Pan-seared and roasted duck breast in a balsamic honey reduction

Weeknight dinners at our home range from controlled chaos like Iron Chef – i.e. rushing to quickly get home and use ingredients we already have, or desperately hitting the supermarket on the way home while coming up with a recipe on the fly – oddly enough, also like Iron Chef.  Fun, but definitely stressful.

But cooking on the weekends or on vacation days?  A relaxing activity, because I can take the time to not only plan and grocery shop at a leisurely pace, but also use multiple cooking methods if needed.

I took advantage of my time off earlier this week and decided to embark on a culinary adventure: cook something based on what was on sale at the grocery store…and lo and behold, duck breast was on sale.

An easy dish to make

For the record, I have NEVER EVER worked with duck before.  The closest I’ve ever come to cooking duck is reheating it in the microwave (sad but true).  So, with the Chairman’s voice in my head, “With an open heart and an empty stomach”, I cooked duck for the very first time.

One thing I quickly learned about duck is that it is often paired or cooked in something fruity, a little sour and most definitely sweet. I’m guessing the sweet and sour help to cut through the rich flavour of the duck.

I finally settled on a balsamic vinaigrette and honey reduction.

Another thing I learned (especially about duck breast) is that, like beef, the perfect way to cook it is medium rare.

And the third most important thing? Duck tastes great when roasted and or seared. So I decided to do both.

Here are my ingredients and cooking notes.

(And P.S. this turned out waaaaaay better than I could have ever hoped for.  There was even enough for J’s lunch the next day).

INGREDIENTS

-          3 TBSP honey

-          3 TBSP balsamic vinegar        

-          1 TSP ground cinnamon      

-          1 TSP ground cumin         

-          ½ TSP coriander seeds, coarsely ground or crushed  

-          ½ TSP black peppercorns, coarsely ground or

-          1 TSP of olive oil (I used EVOO)

-          2 duck breasts

-          Salt and pepper to taste

COOKING NOTES

-          Preheat the oven to 230°C /450°F.

-          Make sure the duck breast is dry before you begin cooking

-          Make crosshatched incisions in the skin of the breasts

-          Season the duck breast with salt and pepper

-          Heat the oil on a pan (that can eventually go into the oven) over medium-high heat

-          Put the breasts, skin-side down, into the pan and sear for about 2 minutes

-          Flip the breasts over and sear for another minute

-          Flip the breasts over again so that they are skin-side down again

-          Turn the stove off and remove the pan from heat

-          Heat the honey in a saucepan over high-heat, for approximately 2-3 minutes, until it is slightly caramelized

-          Pour in the vinegar and mix well

-          Add the spices, turn the heat to low, letting the sauce reduce for about 4-5 minutes, until it has reached a coating or watery caramel-like consistency

-          Pour the honey sauce over the breasts then cook in the middle of the oven about 7-8 minutes

-          Take the duck breasts out, flip them, and roast for another 2 minutes

-          Take the pan out of the oven, move the breasts over to a plate, cover with aluminum foil and let the meat rest for about 5 minutes

-          Slice the duck breasts, spoon some sauce over the duck and then…#nomnomnom

Peanut butter and banana muffins

Life has been amazing the last several months, but it's also been incredibly busy, leaving less time for things like baking...or rather, experimental baking. I had a few extra hours earlier today and with 2 super ripe bananas originally meant for peanut butter and banana sandwiches, I decided to take it a step further and instead of sandwiches, made muffins.

I wasn't quite sure exactly what I was doing, but I lucked out and managed to make something yummy. Hopefully my taster agrees too. Here are the ingredients and instructions:

Ingredients

- 1 3/4 cups of all-purpose flour (whole wheat flour would probably work too)

- 1/4 cup of granulated sugar

- 2 tsp. baking powder

- 1/4 tsp. baking soda

- 1/2 tsp. salt

- 1/2 cups melted butter

- 2 extremely ripe bananas, mooshed up

- 2 eggs (room temperature)

- 1 cup of whipped peanut butter (I used Kraft Whipped peanut butter)

Directions

- Preheat oven to 350 C

- Combine all dry ingredients (including sugar) into a big mixing bowl

- Combine all wet ingredients into a big mixing bowl

- Mix wet ingredients into dry ingredients

- Oil muffin pans (makes 6 jumbo ones or 9 smaller ones)

- Bake 30-40 minutes, depending on the size of the muffin tray you use

- Let muffins rest in pan for 5 minutes

- Remove and place on cooling rack

These turned out really well...the peanut butter really helps keep the moisture in. Enjoy.

The secret is in the pasta water...

I love watching other people cook. Why? Because I ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS learning something new. For example, a while back, J, his boyfriend K, and I had a seafood boil (and yes, I'll get to this in another post). The seafood boil was incredible, but the leftovers - the water that was left behind from the boil was something else entirely. Not only was it flavoured from the herb and seasonings, it was also infused with the seafood we cooked in it (lobster, little neck clams and shrimp).

The flavour was so incredible it seemed a waste to throw the water out. So we froze it. And then we decided to cook pasta in it.

And let's just say that if I have a choice, I will ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS, cook pasta in flavoured water. Why? Because as you are cooking the pasta, you are giving it flavour. And the water you cook it in can be anything - water from vegetables (lazy person's vegetable stock), store-bought soup stock, whatever. My point is that I realized the water you cook the pasta in can be just as important as the final sauce you put on it.

In this case, the flavours came from pickling spices (mustard seed, coriander, bay leaves, dill seed, fenugreek, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, red pepper, black pepper, cloves, soy, cottonseed oil,  and ground cayenne pepper).

After cooking the pasta to al dente (after all, what other way is there to cook it?), throw it into the sauce you've prepared.

In our case, it was minced garlic, cooked in olive oil with pancetta, cherry tomatoes, salt, pepper and topped with fresh basil. Mmmmm...

I have to admit, the first time I had this pasta, it was as a student. I observed and managed to recreate something that wasn't too shabby. Except I added shrimp.  Here's exactly what I did:

Ingredients

For cooking the pasta
- Soup stock
- Pasta (preferably something that is shaped to hold onto the water...I chose something with pockets)
- Teaspoon of oil (preferably olive oil)

For topping the pasta
- Olive oil
- Pancetta
- Minced garlic (as much or as little as you like)
- Pinch of salt and pepper (you won't need much since the pasta is already flavoured, and the pancetta is inherently salty)
- Cherry/grape tomatoes (halved)
- Uncooked shrimp (shelled and de-veined)
- Fresh basil leaves (chopped)

Instructions
For cooking the pasta
- Bring your stock to a boil
- Add the pasta and the oil (the oil keeps the pasta from sticking to the bottom of the pot)
- Bring back to a boil
- Let it simmer for about 8 minutes - STIR CONSTANTLY!

While the pasta is cooking...
For the sauce/topping
- In a pan, heat the olive oil until it sizzles
- Toss in the minced garlic (keep it moving so it doesn't burn)
- Turn the heat to medium and cook for 1-2 minutes
- Throw in the pancetta and cook for 2-3 minutes
- Add the shrimp and cook until it just turns pink (about 2-3 minutes)
- Add in the cherry tomatoes
- Cook for another 2 minutes
- Drain pasta and add to pan
- Toss and remove from heat
- Top with fresh basil leaves

Serve and enjoy (trust me, this is amazing).

Apple cinnamon cookies

I stumbled across a recipe that tried to re-create Mrs. Fields' cinnamon sugar cookies. Two words: epic fail.

Not only was the recipe dry and horrible, the cookie turned out like a rock. Not one to admit defeat (or maybe I'm just stubborn like my Dad), I gave it another shot, but dramatically changed the recipe.

I also decided to add apple juice - which worked out well. Here is my recipe - apologies for not having pictures of the final product - for some reason, my brain froze both times I made it and I completely forgot to take pictures!

Ingredients

Cookies
- 2 cups of all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup of sugar
- 1 cup dark brown sugar; packed
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter; soft (just below room temperature)
- 2 large eggs (room temperature)
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 2-3 table spoons of apple juice

Sprinkling
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

Directions
- Preheat oven to 300~F
- In a small bowl, mix sprinkling ingredients together - set aside
- In a medium bowl sift flour, soda and salt - set aside
- In a large bowl blend sugars with an electric mixer at medium speed
- Add the butter and mix until light, but not fluffy
- Add eggs and vanilla extract and apple juice
- Mix at medium speed until light, but not fluffy
- Add the flour mixture and mix until just combined
- Shape dough into 1-inch balls and roll each ball in cinnamon-sugar topping (or, if you're lazy like me, use a cookie-dough scoop, press flat with a fork and then sprinkle the topping over it )
- Place on cookie sheets lined with parchment paper, approximately 2 inches apart
- Bake in the lower-third of the rack, for approximately 15 minutes (flip halfway through for even cooking)
- Transfer cookies with a spatula to a wire rack

The perfect chocolate chip cookie

There's something comforting about warm chocolate chip cookies, especially going into the holiday season. And while I don't have the biggest sweet tooth in the world, I definitely love the smell of them.

In the last year or so, I've tested 13 chocolate chip cookie recipes, but my favourite recipe by far is this one by Martha Stewart (seriously, she's a genius). Crisp on the outside and chewy on the inside, these cookies have (IMO) a perfectly balanced texture.

I found the original recipe waaaaaaay too sweet, so I played around with the amount of sugar used.  Below is the recipe with my notes.  Also, I find this recipe actually yields about 26 or so cookies instead of the 20 or so listed.

Another idea: substitute 1/2 the chocolate chips for semi-sweet chocolate chunks.

Happy baking!

(Reminder: make sure your eggs and butter are room temperature)

Ingredients
- 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
- 1 1/4 cups packed dark-brown sugar (reduced to 0.75 cups)
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar (reduced to 1/3 cup)
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Directions
- Sift together flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Beat butter and sugars with a mixer on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 4 minutes.
- Beat in eggs 1 at a time.
- Add vanilla.
- Reduce speed to low.
- Add flour mixture; beat until combined.
- Mix in chocolate chips.
- Using a 2 1/4-inch ice cream scoop (about 3 tablespoons), drop dough onto parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing about 2 inches apart.
- Bake until golden around edges but soft in the middle, about 15 minutes.
- Let cool for 5 minutes.
- Transfer cookies to a wire rack, and let cool completely.

Chunky apple muffins

Apples are one of my favourite fruits - they last forever and work well with both sweet and savoury dishes. I've been on a baking roll these days and wanted to do something with apples. Enter Martha (yes, again). I found this recipe on her site.

I didn't really tinker as there isn't much sugar used in the recipe (normally I reduce sugar by about 1/2).  The muffins turned out moist and the recipe was so easy to follow. Plus it didn't take much time to make. Definitely a good recipe for home cooks like me.

P.S. The family loved them!

Pumpkin pecan dream

Up until recently, all I've really done is bake cookies - cakes and cupcakes were too intimidating, but with nearly 3 years of baking experience under my belt, I decided it was time to take on this challenge. I have to say that I've screwed up my fair share of recipes, but I have also taken quite a few and successfully made them my own.

This following recipe - one I'd like to call pumpkin pecan dream (the dream part comes from the fact that the marshmallows I added to the recipe remind me of pillows) is one that I can truly call my own.

Check this out and let me know how it goes!

Ingredients
- 18 medium are large cupcake liners
- 3/4 cup canola oil plus more for pan
- 3 cups of all-purpose flour 
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1.5 cups pumpkin puree 
- 1.25 cup plain low-fat yogurt 
- 3 large eggs
- 0.75 cups of brown sugar + 2 teaspoons for sprinkling
- 1.5 cups of coarsely chopped pecans  
-   36 mini marshmallows (an Olivia addition)

**Make sure all ingredients are room temperature

Directions

- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brush 12 jumbo muffin tins (each with a 1-cup capacity) with oil; set aside. (The recipe actually makes about 18 muffins if you’re using a standard cupcake tray - adjust number of marshmallows based on the size of your tray)
- In a medium bowl, whisk flours, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, and baking soda; set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk oil, pumpkin puree, yogurt, eggs, and 1 cup sugar to combine; add 1 cup walnuts and reserved dry ingredients. Mix just until moistened (do not overmix).
- Fill the muffin tins about a 1/3 of the way and then push a mini marshmallow into the middle. Fill the muffin tins with the rest of the batter – making sure it’s only about 75% full. Pull another marshmallow into the middle so that the top is showing. Sprinkle tops with remaining walnuts/pecans and sugar.  Bake until toothpick is inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean, roughly 30-35 minutes.  Cool 5 minutes in pan. Move to cookie racks for further cooling.  (Note the baking time is shorter because the muffins are slightly smaller).

Strawberry cake

A yummy summer treat!

I'm determined to make the most out of strawberry season! I've already made strawberry cookies and now, I'm onto strawberry cake! Martha has a great seasonal section for recipes and strawberries are a featured ingredient. I didn't tinker too much with the recipe - just reduced the sugar by a bit and stretched out the cooking time by about 10 minutes.

This cake has gotten many compliments! It's easy to make, easy to bake and most importantly, EXTREMELY yummy! Happy Strawberry Season!

Strawberry shortcake cookies

There's something so inviting about a plump and perfectly ripe strawberry. Just the visual of it - the dark red fruit against the bright green top. And the smell...you can smell how the sugar in the strawberry balances the inherent sourness. When it comes to summer fruits, it's definitely one of my favourites.

But me, being restless at times, wanted to see if I could work with Martha again to try and bring 2 of my loves together: strawberries and cookies. I found this recipe on her site and decided to try it. 

To start, the raw batter smelled AMAZING...exactly like strawberry shortcake. The consistency of the raw dough was also beautiful to look at - just like vanilla ice cream with fresh strawberries inside. My only complaint is that the recipe doesn't call for enough cream -  it calls for 2/3 cup, but I'd say it's closer to 8/10 before the dough becomes sticky enough to work with.

The cookies were also less like a cookie and more like a tea biscuit. Definitely delicious though - in fact, I'd make these babies again in a heartbeat. (Apologies - I forgot to take pics of the finished product!)

Budyń o smaku (raspberry pudding)

I heart trying new things. And being a food-hearter (apparently the word "foodie" is taboo now), I especially heart trying new foods. It always amazes me when I discover foods that are a simple (and perhaps common?) pleasure from one culture and how that food can be completely unknown to everyone else.

This weekend, I was lucky enough to try budyń o smaku (which I think, roughly translates from Polish to English as raspberry pudding...apologies if I got the translation wrong). The pudding mixture comes prepackaged (the one I tried was made by Nestlé) and starts in powder form.

I watched my friend make this dessert, and from what I gather, the cooking process goes like this: heat up milk, add powder to milk (mixing constantly), stir, wait for the mixture to thicken, pour into bowl, serve hot or cold (the instructions I've found online are in Polish, so I'm strictly pulling this from my memory).

The process reminded me of making Jello - except it was faster and dare I say it? Yummier.

The pudding tasted milky/creamy and the consistency was nice and thick (in many ways, it reminded me of steamed Chinese egg custard). There was a subtle taste of raspberries (though I'm told it comes in many different flavours) and the best part of it? It was just the right amount of sweet.

I ate the bowl of pudding with wonder, savouring every spoonful and marveling at the wonderful consistency. It was warm and soothing - good for when the nights are cold. And the best part of it all?  I got a doggy bag (bowl?), which is now sitting in the fridge. It's supposed to be even yummier when it's cold...I can't wait until tomorrow...is it okay to have dessert immediately after breakfast?

Peanut butter raisin cinnamon chip oatmeal cookies...

I love the taste and texture of chocolate chip oatmeal cookies. The ingredients are classic and familiar - and always good for a bad day (though many of you know my indulgence of choice are butter tarts). But sometimes, classic and familiar can become stale - which is why I like to take classic recipes and add a twist. 

I stumbled upon such a thing on a random trip to Bulk Barn. I was looking for chocolate chips, but came across cinnamon chips. My first thought: cinnamon chip cookies. Now, I bake often, but I'm by no means an expert baker. So once again, I went back to my teacher Martha Stewart for a recipe I could tinker with and make my own.


Martha (and I know it's presumptuous to use her first name, but hey, it's my blog, so I give myself permission) has a great recipe for peanut butter chocolate chip oatmeal cookies. I find this recipe to be very forgiving, meaning that if you added and substituted one ingredient for another, the recipe would still work. And it did!

Too close...but still yummy

Pasted here is my modified recipe. The only thing that didn't work is my spacing. I was out of parchment paper so didn't space the cookies out as far as I should have...


Ingredients (*means changes/additions):
- 3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
- 1/3 cup whole wheat flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
- 1 cup packed light-brown sugar (*reduce to 1/4 cup)
- 1 cup granulated sugar (*reduce to 1/4 cup)
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
- 1/2 cup natural peanut butter
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups salted whole peanuts (*substitute raisins)
- 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (*substitute cinnamon chips)
- *1 cup crushed walnuts

Directions (no changes)

Chocolate chip cookie dough truffles

I need to apologize for my lack of blog entries these days - Christmas is right around the corner, and while I've been cooking often, I haven't had much time to sit down in front of the computer proper.

As I'm writing this, I have chocolate chip cookie dough (sans eggs and with condensed milk to bind everything together) chilling on a cookie sheet in the car (my car doubles as a refrigerator in the winter). Once the dough sets (approximately 2 hours in the fridge, but about 45 minutes or so in sub-zero temperatures), I'll take them out and coat them in chocolate to make truffles.

I stumbled across this recipe by Paula Deen (lovely lady with great recipes that must seriously be tested in moderation as they can get pretty rich) last year, and thought it was genius. The elegant appearance of truffles combined with the familiar and comforting taste of chocolate chip cookies. What's not to love?

Of course, like most recipes, I had to tinker - mostly with the sugar, as I find most recipes too sweet.

My tinkerings:
- 300 ML of condensed milk (slightly less than 14 ounces)
- 1/3 cup of brown sugar instead of 3/4 cup - condensed milk is already chock-full of sweetness - the brown sugar is for flavouring only
- 0.75 cups of mini chocolate chips (more than the 0.5 cups called for)
- 1.5 cups of pecans (up from the 1 cup called for)

The recipe is actually quite ingenious - no eggs, so you don't have to worry about salmonella poisoning - and it still retains all of the amazing flavours of the classic chocolate chip cookie.

I do have to say though, it is quite labour intensive. The dough was easy enough to make, but it was the chocolate dipping part that hurt the most.

Making chocolate is fun, but I'm definitely not an expert. Which means that dipping the cookie dough (which, BTW, were shaped with my awesome cookie dough scoop) into melted chocolate coating, taking it out and placing it onto waxed paper was quite painful for me.

Even with my chocolate dipping toolset, it still hurt. I definitely need more practice.

But the end results?  Not as bad as I thought.  Check it out:

While not perfectly dipped, I did manage to get the job done. Paula's recipe calls for 2 spoons if you don't have the right tools. Let's just say I did this last year and I would never, ever, ever, do this again.

Peanut butter granola bars

By now, you've probably realized that in a fearful way, I worship Martha Stewart. I didn't realize this until one day, I signed up for her daily newsletter. I also keep going back to her site for her recipes (note: I always tinker, but her recipes require minimal tinkering).

Case in point: granola bars. I'm a fan of granola bars but I never know what goes in them - plus store-bought ones tend to not be filling (or so I think). So in my quest for a granola bar recipe, I turned to Martha once again and found this recipe.

The recipe worked out really well, though if I were to attempt it again, I would leave out the vegetable oil. The oil in the peanut butter is enough to prevent anything from sticking to the parchment paper. I would also reduce the sugar from 1/2 cup to 1/3 of a cup.

After the granola mixture baked and cooled down, I had to cut the bars and package them (many of you also know that I rarely eat what I bake) to give away.
Like actual granola bars, I packaged each one in saran wrap and then placed them in a tin takeout box. The  fit was snug, and I was afraid to just shove them in the box - so I game up with a solution a la Martha: a pull tag!

All I can say is that I'm extremely proud of this.  Oh, and the granola bars were extremely yummy too.

Cinnamon sugar cookies

Earlier this week, I mentioned Big Oven, a collection of recipes contributed by fellow foodies. One recipe in particular caught my eye: Mrs Fields' cinnamon sugar cookies. I followed the ingredients and instructions almost exactly, but tinkered with different cooking temperatures and times.

When I followed the recipe at 300 F and baked them for 18 minutes the cookies turned out very cakey.  According to the recipe photos, it's supposed to be cakey, but I' m not a fan of cakey cookies (haha).

So I started to tinker.  I baked the second batch at 350 F for 12 minutes - the texture was a little harder, but not quite there.  So I reviewed the recipe again.  

The recipe calls for 2 eggs - which is a lot. This most likely contributed to the cake-like texture. I think I'll try baking with 1 egg next time.

Overall, it's a tasty cookie, and one that I would make again.

My love-hate relationship with coffee / plea for new coffee shops

As you can tell by the title of this posting, I have mixed feelings about coffee. On the one hand, coffee is an elixir; party too hard the night before and need a pick-me-up? Coffee will do the trick. Getting up at the crack of dawn and need a little help before sitting down for a busy day at the office? Go coffee. And the smell? Oh I LOVE the smell of coffee. Strong, smoky and fragrant.

On the other hand, coffee is also disgusting. How can something that smells so incredible taste so incredibly disgusting? I would never drink my coffee black (okay, unless I was seriously desperate). It's bitter, burnt and...bitter. Did I mention bitter? Cream and sweetener all the way!

And if I drink too much, I get heart palpitations. Not to mention that coffee acts as a diuretic (joy).

Ironically, as I write this, I'm hunkered down at my local Starbucks.

But coffee is also an incredible baking ingredient. I've used instant coffee (yes, yes, blasphemy to you hardcore coffee drinkers) in cookies and am currently testing it out as an ingredient in savoury dishes (my poor, poor, loved ones). Oddly enough, I've never tried coffee in anything beyond, well, coffee.

So...with the weather getting colder, and coffee becoming a necessity (I definitely drink more coffee in the winter), I send this plea out to you, my fellow readers: I'm on the lookout for some new coffee shops in the Toronto area (but I'm also willing to travel as far as Prince Edward County). Please share your coffee stories / recommendations with me. Thanks in advance.

Bake it in a cake (a.k.a pumpkin pie baked in a cupcake)

Seriously delicious

So a good friend of mine found this insane web site that - get this - collects ideas on what can be baked into cupcakes. With the intense cooking from Thanksgiving, I decided to take a break and bake strictly for fun: hence Bake it in a Cake.

I tried out this recipe, and it was AMAZING. Unfortunately, I didn't have any cream cheese for the icing so tried this Martha Stewart recipe instead (warning: I found it WAY too sweet - even though I only used 2 cups of icing sugar).

I have to admit, it did take awhile to make the mini pumpkin pies, and then the cake batter, and then the actual cake. Oh...and then the icing. But the end result was worth it. Special thanks to SMC for finding this cool web site. The recipe is as follows (just in case the site ever goes down, I'll always have a copy of the recipe).

This recipe should make 24.

For the pumpkin pies you’ll need:

- 1 batch of your favorite pie crust dough 

- 1 15 oz. can pumpkin pie filling, prepared according to the can’s directions.

For the cupcakes you’ll need: 

- 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature

- 8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature

- 1 1/2 c. granulated sugar

- 3 eggs (room temperature)

- 2 t. vanilla

- 2 t. baking powder

- 1/2 t. baking soda

- 1/2 t. salt

- 1 1/3 c. whole milk

- 2 1/2 c. flour 

For the buttercream you’ll need:

- 2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature

- 8 oz cream cheese, room temperature

- 2 c. powdered sugar

- 1 c. Hershey’s cinnamon chips (or any cinnamon chips you like)*

- splash of whole milk 

*Not available in Canada - substitute cinnamon and brown sugar

Directions:

Pre-heat the oven to 425 degrees (F).

First ingredient: mini pumpkin pies

First, prepare the pumpkin pies. Mix up the pumpkin pie mix according to the can’s directions (or make your

own-fancy!). Roll out the pie crust dough and cut it into small circles that are large enough to cover the bottom and sides of mini cupcake tins (I used the opening of a small juice glass as a cutter). 

Press the dough into the lightly greased mini cupcake tins, and then fill them with the pumpkin pie mix. (Don’t go all the way to the top, the filling will expand a little while baking.)

Bake the pies for about 7 minutes at 425 degrees (F), and then turn the oven down to 350 degrees (F) and bake them for another 10 minutes or so, until the crust is brown and the filling is completely set.

After taking them out of the oven, cool them on a wire rack for about 10 minutes, then take them out of the pan and allow them to cool further while you mix up the batter.

Pies in the batter

For the cupcake batter, combine the butter and the cream cheese together on medium speed for about 90 seconds—you want the ingredients to be well incorporated. Then mix in the sugar until the mixture is fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, and then the vanilla, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Then mix in the milk and the flour, alternating between the two ingredients. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl, to make sure everything is getting well-mixed—beat again on med-high speed for about a minute. It should be smooth and creamy.

Spoon a heaping tablespoon of batter into regular-sized, paper-lined cupcake tins. Plop a cooled pumpkin pie 

Covering the pies

into the center, and press gently into the batter. GENTLY. You don’t want it to touch to the bottom of the pan. 

Cover the pies with another heaping tablespoon of batter, so the top and sides are completely covered.

Bake at 350 degrees (F) for about 25 minutes, until the cake is set and the edges and tops of the cupcakes have turned golden brown.

Allow them to cool in the cupcake tray for atleast 10 minutes before moving to a wire rack—they’ll be a little fragile at first. 

Once the cakes are cool, frost ‘em! 

To make the buttercream, melt down the cinnamon chips with a splash of whole milk. Pop ‘em in the microwave for about 45 seconds on high. Stir until all the chips are melted, and allow it to cool a bit while you whip up the rest of the frosting (you can put the bowl in the fridge, it’ll cool faster that way, and the milk will keep it from solidifying). 

1 down...many to go

Cream together the butter and cream cheese until they’re well incorporated. Then whip in the powdered sugar, a cup at a time, until the mixture is smooth and creamy. With the mixer on low, drizzle in the cooled cinnamon chip “ganache” (if it’s too hot it’ll melt the buttercream and ruin it—you don’t want that). Put in about half, then stop to taste it and decide if you’d like to add more. Some like it strong, others like it milder. 

If  you have any pie crust left over, roll it out and cut smaller discs and sprinkle them with a little bit of 

cinnamon and sugar. Bake ‘em for about 10 minutes at 350 and look at that, a cute and tasty cupcake topper!

You can also try candied pecans or a drizzle of caramel on top. Tasty!

This recipe was created by Megan Seling for Bakeitinacake.com

Apple pie cake

Mom says add vanilla ice cream

The fall harvest is one of my favourite times of year. Especially when it's apple season. Apple cider, apple pies, apple sauce, the list goes on and on. I went apple picking last year, but didn't have time this year. Luckily, my cousins M&C went and treated me to some apples (empire and cortland).

Not being entirely sure what to make, I turned to Martha Stewart and tried her recipe for apple pie cake.

This recipe was easy-to-follow and the results were very tasty. Though it took nearly 7 hours for the cake to completely cool down (if you try to remove the cake from the pan while it's hot, it will fall apart).

Carrot cake with cream cheese icing (i.e. my first successful cake!)

I love Alton Brown. Seriously, he's smart, entertaining and generally comes across as a really nice and quirky guy. Nerdy chic might be the correct term. His recipes are also really people friendly - i.e. he tells you to check for the internal temperature of a cake to see if it's done, instead of just eyeballing it. Which is exactly what I did using his carrot cake recipe.

Carrot cake in the raw: not that pretty

I've never made carrot cake before (or for that fact, successfully baked a cake), so this was a brand new adventure for me. I grated the carrots by hand and then followed the recipe. After I mixed the flour, eggs, spices and carrots together I did a double take. Why? Because it DID NOT look appetizing. To be honest, it looks like the remnants of too many drinks the night before. But I did continue on and placed the cake into the oven.

The result? A delicious one.

Oh, and the cream cheese icing was to die for. (Though I did reduce the icing sugar to one cup).

Carrot cake complete: it was a hit!

Also, the cake looked way better after it was done.

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Carrot Cake
Recipe courtesy Alton Brown, 2005

Prep Time:40 minInactive Prep Time:1 hr 0 minCook Time:1 hr 10 min
Level:
Easy
Serves:
- 1 (9-inch) cake

Ingredients
- Unsalted butter, for the pan
- 12 ounces, approximately 2 1/2 cups, all-purpose flour, plus extra for pan
- 12 ounces grated carrots, medium grate, approximately 6 medium
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 10 ounces sugar, approximately 1 1/3 cups
- 2 ounces dark brown sugar, approximately 1/4 cup firmly packed
- 3 large eggs
- 6 ounces plain yogurt
- 6 ounces vegetable oil
- Cream Cheese Frosting, recipe follows

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Butter and flour a 9-inch round and 3-inch deep cake pan. Line the bottom with parchment paper. Set aside.

Put the carrots into a large mixing bowl and set aside.

Put the flour, baking powder, baking soda, spices, and salt in the bowl of a food processor and process for 5 seconds. Add this mixture to the carrots and toss until they are well-coated with the flour.

In the bowl of the food processor combine the sugar, brown sugar, eggs, and yogurt.

With the processor still running drizzle in the vegetable oil. Pour this mixture into the carrot mixture and stir until just combined. Pour into the prepared cake pan and bake on the middle rack of the oven for 45 minutes. Reduce the heat to 325 degrees F and bake for another 20 minutes or until the cake reaches 205 to 210 degrees F in the center.

Remove the pan from the oven and allow cake to cool 15 minutes in the pan. After 15 minutes, turn the cake out onto a rack and allow cake to cool completely. Frost with cream cheese frosting after cake has cooled completely.

Cream Cheese Frosting:
- 8 ounces cream cheese
- 2 ounces unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 9 ounces powdered sugar, sifted, approximately 2 cups (1 cup is more than enough)

In the bowl of a stand mixer with paddle attachment, combine the cream cheese and butter on medium just until blended. Add the vanilla and beat until combined. With the speed on low, add the powdered sugar in 4 batches and beat until smooth between each addition.

Place the frosting in the refrigerator for 5 to 10 minutes before using.

Yield: approximately 2 cups

Seafood quinoa salad

I've been trying to wean my parents off white rice for awhile now (it's tough when you're Asian). They don't like brown rice, and my mother isn't a fan of anything whole wheat. Enter quinoa. I love quinoa, but I needed to find a way to make it somewhat rice like. My solution? Warm seafood quinoa salad, cooked in a saffron broth.

The result? Clean plates and request for seconds. What more can a cook want?

Serves 4-5 people

Ingredients for broth
- 4 cups of chicken stock
- 2 cups of water
- 1 cup of diced white onions
- 1/2 bulb of garlic (diced)
- 3 lobster tails
- 1 piece of salmon (approximately 1/2 pound)

Ingredients for the salad
- 1.5 cups of quinoa
- 0.5 cups of diced white onions
- 1 cup of fresh parsley (roughly chopped)
- 10 cherry tomatoes (halved)
- 1 sweet green pepper (chopped)

Directions for broth
- Bring the chicken stock and water to a boil.
- Add onions and garlic - letting it simmer for about 30 minutes.
- Add the lobster tails - they'll cook very quickly, so keep an eye on them.
- Remove the lobster tails from the broth.
- Separate the lobster meat from the shell.
- Add the shells back to the broth and let it simmer for another 30 minutes.
- Chop up the lobster meat and set aside.
- Bring the broth back to a boil - place the salmon on a strainer or a ladle and then submerge it in the bubbling broth.
- Use a fork and flake the salmon to check if it's cooked - if it's pink and flaky, remove it from the broth. Set aside.
- Reduce the heat to low.

Directions for quinoa
- Bring about 3 cups of broth to a boil
- Add the quinoa and the onions
- Wait for the mixture to boil
- Reduce the heat to medium and cook the quinoa until the liquid evaporates (approximately 12 minutes)
- Remove the quinoa from the heat and fluff it.
- Let the quinoa sit (with the lid on) for about 15 minutes.

Directions for the salad
- After the quinoa has sat for 15 minutes, add the fresh ingredients (pepper, tomatoes, and parsley).
- Add the chopped lobster and the salmon.
- Using a wooden spoon, mix everything together (the salmon should flake apart).
- Enjoy.

(I also added cooked corn - sliced off the cob).

On my way to cake...

So I tried this Martha Stewart brownie recipe (again) - being careful to pre-beat the eggs before adding to the chocolate mixture (this way, you don't risk over mixing the batter and ending up with a rock) - and it was a success!  Feedback has been extremely positive, and I'm encouraged enough to start looking for a very simple cake recipe (please feel free to send me some links).

I also substituted semi-sweet chocolate chunks for semi-sweet chocolate chips and reduced the sugar slightly.  Below is the recipe with some of my own adjustments.  

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Makes 9 large or 16 small squares

FOR THE BATTER
- 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces, plus more for pan
- 2 ounces good-quality unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped
- 4 ounces good-quality semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped (SUBSTITUTE: SEMI-SWEET CHOCOLATE CHIPS)
- 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar (2/3 CUP)
- 3 large eggs (ADDITIONAL DIRECTIONS: BEAT THE EGGS BEFORE ADDING TO THE BUTTER)
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

FOR THE FILLING
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
- 3/4 cup smooth peanut butter
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Butter an 8-inch square baking pan and line with parchment, allowing a 2-inch overhang. Butter lining (not overhang).
- Make batter: Put butter and chocolates in a heatproof medium bowl set over a pan of simmering water; stir until melted. Let cool slightly. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl.
- Whisk granulated sugar into chocolate mixture. Add eggs, and whisk until mixture is smooth. Stir in vanilla. Add flour mixture; stir until well incorporated.
- Make filling: Stir together butter, confectioners' sugar, peanut butter, salt, and vanilla in a bowl until smooth.
- Pour one-third of batter into prepared pan; spread evenly with a rubber spatula. Drop dollops of peanut butter filling (about 1 tablespoon each) on top of batter, spacing about 1 inch apart. Drizzle remaining batter on top, and gently spread to fill pan. Drop dollops of remaining filling on top. Gently swirl peanut butter filling into batter with a butter knife, running the knife lengthwise and crosswise through layers (ADDITIONAL DIRECTIONS: MAKE SURE YOUR KNIFE TOUCHES THE BOTTOM OF THE PAN).
- Bake until a cake tester inserted into brownies (avoid center and edges) comes out with a few crumbs but is not wet, about 45* minutes.
- Let cool slightly in pan, about 15 minutes. Lift out; let cool completely on a wire rack before cutting into squares. Brownies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature up to 3 days. (TIME: AT 325, I NEEDED TO BAKE THE BROWNIES FOR APPROXIMATELY 50 MINUTES THE CENTRE OF THE BROWNIE SOLIDIFIED)