Desserts

Desserts

Skor Cake

With the last week of Claudia’s vacation coming to an end, I decided to make my all-time personal favourite cake. Sure…cheesecake is pretty good, and nothing can truly compare to an amazing piece of red velvet. But THIS cake is simply the best (sorry but I had to quote the Queen, Tina Turner there).

My brother and I were born 2 years and 1 day apart from each other. Growing up, we often shared birthday parties.  We actually still do to this day.  The one thing that Claudia did well was although we never really had individual birthday parties, we always had our own cake. Probably because she knew I’d throw a fit if I had a Superman themed cake and my brother would be the laughing stock of his friends if he had to have a Strawberry Shortcake themed cake. But I digress…

Skor Cake is now my staple birthday cake every year from Claudia. My brother also gets Skor Cake, but his typically comes from Dairy Queen in ice cream form. Again, even in adulthood, we still need to keep our birthday cakes different. I encourage you all try Skor Cake for your birthdays. Friends – you are worth it!

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Desserts

Pumpkin Scones

I realize that the spicy and savory taste of pumpkin is typically reserved for autumn when the weather becomes slightly cooler and you need something warm to pick you up – not when it’s +40 celsius with the humidity in August. As I mentioned in my last post, this is week two of Claudia being on vacation. This recipe is her most favourite that I bake and she requests it often. These scones are dense and almost exactly like the pumpkin scones you will find at your neighbourhood Starbucks. I was given this recipe from a friend of mine a few years ago. I’m actually not entirely sure where she found it, so I apologize if I’m not giving the proper recipe credits. In other words, please don’t sue me if this is your recipe. I’m just trying to be a good daughter, after all.

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Desserts

Blueberry Lemon Loaf with White Chocolate Icing

For the next few weeks, I am cooking and baking alone. Claudia has decided to leave me and head out of town for a well-deserved vacation. As she left, she gave me simple, yet specific instructions for the blog –  post her favourite recipes of mine that I make for her. Simple enough.

This first “on my own” recipe is a new addition to my baking repertoire. I’ve adapted this blueberry loaf recipe from Jen on her How to Simplify blog by adding lemon zest to the loaf batter and making my own white chocolate, lemon icing to go along with it. This recipe makes a dense, sweet loaf which is perfect for blueberry season. Onward!

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Desserts

Monster Cookies

Although Claudia’s chocolate chip cookies were the ultimate staple dessert in our house while growing up, monster cookies were a close second. As you can see in the picture to the right, I was quite a fan of the cookie dough while baking. I’m not entirely sure where I got the idea that eating raw cookie dough was a good idea. I blame my Dad. After all, he was always the one who would say “Jaime, can you make me some cookies”.  I was 5.  All I knew in the end was that cookie dough tasted amazing, and so do these easy Monster Cookies.

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Desserts

Special K Frosted Chews

This is one of the easiest and most delicious desserts in Claudia’s repertoire that I definitely needed to inherit. Although these are technically called “Special K” treats (I expect major props from Kellogg’s for the shout-out by the way), you can easily substitute any of your favourite cereals for this dessert. Rice Krispies would work well, but Claudia has insisted Special K is far superior to anything else out there on the market today. Enough said – you don’t question the expert, as I once again found out today. But more on that in a bit.

This dessert usually pops up as part of Claudia’s Christmas baking line-up. Each Christmas Eve, I raid the dessert platter to ensure the Frosted Chews are where they should be. Great frozen, these treats are still definitely much better when eaten when they are a little warm and melty from the assembly process. I simply cannot muster up the words to describe how amazing these little treats taste. For the little effort it takes to create these gems, I highly recommend you try these immediately.

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