"if that's a pound cake, this is a tonne cake"

I made a cake for my Mum's birthday this weekend, using this Lemon Poppy-Seed Layer Cake recipe from a Traditional Home magazine (as per her request).  I thought the flavor combination of lemon, coconut, and poppy-seed would make for a nice light dessert to suit the improving weather.

Unfortunately the post title pretty much sums up my emotions towards the final product.  I was a bit disappointed with this recipe!  It was sooooooo dense, and it only got worse the longer I kept it in the fridge. I've come to the conclusion that this is because of the buttermilk, so in future I would omit it completely (perhaps substituting for 2% milk or whipping cream).

I slaved over this cake for houurrs (it definitely looked nice when I was done!).  If you follow the recipe link you might notice that there is no recipe for the icing.  I therefore had to go on a mad hunt to find one and landed on this Canadian Living recipe, which involved egg whites and had no icing sugar (!?).  I've never seen icing made like this before, but as I'd already given up my entire day on this cake I thought I'd try it.  In the end I found it tasted very much like regular icing (and maybe ever so slightly healthier? ...a girl can dream).  It was possibly my favorite part of the cake!

I would love to try this cake again at some point and see if I could make a lighter version.  After all the idea of coconut and lemon does sound wonderful!

~

long time no blog

Helloooo.  Its been a while!  Hopefully your summer's treating you well and you have no cause for summer blues.  Personally I'm in it deep; working two jobs, no longer stuck in a house with nothing better to do but bake.

Unsurprisingly this means my blog efforts have slowed riiight down.  I barely even have the energy to read a book in the evenings (and my summer reading list never ceases to grow).

But this doesn't mean I don't have a use for baking anymore - oh no.  I will take any excuse to make lunches and snacks myself, rather than buying them ready-made.  So I have a couple recipes to share; two kinds of muffins that I keep in the freezer, which makes it really easy to grab-and-go in a mad morning dash to work.

The first are these carrot spice muffins I found on Martha Stewart's webpage.  These were reaaally good.  The only thing stopping me from making them again is the arduous task of grating the carrots.

I also noticed that the batter was quite dry so I added about 1/3 cup more yogurt but in future I think I would have just backed off on the flour.

The second batch of muffins are banana chocolate chip.  A classic in the McFadden house; these have been in my school lunches for as long as I can remember.  I never realized how incredibly easy they were, but I guess that's why my mum made them so often!!

recipe: 

3 over-ripe bananas

1/3 cup softened butter

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg

1 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup chocolate chips

Mash the bananas.  Set aside.

Combine flour, soda, and powder.  Set aside.

Cream butter and sugar.  Add egg.  Stir in bananas.

Gradually fold in flour mixture.

Stir in chocolate chips.

Bake in 375 degree F oven for 15 mins.

Store in zip-lock in freezer for up to two months.

Neither option is particularly unhealthy because of the banana and the carrot (though you could omit the chocolate chips if you really wanted), and I baked both batches in tiny muffin trays because I find the ordinary muffin size too heavy for a snack.

These will definitely make an appearance at Ellerbeck! (as if our freezer wasn't full enough already!!)

~

I like the way you work it, no diggity

I should have posted this ages ago!  I made meringues last weekend, took pictures and then completely forgot about them.

I used a combination of recipes to mix these up.  Mostly I followed a recipe from Allrecipes.ca, but I set the oven to 275˚F instead of 200˚F and only baked them for an hour.  I must say, for my first try these were pretty close to perfect!

The night I made them we had them for dessert in a berry fool, which was a mixture of balkan yogurt, whipped cream, and fresh berries.

Since meringues last forever, we also had them with lemon custard and blackberries.

On their third night I made an orange buttercream to sandwich them together.  I made it up as I went along so I really have no way of knowing what I used!!  Really should have blogged about it as soon as I'd finished!  Oh well... it wasn't exceptional; probably too sweet (especially paired with the already sweet meringues) and the orange flavor definitely wasn't strong enough.  I probably wouldn't make it the same way again, so no harm done!

If you're wondering about the title of my post, this song is really stuck in my head - I mean really stuck in there!  I keep coming back to the same line; so when I went to create a title it was the only thing I could think of...its a pretty neat song, but listen at your own peril...don't say I didn't warn you!!  Ed Sheeran feat. Passenger No Diggity- Thrift Shop

~ 

Coconut Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins

Oh man. These were so good. These were really, really good. I only meant to make them because we had a bunch of frozen bananas in the freezer, but they turned out really incredibly. I chose the recipe because it was the one I came across that called for the most bananas, and I'm now convinced that is exactly the way to chose a banana recipe. I can't even stress how really good these were. Shredded coconut was mixed into the batter, and I tossed some on the tops of a couple of muffins to see how it'd work. I think the muffins are too moist for a topping, so I wouldn't bother next time.

I can't find the site where I found the recipe at the moment - I'll update with it when I can!

P.S. Busted out the big girl camera for these ones - I'm still working on the composition though!

Happy (almost) End of Exams • Chocolate Zucchini Cake with Mocha Icing

Today marks the end of all of my sister's hardest exams!  In celebration my Mum and I made her this scrumptious cake.

We've made it before and found the icing a bit heavy.  It really stole the show of the cake underneath.  Fortunately by a happy mistake I forgot to add all the butter this time.  I find our lighter version of the icing much more of a compliment to the cake.

This recipe came from one of my Mum's work colleagues.  Sadly I'm not sure where it is at the moment!!  As soon as I find it, I will file it away for safe keeping - this is my new favorite!

On another note; I got a job!  Possibly this means less baking, but for the moment its one more reason to eat cake!

~

Orange Poppy-seed Muffins

Two and a half weeks of being at home and I still haven't found a job!  So for lack of anything better to do, I decided to occupy this windy Wednesday with a bit more baking.

My Mum has been requesting these muffins for a while.  They're nice and light; perfect for this time of year.

The worst part of this recipe is grating the orange zest.  Thankfully Mum's got a special zest grater she let me use (shown above).  Would have taken twice as long without it!!

Recipe:

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 cup granulated sugar

2 eggs

1/4 cup coarsely grated orange rind

1 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup orange juice

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

3 tbsp poppy seeds

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

Oven at 375˚F.  Cream butter and sugar.  Beat in eggs, one at a time.  Stir in orange rind.

Combine buttermilk and orange juice; set aside.

In separate bowl, stir together flour, poppy seeds, baking soda and salt.

Gradually add dry ingredients to sugar mixture alternately with buttermilk mixture.  (Make 3 additions of flour mixture and 2 additions of buttermilk mixture).

Spoon batter into greased muffin cups.

Bake in center of oven until golden brown, about 20 mins (I took them out after 15 mins and it was plenty).

Makes approx. 12 muffins.

I put half of the batter into smaller cups to make it stretch a bit further.  You can also freeze these for up to 2 weeks if you make too many!

Recipe adapted from Canadian Living: Meals in Minutes, 1999

~

Happy Mother's Day - Version Two

Your pancakes look amazing! I mean, they look like they taste amazing, but holy man, that is a nice photo! I'm clearly going to have to step my photography game up from its current state of, well, taking poorly lit pictures with my iphone. Happy Mother's Day to your mum! I made mine Cinnamon Rolls. Super tasty. I'd never done it before, so I'm relieved they turned out (they didn't look like they would at one point). Recipe from Our Best Bites. Most fun part of making them: instead of using a knife, which can cause the shape to collapse, I cut 'em up with dental floss. Didn't even leave a minty taste ;)

I wasn't joking - dental floss!

Happy Mother's Day!!

Here they are!  I put this healthy twist on pancakes to the test this morning.  Proved to be a very successful Mother's Day breakfast ✿.

I didn't have almond milk so I used 1 cup of buttermilk + 3/4 cup of milk instead.  I also added a splash more maple syrup because I found the batter a tad bitter (though it turns out I needn't have done this - frying the pancakes really brought out the flavor!!).

The whole wheat flour is perfectly balanced by the sweetness of diced banana in the batter.  A natural taste bud tantalizer that brought the whole family to the table.  I will definitely make these again!

Thank you Karla'sCloset :)

~

Nacho Kinda Night

The blondies look really tasty, I think I'll try them myself!  And I'm sure I'll make the coconut cookies back at Ellerbeck; that recipe is a keeper.  I wish there was a way to email food!!

I can't believe in the eight months I've been cooking for myself I've never made nachos!  They're so quick and tasty, and definitely student-friendly.

We had burritos for dinner tonight so I thought it was fitting to have these as an appetizer.  I also made mousse (from a box) for dessert, which is sooo easy.  Made me wonder what it would take to make your own, so this is my next challenge.

Also, I found a recipe for whole wheat banana pancakes which I really want to try.  The plan is to make them for Mum tomorrow (providing I wake up early enough!!).

~

Browned Butter Blondies

I baked this about a week ago and forgot to post about it because I'm terrible. In my defense, they were only alright - I overbaked them (despite taking a few minutes off the recipe's suggestion!) so they were cake-like rather than dense, which I would have preferred. At least the stove heated to the temperature I wanted it too. I definitely do not miss our gas monster.  Still, browning the butter was so tasty. If you're not familiar with the process, essentially it involves heating butter in a pan until the milk parts 'brown' and take on a nutty smell and flavour. I think I'll try it in a chocolate chip cookie next! Speaking of cookies: the coconut cookies you made sound amazing. Maybe those'll make it to the counter back on Ellerbeck Street?

I found the recipe on a blog called Crunchy Creamy Sweet . I didn't make the icing, but maybe I should have!

Cranberry Almond Muffins (a.k.a 'Health Nut' Muffins)

It seems since school has finished I have more free time than I know what to do with!!  It's been driving me a little insane.  As a result I've put all my spare energy towards a bit of a baking bender...After all you can hardly expect me to contain myself with all the baking supplies my Mum has in the pantry!

Last night I tried a muffin recipe from one of the thousand Prevention magazines lying around the house.  These recipes tend to be uber-healthy and very precise with measurements.  Based on my family's reaction, I may have made them slightly too healthy, but there are ways you can make them a bit more of a treat.

The recipe follows:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 large egg
1/2 cup milk
4 tbsp butter, melted (I used margarine)
1 tsp almond extract
1 2/3 cup whole cranberries (fresh or frozen)
topping (optional):
2 tsp sugar
1 tbsp butter, cut into 12 cubes
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 cup sliced almonds
cooking spray (or 12 baking cups)

Preheat oven 375˚F.
Mix first 5 ingredients.
Whisk next 4 ingredients.  Fold into flour mixture.
Stir in cranberries.
Spray muffin pans with cooking spray (or line with baking cups).  Fill each cup with batter.
If desired, top with butter, 2 tsp sugar, cinnamon, and almonds.
Bake about 20 mins, or until tester comes out clean.  Makes approx. 12 muffins.

I opted to omit the topping, making these the perfect accompaniment to a healthy breakfast.

Adapted from Prevention Magazine, December 2012

~

Coconut Chocolate Chunk Cookies

I finally made something nice enough to take a picture of!  The oven at my parent's house is electric and is taking me some getting used to.  Believe it or not, I've been missing our capricious gas stove a little bit!!

This is a recipe from a Cooking Light magazine Mum found lying around at work...The coconut was very tricky to cook - I very nearly burnt it!  I also found them a bit sweet, so next time I might use slightly less brown sugar, but they turned out pretty tasty in the end.  We had them with our afternoon tea and it was very tempting to forego dinner and eat all the cookies instead!  I'm not sure I have much appetite left for dinner as it is.  I made a batch of pancakes for my sister this morning and ate most of them myself...*shhhh*

Here is the recipe if you'd like to try them yourself:

1 cup flaked sweetened coconut

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/8 tsp salt

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 tsp vanilla

1 large egg

2 ounces dark chocolate

Preheat oven 350˚F.  Arrange coconut in thin layer on baking sheet and bake until lightly toasted (about 6 mins).  Set aside.

Chop chocolate into small chunks (be careful with this!!).  Set aside.

In large bowl cream butter and sugar together until well combined.  Add egg and vanilla.

In separate bowl mix flour, baking powder, soda and salt.

Gradually add flour mixture to wet ingredients.  Stir in toasted coconut and chocolate chunks.  (I had to add a tbsp of milk at this stage because I found the batter too dry).

Drop cookies onto ungreased baking sheet and bake for about 10 mins.  Let cool for 1 minute on tray and then transfer to cooling rack.  Makes approx. 25 cookies.

Adapted from Cooking Light: Quick and Easy Low-Calorie Recipes, June 2011

~

Separation Anxiety

Seems like as the need to use up baking ingredients increases and we approach our respective times of departure, Hannah and I have been all the more eager to spend time in the kitchen.  Yesterday I whipped up these beauties (erm well... they may not look pretty, but they certainly taste heavenly) while putting off the task of packing and cleaning.

Unfortunately we've been having issues with our oven lately so I had to wait two hours for it to reach 375˚F!

  

Here they're shown waiting patiently to go in the oven...I think less batter made it onto the cookie sheet than usual...ooops.  In the end these double chocolate chip cookies must have tasted pretty good though, because there aren't many left! Worth the wait? I think so. ~

There's scone in my laptop!!

So after a bout of unsuccessful profile picture taking, we managed to come up with a nice one (see below).  Hannah (right) and I (Nicola, left) are housemates in our second year of university.  The result of our year together this year has been a lot of baking...So much baking that we are sure to have withdrawals when we finally part ways for the summer holidays!  If you've ever had a friend who bakes amazing food you'll understand the recipe envy we're feeling.  So as a way of staying in touch this summer we've decided to send  each other recipes on a blog. Let the Epistolary Baking begin!
~