pumpkin spice cupcakes with maple frosting

September has arrived, and with it, all the classic autumn recipes. And with the arrival of cooler weather, I don't mind having the oven on.

The first truly fall recipe I wanted to make again were these Pumpkin Spiced Cupcakes with Maple Frosting from Barefoot Contessa. This time I made mini cupcakes for with tea after our first day of school, and they turned out perfectly. I just adjusted the baking time.

Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes with Maple Frosting - Barefoot Contessa

The frosting recipe is amazing, and it made so much extra that I put half of it in the fridge to use another time. Also, I love how perfect cupcakes look with uniformly piped frosting, but sometimes, getting those swirls just right is so satisfying.

Now her recipe calls for a Health bar on top, and in Canada, we don't really have them. We have Skor bars, which I think are similar. I happened to have a container (or three) of English Toffee from when I went to Trader Joe's last week, and that worked perfectly!

This recipe is truly worthy of a signature "How easy was that?".

victoria sponge cake with fresh strawberries and cream

Looking for an easy dessert for your holiday weekend celebrations? This cake is perfect because it's super simple to make and assemble, but it looks pretty (and festive) as well.

The cake is a simple Victoria Sponge Cake (I used this recipe accompanying this article by Felicity Cloake, found in The Guardian).

Now, here's the thing. I didn't have self-rising flour on hand. I substituted all purpose with the appropriate amounts of added salt and baking powder, but I feel the cake, as a result, was lacking a bit in sponginess (though, not lacking in taste!). Next time I will either add more than the recommended amount of baking powder (even though it seemed like too much already), or I'll just pickup a small bag of self-rising. You'd think from reading the article that I would have just waited. But the fresh strawberries from market were at that perfect point, where waiting even just one day further would have resulted in waking up to slightly mushy berries, and a small army of fruit flies that seemed to have appeared from nowhere.

Layer sponge cakes rounds with generous amounts of whipped cream, sweetened with powdered sugar for a little extra hold, and top with fresh berries. Dust with powdered sugar before serving.

Also, the first of the roses have made their appearance in the garden.

 

Perfectly imperfect and very patriotic.

saturday morning cinnamon rolls

As I shared on Instagram this Saturday, I spent a good part of Saturday morning baking a batch of cinnamon rolls for us to enjoy.

I rarely make cinnamon rolls, even though they are one of my most favorite things to eat. One of the reasons I don't make them often is because they are time consuming - but you know what they say, good things come to those who wait. And it was Saturday, after all. The other reason is that there's nothing worse than putting all the work in, and not getting the results you hoped for. On more than one occasion I've been disappointed with my results - too dry, not enough cinnamon flavor... But, I've also learned from each of those flops.

I found this recipe on Pinterest, originally from here. I was really pleased with the results. They were very much as described - soft and fluffy, and I will definitely be making them again!

Click the link above for the recipe. The recipe made one dozen nice sized cinnamon rolls that fit perfectly in this 12 x 13 dish. Here are a few notes I made that really made the difference for me:

*1 - Really do just add the 3 cups of flour, and then one tablespoon at a time. A perfectly smooth ball of dough isn't desirable - it should still be smooth, but sticking to the bottom of the bowl.

*2 - Don't rush the rise times. Let them get nice and fluffy.

*3 - The addition of a little cornstarch to the filling keeps it from all running out to the bottom of the pan.

*4 - Lots of cinnamon. If you're going to have a cinnamon roll, it better be chocked full of cinnamon flavor!

*5 - Start checking them at 20 minutes. Mine were done at 24 minutes, and were perfectly soft.

Give them a try this weekend! You won't be disappointed. Just don't expect them to last long.

gingerbread recipe

I spent more time today than I care to admit making Gingerbread. That being said, they're the prettiest Gingerbread I've ever made, so I thought I would share them here.

The recipe I used for the Gingerbread was for Gingerbread Snowflakes by Martha Stewart Living, and I used Jenny Steffens' Royal Icing recipe for the decorating.

*note - I added an extra 1/4 cup of icing sugar to the Royal Icing recipe, just so it was firm enough to hold a nice line, but soft enough to pipe easily.

They were a little time consuming, but actually fairly easy. Just don't skimp out on the chilling!

Happy baking.

Ps. Follow along on Instagram if you aren't already!

@growersdaughter

New Year, Fresh Start

There's something so wonderful about the dawning of a new year.

It's as similar as an inviting bed with freshly laundered sheets, or a crisp white shirt not yet worn, or a new planner, awaiting important reminders to be pencilled in. 

It's fresh and full of possibility.

As much as I love readying the house for the Christmas season, there's still something so refreshing about boxing it all up and starting over.

With all of our celebrations now past, this morning felt like the perfect time to start getting the house back in order.

All of the greens came down, dishes removed, shelves vacuumed and then wiped down.

I packaged up some bits of Christmas decor that I will just reuse next year.

Then I rearranged the shelves and packed away most of the brown transferware.

For Christmas, my mom gave me this beautiful marble pastry board. As this is where I also keep my mixer, I just decided to set everything out and have this as my baking counter.

I love having everything - mixing bowls, measuring cups, baking tools - all in one place.

Very mise en place. 

It feels so fresh.

And of course, as this is right beside my laundry area, it also becomes a folding station of sorts.

You do what you have to do.

My organizing of the house actually started a few days ago. I just tried focusing on a cupboard or two each day, so the kitchen nearly finished. 

I'm in no rush, but it's nice to have things back in routine.

Happy New Year!

Pumpkin Loaf and Tea on the Deck

Since it is the season of all things Pumpkin Spice, I thought I would share one of my favourite new recipes I've tried this season.

This super moist, but not-too-sweet, Pumpkin Bread was originally from Food and Wine, however I discovered it via here.

I only substituted the almond milk for 1/6 cup cream and 1/6 cup milk.

I also had some extra cream cheese frosting in the freezer, so I thawed that and spread it on top with some toasted pecans.

The whole house smelled scrumptious and quite like Fall!

While it cooled, we put the kettle on and set up tea on the back porch. Recently we purchased four wicker arm chairs from Ikea to have a small sitting area.

We enjoyed it with a cup of Chai tea.

I can't get over how much he loves to sit and have tea with me. It's so special.

In other news, we welcomed our second nephew yesterday!

Meet Luke Richard Oblak.

He was due on Thanksgiving, but we're happy he came early.

Freshened Up Kitchen Shelves and A Healthy Chocolate Tart

One of the parts of un-decorating for Christmas that I anticipate most is putting back my kitchen shelves. Of course they never go back to the way they were before the red transferware is displayed. Something is always being added or taken away. But that's what makes things interesting in the kitchen.

Recently, I switched out the glass canisters and put back an older nesting set I had stored away. I'm enjoying the but of colour. I also hung this pastoral watercolour painting I had picked up over a year ago. It helped fill out the space.

My little Gold Crest tree fits perfectly in this old urn, and it doesn't feel too much like Christmas.

And since I've been spending a lot more time in the kitchen, I made a dessert to bring on New Year's Day. It seems that with the stroke of midnight, Pinterest has become an endless list of healthy recipes, all to aid in recently made resolutions.

My sister in law and I are trying to be more conscious of what we are eating, and since that meant I shouldn't be indulging in any more deserts, I decided to be proactive and make something healthier to bring. I came across this recipe for what was supposed to be a chocolate cheese cake, and while I can't really get my head around the whole cheesecake aspect, it was a surprisingly yummy chocolate mousse sort of tart.

So what's so healthy about this decadent looking tart, you ask?

It's made from avocados!

The bottom is a mixture of pecans, hazelnuts, raw cacao powder, coconut oil and maple syrup. The filling, a couple of ripe avocados, more raw cacao powder and maple syrup to sweeten it. It's not exactly as the recipe called for, but it's quite close. It turned out well anyway.

If you can get past the thought of avocados, and a definite healthier taste, it's quite good. It's definitely a decent chocolate taste, but refreshing and light, not decadent.

You can find the original recipe here.