Shortbread is my favourite cookie. Citrus-scented, chocolate-dipped or plain, I love every rendition I’ve ever had. These are slightly spiced up with cinnamon, but perfect to decorate with sprinkles and share with a 3 ½ year old boy. Continue reading “Recipe: Spiced Up Shortbread”
Recipe: Spicy Seared Scallops
These scallops are perfect cottage-fare. Light, easy to prepare, few ingredients and oh-so-tasty. And you can make them in massive quantities, if you need to serve an army of cottagers.
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Recipe: Apple Caramel Cake
This moist, rich cake is lighter than a chocolate cake – the perfect dessert to have with coffee mid-afternoon. Come to think of it it would be delicious after dinner too… or even for breakfast. It’s that good.
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Recipe: Lemon Chicken Rolls (with citrus dipping sauce)
These rolls were pretty good — but I love any kind of Asian-style rolls… the only ingredient that I couldn’t taste was the potato. The lemon, chicken and cabbage held their own but the potato matchsticks did not… oh well.
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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:
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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: Profiteroles with Peppermint-Vanilla Ice Cream
Even though they are surprisingly simple to make, these delicacies will always impress. You can make just the profiteroles in advance, or make and fill them with ice cream, ready to pull from the freezer for last minute guests. Continue reading “Recipe: Profiteroles with Peppermint-Vanilla Ice Cream”
Recipe: Golden Oldie Fudge
This recipe is from Chatelaine magazine, circa 1965. Tried and true, the recipe works perfectly today with no alterations. Gorgeously sweet, buttery fudge with no apologies for calories or fat. YUM.
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Recipe: Stuffed Mushroom Caps
These are a perfect appetizer with almost any meal. Easy to make, delicious to eat…what more could you ask for?
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Potato Chip Bites
Crunch, crunch, crunch. And not a “Lay’s” logo in sight for miles…
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Recipe: Sunshine Risotto
This risotto is perfect to serve on a dark, dismal day. The colours of the pepers and the crisp but mellow flavour of the roasted onion come together with the supple risotto so perfectly. For me, it is literally sunshine on a cloudy day.