Crisp maple shortbread cookies

The recipe for these gems comes from the latest issue of Chatelaine but you can also find them here. Unlike other more traditional shortbread recipes, these were just buttery enough, just light enough that you can eat more than a couple without feeling like you are going to keel over from the sheer weight of the butter.

And the maple glaze is the perfect touch to elevate a, let's face it, often boring and overexposed cookie.

Add this to your repertoire and you won't be sorry.
Best of all? This isn't one of those recipes that produces a sorry output of a whole 20 cookies. I got dozens of cookies out of this batch and froze most of them for the holiday season. (I already took a few out to see how they freeze and after spending some time at room temperature, they are as good as new).

Cook's Illustrated perfect chocolate chip cookies

A few days ago it was a miserably rainy day and all I could think about was whipping up a batch of warm, gooey, chewy, chocolate chip cookies.

Wonder of wonders, miracle of miracles my son actually sat in his high chair long enough for me to make these cookies and bake them (all the while I fed him his dinner - yes, I'm a good multi-tasker).

I came across this recipe a few weeks ago, during my online travels searching for the perfect chocolate chip cookie (see my previous posts on David Lebovitz's chocolate chip cookies, and Amy Lewis' ultimate chocolate chip cookies).

Bourbon and orange pecan pie

I have already made this four times in as many weeks. You've heard me whingeing about my lack of time before, so what's the deal?

I tore this recipe out of one of my favourite magazines, "Real Simple." And sure enough, this recipe is real simple.

What's the secret? Well, as the labour and delivery nurse told me while I was delaying getting the epidural during my labour "Don't be a shero."

After having a child I no longer try to be a shero. If there are shortcuts, I might just take them.

Amy's ultimate chocolate chip cookies (and ice cream sandwiches)

One of my mommy pals, Amy Lewis, sent me this recipe when I posted a request on Facebook asking for my friends' favourite chocolate chip cookie recipes. She says it's a combination of two or three recipes that she came up with while she was on the quest to find the perfect chocolate chip cookie.

"Looking back at it, it seems like a weird recipe but I do remember that these cookies were out of this world. It makes A LOT of big cookies, so you can always freeze some dough," she told me.


She wasn't kidding, I ended up making something like 60 cookies. And there wasn't a bad batch in them.

French pastries day 2: Guimauves and madeleines

Day two of my French pastries course at the Bonnie Gordon school started quietly enough. We were to finish decorating the macarons we made the day before, and we were to bake the canelés batter sitting in the fridge.

But in the middle of our demo on guimauves, I realized what I dismissed as a mere headache was quickly becoming a migraine, an ailment I had avoided since becoming pregnant and having my baby.

French pastries course day 1: Macarons and canelés

You've heard me say it a kajabillion times so I won't draw this out for too long. I love macarons. But try as I might, I was unable to reproduce these heavenly confections in my own oven.

So when Toronto's Bonnie Gordon's School of Confectionary Arts offered a two-day French pastries course teaching how to make macarons, among other things, I leapt at the opportunity. Well, maybe that's an exaggeration, I cleared it with my husband and mother to see if they could cover watching my son for the two days before registering. And then I leapt.

Christmas tree cupcakes

Maybe one day I will be able to look back on these cupcakes as a learning experience. For now, though, all I associate them with are sobbing over a double boiler of separated green buttercream while holding my baby in one arm and a wooden spoon in another.

I made these chocolate cupcakes with coffee-flavoured buttercream for Christmas Eve with the in-laws. I thought I had everything under control. To maximize my time, I made everything in batches. Cupcakes one day. Buttercream, another. I planned to decorate and pipe the buttercream just before leaving for the party. I had even done my own mise en place with all my dragees and other decorations.

Cookbook Review: Two Dishes

When you are a new mom and you can barely find the time to wash your hair much less figure out how to calm your wailing two-month-old who just developed an ear infection and fever, the last thing you want to do is try cooking new recipes.

I'll be honest here: It was not an easy couple of weeks in our household.
My son is now about two months old and going through what the experts say is the peak of fussiness. On most days, I'm lucky if I can find the time to warm the instant oatmeal in the microwave.

Despite all this, I managed to make four recipes from the new cookbook "Two Dishes" (McClelland & Stewart) by Linda Haynes and Devin Connell : coconut French toast with pineapple maple syrup, lemon and Parmesan orzo mac and cheese with chicken meatballs, Nana's heavenly rice pudding, and Cheeky Monkey ice cream cake. The recipes were easy to follow, quick to make, and divinely delicious.

Company's Coming: Top ten last-minute desserts

We've all experienced the familiar panic of an unexpected visitor. The phone rings, so-and-so is in the neighbourhood, and they'd like to drop by later in the day. "Only for a coffee," they insist.
But if you're anything like me, serving only coffee would go against every hostess philosophy I've ever subscribed to.
If you have a few tricks up your sleeve, your guests need never know that you were sweating under pressure.

Lemon meringue cupcakes

I am the first to admit I have avoided making lemon meringue pie all my life out of fear of using a culinary torch, and also of making a meringue. Past attempts to make meringues have been unsuccessful and resulted in goopy masses of egg white and translucent liquid. However, with my trusty KitchenAid mixer, a new torch and a butane refill, and oodles of spare time as I wait for my baby to arrive, I decided to make a go of it.

Yet again, this is another recipe from Martha Stewart's "Cupcakes" book , as were the tiramisu cupcakes from a previous post; and the chocolate-spice cupcakes as well.

Lemon yogurt cake with blueberry sauce

Lemon-scented desserts remind me of breezy summer nights on the Amalfi coast, where every dessert menu features at least one, if not more, lemon-infused delights and trees hang low with the weight of the luscious fruit.

Lemon-based sweets are just tart enough to awaken the senses but sweet enough to soothe them too. No one can turn down a slice of lemon meringue pie, or lemon poppy seed loaf. Lemon is just subtle enough to win over dieters but also to satisfy anyone with a serious sweet tooth.

This year for Mother's Day, I asked my mother what kind of dessert her taste buds desired, and she asked for a lemon cake.

Welcome Baby Boy Cupcakes

I made these for the arrival of a friend's bouncing baby boy. These aren't quite as pretty as my pretty in pink cupcakes, or as whimsical as my Easter egg nest and Star of Bethlehem cupcakes. But they are perfect gifts for new parents of baby boy, or even to make for a baby shower.

And I am definitely getting more adventurous since my days making simple cappuccino cupcakes with chocolate frosting and dragees, and a bit more skilled at using my piping tips since I made my spiced apple walnut cupcakes with brown sugar butter cream and red and green piped hearts.

Baci di dama, or chocolate-filled hazelnut cookies

When I was 16, my Sweet Sixteen present from my parents was a trip to Belgium and Holland.

During the day, I wandered around Antwerpen by myself as my father had business to conduct. Sure enough, this meant drinking lots of coffee at outside cafes.

I was pleased to discover there a small sweet treat always accompanied my coffee - perhaps a chocolate square, or a buttery cookie.

And so when I saw a recipe for the hazelnut-based, chocolate-filled cookies, or baci di dama (which means lady's kisses) in a Gourmet issue from 2004, I ripped it out with the intention I'd make it to serve alongside espresso. And it stayed in my recipe folder ever since this weekend.

Easter egg nest cupcakes

I know it's a bit early to be making Easter-themed cupcakes but ever since I saw the Cadbury eggs perched atop cupcakes in one of my books, I've been dying to make my own version.

I got the idea for the toasted coconut from Williams Sonoma's version of Easter cupcakes, I thought it would be more realistic looking than coloured butter cream.

Mini-financiers au miel

These morsel of honey-almond goodness are underwhelming at first glance. But anyone who's taken a bit out of the dense dough is unable to resist "MMMMing." That's because it's hard to believe these small beige bites could hold so much honeyed, almond flavour. I like to serve these financiers, made in a mini muffin pan if you're not lucky enough to get an authentic financier pan, with coffee and tea and fruit. This recipe comes from the mignardises chapter in the Chocolate & Zucchini book, from which I've made the chocolate-dipped hazelnut marbles in the past.

Bahama Mama Banana Rum Cake

Ever since my trip to Bahamas this fall, I have been resenting the fact that I had to rush out of the airport without buying a box of the famous Bahamian rum cake.
So I had my eye on this recipe in Jill O'Connor's "Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey" for several weeks after buying the book.
Of course, I didn't realize the night I made this cake would forever be seared into my brain as the night of the "Carbon Monoxide Drama." I had just pulled it out of the oven, and settled in to watch a movie with my sister when the carbon monoxide detector went off, alerting me to call 911 immediately. Sure enough, dispatch put me through to the fire department immediately, and warned me to leave my house. Within minutes, a fire truck with flashing lights pulled up to my street, a dashing firefighter leaped over a snowbank and asked me how I felt. After carefully checking my house, and finding nothing but a faulty detector, the firefighters told me my freshly baked rum cake smelled great. I invited them in for a slice, but they had to get going they said. Their loss, this cake tasted great for several days and my father actually asked if I had any left over.

Nigella's cherry chocolate trifle

I bought this glass bowl just to make this trifle for Christmas. If chocolate custard and sour cherries and chocolate pound cake don't spell Christmas dessert, what does? In my mind, Christmas dessert should be indulgent, should be creamy, should be luscious, moist, decadent. Should make you feel guilty. Hence - cherry chocolate trifle. I must admit, I'm a sucker for Black Forest cake, so the ingredients in this pudding were a no-brainer. Even if you don't like Black Forest cake, however, chances are you'll fall head over heels over this one.
If you don't have a trifle bowl, like I didn't, try a large glass bowl. As long as your guests can see the layers of gooey, luscious, decadence, it will do.
Here's the recipe, as created by Nigella Lawson. You can also find it in her book "Nigella Feasts":

Ingredients:
2 (approximately 12 ounces each) chocolate pound cakes
1/2 cup black cherry jam
1/2 cup cherry brandy
2 cups drained bottled sour cherries (recommended: Morello)

Custard:
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, minimum 70 percent cocoa solids, chopped
1 1/3 cups plus 1 tablespoon milk
1 1/3 cups plus 1 tablespoon heavy cream
8 egg yolks
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar
1/3 cup cocoa

Topping:
3 cups heavy cream
1-ounce bittersweet chocolate

Directions:
Slice the chocolate pound cake and make jam sandwiches with the cherry jam, and layer the bottom of a large wide trifle bowl. Pour over the cherry brandy so that the cake soaks it up, and then top with the drained cherries. Cover with cling wrap and leave to macerate while you make the custard.

Melt the chocolate on low to medium heat in the microwave, checking after 2 minutes, though it will probably need 4 minutes. Or you can place it in a bowl over a pan of simmering water. Once the chocolate is melted, set aside while you get on with the custard.

In a saucepan warm the milk and cream. Whisk the egg yolks, sugar, and cocoa in a large bowl. Pour the warm milk and cream into the bowl whisking it into the yolks and sugar mixture. Stir in the melted chocolate, scraping the sides well with a rubber spatula to get all of it in, and pour the custard back into the rinsed saucepan. Cook over a medium heat until the custard thickens, stirring all the time. Make sure it doesn't boil, as it will split and curdle. Keep a sink full of cold water so that if you get scared you can plunge the bottom of the custard pan into the cold water and whisk like mad, which will avert possible crisis.

The custard will get darker as it cooks and the flecks of chocolate will melt once the custard has thickened. And you do need this thick, so don't panic so much that you stop cooking while it is still runny. Admittedly, it continues to thicken as it cools and also when it's chilling in the refrigerator. Once it is ready, pour into a bowl to cool and cover the top of the custard with cling wrap to prevent a skin from forming.

When the custard is cold, pour and spread it over the chocolate cake layer in the trifle bowl, and leave in the refrigerator to set, covered in cling wrap overnight.

When you are ready to decorate, softly whip the cream for the topping and spread it gently over the layer of custard. Grate the chocolate over the top.

My substitutions:
I couldn't find plain chocolate pound cake at the grocery store, and didn't have the time to make my own, so I used a denser Belgian chocolate loaf cake. It worked just fine.

Would I make this again?
Yes, definitely, but only for a large group. This recipe can serve at least 16 people, if not more. It can be a lot of dessert for people who are used to just fruit and biscuits at the end of their meal.

Grade:
Five stars out of five. Beautiful, delicious, indulgent. And it even tastes better the next day once all the ingredients have settled and fused together. How can you go wrong?

Cupcake Decorating 101: My Designs

When I signed up for an all-day designer cupcake decorating class at Bonnie Gordon's School of Confectionary Arts, it was all I could do not to tell everyone who crossed my path. Her wedding cakes have been featured in countless magazines and Hollywood movies and I'd been drooling over her cakes for years.

While I can say I am confident with my baking abilities, I was always intimidated by decorating.
I did my best copying the finished product in my cookbooks, but I stayed away from pastry bags, and tips, and coloured buttercream.

No more! Not only did I come home with seven beautiful cupcakes, but a bag full of gel food colouring, a cupcake turntable, piping and decorating tips, and even fondant and gum traganth.

Barefoot Contessa's tomato and goat cheese tarts

Ina Garten has never steered me wrong. Whether I'm making her strawberry cheesecake recipe, coq au vin, or French chocolate bark, her recipes always come out just right. As one of my friends once remarked, Garten's husband seems to have the best life in the world as he seems to appear at the end of her cooking show just when she is pulling her food out of the oven. Sure, the Barefoot Contessa's creations aren't "good food fast" or "speedy supper" recipes -- they take time.