Desserts

Recipe: Baklava

Ingredients:

• 1 pound finely chopped, mixed nuts (walnuts, pistachios, almonds*)
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon powder
• 1 package phyllo dough
• 1 cup melted butter
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 cup water
• ½ cup honey
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest

Recipe: Saskatchewan Butter Tarts

I’ll bet that you can’t eat just one. It’s simply not possible!

Chocolate Gingerbread

This cake is moist and delicious with it’s decadent combination of molasses and chocolate. Add to it a ginger-ale/chocolate icing and you get what I would consider the best gingerbread I have ever had.

Ingredients:

Cake:

• 175 grams unsalted butter
• 125 grams dark brown (muscavado) sugar
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 200 grams golden syrup
• 200 grams molasses
• ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1 ¼ teaspoons baking soda
• 2 tablespoons warm water
• 2 eggs
• 250 ml milk
• 275 grams all-purpose flour
• 40 grams cocoa
• 175 grams chocolate chips

Icing:

• 250 grams icing sugar
• 30 grams unsalted butter
• 1 tablespoon cocoa
• 60 ml ginger ale

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 170 C or 340 F. Line the bottom and sides of an 11″ x 9″ x 3″ (or thereabouts) pan with foil or parchment paper.
2. In a large saucepan melt the butter along with the sugars, syrup, molasses and spices. In a separate bowl dissolve the baking soda in the water.
3. Remove the pan from the heat and beat in the eggs, milk and baking soda in its water. Stir in the flour and cocoa and beat with a wooden spoon to mix. Fold in the chocolate chips, pour into the prepared pan and bake for about 45 minutes – until risen and firm to touch. Remove to a wire rack and cool in the pan.
4. Sieve the icing sugar. In a heavy-bottomed saucepan heat the butter, cocoa and ginger ale. Once the butter is melted, whisk in the icing sugar. Leaving the gingerbread in the pan, pour the icing over the top of the slightly warm cake and leave to cool. Cut into large hunks and serve when cooled and set.

After-Thoughts:

Nigella instructs you to remove the cake from the pan to ice but I found it easier to ice and then transport by leaving it in the pan. This also kept it nice and moist.

(For recipe conversions.)

Recipe Origin:

Recipe from Nigella Lawson’s Feast”

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Recipe: Cranberry Bliss Bars (Starbucks)

These Holiday treats are only available in November and December at Starbucks, but now I can make them all year round. A delicious treat for Christmas I think they would also be perfect for Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day or even a Canada Day party.

Recipe: Maple Ice Cream with Berries

This ice cream is very rich, but is nicely balanced by the whole blueberries and chunks of strawberries running through it.

Recipe: Miniature Vanilla Scones

These scones are sweet but not cloyingly. They are dainty without being too “cutesy”. Perfect for a shower, served with coffee or tea, they are light, delicious and very easy to make.