My favourite time of year to bake is early summer, when rhubarb and all kinds of berries are fresh and in season. I have so many sticks of rhubarb that I don’t know what to do with it. I often make crisps or crumbles, but this time I wanted to adapt an awesome cake recipe that my Mother-in-Law gave me into muffins. (more…)
T-minus 1 day until I’m officially on vacation! I cannot wait. I am actually doing a stay-cation and spending time in the city and at home. The decision to take a week’s vacation was a last minute one, so I didn’t have time to put together travel plans. I’m also going to be a bridesmaid next weekend for the 5th time, so I figured I should stay put as there are many exciting events leading up to my friend’s big day.
Although my vacation will consist of attending some appointments and getting some much needed beauty sleep, I cannot wait to have more time to cook and bake. If you follow me on Facebook (and if you don’t – you totally should!), you will already know that I purchased Gwyneth Paltrow’s latest cookbook “It’s All Good“. I’m not a huge Gwyneth fan, but I must say, the recipes in this cookbook sound extremely delicious. Some ingredients may be a challenge to find, therefore I’m totally looking forward to having more time to shop around and to visit some local organic grocery stores. I will keep you posted on how the recipes turn out!
Now, onto this latest recipe I am featuring. It’s pretty much one of the best cakes I’ve ever made with fruit in it, hands down. I made it with freshly picked strawberries and I cannot say enough about how delicious it tasted. Claudia loved it as well and encouraged me to make it again. That is always the true test, if your mother approves. The Greek yogurt makes it sinfully moist, and the lemon icing gives it a nice sweetness.
Wow – it’s hot out there! I hope the weather has been as good to you as it has to us here in Winnipeg. It’s been sweltering over the past week. And trust me, I’m not complaining…especially after our frigid winter we experienced this year. (more…)
June is my favourite month. Summer is in full swing, dinner and drinks on the patio, and my birthday. Yes, my birthday. It’s truly my favourite holiday. I even take the day off work and treat myself to a sleep in, guilty pleasure TV and perhaps even a spa treatment if I’m able to get in. In my friend group there are three of us who have June birthdays, and we had the opportunity to get together last night to celebrate. I figured it isn’t a true birthday celebration without cake, so I decided to poll my friends to see which flavour cupcake they wanted me to make. Well, with a tie between chocolate and red velvet, I decided to mix it up and make these delicious Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Stuffed Cupcakes! I chose right – they were a total hit! There were even a couple loud statements claiming they were “the best cupcakes I have ever had!” You can’t get much better than that. These cupcakes are rich, decadent and moist. A total treat for birthday’s, holidays or any day of the week!
Wow time sure does fly. I can’t believe it’s been over one month since my last post. Trust me though, I have a valid reason. Last week, I was finally able to escape our brutally cold winter and head to the sunny skies and warmth of Arizona to visit my parents. (more…)
Our Skor Cake is probably one of the most popular recipes our website. And of course, it should be – it’s delicious and so simple to make. In keeping with my autumn theme and total pumpkin obsession, I thought it would be fun to experiment with it a little. I was pretty darn happy I did too. I deemed this recipe “Pumpkin Caramel Dream Cake” for good reason. It’s simple like our Skor Cake recipe, rich and full of caramel and pumpkin flavor. Perfect for the season!
I wanted to point out an adaption to this recipe – I decided to mix the caramel in with the condensed milk and soak it into the cake. However, if you want more of an intense pumpkin cake flavor, you can soak the cake in condensed milk by itself and leave the caramel for the topping only.
Although my love of baking started at home with Claudia at a very young age, it was reinforced when Food Network Canada was part of our cable TV package. I was in university and still living with my parents when I discovered how wonderful the channel is. I remember watching Rachael Ray with Claudia and us both loving the food she would make and her energetic charm. When Rachael wasn’t on, we would turn the channel and eagerly watch the Queen – Martha Stewart. To this day, I love Martha. She defines everything that is classic and elegant in food and home.
I subscribe to Rachael Ray’s e-newsletter. This recipe that we are featuring in this post is adapted from one that Rachael featured a few weeks ago. I didn’t really like the idea of using jarred lemon curd, so I decided to make my own. With a little help from Martha of course. This cake is delightful. It’s full of bright lemon flavour, with a hint of sweetness from the raspberries. The cake is dense yet soft.
The original goal of this blog when it was first conceived was for me to learn and document all the amazing recipes that Claudia had in her cookbook. This blog recently turned 1 year old, and I think we’ve done a pretty good job at showcasing some of her best work. However, every now and then Claudia and I come across some fantastic recipes from others that we feel require some showcasing as well. My boyfriend’s Mom is also an amazing baker. There are countless recipes of hers I would love to get my hands on and feature. However, I’ve been told by her that the only way that will happen is if I marry her son. Fair trade off, right?
This Chocolate Zucchini Cake is one of my boyfriend’s favourite recipes from his Mom. He loves this cake so much that he requests that I bake it for him each year for his birthday. I can’t complain…it’s absolutely delicious. If it wasn’t for Claudia’s beloved Skor Cake, I’d be requesting Chocolate Zucchini Cake for my birthday as well.
Like most people, summer is my favourite time of the year. The weather (for the most part) is warm and restaurant patios are a buzz with tons of people in great moods. I particularly love summer because of the selection of fruit in season. Blueberries, strawberries and raspberries are in abundance in grocery stores, farmers markets are open, and U-pick fruit farms are everywhere. Some of my favourite summer memories growing up were when Claudia would take me and my brother to U-pick farms outside the city and we’d pick pails and pails of strawberries (and fill our bellies just the same).
I also find baking to be much more enjoyable with fresh in-season fruit. One of my favourites to bake in the early summer is Strawberry Rhubarb Cake. This recipe is another gem of Claudia’s. There are a lot of strawberry rhubarb recipes out there. This one is more like a cake, but still has the same delicious flavour as a crisp.
We are just waking up from our holiday food comas. We hope that the holiday season is being kind to you all! We did a fair amount of baking leading up to Christmas, therefore the next few posts will be of the dessert variety. We honestly couldn’t wait to share this new recipe of ours with you.
This recipe is actually not a Claudia original. I actually found it on the blog by the wonderful and talented Bakerella. We tried it for the first time last week and everyone who has tried these little darlings has fallen in love. So of course, we simply had to share the love with you as well! I think these little babies would be a fun addition to any New Years Eve potluck party. The only downside to this story is that you need Red Velvet cake mix. I haven’t been able to locate this in Canada, so I typically stock up on this when I hit Target in the USA. I highly recommend you give the Duncan Hines variety a try.