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a mickey birthday and a giveaway

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Yesterday was Q’s fifth birthday. I can’t believe he is five! He has brought so much joy to our lives and I am thankful for him everyday.

Since our Disney cruise is coming up, we have Mickey on our minds.  It made sense that the theme for his school celebration should be of our favourite mouse. Chocolate chip cupcakes were topped with buttercream, finished with a couple of mini Oreos made to look like Mickey ears.

To continue with the theme, I was eager to use my new Mickey Mouse cookie cutters. I rolled out some chocolate shortbread and made the cutest little cookies.

Want to win one of these Mickey cookie cutters for yourself? Just leave a comment, either here or on Facebook, telling me who your favourite Disney character is. Contest closes on Monday, November 11th at noon MST.

playing with spices: tonka beans

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This month, we are playing with Tonka Beans.

Tonka beans are black and wrinkled with an interior that is smooth and caramel in colour. The fragrance is amazing, with hints of vanilla and almonds. The beans come from the a flowering tree native to Central America and northern South America.

Just a small amount is needed to infuse the bean’s flavour. Using a microplane, just grate the wonderfully scented bean.

I first learned of tonka beans from my friend Cheryl, from Dining Room Empire. Cheryl uses tonka beans constantly – in scones, muffins, jam, chocolate cake, and even chocolate chip cookies.  She also puts a whole bean in her home-canned peaches.

I wanted to find a recipe that showcased the tonka beans and their fabulous flavour. I used this shortbread recipe from Dinner with Julie.  I made a batch for Sunday brunch with some close friends and the cookies were a hit.  If you ever come across these beans, be sure to take a sniff. So delightful!

meyer lemon curd

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Every time I bring home some meyer lemons, I always think I’m going to make some curd and then never get around to it. This time, I was determined to make it happen and I’m so glad I did!

Lemon curd is made by combining lemon juice with butter, eggs and sugar and cooking it into a custard. This tangy and sweet curd is bright, both in taste and colour, I used a recipe by Ina Garten and it was super easy to make. The result was a curd that was luscious and creamy.


Light and refreshing, the curd is perfect with fruit, spread on toast or even served with a slice of some peppercorn shortbread.

Meyer Lemon Curd
From Ina Garten, Barefoot Contessa

3 lemons
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 pound unsalted butter, room temperature
4 extra-large eggs
1/2 cup lemon juice (3 to 4 lemons)
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

Using a carrot peeler, remove the zest of 3 lemons, being careful to avoid the white pith. Put the zest in a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Add the sugar and pulse until the zest is very finely minced into the sugar.

Cream the butter and beat in the sugar and lemon mixture. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, and then add the lemon juice and salt. Mix until combined.

Pour the mixture into a 2 quart saucepan and cook over low heat until thickened (about 10 minutes), stirring constantly. The lemon curd will thicken at about 170 degrees F, or just below simmer. Remove from the heat and cool or refrigerate.

playing with spices: pink peppercorn

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This month, we are playing with pink peppercorns.

Unlike how the name suggests, these are not related to actual peppercorns. They are the dried berries of Baies rose plant. They taste peppery but are not spicy in flavour.  The pink peppercorns are sweet and mild.

These delicate little spices are rosy in colour and are brittle compared to the black peppercorn.  They are soft with papery skins and can easily be ground by hand.  I love how the colour accents the dishes that they are added to. They are very eye-catching and I’m so happy I stocked up the last time I was in France.

Although great with chicken and fish, I was hoping to find a sweet way to showcase these pink berries. I was intrigued when I found Martha Stewart’s Peppercorn Shortbread. Instead of using a variety of peppercorns, I stuck with the ones I wanted to showcase.

The combination of the buttery shortbread with the peppery berries sounds strange but it really works!

Peppercorn Shortbread
Adapted slightly from Martha Stewart

1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 tsp pink peppercorns, coarsely ground
3/4 cup icing sugar

Topping:
3/4 tsp pink peppercorns, coarsely ground
2 TB granulated sugar

Preheat oven to 300 degrees, with rack in center. Lightly butter a 10-inch springform pan, and set aside.

Stir together flour, salt, and peppercorns; set aside. Put butter and icing sugar into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, and mix on medium speed until fluffy, about 2 minutes, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Reduce speed to low. Gradually add flour mixture, and mix until combined.

Using a small offset spatula, spread dough evenly into prepared pan, smoothing top. Bake until shortbread is golden brown, about 1 hour 20 minutes.

Transfer pan to a wire rack. Immediately sprinkle with granulated sugar and remaining peppercorns. Remove springform; let shortbread cool completely. Cut into wedges.

happy valentine’s day!

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Happy Valentine’s Day!  Hope you all have a fabulous day celebrating with sweets and chocolate.

This year, Q wanted to make some cookies for his friends.  I thought it would be a great time for us to try a new roll out shortbread recipe.  I found one that had gotten some great reviews but for some reason it didn’t work for us!  I ended up with a really dry and crumbly dough that just wouldn’t come together.  I played around, added butter, then more butter…. Finally a splash of cream turned it into a pliable dough.  Despite the additions to the recipe, the cookies tasted great – butter and cream makes everything good!

Q had fun rolling out the dough and cutting out the hearts.  It was a great Valentine’s activity.

I wanted to decorate the hearts but needed something fast and without sprinkles.  This glaze worked perfectly.  One dip of the heart in the glaze and they were fully decorated.  Half the recipe coated 35 hearts.

Sugar Glaze for Cookies

2 cups icing sugar
1/3 cup milk
food coloring

Mix the ingredients together and it’s ready to use.

holiday baking

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We had a chance to get away and didn’t hesitate for a second
about not spending the holidays at home. 
The trip just meant that I had to be extra organized and get all our
holiday baking done early.  It’s always
fun to spoil our friends and neighbours with a box of goodies, and this year
was no exception.

It was hard to decide what to put into this year’s goodie
box but here is what I decided on.  Click to find out recipes for these tasty treat!

Whipped shortbread
Walnut shortbread
Chocolate chip cookies
Butter Pecan Squares
Rice Krispie Squares
Candy Cane Cupcakes

caramel popcorn twists

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Every good road trip has to have a big bag of something salty.  Last year, when we drove to Kelowna, we took along a bag of popcorn twists.  These twists, which just melt in your mouth, take me back to my childhood.  I noticed a recipe on the bag for caramel popcorn twists and put it in the back of my mind to make one day.  Well, one day was today.  I made up a batch of these and they were so  good! I didn’t want them fully covered with caramel, so I halved the recipe.  This way, each popcorn twist was only half covered and allowed you to get some sweet and some salty in every bite.

Want to try some?  These will be at the Calgary Food Blogger Bake Sale being held this weekend at Casel Marche.  I will also be baking up some whipped shortbread with almonds and chocolate as well as some almond roca shortbread.  Hope to see you all there!

Caramel Popcorn Twists
Taken from the back of a bag of Old Dutch Popcorn TwistsPlace one 175 g bag of Old Dutch Popcorn Twists™ into a large roasting pan and pre-heat the oven to 250°F.

In your largest pot, combine 3/4 cup butter, 1 cup brown sugar and 1/2 cup corn syrup.

Bring the above ingredients to a rolling boil for about 2 minutes. Then stir in 1 tsp of baking soda. This will cause your caramel to foam. Allow the foam to cook slightly then remove from heat.

Pour the caramel over the popcorn twists and stir until completely mixed.Place in pre-heated oven and bake for 45 minutes, stirring your mixture every 10-15 minutes.

Remove from oven, pour on wax paper. Allow to cool slightly, break apart & enjoy!

butter pecan squares

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Pecan tarts are one of my favorites.  The pecans, the gooeyness, even the raisins, who wouldn’t love it? I’ve always wanted to try making these but the idea of making tart shells kind of put me off.  When I found this recipe for squares and an easy shortbread bottom, I quickly put it on my list of baking to do over the holidays.  Although I made these to distribute, none of them made it out the door.  They were delicious and satisfying and by the time I was putting together packages, there weren’t many squares left!

Unfortunately I don’t remember where I found this recipe.  It’s easy and delicious though, so definitely try it out!

Butter Pecan Squares

1 cup flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter

2 TB melted butter
2 eggs
1 cup brown sugar
2 TB flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp vanilla
pinch of salt
1 cup raisings
1 cup chopped pecans

Combine flour and sugar and cut in the cold butter until the dough is crumbly.  Press the dough into a 9″ square pan and bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes

In a bowl, mix together the remaining ingredients.  Pour over the baked base and bake at 350 degrees for another 25 minutes.