Croissants

What a way to start off your morning! Fresh baked croissants and coffee. Crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, a sign of a good croissant. The layers of butter make it all so yummy.

Stollen

This is a German style Christmas bread. Made with flour, eggs, butter, marinated fruits (raisins and candied orange peels in rum or brandy) and a mix of cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves.

Right when it comes out of the oven , these loaves are basted in butter and sprinkled with a generous topping of powdered sugar.

The shaping of this bread resembles a baby's blanket, one which the Christ child would have been wrapped in.

A lucky few may receive a loaf with marizpan in the centre. This is truly a special treat around the Christmas season.

Mincemeat Tarts

Mincemeat tarts. A Christmas tradition from England. Once used as a meat preservative, it makes for a tasty dessert. My recipe is made from fresh apples, raisins, almonds, brown sugar, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, nutmeg, and soaked in whiskey. So rich and full of flavour.

Cranberry Pecan Cookies

Another one of my Christmas time favourites. This is a light crispy and rich cookie with pecan and cranberry in every bite.

Almond Cookies

Italian style Almond Cookies. A favourite around Christmas time in my house. Very light and rich almond flavour.

Lemon Almond Biscotti

Today I am meeting my friend Viv. She is visiting from Vancouver and loves my homemade Lemon Almond Biscotti. The kind you get at cafes tend to be very hard and not so good. A good biscotti is firm, but soft when fresh. These cookies can keep well for months in a airtight container. I hope she enjoys them.

Apple Strudel

One of the joys of the fall are locally grown apples. Today I baked a Austrian style apple strudel for Thanksgiving dinner. This dessert is filled with Golden delicious apples, raisins and walnuts, wrapped in thin crispy pastry. It was fun creating this dessert.

Peach Slab Pie

This pie was baked in a large baking sheet (12" x 18") and packed with 8 lbs of the sweetest and ripest peaches from my local farmers market. Sweet summer flavour packaged in flaky short crust pastry. It was sure liked by my church community last Sunday at our monthly dinner.

Blueberry Coffee Cake

On Sunday morning, I took a trip to the local farmers market and bought fresh blueberries. There is nothing better than the goodness of locally grown fresh fruit, especially when it is incorporated in a classic style coffee cake. This all butter cake, along with a bit of cinnamon and nutmeg, and brown sugar topping makes for a great tea time snack.

Strawberry blueberry pie

Last night I experimented with some left over fresh blueberries and strawberries and created this pie. This is perhaps once of the most juiciest pies I ever made. My family sure enjoyed this one. It was like a slice of summer.

Peach Pie

Peach pie. This is another family favourite this time of year, when ripe sweet Niagara peaches are in season. There is nothing better than fresh fruit filling, with a hint of vanilla wrapped between flaky shortcrust pastry.

Pain de bluettes

I was in an interesting dilemma. What to do with tons of left over pastry cream from the Fresh fruit tartlets and an abundance of fresh blueberries in the house. Pain de bluetttes or blueberry buns, is an off take of pain de raisin. This is made with buttery croissaint dough, lined with pastry cream and dotted with fresh blue berries as opposed to raisins. The smell from the oven really sent a beautiful arouma in the air. Fresh cream and berries. Then to top it off, these buns were glazed with apricot jam to give it a nice shine.

Fresh Fruit Tartlets

Fresh locally grown fruit is always a favourite of mine. I can never get enough of it. What better way to enjoy this wonderful fruit, than to have it resting on flaky buttery puff pastry and a smooth and rich vanilla pastry cream.

Lemon Cranberry Scones

This past weekend I spent time at a friends cottage, up in beautiful Kawartha region. Nancy insisted that I bake some of my famous scones. For Sunday morning breakfast, I baked everyone these delicious treats. Made the same way as my raisin scones, except with the zest of a lemon and cranberries, these were lighter than air and very flavourful.

Orange Chiffon Cake

Today my family celebrated my sisters birthday. I baked a Orange Chiffon cake and topped it with whipped cream (a hint of vanilla) and fresh Ontario strawberries. The berries were soaked in a bit of sweet sherry and glazed with honey.

This cake is very light and flavourful. Fresh cream and local berries make it all even better. Let me say we enjoyed it so much, there was no leftovers.

Raisin Scone recipie

Here is my famous Raisin Scone recipe.

Ingedients:
4 cups of unbleached all purpose flour
1 cup of sugar
1 1/2 cups of buttermilk
2/3 cup of cold unsalted butter (diced)
4 teaspoons of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
1 cup of raisins

1 egg for glazing

Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together into a large mixing bowl. Add sugar. Add butter into the flour mix. Blend the butter into the flour using fingers or pastry blender. The mix should resemble like a course mixture. Stir in raisins. Create a well in the centre of the bowl and add buttermilk. (more might be needed if mix is dry). Stir with a mixing spoon until it all comes together.

Preheat oven to 450 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or butter it.

Place dough on a floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic (about 5 mins). Please make sure not to over knead as the dough will become hard

Roll the dough into a 12 inch circle with a rolling pin. Using a scone cutter, cut the dough and place each scone onto the baking sheet.

Crack open the egg and beat.

Brush each scone with egg wash. Place sheet in the oven for 10 to 15 mins. Bake until golden brown.

This will yield about 2 dozen small scones. Make sure to place the baking sheet on the middle rack to ensure even cooking.

Sunday morning Coffee Hour

Sunday April 19, 2009. The first Sunday after Easter or Low Sunday. It was my turn to host coffee hour after morning worship Services at my home church of Little Trinity. (www.littletrinity.on.ca)

I had been away for a while and it was good to be back. To celebrate this occasion, I baked three kinds of breakfast breads.

Raisin Scones. These are a classic staple whenever I host Coffee hour. Made with buttermilk, butter, flour, raisins and a hint of sugar, they are always popular. Rich in flavour, but yet fluffy.

The French sure know how to make bread. Brioche is a rich bread made with lots of butter and eggs and a hint of pure vanilla. This bread is shaped into small buns. Each one contains half and ounce of semi sweet chocolate in the centre. This is a very delectable treat.

Cinnamon Buns are also another favourite of mine. I like to be generous with the butter and brown sugar filling. When these come out of the oven, I like to flip them over and serve them as Sticky Buns. All the gooey caramel that sticks to your fingers.

Happy Easter

Happy Easter to All!!! Every year I like to bake special breads that symbolize this most important feast day in the Christian church. This year, I decided to bake two different items. A traditional egg bread or Pascha with a flavourful twist.


This rich egg bread, contains fragrant spice mix of cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves, fresh squeezed orange juice and the rind, orange blossom water and pure Madagascar bourbon vanilla. The braided pattern represents the Trinity.

I baked Hot Cross Buns. These sweet buns are an Easter tradition from England. The cross on top symbolizes the cross that Christ died on. This bread contains the same delicious spice mix as the Orange Egg Bread. This was my first attempt.

Both breads symbolize Jesus Christ. When the yeast, which is dry and dormant is dissolved in the milk, it bubbles, and shows life again. Like God breathing new life into us.

The process of making bread requires the dough to rise three times. The last rise represents the Resurrection. The fragrant spiced air that fills the kitchen reminds us of the tomb in which he lay.

Orange Egg Bread Recipe
Yields 2 small loaves
Ingredients:
1/2 cup of unsalted butter (softened)
1/2 cup of sugar
2 1/4 teaspoons of yeast
4-5 cups of bread flour (all purpose may be used)
juice of one orange and its zest
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon of nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon of cloves
1 tablespoon of orange blossom water
3 eggs

Egg Wash
1 egg
1 tablespoon pf milk or water

Heat milk to 115 F. Pour in a large bowl and add yeast. Allow the yeast to dissolve, (approximately 10 mins). Add 2 cups of flour, salt and spices. Stir until combined. Add eggs, butter, liquid flavourings. Add the remaining flour a bit at a time, until the dough ball forms.

Turn the dough onto a floured surface. Knead until smooth and elastic (3-5 mins). Shape the dough into a round ball and place in a lightly oiled bowl. Cover the lid with saran wrap and cover with a moistened tea towel. Allow the dough to rise until doubled (aprox 45 mins to 1 hour). The bowl should rest in a warm place.

When the dough has doubled in volume, punch it down. Divide the dough into to equal pieces. With each piece, divide into three. Roll each piece into a log shape 12 inches long.

Bring all three logs into a lined baking sheet and braid them into your desired shape. Repeat the same process with the other dough half.

Cover the loaves with a moistened towel and allow it to rise again for 45 mins to 1 hour. The volume should double in size.

Preheat the oven to 350F 15 mins before baking. Brush the loaves generously with egg wash. Bake for 20 to 30 mins, until golden brown.

Lemon Bundt Cake

My signature cake!! A great one for all occasions. This is my lemon bundt cake in the shape of a Cathedral. This is my favourite cake pan. I've had this pan for a few years. It took me a while to find a store that carried it.

I do not make it very often. I like to call it the AA cake. There offer a 12 steps to recovery program. There are about 12 steps in my recipe. A labourious task, but a great looking and tasting product.

This will wow anyone, especially your guests.

Decadent Chocolate Cake

This cake is so rich and dense. All chocolate, butter and bit of flour and tons of richness. I learned how to make this on my last day of Art of Cakes.

Raspberry Cheesecake

Cheesecake that is as light as air! I tend not to go for this type of dessert because they tend to be very heavy and dense. Made with Quark or Farmers Cheese, this cheesecake may become a dessert staple. Three distinct layers (the graham and ground almond crust, the cheese filling and pure raspberry topping) make for great visual appeal. I'm sure my family, especially my sister and her best friends will enjoy this one. I'm still on the Lenten sugar fast, so no dessert for me.

Tirimisu

Today's class was an Italian favourite. This cake is filled with marscapone cheese and rum and wrapped with homemade lady fingers that were soaked in espresso. This is not your conventional Tirimisu, as it does not contain layers of lady fingers, rather it sort of looks like a cheese cake, dusted with cocoa powder. This is sure to be a favourite in my household.

Yougurt Mousse Cake

Today we made this lovely cake. It is a layered with sponge cake, light yogurt mousse and peach slices.

Apple Jalouise

A classic French style pastry. This is my sisters favourite. Fresh caramalized golden delicious apple filling wrapped in buttery and flaky puff pastry. It is a labourious process in making this pastry, but well worth the effort. I am confident that it will become on of your favourite desserts.

Slab Apple Pie

Good old fashioned Apple Pie. One can never go wrong with that. I brought my famous pies to a evening dinner held at my church on last Sunday. The theme was Christmas in January. It was a huge success. Mike Janzen, our worship leader organized this event.

I decided to add a different dimension to my classic pie, but shaping it in a rectangle. I was inspired by a slab pie recipe from Martha Stewart cookbook.

It was the same pie that I normally make, with buttery short crust pastry and fresh golden delicious apples that are locally grown. Tried and true, everyone loved it, no left overs.

Carrot Cake

The second class (Sat Jan 17, 2009) I made a Carrot cake. This was not your conventional carrot cake. This one was very light and moist. We applied the icing techniques learned from the basic baking course. The nice touch was making our own marzipan carrots. My family enjoyed this one. My father had two slices at dinner. He normally does not eat dessert.

George Brown College

Last year I took the Basic Baking course at George Brown College. It was an excellent class with instructor Amjad. I learned so much and it has vastly improved my own skill set. Now I am taking The Art of Cakes. The instructor is Chef Nuget. She is a seasoned Pastry Chef who worked in the industry (Dufflets and La Rocha) and has been teaching at the college for several years.

My first class was on Jan 10. We learned how to make old fashioned Pound Cake. It was a much faster paced class, as it is a more advanced level. The final product was very well recieved by my family. We ate one throught the week and froze two for a later occassion.