenly, you are surrounded by drooping branches of sweet fruit, sometimes sticky from the bees and birds that call these havens their own. I favor the clumps of heavy fruit that come off in long, elegant, stemmed pairs, nature’s tasty version of a 2-for-1 deal.

batter

Last week, I mentioned I was working on a recipe for clafoutis. You’ve heard about clafoutis, right? It is a flan-like dessert, often served slightly warm, that is usually overflowing with cherries. (OK, maybe the overflowing part is more me than anything else!) Eaten as a dessert, or maybe even a tasty breakfast treat, the custardy filling is perfectly at home with seasonal fruit. And while cherries are the traditional filling, the batter takes well to almost any fruit. And once you’ve tasted it for yourself, you will likely find reasons to adapt it to raspberries, blueberries, pears and more.

pouring

I don’t generally make clafoutis year round. I seem to play with it a few times every season right about now as the cherries start to pile up in my fridge. There is something about cherry season that does not let me pass by the darkly glinting heaps of the black-red fruit that I find at farmers markets or roadside stands. Surely I can find a use for a few more pounds? A month or so ago, I got a pretty baking dish with deeply fluted sides, that claims to be a clafoutis mold. With that one mention, I jumped right back into clafoutis production like I’d never missed a beat. And while I’ve always made this dish in a cast iron skillet or even a pie dish, this pan makes for a pretty presentation, even if it is a little tricky to serve.

prepped

The thing with this pan is that is a little smaller capacity than what seems to be typical for most clafoutis recipes. So I’ve been tweaking, trying to find the perfect portions for a smaller crowd. I’ve also been playing with other flour combinations to find a good gluten-free variation, but I’ll have to save that for another day. I think this recipe will nicely serve four for dessert. You can use a pan with about a 6-cup capacity, or a 9-inch pie plate or skillet. See, we aren’t picky here!

dusted

And don’t let the fact that it is cherry season fool you—this dessert is really for Tina, who will be celebrating a birthday in a few days. An undying fan of Okanagan cherries and a true connoisseur of the flan, I am sure this recipe will be just the thing for your special day. I’m sorry I can’t make you a piece this year.

dessert

While there is some debated as to whether cherry clafoutis should be prepared with whole or pitted cherries, I’ll leave that decision to you. I can’t often be bothered with the pitting, but I don’t really relish the thought of someone breaking a tooth under my watch. In the meantime, I’ve included a few drops of almond extract to add a little more flavor, no matter which way you go!

Cherry Clafoutis
Serves 4 as dessert, 2 as breakfast
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¼ cup (40 grams) all-purpose flour
¾ cup milk
¼ cup (55 grams) sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 teaspoons vanilla
pinch of salt
a couple of drops almond extract, optional
2 cups (350 grams) pitted cherries

Heat oven to 350. In a large mixing bowl, measure flour. Slowly add milk to flour, whisking constantly. Beat hard to remove lumps. Add sugar, eggs, vanilla, salt and almond extract, if using. Mix well to combine.

Butter a 9-inch pan generously. Add cherries to bottom of pan and spread evenly. Pour batter on top of cherries. Place in the middle of the oven and cook for about 45 minutes, until the top is golden and puffy. The very middle of the clafoutis will still be a little wobbly when you gently shake the pan.

Allow the clafoutis to cool for about 30 minutes. Slice and sprinkle with a little icing sugar, or serve with freshly whipped cream.

 

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