I Brought You Flours

Easter Cheesecake

2011-05-02T10:36:00.000-07:00

I made this cheesecake as a dessert for my family's Easter dinner. The recipe is from Anna Olson and is a stable in my books and is my go to dessert when I something relatively simple that is sure to impress and that can feed a crowd.This cheesecake is mighty tasty and the lemon zest helps to keep it both flavourful and light. I really don't have any complaints about this recipe other than the cooking instructions are a little bit complicated. I just skipped the water bath this time around. Instead I cooked it for 90 minutes at 300 and then shut the oven off and let it cool in the oven for a little while (maybe another 20-30min). After that I let it cool some more on the countertop and then popped it in the fridge until it was time to serve (about 5h). Ideally this dessert would be made the day before so that it can chill overnight but as long as it can sit in the fridge for a few hours you should be good to go. I added some fruit on the top for a little decoration. Also, I opted to use light cream cheese this time around. Full fat cream cheese would probably be richer and more flavourful but the light stuff does the job and makes me feel better about eating it. ;) Overall it was really successful and a big hit at the dinner table! We served 9 people and had about half the cake left over so you can look forward to some leftovers! You can find the recipe and instructions at foodnetwork.ca.

Valentine's Chocolate Mint Cookies

2011-02-13T17:06:00.000-08:00

My university synchronized swimming team had a Valentine's Day themed bake sale a few days ago. These cute little cookies were my contribution. They were pretty easy to make, look great, and taste good too, although the filling is super sweet. The recipe is from my favourite cook book Sugar by Anna Olson. You can find the recipe here. I cooked these guys a little shorter than she suggested (only 10min) because I don't like a really crunchy cookie. I also had a little bit of the filling left over so I added a little bit of water (just a few drops) and a drop of red food colouring to make the icing for the hearts. To draw the hearts I just put a little hole in the corner of a ziplock bag and used that to pipe the hearts on top. Clearly I have a lot to learn about piping... Enjoy!

Mini Raspberry Cheesecakes

2010-12-29T20:06:00.000-08:00

I made these mini cheesecakes for my sister's birthday party last night and they were a big hit! She doesn't like anything too sweet or too rich, so I decided these mini cheesecakes would be perfect. The cakes themselves are not too sweet and the mini format cuts down on some of the richness. The perfect dessert for her! The recipe I used was based on a recipe I found as I was scanning through foodgawker.com. I tweaked it a little bit to suit my taste. I didn't feel like using my vanilla bean just yet so I used a little vanilla extract and added some lemon zest for a little extra punch. I also added some more butter to the crust just to help it stick together a little better. These cakes are very simple to make, and don't require a lot of ingredients. Infact, I had everything I needed on hand! Overall I was very satisfied with the taste and texture of the cakes and would certainly make them again with a variety of different toppings. Here is my version of the recipe. You can find the original at Handle the Heat.

Makes 12 cheesecakes

Crust
3/4 cup graham crumbs
2 1/2 tbsp butter, melted
1 tbsp granulated sugar

Filling
2 x 250g pkg cream cheese (I used light)
1/2 cup sugar
pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 tsp lemon zest (approx.)
2 large eggs

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees farenheit and line a cupcake pan with paper liners. (I found my zebra print ones at Michael's)

In a small bowl combine all crust ingredients and blend well with a fork until everything is moistened and it sticks together slightly when you squeeze a little bit in your hand. Press about a tablespoon of the mixture into the bottom of each muffin cup and bake for 5-6min. Reduce oven temp to 300 degrees.

In a larger bowl, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Beat in the sugar until well incorporated. Add salt, vanilla, and lemon zest and mix well. Add eggs one at a time and beat well after each addition. Try not to overmix...

Seperate the filling evenly throughout the muffin cups and bake for 20-25 min until the cakes are just set (maybe still a little jiggly just in the center). Let them cool to room temperature and then move them to the fridge to chill for 4 hours or overnight. The longer the better.

When ready to serve decorate the cakes with whatever topping you would like. I chose fresh raspberries to keep things simple but this would be equally good with other toppings, fruity or otherwise!
Enjoy! :)

mmm...cookies

2009-04-10T12:18:00.000-07:00

I LOVE chocolate chip cookies. I love to eat them, I love to make them, and I love to take pictures of them. I spend a lot of time (maybe more than I should) looking for and trying out new recipes. My usual recipe is my adapted version of one from joyofbaking.com. They're chewy and fluffy on the inside and have that little layer of crunch on the outside and are certainly delicious but this time I thought I would try something new. I had been looking at this re cipe from Culinary Cory for quite some time and I just finally decided to make them. My only setback was that I didn't have any sugar (weird..) so I just used all brown sugar. Wow! Apart from being slightly flatter than what I'm used to I found them to be scrumptious. They almost melt in your mouth, and I certainly couldn't eat just one. Cory's recipe is definately worth hanging on to.

The best way to eat a pumpkin

2008-12-29T17:49:00.000-08:00

This pie was made for thanksgiving, I posted the photo in December and now I'm finally doing the rest of it in April. I'm a little bit slow, or maybe just busy. Never the less, I've decided to finally give a little bit of background into what I think is one of the best pictures I've ever taken (so far).

I made this pie for a Cooking Club Challenge on foodtv.ca in October. The challenge that month was obviously pumpkin pie, just in time for Canadian Thanksgiving. It was a recipe by Anna Olson, who I have to mention is one of my all time favourite Food Network stars. I love "Sugar", I like "Fresh" and her recipes just always seem to turn out well for me. This time was no different. The crust was flaky, the filling was delicious and the spiced whipped cream just topped everything off beautifully. The only thing I tweaked a little bit was the amount of cream in the filling (it was a little watery) and the baking time (it needed a little longer.) Anyways, without further ado, I'll leave you with the recipe, and with the hope that I'll post again before next Thanksgiving!

Anna Olson's Perfect Pumpkin Pie
Yield: 8

INGREDIENTS:
Pastry
• 6 tbsp cold unsalted butter
• 6 tbsp cold vegetable shortening
• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp fine salt
• 4 to 5 tbsp ice water

Pumpkin Pie
• 2 cups canned pumpkin
• 3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 3 tbsp fancy molasses
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/8 tsp ground cloves
• 1/2 tsp fine salt
• 3 large eggs
• 1 1/3 cups whipping cream (I only used 1 cup)
• 3 tbsp brandy or orange liqueur

Spiced Whipped Cream
• 1 cup whipping cream
• 2 tsp sugar
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• pinch nutmeg
DIRECTIONS:
Pastry

For pastry, freeze butter and shortening for 30 minutes. Combine flour, sugar and salt in a large bowl. Using a box grater, grate the butter and shortening into flour. Toss this mixture with your fingers to coat the fats, breaking up lumps with your fingers as you go. The dough should be a rough, crumbly texture and take on a slight yellow tone. Add 3 Tbsp of the water and mix with a spatula or wooden spoon to bring dough together, adding a little more water if needed. Shape dough into a disc and chill for an hour before rolling.

Pumpkin Pie

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to just under ¼-inch thick. Dust the bottom of a 9-inch pie shell with flour and line with dough. Trim edges, keeping scraps to roll and cut for garnish, if desired. Chill while preparing filling.
For filling, whisk pumpkin with brown sugar, molasses spices and salt. Whisk in eggs, then whipping cream and brandy or orange liqueur. Pour into chilled pie shell.
Bake for 10 minutes, then lower temperature to 350 degrees F. and bake for 20 to 30 minutes, until filling puffs just a little around edges but still has a bit of jiggle in center when moved. Allow to cool to room temperature, then chill completely.
To serve pumpkin pie warm, it is recommended to bake and chill completely, then re-warm in a 300 degrees F. oven for 15 minutes before slicing. Serve with spiced whipped cream.

Spiced Whipped Cream

Whip cream with sugar and spices until medium peaks form. Dollop over the pieces of pie.