Summer should be here by now, right? It’s July on Thursday, and Summer still hasn’t officially showed up. Not only is it July on Thursday, but it’s also Canada day here in…well, Canada of course. I’m lucky enough to be able to get a few days off from both jobs and head on up to Whistler to celebrate! Maybe summer is up there. Here’s hoping!

I wanted to make something for Canada Day, and what’s more Canadian than Maple Syrup? It’s deeeeeelicous. I couldn’t live without it. How would we eat our pancakes, waffles or French toast, which I love to smother it on. When you see a stack of pancakes with a pat of butter on it, with the maple syrup running down the sides, your mouth automatically starts to water. So what are the facts on maple syrup?

Native Americans in northeastern North America taught the European colonists how to tap certain maple trees and boil the sap into syrup. Now Canada makes 80% of the world’s maple syrup, with the vast majority coming from Quebec. The maple leaf is also on the Canadian flag.

Maple syrup is made by boring holes in sugar maple tree trunks into which tubes are inserted, allowing the sap to flow into buckets. Or plastic tubing with a partial vacuum is used and the sap is pumped into holding tanks, then taken to a sugarhouse where it is boiled in evaporators until it has the correct density of 66% sugar. If the density is too low it will spoil. If it is too high the syrup will crystallize in the bottles. It takes about 10 gallons of sap to make one quart of maple syrup.

A maple tree lasts at least 30 years and is 12 inches in diameter before it is tapped. A maximum of four is allowed on one tree. This also does not do any harm to the tree, in case you were wondering. 30-50 gallons of sap are evaporated to make one gallon of syrup.

Hope everyone has a good Canada Day! This cake would be delicious with a cup of tea or coffee, or a quick breakfast loaf or muffin. The maple flavor is subtle but sweet. What are you making for this Canada Day?

Maple Walnut Cake

Ingredients:

• ½ cup salted butter
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2/3 cup maple syrup
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• ½ cup milk
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon allspice or cinnamon and nutmeg
• 1 cup walnut pieces

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Butter a 10′ pie plate, this can also be made using a loaf pan or into muffins.

3. Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, syrup, vanilla and milk. Mix well. Batter may look slightly lumpy but not to worry.

4. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and allspice in a large bowl. Mix well.

5. Add dry ingredients into wet ingredients, stirring to prevent lumps. Add the walnut pieces and mix just enough to incorporate the ingredients.

6. Pour the batter into the desired greased baking dish. Bake for 40 minutes to 1 hour, or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center of the cake. This is delicious on it’s own, but you can spread a little butter onto a warm piece, or sprinkle some icing sugar on top. You could also make a maple icing by adding maple syrup, milk and icing sugar together and pour over the cake or loaf.

Happy Canada Day!

I seem to be relying on my Iphone for taking pictures lately! I do have my camera, however I don’t always remember it or carry it around with me all the time! And, it’s just so easy to use your phone. So here’s another mobile phone photo post for mother’s day.

This year we decided to do a brunch for mom and make delicious french toast. I don’t know about you, but I was somewhat amazed at french toast when I was growing up. My dad would make it a lot, and I never quite knew how to make it until I was older and beginning my baking experience. Dad’s cooking is definitely something I miss. It is a really easy dish that you can make look like you it’s difficult. You can prepare it in advance and then make it and keep it warm until you need it. There were eight of us for breakfast – my mom, brother, me, her ‘manfriend’ (hehe) and his two kids and their cousin, and brother’s gf. So I made quite a lot of french toast! I decided I would make it, and then keep it warm in the oven while I decorated the plates and we set the table.

Don’t be turned off of french toast if you’ve never tried it! It’s a slow cooking process and you’ll want to cook it over low-heat for a longer period than heat it on high so it cooks all the way through. I know my mom enjoyed it! And I hope she had an excellent mother’s day =) Love you mother!

You can make as much or as little as you like, I usually say at least one or two eggs per piece of toast. I used two loaves of french bread this time, but you can make as little as a half of a baguette!

Easy French Toast

Ingredients:

• 2 loaves French Toast
• 10-11 Eggs
• 1/2 cup Skim Milk
• 2-3 tbs. Vanilla
• Lots of Cinnamon
• 1 pkg. Strawberries
• 3 tsp. Sugar
• 1 tsp. Corn Starch
• Whipping Cream

Directions:

1. Cut French Baguettes into 1 inch slices. Stack them ontop of eachother and put to the sid
2. In a large baking dish ( I use a glass pyrex dish ) break eggs and add milk and vanilla.
3. Whisk until it is thoroughly mixed, you don’t want to have any whole yolks. Add as much cinnamon as you like and continue to whisk.
4. Lightly spray pan with pam and heat skillet on medium-low.
5. As the pan is heating, dip as many pieces of bread as you can into the egg mixture and soak on one side for about 5 seconds  and flip it over to coat both sides. Next pierce it with a fork to allow it to absorb as much as it can and then stack it onto a plate. You want the bread to be soaked, but not soggy.
6. Repeat with all the slices of bread and continue to stack onto one another so they all stay moist and soak up all the egg.
7. Once you’re ready to cook them, place a few pieces at a time onto the pan and cook for 3-5 minutes until browned on both sides.
8. If you are serving lots at a time, to keep them warm you can pop them onto a tray in the oven on very low heat. Or place them into a warming dish.
9. When you are ready to serve, you can sprinkle it with powdered sugar and top with fruit!

To make the decorative plates

You will need:

Directions:

1. Cut the stems off the strawberries and place into a blender or magic bullet. Pulse until they are purreed, add sugar and cornstarch and pulse again.
2. Whip the cream until it is slightly thickened, you don’t want it to be full out whipped cream.
3. Using a small spoon, place a small amount of the strawberry puree onto the plate and shape it into a half-moon crescent. Using another spoon, dot on a small circle of whipping cream three times in a row.
4. Take a skewer or tooth pick, and draw it down in a straight line from the first dot to the third. And Voila! Little cream hearts. You can use the leftover strawberry puree to drizzle on top of the toast as well!

Hope you all enjoyed Mother’s Day!

My brother Nick, our mom Andrea and Me!

Mom, Alicia and Alysha!

This Easter I was lucky enough to go to two easter dinners. And, both were different and unique. On Sunday I feasted on a traditional Italian dinner of Lasagna, Lamb, Smelt, Salad, Fried Artichoke hearts, Shrimp, Fennel etc. and delicious Italian desserts such as Torta Di Riso and Zuppa Inglese. On Saturday, I went to my boyfriends parents house for a turkey dinner! I love love love turkey dinners. It felt like christmas all over again, and the stormy weather made it feel even more like winter than spring! Even so, I felt like I wanted to make a truly spring-like dessert, and I had decided a week or so ago that it would be something with lemons. I think a lemon dessert is the epitome of spring, its tangy and sweet and usually on top of a delicious crust, be it graham or pastry.

This crust however, is a different story. I had decided on a recipe early on, thinking I would try something new, as I had made the Tarte Au Citron by Dorie before, I thought I would give something else a go. The ‘You Could Be in Paris’ Lemon Tart seemed promising, and looked even better. I was all ready to go, with a little distraction helper in the kitchen, and readied all the ingredients like a pro. I thought “this tart is going to be perfect!” I was right, ish.

You see, I had read all the ingredients and set them out on the counter, I began first with the crust, of course, and continued on my way. As I was making the crust I thought, how simple! I should tell you, I have never been a crust maker, not pies or tarts. For some reason It always turns out hard, even when I try to work it as little as possible. Now, this tart shell was appealing to me because I had never used melted butter, instead of cold butter to make the pastry. This intrigued me because I thought how could you possibly over work it. Well, you see I’m sure you can’t, but, you can however add about a cup too much of sugar, thus leaving you with a hardened tart shell.

Now I’m usually pretty careful when it comes to ingredients, but to no fault but my own, I didn’t realize all the ingredients were lumped into one, no differentiating between crust and filling. So, I measured out all my sugar and plopped it into the crust. When really, there was only supposed to be a 1/4 cup in the crust, and reserved the 1 cup for the filling. I did think to myself as I baked it “my, thats a shiny crust!” Oh well. It was delicious all the same, the filling was just tangy enough and smooth and creamy. I would recommend it if you love lemon, as I do, and you can even pretend you were in Paris.

I also had a smaller tart pan, so I moulded the rest of the dough into my tiny muffin tin and made mini ones. They were an excellent pre-dinner appy.

‘You Could Be In Paris’ Lemon Tart

from Luscious Lemon Desserts via Not so humble pie
serves 10

For The Crust:

• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 1 tbs. lemon zest

For the Filling:

• 2 tablespoons finely grated lemon zest
• 1  cup granulated sugar
• 6 large eggs
• 1 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• Confectioners’ sugar for dusting

Preheat your oven to 350°F and position a rack in the lower third of the oven.

Crust:

1. Melt the butter in a small sauce pan over medium low heat. Stir in one tablespoon of the lemon zest and allow to stand for 5 minutes. Combine the flour and sugar in a bowl or your food processor. Pour the butter into the bowl in a fine stream, mixing with a fork until well blended and it holds together when pinched. If using a food processor, blend the ingredients and then pour the butter into the feed tube and blend for roughly a minute.
2. Empty the mixture into an 11″ tart pan with a removable bottom and press it with your fingertips to evenly line the sides and bottom.
3. Bake the crust for 20 minutes, or until it is a light golden brown. Allow the crust to cool on a wire rack while making the filling.

Filling:

1. Process the remaining one cup of sugar with the remaining one tablespoon of lemon zest in your food processor for about 2-3 minutes, until the zest is finely ground.
2. Pour the sugar into a bowl and add the eggs, lemon juice and whisk until smooth.
3. Beat the 1/2 cup of heavy cream to soft peaks and then whisk the cream into the sugar/egg mixture until just blended. Pour this mixture into your still warm crust and bake for 20-30 minutes, until the filling is just set in the center.
4. Allow the tart to cool completely.
5. Just before serving, dust generously with powdered sugar, cut into wedges and enjoy.

Enter distraction.

Today is Good Friday. Being catholic, this means no meat. So far I’ve managed to eat no meat. I also have managed to have a diet today which includes granola for breakfast, a cafe latte and Panettone  for lunch with my Nonna, and a snack of Pizzelles, of course. Perhaps I should throw a few veggies in there somewhere..

Anyways, Pizzelles have a long history for me. Ever since I could remember each and every Christmas Eve, again a meatless day for Catholics in which we feast on Seafood, (and I mean feast) I would look forward to eating about 20 Pizzelles while I waited for dinner to be served. My Nonna made them without fail each year and I always thought they were a magical cookies. They are so flat and delicate, with a beautiful imprint on both sides. I had never made them myself before, because you see, you need a special Pizzelle maker to produce them.

As I was having coffee and Panettone with her today, I asked if I could borrow it so I could make this intricate cookie for Easter this weekend. We had been reminiscing about how when she was my age (21) she would had just had my dad. They lived in Italy at the time, and immigrated to Canada when my father was 1. He turned 2 a day after they arrived in Vancouver. I’m sure he would have eaten these by the pile-full as well. She had told me that she never actually had one until now herself, as she and her friend would make them together, and she would borrow her friends maker when she wanted. She just got one for herself, as they were quite expensive before and so I was lucky enough to be able to borrow it for the day. This is my first time ever making them, It seems funny now that I am older that I’m able to do things like this, as I always thought it was so exciting when my Nonna made them, and now I’m the one able to make them. Perhaps I’ll have to get her opinion, just to make sure they’re as authentic as hers.

These little lace cookies are delicious on their own, but you can also use them to make waffles cones, or tubes for Cannoli’s. To do this you need to bend them as soon as they are off the press, as they begin to harden up quite quickly. Alternatively, you can also add cocoa to them to make chocolate ones. But, I say why mess with the original. I’ve also seen them used as the cookies for ice cream sandwiches.

However you choose to make it, I suggest you try them if you have not already. It is difficult to make without a proper press, sorry to say, but if you happen to have one or are able to borrow one I highly recommend it. It takes little effort, and makes large batches.

I hope you all enjoy the long Easter weekend. For now, I’m finding refuge indoors for the day as the high winds and rain have kept us inside all day. A certain little furry friend is not so keen on walking in the storm.

Nonna’s Southern Italian Style Pizzelles

Ingredients:

• 6 eggs
• 2 cups sugar (500 ml)
• 1 cup butter, melted and cooled (250 ml)
• 2 tsp. Vanilla (10 ml)
• 7 cups Flour (1.75 ml)
• 4 tbs. baking powder (20 ml)

Directions:

1. Beat eggs and sugar.
2. Add cooled butter, and vanilla extract.
3. Sift flour and baking powder and add to the egg mixture.
4. The batter will have dough like consistency.
5. 1 inch round balls can be formed, if it is stiff enough.
6. Place dough onto middle of the grids, using a tablespoon if yours is a little more batter like, or place by hand 1 inch dough balls.
7. Press down the lid of the Pizzelle Press and wait a minute or two. You can check it to see if it is slightly browned, you don’t want it to be too dark. Once they are finished cooking, gently lift off to cool with a fork.

Makes about 60 Pizzelles.

So I’m finally back on the mainland, and ready for an extremely exciting weekend. Not only is it Valentine’s Day, which means lots of sweets and baking (or in this case, not) but it is also the opening weekend of the Vancouver 2010 Olympics!

I’m actually more excited than I thought I would be, seeing as how it’s all happening right in our backyard! Hopefully I’ll be able to get downtown and see everything that’s going on!

This valentine’s day there wasn’t much time to bake after I got back home for our reading break, so I thought I would whip up a few things that didn’t take any baking at all!

I hope you all have a sweet valentine’s day =)

Chocolate Covered Strawberries:

• 1-2 pkg Strawberries
• 1 cup Melting Chocolate (dark or milk)
• 1/2 cup White Melting Chocolate
• 1/2 cup medium shredded coconut (optional)

Directions:

1. Place dark chocolate into a double broiler, and simmer on low. Allow the chocolate to melt completely and transfer to a glass bowl. Allow to cool slightly. ( I always place a glass mixing bowl over the pot, and then transfer the bowl to a hot plate)
2. Do the same with the white chocolate. Then pour the white chocolate into a piping bag, and snip off a tiny bit. You can also reserve some white chocolate to dip the strawberries into as well.
3. Was the strawberries and dry them completely. You’ll want them slightly cool, to help cool the chocolate faster. Dip them one by one into the melted chocolate and place onto a tray, lined in parchment paper or saran wrap. Once you’ve finished all of them place the tray into the fridge to harden the chocolate. I placed them into the fridge one by one onto the tray so they would cool faster and harden while I made the others.
4. You can if you like also dip them/roll them/or sprinkle them with coconut after you have dipped them into the chocolate.
5. Once they have set, using the white chocolate piping bag, drizzle the white chocolate over the dark and place back into the fridge.
6. Once they have set completely, you can package them up and give them to someone special! Not without trying a couple yourself of course.

You can keep the little container that the strawberries come in as well, they make a cute little box to deliver your sweets in!

Have a very sweet valentines!

xo Alicia

I saw these on another website and thought they would be perfect for a quick christmas cookie. They require no butter, and are super easy to make. At first as I made the first batch I thought they weren’t going to turn out at all. I had to convert the measurements and I thought I might have done it wrong, but when I went to get them from the oven 10 minutes later, I was pleasantly surprised to see how great they turned out! I made two batches.

These are super quick and a lighter christmas cookie alternative, crispy and chewy. Their inspired from the Starbucks cookies apparently, which I wouldn’t know as I don’t drink coffee, and rarely visit starbucks. But they are good!

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