» Sweets

Standing in front of my jam-packed fridge this weekend, I don’t think many people would have confused me with a minimalist. I love the clean and spare look of a carefully curated kitchen counter or a meticulously arranged fridge, but admire as I may, I can’t maintain that look for more than three hours. The cleaning itch hit me this weekend and I swept the countertops clear—mixer tucked away in the pantry, cutting boards oiled and cookbooks tidied away. I even dove deep into the crisper drawers searching for forgotten bits. This is where I unearthed the beets.

A handful of beets had been languishing for more than a few weeks. But the good news is that beets tend to store pretty well tucked away in a cold dark corner. There were a few desperately pale slips of leaves sprouting from a beet or two. Otherwise, they were no worse for their time waiting. Once found, I knew I’d better not stow them again. So in the midst of my kitchen makeover, I pulled the beets out of their bag and dropped them into the sink for a good scrub.

I don’t know too many people who are ambivalent about beets. This humble root seems to divide people into two camps—those who eagerly search them out or those who would rather keep them off the plate. It might just be my experience, but it seems to me that people usually have an opinion about beets. I fall into the first camp, a beet lover. Since I’m still working on a few members of my household, I usually look for ways to add beets into a dish without making them the main flavor. For that reason, beet salad tends to work out really well for me! I roast the beets whole with their skins on. A pan readily fits alongside most anything else I might be baking. And after an hour or so in the heat, they slip easily from their skins. I tuck them away in a jar, just waiting for my next salad.

But no matter what your thoughts might be on beets, you’ll want to hear about my crispy-delicious salad addition—spicy candied walnuts. This recipe has been with me for years, likely shared in some variation by a friend who would whip up batches to feed the masses. I’ve played with the spices, subbing in smoking pimentón and chili powder or even a fancy curry blend, depending on what flavor I’m going for. Sometimes, if my pantry is looking well-stocked, I’ll add a little maple syrup in place of the corn syrup. No matter what the variation, these candied nuts will be a star in any salad, making it substantial enough to feel like a meal. And don’t just save them for salads, they also make a great cocktail snack or a super-luxe addition to a custom nut mix.

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Candied Walnuts

2 cups walnut halves
Scant 1/4 cup light corn syrup
2 tablespoons white sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste

Preheat oven to 325º. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a mixing bowl, combine all ingredients and mix well to coat. Place walnut mixture on baking sheet and bake in the center of the oven for about 15 minutes, stirring every five minutes until fragrant and the sugar mixture bubbles.

Remove from heat and stir nuts to separate any large clusters. Allow to cool on the pan and store in an airtight container. They’ll keep for several days.

Nothing beats a snow day. Seriously, they really are the best. Or perhaps the truth of the matter is that I am still a kid at heart. I am particularly fond of the blanket of silence snow brings and the brightness that it adds to winters often grey days. This Christmas was a white one! These types of Christmases seem to come few and far between these days, so when the heavens opened up and the snow began to fall I strapped on my snowshoes and headed for the mountains. That may not be a totally accurate recount of the actual order of events but you get my drift.

My favourite treks are ones that venture off the beaten path and ever so slightly veer off into the woods were the snow is light and fluffy and I am sure to see a set of bunny tracks. This years snowshoeing treks were especially delightful as we had 2 new snow trekkers join our ranks. Both of whom were great sports and happily spent a number of afternoons traipsing through the trees on what eventually became a Sasquatch hunt. Alas a Sasquatch wasn’t to be found and we would head home rosy cheeked and ready for a little something to warm us up.



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On these types of days nothing warms you like a cup of hot cocoa!  And what better reward for our new snow trekkers than with this holiday take on the affogato.

Candy Cane Hot Cocoa Affogato

Hot cocoa
Candy cane ice cream
Peppermint extract (optional)

This recipe really is as simple as whipping up a batch of your favourite hot cocoa and topping it with a scoop of candy cane ice cream. I am a die-hard peppermint fan so I also like to add a drop or two of  peppermint extract into my cup. If you are unable to get your hand on a carton of candy cane ice cream you easily create your own by mixing crushed candy cane into some softened vanilla ice cream or perhaps even try a scoop of chocolate chip mint.

This Sunday I had the pleasure of spending the better part of the day hanging out with the very talented Joann from Slice of Pai (don’t forget to check her out on Instagram). For a month or so Joann and I have been talking about doing a collaboration. On Sunday the planets or perhaps more accurately, our agendas finally aligned and we carved out a bit of free time in-between babyshowers and other such obligation to share some time baking and taking photographs. I have been really excited about this collaboration because Joann has an such an amazing eye for food styling and photography. The majority of the photographs you see here today are Joann’s handy work!

Our morning started nice and early (for a Sunday) with me arriving on Joann’s doorstep with a giant box of props and a bottle of whiskey. The whiskey was one of the props of course! Our plan was to bake shortbread two ways, savoury and sweet. I have always loved baking that mixes sweet and salty so when we came across a recipe for a delicate sweet and salty pre-dinner cocktail shortbread (enter the Whiskey) I was all in. For our sweet selection we chose an amazing buttery and crisp almond shortbread sandwich. The almond shortbread maybe one of the best shortbreads I have had in years; so good that I have since made a second batch. See below for recipes.

Sweet and Salty Herbed Shortbread
Recipe Adapted from Food52 

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon fleur de sal
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1 1/2 teaspoon finely chopped fresh rosemary, thyme and lavender
1/2 cup room temperature unsalted butter cut into 1/2-inch pieces

Preheat oven to 350 degrees with a rack positioned in the centre. In a medium bowl sift together flour and salt. In a small bowl, combined 2 tablespoons of sugar and the chopped herbs. Using your fingers gently rub the sugar and the chopped herbs together, this will release the oils from the herbs. Stir the herb mixture into the flour.

Add butter chunks to the flour, mix using a fork until a soft dough forms. Transfer the dough into a 9-inch round or square baking pan; gently pat the dough down. Using a fork prick the dough and sprinkle the remaining teaspoon of sugar evenly over the dough.

Place the pan in the oven and bake the shortbread for 20 to 30 minutes, until it is golden and no longer looks at all wet. While the dough is still warm, score it into fingers using a very sharp knife. Allow it to cool completely in the pan before separating the pieces.

Almond Shortbread Sandwich Cookies
Recipe adapted from FineCooking

1 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon fleur de sal
2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup almond meal
Strawberry jam
Confectioners’ sugar for dusting

Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Using a mixer combine butter, sugar and salt at low speed. Mix the ingredients on low speed for 1 to 2 minutes until the butter blends with the sugar but isn’t perfectly smooth. Continue mixing at low speed while adding the flour and almonds. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and continue mixing until the dough begins to hold together. Be careful not to overmix.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface, quickly rolling the dough to about 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick. Thinner cookies will make a more attractive sandwich.

Make an even number of cookies and cut a smaller shape into the middle of half of your cookies. This will become the top of the sandwich. The tops of the cookies can be fragile so make sure the border is fairly wide. Transfer the cookies onto baking sheets and refrigerate for about 20 minutes.

While the cookies are cooling position oven racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and heat to 300°F. Bake the cookies until golden, about 30 min. Halfway through the baking time switch the pan from top to bottom and rotate them 180 degrees, cook for the remaining time.

Allow the cookies to fully cool. Place a small teaspoon of jam in the centre of the cookie bottoms and spread the jam lightly over the cookie avoiding the edges. Using a sifter dust the cookie tops with confectioners’ sugar. Place the sandwiches tops on the jammed cookie bottoms and very gently press together.

After careful thought, it seems that there are two camps in the kitchen—those who stir for the joy of it and those who prefer to leave simmering pots alone. There may be other sub-categories and side groups, but it seems that most people who join you in the kitchen will usually quickly announce their preference for stirring, if that is the case. My sister falls into this group. From an early age, our kitchen collaborations were usually begun with a “What can I stir?” from her. Initially, I did have my doubts, concerned that her willingness to stir was overshining her willingness to help with other prep tasks. But it doesn’t take long to see the balance that these two styles bring to the kitchen.

For me, I’d rather leave the pots alone, cooking things that can stand up to a little caramelization or simmer time on their own. This leaves me free to move from one project to the next. So when it comes down to some serious cooking, a combination of kitchen personalities seems to work best. And when the cooking project at hand is a few pounds of caramel, that stirring part becomes all the more important.

Caramel, and homemade candy of all sorts, really, have been somewhat of a mystery to me. Caramel is one of those ubiquitous flavors but it wasn’t really on our holiday treat tray growing up. Baked treats were most often our thing, so the sugary world of cooking caramel, brittle and fudge have all been new to me. I’ve lost many a pound of butter and sugar with my attempts to master science of candy making. Maybe it all comes down to the stirring, but I’m still trying. So when the December issue of Martha Stewart’s Living arrived, featuring caramel with tasty variations, I knew I would need help.
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If making caramel can be described as any one task, it would have to be stirring. The ingredient list is not long—add everything into the pot, stir until it reaches a caramelly color (Martha was a bit more precise), then pour it onto a pan and wait. What happens in-between is about 40 minutes of stirring. OK, that might be an exaggeration or due to the fact that there was actually a double batch in progress, either way, whew! My weekend adventures included four kinds of caramel and a whole lot of stirring. Thank goodness for friends with an appreciation for stirring!

No recipe this time, friends. I’m just going to go with Martha on this one—check out her detailed directions and flavor combinations in the December issue of Living. And while they outlined a few delicious flavor combinations, I think the idea of an Earl Grey variety, or something nutty with rosemary would be worth a little experimentation with future batches! And if you’re still trying to come up with some treats to share with friends and family, I can’t help but believe a little box of marshmallows and caramel would make people very happy.  Or, if you want to share a little more caramelly goodness, pour the caramel into a pan and give both as a gift, wrapped up in a bit of baker’s twine.

In my world there are two thing that get me into a holiday state of mind: decorating the Christmas tree and baking holiday cookies. Let’s be honest, there really isn’t anything better than sitting beside a softly lit Christmas tree eating sweets and trying to guess what is in all of the gifts. I am rather new to having my own tree. I have only done it three times now and each time has been a bit of a learning experience. The first year I set up the tree on Remembrance Day, November 11th was a little early as it turns out. So the next year I waited until the second week on December, that was too late! This year the tree went up one week before December 1st. I think that we might be onto something with this tree schedule. As you may have guessed there is a fake tree in my house, apparently apartment buildings think that real trees are a hazard. Which I guess could be true if there are other fools like me out there putting their trees up in mid November.

When it comes to Christmas baking there are two main types of baking: the tried and true classics and the new and fantastic looking. Like Ginger, I too like to have cookies around for the month of December. This year holiday baking was kicked off with an old favorite. These treats have been on our families cookie plate for basically as long as I can remember. Kind of like the holiday jello salad, they might not be the most elegant or modern cookie but then again you don’t mess with tradition. These noodle cookie or pine cone cookies as my nephew likes to calls them are a snap to make. They don’t require baking, so they are an ideal family baking project.

Pine cone Cookies

12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
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1 (16-ounce) Chinese noodles
1 cup Salted Peanuts
Fleur de Sel for garnish

In a double boiler combine both of the chips and melt. Once the chips are melted stir in peanuts and noodles. Adding the noodles in batches to ensure that no noodle is left uncovered. You can really play this part by ear, so to speak, adding noodles until you reach your desired consistency.

Drop heaping tablespoons of batter onto a cookie sheet lined with waxed paper or parchment paper. Sprinkle each cookie with a little salt and refrigerate until set, about 20 minutes. Enjoy!