Recipe #23: Plum Torte

So if you haven't noticed, I love any dessert that is served warm with ice cream on top. I saw this lovely dessert on @rachtotheizzo's twitter, and I just had to try it out. She sweet enough to e-mail me the recipe, and I whipped it up the next day. I still have some in the freezer for when I'm having a sweet-tooth emergency.

This recipe is super simple, but the Italian plums are really only around in the fall. Luckily, I bought a bunch of extras and froze those too. This recipe is so easy, I know I'll be able to whip it up for a quick treat.

Ingredients

*1/2 cup butter, softened

*3/4 cup sugar

*1 cup all purpose flour

*1 teaspoon baking powder

*2 eggs, beaten

*12 Italian prune plums, halved and pitted

*Cinnamon for sprinkling

Directions

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 F. Lightly grease a 9x9 baking pan.

2. Cream butter and sugar together, then mix in flour and baking powder. Slowly add eggs until smooth.

3. Pour mixture into pan, and top with plum halves, skin side up. Sprinkle cinnamon over the top, lightly. Bake for 45-55 minutes. Serve warm with ice cream or frozen yogurt!

Recipe #22: Apple Cinnamon Muffins

Mmm... Made these last night, and they perfect for breakfast. Warm and tasty, but not too sweet!

I made changes, as usual. I doubled the cinnamon, used butter instead of canola oil, and added a sprinkle of cinnamon sugar on top!

Ingredients

*2 cups all-purpose flour

*1/2 cup brown sugar

*2 teaspoons baking powder

*2 teaspoons cinnamon

*1 egg

*1/4 cup butter, melted

*3/4 cup apple juice (room temperature)

*2 spartan apples, peeled, cored and finely diced

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 F, and lightly grease bottoms of 12 muffin cups (or use liners).

2. Mix all dry ingredients together in a medium bowl. Combine all liquid ingredients (butter, egg and apple juice) in a smaller bowl. Pour liquid mixture into dry mixture and stir until just combined. Add chopped apples.

3. Spoon mix into muffin cups. Sprinkle cinnamon and sugar on top (optional). Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean. Serve warm!

Recipe #21: Raspberry Peach Crumble

Sorry about the delay on uploading. I just haven't been baking as much lately. I really need to stock up on some supplies though, so it might be another couple weeks before I bake again. Although next ingredient choice: pumpkin! Let's keep it seasonal! So keep an eye out on that!

Anyways, Mike's mom came to visit us a couple weeks ago, so I came home, rushed about, and threw together this great, delicious crumble. Crumbles are a stand-by for me in any baking pinch. Cut up fruit, throw crumble on top, bake! Perfect! Also, it was the best way to use that end-of-summer fruit. Brilliant thing is that you can go to the store any time of year and pick up the same fruit in the frozen aisle!

Just a note for the crumble part: The proportions are completely optional. The original recipe didn't have any flour, but I like to use it. The original recipe also called for 1/2 cup of butter, but I thought that was far too much. Usually I don't put vanilla in, etc. etc. Play around with it until you find the right proportions for you.

Ingredients

Fruit Mixture

*1 pint fresh raspberries

*3 fresh peaches, pitted and chopped

*1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

*1/4 cup white sugar

*pinch of cinnamon

Crumble Topping

*1 cup rolled oats

*1/4-1/3 cup all-purpose flour

*1/3 cup butter, cooled and chopped

*1/4 cup brown suagr

*1/4 cup white sugar

*1 teaspoon vanilla extract

*pinch of cinnamon (although I'm more partial to about a teaspoon)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 F, and lightly grease your baking pan (6 little ramekins, a loaf pan, a square pan... whatever you've got!)

2. In a bowl, mix together raspberries, peaches, lemon juice, first 1/4 cup white sugar, and pinch of cinnamon

3. Mix together oats, flour, brown sugar, white sugar, cinnamon, vanilla and butter in another bowl with your hands, until it has a sort of meal-like texture.

4. Pour fruit mixture into baking pan, then sprinkle crumble topping over fruit evenly.

5. Bake in oven for 35 minutes if you like your crumble more moist, or 50 minutes if you like it to be a bit more cohesive. Serve in small bowls with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or frozen yogurt on top!

Recipe #20: Whole Wheat Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

So Sunday afternoon was really more like a rainy March afternoon than an August one. Suddenly I knew what would cheer me up. A steaming cup of my favourite tea (Earl Grey, with milk and sugar)... and oatmeal raisin cookies. It just had to be!

Found a classic recipe, subbed in whole wheat flour for all-purpose, and came out with these really delightful cookies. I only made a half batch though.

Ingredients

*3/4 cup butter, softened

*3/4 cup white sugar

*3/4 cup brown sugar

*2 eggs

*1 teaspoon vanilla

*1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour

*1 teaspoon baking soda

*3/4 teaspoon cinnamon

*2 3/4 cups rolled oats

*1 cup raisins

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 F.

2. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugars until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla until fluffy.

3. Stir together flour, baking soda, and cinnamon. Gradually add this to the butter mixture. Stir in oats and raisins.

4. Drop cookie dough my teaspoonfuls onto greased cookie sheets. Bake for 8 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool slightly, remove cookies onto wire rack.

Recipe #19: Raspberry & Blackberry muffins

These lovely muffins have been my breakfast all week. I have really enjoyed them, although I would imagine them to be even better warmed up with some melted butter on them. Mmm...

I made these relatively healthy, with whole wheat flour, and only 3 tablespoons sugar. They get their sweetness from the berries inside. Unfortunately, I think the whole wheat flour dried them out a little, so I think I might do all purpose, or a half and half mix next time. And maybe another teaspoons of baking powder for a little more air.

Oh, but small victory! This was the first time I made muffins without paper liners, and it was a great success. I was quite pleased.

Ingredients

*1 large egg, beaten

*1 cup milk

*1/2 cup butter, melted

*2 1/2 cups of flour

*6 tablespoons sugar

*2 teaspoons of baking powder

*1 cup raspberries

*12 large blackberries

Directions

1. Mix flour, sugar, and baking powder in a large bowl. In a smaller bowl mix together the beaten egg, milk and melted butter. Gradually add this liquid mixture to the dry mix. Add raspberries to the mixture.

2. Spoon the mixture into greased muffin tins. Place one blackberry on top of each muffin.

3. Bake at 375 F for 20-25 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean.

Recipe #18: Raspberry Crumb Cake

This cake should have it's picture beside the word "heaven" in the dictionary. It is that good, absolutely.

It is easy, delicious, and simple to make healthier (although the real deal ingredients always taste better, imo). I used 0% fat greek yogurt (instead of the full-fat that the original recipe called for), although it really just seems like sour cream, so I think I might try sour cream next time. I used to frozen rasperries with great success, with a few extra thrown in. No such thing as too many raspberries! And lastly, I had to increase the flour in the crumble considerably - if I had followed the directions, it would have just been a thick paste on top, not a crumble at all.

While I have a lot of notes and tweaks, it really is easy, and is now one of my favourite dessert recipes.

Ingredients (grams this time round - easy to convert online)

Cake

*125 g unsalted butter , room temperature

*275 g caster sugar (next time I'll bump this down)

*2 eggs

*150 g greek yogurt

*200 g all purpose flour

*2 teaspoons baking powder

*200 g raspberries (one container)

*zest of one lemon

Crumble Topping

*100 g butter, chilled and chopped

*100 g brown sugar

*1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

*1 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions

1. Preheat your oven to 350 F. Grease a medium-sized springform cake tin.

2. Cream the butter and sugar together in a bowl until pale yellow and fluffy, then beat in the eggs and yogurt a little at a time, until well combined.

3. Stir in the flour and baking powder, then fold in the raspberries and grave the zest of your lemon into the mix. Spoon into baking pan.

4. Making the crumble, blend all ingredients until it resembles a course meal. Sprinkle crumbs overtop the cake mix in the pan.

5. Bake for 40-50 minutes, until a golden colour on top. You can also test with a handy toothpick. If it comes out clean, it's good to go!

Recipe #17: Chocolate Cobbler

Absolute decadence. This cake/pudding is exactly what I needed for a chocolate hit. It is more of an English pudding style, so it's kind of gooey underneath and cakey on top. I think a dob of only slightly sweet whipped cream on top would just bring this up to a while 'nother level.

Ingredients

*1 1/4 cups sugar

*1 cup all purpose flour

*7 tablespoons cocoa powder

*2 teaspoons baking power

*1/2 cup milk

*1/3 cup butter, melted

*1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

*1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar

*1 1/2 cups hot water

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.

2. In a bowl, stir together 3/4 cup sugar, flour, 3 tablespoons cocoa, and baking powder. Stir in milk, butter, and vanilla. Mix until smooth. Poor into ungreased 8x8 ince glass baking pan.

3. In a small bowl, mix the remaining 1/2 cup sugar, 4 tablespoons cocoa and brown sugar. Sprinkle evenly over the batter.

4. Poor hot water over the top. DO NOT STIR. Bake for 40 minutes, or until set in the middle.

Hawaiian-style Flannel Pillows

Bit of a baking break. I've been crafting up a storm, so here we are!

So I found this great tutorial (click title to see) for these pillows. I thought they were lovely, so I bought a bunch of fabric (with some very patient friends), and sewed 'em up... all by hand, ugh. Someone needs to get me lessons so I can actually use my sewing machine.

Recipe #16: Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

Last night I had that killer craving for chocolate that couldn't be denied. Now, I could have gone down the street and picked up some M&M's or something, but that wouldn't have been as much fun. So instead I scanned the internet for recipes, but alas, my kitchen is lacking in ingredients at the moment. I then scanned my chocolate cookbook (yes, I have a chocolate cookbook), and was still left with nothing quite right. Rummaging in my baking cupboard, I found chocolate chips and the recipe for their usual chocolate chip cookies on the back. Finally, inspiration had struck! I changed the recipe around, halved it, and came out with these chewy, chocolate cookies. These would probably great if you added some nuts (1/3 cup)!

Ingredients

*1/2 cup butter, melted

*1/2 cup brown cup

*1/4 cup white sugar

*1 egg

*1 teaspoon vanilla

*1 teaspoon milk

*1 cup flour

*1/2 tsp baking soda

*1/4 cup cocoa powder

*1/2 cup chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 F.

2. Blend butter, brown and white sugar together. Cool in the fridge for about 20 minutes.

4. Beat in egg, vanilla and milk until smooth.

5. Combine the flour. baking soda and cocoa powder, and gradually blend it into the creamed mixture. Stir in chocolate chips (and optional nuts).

6. Drop dough by tablespoon onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 7-8 minutes. Makes 16 cookies.

Recipe #15: Lemon & Orange Syrup Cupcakes

Mmm... Lemon to me is the taste of summer. It is absolutely the epitome of sun and breeze. So I tried out these great mini-cupcakes. Makes about 36.

Ingredients

*Just over 1/2 cup butter, chilled and chopped

*1 cup sugar

*2 tsp finely grated lemon zest

*2 tsp finely grated orange zest

*3 eggs

*1/2 milk

*1 1/2 cups self-raising flour

Lemon Syrup

*1 cup superfine sugar

*zest of 1 lemon and 1 orange, thinly sliced

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line mini-muffin holes with paper cases

2. Place the butter, sugar, lemon and orange zests ina saucepan and stir over low heat under the sugar has dissolved. Transfer into a large bowl. Add the eggs, milk, and flour, and beat until just combined.

3. Divide the mixture evenly among the cases. Bake for 15 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean. Let cool.

4. To make the syrup, place 200ml of water and the sugar in a saucepan over a low heat, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Add the lemon and orange zests, bring to a boil and simmer, stirring occasionally, until lightly golden and syrupy (approx. 10 minutes).

5. Strain the syrup, reserving the zest. Decorate each cake with some strips of zest and pour a little syrup on top.

Maplesyrupworld.com

I just wanted to mention that my Banana Sour Cream Cupcakes are now a featured recipe over with the good folks at http://www.maplesyrupworld.com! Go check them out. I think I'll have to try out the Apple Tart with Maple Whipped Cream!

Recipe #14: Currant Scones

Scones! I hadn't made scones in years, so I decided for a ladies tea party I was holding that I would try them out again. I found them at allrecipes.com, and they were easy and sososo good. I fussed with them a little, but you can see my version here, and the websites version above. Serve them warm with butter or devonshire cream, and some jam. Mmm...

Next time I try scones, it's going to be these raspberry ones a friend sent me. They look amazing.

Ingredients

*2 cups all-purpose

*1/3 cup sugar

*1 teaspoon baking powder

*1/4 teaspoon baking soda

*1/2 teaspoon salt

*1 teaspoon lemon zest

*1/2 cup unsalted butter, frozen

*1/2 cup dried currants

*1/2 cup sour cream

*1 large egg

Directions

1. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and preheat over to 400 degrees F.

2. In a medium bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and lemon zest. Grate butter into flour mixture on the large holes of a box grater. Use your fingers to work in butter until the mixture looks like coarse meal, then stir in currants.

3. In a small bowl, whisk sour cream and egg until smooth.

4. Using a fork, stir sour cream mixture into flour mixture until large dough clumps form. Use your hands to press the dough together against the bowl into a ball. It might be sticky in places, but keeping working it and it will come together.

5. Place on a lightly floured surface and pat into a circle that's about 3/4 inch thick. Use a sharp knife to cut into triangles (recipe called for 8, but mine was more like 12). Place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, about 1 inch apart. Sprinkle with sugar. Bake for about 15-17 minutes, or until golden. Serve warm.

Recipe #13: Sour Cherry Crumble Patty Cakes

The previous recipe I said was one of the best recipes I had ever tried, but this one comes pretty close.

The original recipe called for canned plums, but I couldn't find any, so I picked up some sour cherries. They were so good. I just chopped them up a bit and put about 2-3 pieces in each.

Lastly, these are supposed to be patty cakes, but I used mini-cupcake holes instead. It made about 40 mini-cakes instead of the 24 that the recipe suggested.

Ingredients

Batter:

*4/5 cup butter, softened (or 185 grams)

*3/4 cup sugar

*1 teaspoon vanilla

*3 eggs

*1 cup self-raising flour

*1/4 cup all-purpose flour

*1/2 cup cherry juice

*1-2 cherries/cake, thinly sliced

Crumble topping:

*1/2 cup sugar

*1 cup all-purpose flour

*1/2 cup butter (or a little less), chilled and diced

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degress F. Line many many many mini-cupcake holes.

2. Cream the butter, sugar and vanilla with beaters until light and creamy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Sift the flours together and fold in alternately with the cherry juice. Divide the mixture evenly among the cases and cover each with slices of cherry.

3. To make the crumble topping, place the sugar, flour and butter in a bowl. Mix together with fingertips until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Sprinkle the crumble over each cake, covering all of the cherries.

4. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until golden. Transfer onto a wire rack to cool.

Recipe #12: Banana Sour Cream Cupcakes

After a ridiculously long delay, I'm back. I was finishing up my last semester of University, and it was a doozy. But now I'm in job hunting, baking and crafting mode, so new stuff is coming.

I got this great cupcake book at Christmas, and in May I decided that I had to try a bunch of the recipes.

These cupcakes are one of the best recipes I have ever tried. They are amazing. Moist and almost creamy in their decadence. Beware, these are addictive!

Ingredients

Batter:

*4/5 cup butter, softened (or 185 grams)

*1 cup superfine sugar (I used regular)

*3 eggs

*2 1/2 cups self-raising flour

*1/2 teaspoon baking soda

*3/4 cup sour cream (I used half sour cream, half milk)

*2 tablespoons maple syrup

*3 very ripe bananas, mashed

Icing:

*2 3/4 oz light cream cheese, softened

*1/5 cup butter, softened (or 50 grams)

*1 1/2 tablespoons honey (I used corn syrup)

*2 cups icing sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 35o degrees F. Line 24 standard muffin holes with paper cases.

2. Beat the butter and sugar in a large bowl using electric beaters for 5-6 minutes, or until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

3. Sift the flour and baking soda together. Add the sour cream and maple syrup to the mashed banana and mix well. Fold the flour mixture alternately with the banana mixture in the butter mixture until well combined.

4. Divide the mixture evenly among the cases. Bake for 15 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean. Transfer to wire rack to cool.

5. To make icing, place the cream cheese and butter in a small bowl and beat until smooth. Add the honey/corn syrup and icing sugar and beat until smooth and well combined. Decorate each cake generously with icing.