The Baker's Daughter

Honey-Cinnamon Granola

 
Homemade granola is such a great breakfast food and is also really good for a quick snack with yogurt and fresh fruit.  It's a snap to make and stores really well.  I love this recipe as you can make so many changes and additions to it and it will turn out amazing every time.  There are a ton of flavour combinations that you can use, including: dried fruit such as, cranberries, apples, apricots, blueberries, raisins, and cherries.  Nuts such as, almonds, pecans, walnuts, hazelnuts, peanuts, cashews, and macadamia nuts are all delicious.

Honey-Cinnamon Granola

2 cups oats

1/2 cup almonds (whole, slivered or sliced)

1 cup coconut

1/3 cup wheat germ

2 tbsp flax

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 cup raisins

1/4 cup + 2 tbsp vegetable oil

1/4 cup honey

Directions

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Line a baking pan with parchment.

In a mediums sized bowl, combine the oats, coconut, almonds, wheat germ, flax and cinnamon. 

In a small bowl, whisk together the honey and vegetable oil.  Pour over the oat mixture and mix well.

Pour the granola mixture onto the prepared pan and spread out. 

Bake for 25-30 minutes, until golden brown.

Let cool before breaking up the granola.

Store in an airtight container. 

 



 

Westport

Westport is a cute little town north of Kingston that I like visiting from time to time.  Today we had a delicious picinc at a fish sanctuary with food from The Rustic Oven.  My husband had the Canadian Calzone (pepperoni, bacon and mushrooms) and I had the Caprese Panini (basil, tomato, provolone and garlic oil).  If you're ever in Westport, give it a try!

 

Garden Tea

My husband and I visited the Royal Botanical Gardens last Friday and had a great little tea while we were there.  Here are a few pics of the flowers and scones with Devon shire cream we took.

 

 
 

Pint-sized

 

Cool article in the NY Times about the rise in popularity/prowess of petites.  Being 5'2 I find this very cool!  Also check out the "Who tall are you" height chart, it's pretty great. 

Chocolate Ganache

 

I could take a bath in this any day.  Use this ganache to coat cupcakes, cakes and serve over ice cream.

Chocolate Ganache

4 oz semi sweet or bitter sweet chocolate, chopped into small pieces

1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp 35 % cream (whipping cream)

1/2 tbsp butter

Directions

Chop your chocolate and place it in a glass bowl.  In a heavy bottomed pot, bring the cream to almost a boil and pour it over your chocolate.  Let the mixture sit for a few minutes before stirring.  Add the butter and stir until the ganache is glossy and smooth.

Royal Icing

Royal icing is so amazing.  Beat the crap out of it for 7 minutes and you have this incredibly workable and versatile icing.  I use Royal Icing to ice all my holiday cookies at work.  When icing cookies with Royal Icing it is important to outline the cookie in some stiff icing first and then flood it with thinned out icing.  When thinning your icing be sure to only add a very small amount of water at a time as a little goes a long way.  Keep your icing covered at all times as it dried out very quickly and a crust will form, making piping difficult.  When outlining your cookie it's up to you what tip you want to use, I generally use bigger tip openings for larger cookies and small tips such as #3 for small cookies.  I use meringue powder in my Icing as I don't like using egg whites.  You can find meringue powder at the Bulk Barn.

Royal Icing

4 cups icing sugar, sifted

1/4 cup meringue powder

1/2 tsp cream of tartar

1/2 cup warm water

Directions

Use a stand mixer or a hand mixer for this recipe.  In a bowl combine the icing sugar,  and cream of tartar.  Gently mix to combine.  Dissolve the meringue powder in the warm water and add to the icing sugar mixture.  Beat on high for 7 minutes.  Remove 1/3 of the icing to use for outlining and fine detail decorating.  Add a small amount of warm water to the remaining icing until it has been thinned out enough to flood. 

Tint your icing with gel food coloring (using liquid food color will thin the icing out too much) and using a pastry bag, outline your cookies.  Once the icing outline has hardened a little, flood the cookie with the thinned icing in a pastry bag fitted with a larger tip. 

Let the icing harden up a bit before you put the finishing touches on the cookies.

Bird Seed Flat Bread

This recipe is loved by humans and birds alike.  This human may or may not have eaten the entire batch today.  I can feel my bones becoming hollow and feathers starting to sprout.  The crispy crunchy flat bread is super yummy and is a cinch to make.  Feel free to use whatever spices and seeds you want, use your imagination!

Bird Seed Flat Bread

2 cups all-purpose flour

3 tbsp sunflower seeds

3 tbsp pumpkin seeds

3 tbsp sesame seeds

1 tbsp cracked wheat

1 tbsp cracked rye

2 tbsp flax seeds

1 tsp spice (I used fennel)

1/4 tsp garlic powder

3 tbsp olive oil (plus extra for the pans)

2 1/4 cups cold water

1 tsp salt (plus extra for top)

Directions

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.

Line two 9X13 sheet pans with parchment paper and lightly drizzle with olive oil.

In a medium bowl combine the flour, oil, salt, spice and seeds.  Using a whisk, add the water until incorporated.  It's okay if there are a few lumps.  Divide the batter between the two pans and spread the batter out thinly using a spatula and sprinkle with some coarse salt.

Bake for approximately 45 minutes until dark brown all over.

You may need to break off a few areas that have browned first and continue baking the rest.  The baking times will vary depending on the thickness of the cracker.  

Almond Croissant Pudding with Creme Anglaise

This recipe was taken from the newest Delicious magazine (volume 6, issue 8) and it's a really yummy way to use up day old croissants.  I am really nervous around anything calling itself pudding (I cannot eat pudding, but lets not get into that today) but this is not the goopy pudding hawked by Bill Cosby that us North Americans consume, rather it's a nice soft bread pudding with really nice flavours and textures brought in from the crunchy almonds and tart raspberries.  The creme anglaise paired with the chocolate sauce is so decadent and really indulgent, but hey we all need to indulge once in a while. The recipe calls for almond croissants but I just used plain and it was still really good.   Using day old croissants allows them to suck up all the flavoured cream.  The recipe also calls for brandy, I didn't have any and used spiced rum instead.

Almond Croissant Pudding

4 day old almond croissants

4 eggs

1/2 cup white sugar

1 1/3 cup milk

1 1/3 cup half and half cream

1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped out

zest of one orange

2 tbs brandy

raspberries or other berries

toasted almonds

Creme Anglaise

4 egg yolks

1 cup milk

1 cup half and half

1/4 cup white sugar

1 tsp vanilla

Chocolate Sauce

200 ml half and half

50 ml milk

200 g dark chocolate

1/4 cup cocoa powder

Directions

To make the Almond Croissant Pudding, grease a 1 litre loaf pan and line with parchment paper if it is not non-stick.  Rip up the  croissants and place them in the pan.

Whisk the eggs and sugar together in a large bowl.  In a saucepan combine the milk, cream and vanilla over low heat.  Bring the milk mixture to just below a boil and slowly add it to the eggs and sugar.  Add the orange zest and brandy and pour the custard over the croissants.  Let the croissants stand at room temperature for one hour to soak up the custard.

Preheat the oven to 390 degrees F.

After one hour bake the croissant pudding for about 45 minutes until it is just set and lightly browned on top.  You may need to cover the top with tin foil if the top is browning to quickly.   Allow the pudding to cool slightly, remove from the pan and slice into pieces. 

For the anglaise, beat the egg yolks in a medium sized bowl and set aside.  In a small saucepan combine the milk, cream, vanilla and sugar over low heat and bring to just below the boil.  Pour the milk mixture gradually over the eggs, whisking continuously.  Add the mixture back to the saucepan and cook for about  minutes until thickened.  Cover and refrigerate until needed.

To make the chocolate sauce, place the milk and cream in a saucepan and bring to just below the boil.  Pour the heated liquid over the chocolate and stir until smooth.  Using a whisk, add the cocoa and beat until the sauce is lump free.

To assemble the Pudding, place slices of the croissant pudding on a plate.  Top with fresh berries and toasted almonds.  Drizzle with the creme anglaise and chocolate sauce.  Dust with a little icing sugar if desired.

 

Nanna's Ninety

(Yes she's really 90)

Nanna is not actually my Nanna, but my friend Margie's.  I have known Margie for around 15 years and have known Nanna for that length of time too.  Nanna is a spunky Brit who hates BBQ's so a garden tea surprise party was planned for her 90th birthday.  I was originally commissioned to make a cake but I thought that petit fours and other bite-sized treats would be classier and much more in tune with a fancy afternoon tea.  It was a great summer day (minus the psycho killer wasps) and I think Nanna had a great time with her friends and family and there wasn't one hot dog or hamburger in sight! 

I'm going to post a few pictures now and then in the next few weeks I will get around to posting some recipes for the mini cupcakes, petit fours, and lemon berry tarts.

 

  

  

 

3 Generations of lovely ladies

 

Feeling French - Raspberry Cream Puffs

Fresh raspberries make these classic cream puffs extra special.  Tint the glaze any colour you wish and feel free to substitute the raspberries for other berries such as blueberries, strawberries or even blackberries.

Choux Dough

1 cup water 

½ cup butter 

¼ tsp salt 

1 cup all-purpose flour 

4 eggs

Raspberry Whipped Cream

1 cup whip cream (35%)

1 tbsp white sugar

1/4 vanilla bean

1 tsp lemon zest

1/2 cup fresh raspberries

Glaze

1 cup icing sugar

water to thin

Pink food colouring

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

In a medium sized pot combine the water and butter together and bring to a boil.  Once boiling add the flour and salt to the water mixture and turn the heat down to medium.  Mix continuously for 1 minute with a wooden spoon, this will cook the flour.  Let choux dough sit for a few minutes to cool.  Using a stand mixer, hand mixer or a spoon, gradually add the eggs one at a time, beating the whole time. 

Line two cookie sheets with parchment.  Using a pastry bag fitted with a number 10 tip, make a quarter sized ball shape out of the choux dough. If you do not have a pastry bag, use a teaspoon to drop balls of dough onto the pan. Bake for approximately 15 minutes until the puff is golden brown and feels very light when picked up.  Let cool completely before filling.

Using a fork, mash the raspberries in a small bowl and set aside.  Combine the whipped cream, vanilla, lemon zest and sugar.  Whip in a stand mixer or with a hand blender until peaks form.  Fold in the macerated raspberries gently by hand.

There are two methods of filling the cream puffs with the raspberry whipped cream.  #1: With a serrated knife cut off the top 1/3 of the cream puff.  Drop 1 tsp of filling into the cream puff base and place the top on.    #2: Using a pastry bag and tip #10 fill the bag with the whipped cream.  Insert the tip into the side of the cream puff and squeeze until it is filled 

Make the glaze by combining the icing sugar and water.  Add a small amount of food colouring (I use Wilton) and mix to combine the colour.  Dip the tops of the puffs in the glaze, top with a raspberry and let dry.  Store in the fridge until you're ready to serve.