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Rhubarb Cream Pie

Ok, I made this a couple of weeks ago, (probably more like a month ago now!) before we went to BC, so these are old photos, but I had to share it with you anyhow, because if you do one thing this week, you should make this pie! I'm serious, you will NOT regret it.  This is pretty much hot out of the oven. Which sounds all nice and picturesque, but is not ideal in terms of pie. 

Because we could not wait to cut into it. 

But this is what you get when you cut a hot pie into slices. They are not really slices, per se. We call them schlices instead. Because they are schloppy.

But luckily, they still taste amazing. Seriously, I think this is my favourite kind of pie. Right up there with Peach Pie and Pumpkin Pie. Its hard to choose a favourite pie, and really, under what kind of cruel Sopie's Choice-like circumstances would you have choose anyhow? Its like having to pick a favourite child! Not possible. My vote is for having a slice of each.  

Also, note the pair of mittens in the foreground of the above photograph. And this photo was taken in late July. I'm telling you, the Little Guy LOVES his dress up mittens. The only reason he was convinced to take them off was that the pie was going to be messy. Like his mother, this kid will do anything for pie. 

Anyhow, now that' I've gone on about pie long enough perhaps you want to make one, so here is the recipe. Handed down to me by my Mom who got it from a friend who got it from, who knows where. Don't get all hung up on provenance with this one, just make it and enjoy!

Rhubarb Cream Pie

Filling: In a small saucepan melt 2 tbsps of butter and add 2 cups of diced rhubarb and 1 cup of sugar. Cook slowly over medium low heat until rhubarb is tender. 

Combine 1/2 cup of sugar

                2 tbsps cornstarch

                2 well beaten egg yolks (reserved the whites for the meringue later)

                1/2 cup of light cream (half and half works nicely)

                1/8 tsp of salt

Add to rhubarb mixture and cook until thickened. Seat aside to cool.

Meringue Topping: For a lovely full meringue use three egg whites. (use the two left over from making the filling, but add another, because everyone loves meringue) Have the egg whites at room temperature. Beat them with a hand mixer until frothy. Add 4-6 Tbsp of sugar, one at a time, depending on how sweet you like it. Beat well after each addition until the meringue is glossy and slightly stiff. 

You can make your own pie crust (good crust recipes can be found all over the internet, but I like this one, or the basic pie crust recipe from The Joy of Cooking) Blind bake your empty pie crust at 325 degrees for around 22 minutes. Make sure to prick it thoroughly first and also weight it with large dried beans (like kidney beans) or pie weights. Let it cool.

Pour filling into a pre-baked pie shell. Top with meringue. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 mintues. Try your best to let it cool completely before cutting it into slices. But I will understand if you don't. 

Peach Cake

I am still loving that All Cakes Considered book that my sister gave me for my birthday. This week's cake is the Peach Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting.  Look how beautifully it turned out!

I didn't make any changes to the recipe in terms of ingredients, but I did bake it differently than recommended. It says to bake it in a tube pan, but I baked it in two round pans so that I could make a layer cake instead. I had two reasons for this. 1. I hate baking in a tube pan because I have a really hard time assessing when it is done. I often find it a little underdone in the centre, even though my oven tends to run hot. I fuss and hover and give it another five minutes and then another two minutes, and then STILL I find it just a little too pudding-y in the centre. It stresses me out. But I can always tell when a cake in a flat round pan is done. There is much less margin for error. And 2. It give you more surface area for frosting. And frosting in between the layers make for more frosting in every bite. And who can argue with that. 

Look at this poor guy, waiting and waiting until Mommy finishes taking pictures of the cake, until its finally time to EAT the cake! As a side note, I wonder if my kids realize that not everyone take pictures of their food before they eat it. Its probably not in every home that each cake requires a photo shoot of its own. 

Anyhow, he couldn't wait forever. Just had to sneak in there for a little taste. 

Yum.

Another note on frosting. This was a great frosting, with the cream cheese base and all, which gives it a more savoury flavour, and allows it to be not quite so sweet, as the cake itself was pretty sweet to begin with. But I thought to myself, since I'm making it into a layer cake, I'd better double the frosting amounts. Which I did and then I still did not have enough to frost the whole thing! I could see when I'd iced the middle that I was going to be pretty light on the frosting, so I put the remainder in a piping bag and put a jumbo star tip on it and did the rosettes around the edge. Which was plenty of icing if you ask me, but if you want a fully iced cake, you should probably tripple it. 

To say it was enjoyed by all would be an understatement. 

We at the daylights outta that cake!

Though some of use took a brief break from eating to make funny faces. You know who you are. 

gluten free, dairy free gingerbread muffins

I haven't shared a recipe here in awhile, but these have been so popular around our house, that it seemed worth passing on.  These are not too sweet, but not bland either, since they have two kinds of ginger in them; both regular ground ginger and fresh grated ginger. If I was making these for adults I'd add chopped candied ginger too, but I think that'd be to intense for my little ones.

And the very best part of these muffins is the way that the kids eat 'em. Nom! And before you can blink two or three are gone. 

Nice and moist on the inside too. They have a lovely texture. And they taste like a gingerbread cookie crossed with a muffin. 

So, here's the recipe. 

Gingerbread Muffins

1/2 cup of brown sugar, packed

2 large eggs

1/2 cup of sugar free applesauce

1/2 cup of molasses

1/4 cup of canola oil

1 tbsp of grated fresh ginger

1 and 3/4 of a cup of your favourite gluten free flour blend

1 tsp of ground ginger

1 tsp of baking soda

a pinch of salt

Pre-heat over to 375 degrees.

In a large bowl mix the first six ingredients (the wet ones) together with a hand mixed, till well blended. Sift together the last four ingredients (the dry ones) in a medium sized bowl. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ones, and give it another little shot with the hand mixer, just until the dry ingredients are incorporated (but don't over mix it, or they get too tough). Line muffin tins with paper or re-useable silicone cupcake liners, and fill each one two thirds of the way full. You'll be able to fill about 18 cups. Put a little bit of warm water in the remaining empty cups to ensure even baking. 

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until they cupcakes risen and brown and the tops bounce back to your touch. 

Allow to cool a bit, and then eat 'em with a nice cup of tea. Also, if you are not dairy free, these would be amazing with a cream cheese frosting. 

Anyhow, enjoy! I know we do!

gluten-free, dairy-free recipe links

I had a totally crazy day today, with much unplanned time spent in limbo, so I will not be bringing you my usual lengthy photo filled blog post today. Instead, I'm going to share some links with you for stuff we've been eating lately.

As you know, we are still aclimating to the Little Dude's Wheat Free, Dairy Free lifestyle. He's been shockingly good about it. I think he still doesn't quite 'get' it, as I've not really sat down with him and said, "you can never eat wheat or dairy again. That means no more cheese and no more ice cream and and no more tortellini and no more cookies and no more cake." Because a) that would be cruel. b) that would blow his mind I think and c) its not entirely true. I'm just trying to cook really awesome things that don't have wheat and dairy, and am finding many good substitutes for old favourites.  Occasionally he does ask for things that have dairy in them (like cheese) or wheat in them (like pretzels) and I'll just tell him that he can't have those things because they have wheat and dairy in them and he is allergic to wheat and dairy, just like he's allergic to peanuts. He knows he's allergic, we just haven't presented it with doom and gloom and forever finality. Then he will ask me "tomorrow, can we go to the store and buy some cheese without dairy in it?" Oh honey, if only we could. I know there are some soy cheese like things, but I'm pretty skeptical that they will replace the soft semi-aged baby parmesan he loved, or the spiced gouda or the good old cheddar. We'll see. Ditto for ice cream. Though he really, really enjoys rainbow sherbert which has neither wheat, nor dairy and is produced in a peanut free factory. Triple score. But of course, I don't want him eating that every night of the week, as it is, like, sugar city. 

Anyhow, here is some stuff I have been baking and making and he has been loving. 

First and foremost: Rosemary Chickpea Oat Flatbread. This stuff is freakin' amazing. Great texture, done in 20 minutes, and full of protein. Smells like heaven too. The first time I made it, the Little Dude took a bite and said, "I LOVE this bread mom!" He loves it best hot out of the oven, and so do it. And its so easy to make that I often throw in a loaf as dinner is cooking, especially if is it soup or a crock pot or something. If you don't like rosemary its also good with chives instead, and I've been doing a southwest version with chives and half a chipotle pepper chopped into it. (Adults might like a whole one, but if its to spicy I get complaints from my littles.) Also, I've been making a nice 'sweet' version buy leaving out the onion powder and salt and rosemary and adding 2 tsp of sugar and 1.5 tsp of cinnamon and then sprinkling the top with cinnamon sugar. This goes over very, very well, and makes me feel good too because of the good, protein filled chickpea flour. I brought three loaves of this to our big family thanksgiving dinner and it all got eaten with requests for more. And that was from people who had no dietary restrictions, so just goes to show that good is good. 

And then, the Little Dude's new favourite candy treat are these Healthy Peppermint Patties. So freaking good. And totally worth buying coconut oil for. Though do yourself a favour and go to an asian grocery store and find it for waaaaaay cheaper than you would at a health food store. The only downside to these are that they are so good you will eat them all, way too fast. trust me. 

And another recipe with lots of honey and coconut oil, these healthy granola bars are a-MAH-zing. The only drawback is they have to stay refrigerated until you eat them, otherwise they get very, very melty. So not a good lunch snack. But they blog they come from is really good to. Have a look around there, its fun. 

This recipe for Quinoa Banana Bread was pretty good. It was a titch on the healthy-tasting side. I don't mind it, but next time I'll use a little less quinoa flour (it has a rather distinctive taste) and a bit more sugar or honey or something like that. I baked them as muffins instead of a loaf, and we did eat all of them, though the baby tended to abandon his about halfway through, and then drop it somewhere and then walk in it later. Very dirty socks that way. 

I know this is not news, but I do make these meatballs at least once a week. I just sub in rice milk and gluten free bread crumbs now. They are L.D's favourite meal, hands down. 

And here are some things I have not tried yet, but plan to soon.

Gluten Free Pita Bread recipe. I'm skeptical, but we really miss pitas. 

Chocolate Cake with Espresso Glaze. I'll probably leave the glaze off, as my kids don't need the caffeine. 

Slow-Cooker Bacon Wrapped Apple Chicken. You had me at Bacon.

The Most Awesome Raw Apple Snack. Sure, I'll try that. We like apples just fine as they are, but hey, why not. 

How about you? Have any good GF/DF recipes for me? Does anyone know a good one for mac and cheese? I know, sounds impossible, but there's got to be a good one out there. Share in the comments if you have any good ideas. 

best. salad. ever.

Fresh corn season is nearly over, but while you can still get a half-dozen peaches and cream cobs at your local roadside stand, I thought I should share the recipe with you. I am so in love with this salad. I think I have made it three out of the last five days. And when I eat it I have a really, really hard time stopping. Its like the chocolate of salad.

Oh, which reminds me of the funniest thing I've heard Hubs say to the Little Dude in a long time. He was trying to get him to try some cold-cuts on his sandwich and he said "Its ham, buddy. You'll like ham. Its like the pickles of meat." Meaning of course that it is salty and delicious, and comparing it to one of the L.D's favourite things. But to no avail. The ham cold-cut did not get eaten. 

But back to the salad. Because I know you like a picture with your food descriptions, here it is. You see that? That is fresh corn cut right off the cob, red onion, chopped cherry tomatoes, fresh basil chiffonade and cheese filled tortellini. Ok, my mouth is watering, just writing that. 

Anyhow, I did not really make this salad up, but have merely adapted it to serve my purposes and the excess of fresh tomatoes around here. Its built on Ina Garten's Fresh Corn Salad, which is a recipe that was introduced to my by my lovely sister. Which is what big sisters should do, isn't it, introduce you to awesome new things. Like dangly earrings, Margaret Atwood novels, martinis and wholesale shopping (all good things shown to my by my sister).

So basically, take the Ina Garten recipe, add a cup or two of cooked tortellini, depending on how hearty you want it to be, and a nice big handful of cherry tomatoes, cut in half and seeded. And voila, you are done.

Now, I realize that the addition of tortellini, and cheese filled at that, takes if out of the land of no wheat/no dairy goodness, but you can remedy that by sustituting 3/4 to a full cup of cooked quinoa. Its really good that way too, and makes a killer wrap filling. It has such a nice texture, and will be perfect in your lunch to work the next day.

The Ina Garten recipe is super simple, but please, for the love of Mike, DO NOT cheap out and use canned corn. (ditto for the fresh basil. Fresh basil totally makes it) I cannot even express to you how different lightly blanched and cut right off the cob corn is compared to that flavourless starchy stuff you dump out of a can. And believe me I have used my fair share of canned corn. Mostly in soups, and occasionally (I am ashamed to admit it) in salads. I knew it did not taste very good, but I just assumed that I didn't like corn niblets. Which shows an astounding lack of deductive reasoning on my part because I LOVE corn on the cob. Anyhow thanks to Ina, and my big sister, I now know that you cook the corn very lightly (3 minutes) plunge it in cold water to stop the cooking and then use your best sharp knife to cut the kernels right off the cob.

And then you make the salad. And then you eat nearly all of it. But you save a tiny amount in a little bowl because you feel bad about eating it all up in one sitting, and then you have that little portion the next day for lunch and feel sad that there is not more.

And then you go and buy more corn. 

quick rhubarb sauce (no wheat, no dairy!)

There is a rather large rhubarb plant growing in our unkempt and ramshackle garden. Its kind of funny, but I don't actually remember planting it. Maybe its something Hubs dug up and transplanted, because I certainly did not put it there. However it got there, it is thriving. Neglected but thriving. And since I did not plan its presence in the garden, I didn't really have any plans for its use either. It just sits there getting bigger and bigger by the day. And every time we happen to be in the garden together, (which is not very often) Hubs says to me, "We ought to do something with that rhubarb." I must say, I find this a little annoying, because I know what he really means is "you ought to do something with that rhubarb." I point this out to him of course, along with the fact that there are two small helpless people who still need my attention for most of the day and the related laundry and mess they keep creating that I have to keep on top of, and just where am I supposed to find the time to figure out what to do with the rhubarb? At which point he shrugs and just says "it seems a shame for it to go to waste." 

Now, I should explain that that particular sentence is like Kryptonite to a Dutch woman. Of course now I can't let it go to waste. What kind of a horrible person would I be if I wasted free rhubarb? So use it I must. But I will be grumpy about it while I do. Or at least just a tiny bit passive aggressive. 

So this afternoon, while my very kind mother had the Little Dude for the afternoon, and my poor sick baby (summer cold, nasty cough, general unhappiness) was sleeping, bless his boots, I finally trudged begrudgingly out to the garden and cut myself a basket of rhubarb stalks. They are very pretty I must say, but still mystifying. I know there is a whole internet full of recipes out there, but you'll remember that I was feeling somewhat surly about the rhubarb to begin with and so could not muster the enthusiasm for a web search. I remember my mom making an amazing rhubarb cream pie when I was a child, but the baby was only going to sleep for about another half an hour and pie seemed like biting off more than I can chew in that small amount of time. Also, I'm very unsteady in my pie-making skills. I really need to work on my crust. Then I remembered my mom also making a nice sort of rhubarb sauce that we used to pour over custard or tapioca or something like that when I was little. And since she is only a phone call away I quickly rung her up and got the recipe. And of course it is fabulous and could not be easier (oh that mom of mine) so I thought I should share it with you here. 

Quick Rhubarb Sauce

4 cups of chopped rhubarb stalk

a handful of raisens

1/4 cup of packed light brown sugar

Yep, that's it. Three ingredients. Toss 'em in a saucepan. Stir them up a bit and put it over low heat to cook. Soon it will start to simmer. Don't add any water or anything as the sugar helps to break down the rhubarb (and make it sweeter of course). Let it simmer gently (not boil) over the low heat for about 15 or 20 minutes. Until it looks like this. 

See how it gets all broken down and saucy. Perfect. 

And that's it. You're done. Serve it in a pretty containter and call it dessert. You can eat it on its own, or pour it warm over ice cream (heaven), or your favourite frozen non-dairy treat. I'm going to have some on my oatmeal tomorrow morning too. Also, I'll bet this'd be a really nice add in to some other type of baking. Jam cake anybody? I'll keep you posted. 

 

allergen free baby cookies: no wheat, no dairy, no eggs

Yeah, I've got to come up with a snappier name for these cookies than that. But that is what they are. I guess I could also call them Honey Applesauce Cookies, since those are the main ingredients and also the take-away flavour you get when you eat them.
As you may know, we've been dealing with some allergy diagnosises around here, though we still don't have the full story. More doctors appointments to go to. But in the mean time, we've still got to eat, and we. need. cookies. I cobbled this recipe together based on what we'd like to avoid and what I had on hand. And I have to say, they are a surprisingly big hit with all of my boys. Which I did not expect as they are not really all that sweet. They taste like applesauce and honey and are a sort of, I don't know, a mild, healthy tasting, slightly bread-y cookie. (if you add an egg to this recipe and put bake it in muffin tins, it makes a pretty nice muffin) I was surprised that Hubs liked them, as he and I both have a sweet tooth, but he says that they are a really good morning cookie. I feel like I could do another version of them with oats in it and make a sort of a breakfast bar. Anyhow, the point is that they don't have the most commen allergens in them, and they are healthy enough that I feel happy giving them to the boys, even just before dinner. They are so healthy that I don't feel like I'm spoiling their appetites. Also, they are a good replacement for our go-to snack; the Baby Mum-Mum as I find that we go through those too quickly, plus also, they are expensive.

All right, enough talk, moving on to the recipe.

Allergen Free, Honey-Applesauce Cookies

3/4 cup of honey (note: babies under one year should not eat honey, so if your baby is under 12 months, use agave nectar instead, or perhaps even maple syrup)

a scant 1 cup of unsweetend applesauce

1/2 cup vegatable shortening (such as Crisco) or 1/2 cup vegetable oil (though this will result in a slightly darker looking, less 'fluffy' cookie)

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups gluten free flour mix (I use Silvana's flour mix from the book Cooking for Isaiah, but if you don't have the book, you can find a recipe for the flour mix here)

1/4 cup soya flour (if you are allergic to soy, try garbanzo bean flour instead)

2 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp ginger

1 cup raisins

In a medium sized bowl, sift together Silvana's flour mix (or whichever GF flour mixture you are using), soya flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and ginger.

In a large bowl, combine scant cup of applesauce, honey, shortening (or oil) and vanilla. 

Mix with an electric hand mixer or stand mixer. It will look chunky like this, but don't worry. Then, keep the mixer running and add the flour mix in three additions until just combined. Using a spatula or wooden spoon, fold in the raisins. 

Drop by tablespoons full onto a cookie sheet lined with parchement paper. (tip: I like to crumple up the parchement paper and then smooth it out again before I lay it on the cookie sheet. That keeps the edges from rolling either up or under)

Since there are no eggs or butter in these, they will not really rise or spread much, like regular cookies tend to. So lightly grease your spatula with a little oil and press each of them flat. 

Bake in a 350 degree over for 12 or 13 minutes, or until the edges are just starting to brown. 

Et voila! Cookies for everyone!

My pre-schooler ate three of them after having had a reasonable dinner. So I think its safe to say he likes them. 

And the Baby who had been lurking around my knees the whole time I was making them (he knew what was going on) nearly threw himself out of the high chair at them when they were done, flinging his arms so urgently in their direction to signify his desire to have one that he almost took wing!

So try these cookies. They'll make your baby happy to have one.... ...or very sad that he can't have another. That's his "I want one for each hand!" face. I guess I'll take it as a compliment.

 

 

 

 

best turkey meatballs ever

We had the best dinner time experience we've had in a loooong time tonight for two reasons a: I'm a freakin' genius, and b: these meatballs. 

Lets go back a little. My Little Dude has always been a good eater. I mean, veggies: fine, textures: fine, sushi: fine. Until suddenly he reached the age of 3 and 3 months and it started to change. Suddenly he was turning his nose up at things. Things he used to eat and love. Just a few things here and there though, so I didn't mind too much. And then he got sick last month. Do you remember? No, why should you, but BOY do I remember. Because he was really sick for a long time and it SUCKED. And he hardly ate while he was sick, but then, after he got better his tastes had drastically changed. I know I've mentioned it before, but really, its very frustrating. Now I know how spoiled I was before with my "I'll eat anything" child. Because this new "I don't like that and I'm going to spit it out on my plate now" child is much less fun at dinner time. 

But I'm telling you, I refuse, I absolutely refuse to cook three meals. As it is, the Baby, (though we are doing our best to integrate our food choices into his), still requires some specific baby-manageable food, what with how much he likes to feed himself and all. So I have to make dinner for Hubs and I, and remember to do some extra plain veggies and pasta or something like that for the Baby, but then, if I have to do a separate toddler meal on top of that I will LOOSE MY MIND. Because the hour from 5 to 6 pm is already hard enough as it is. That kid will eat what we eat (or a very, very similar but sauce free version of it) or I'm going on strike. I mean it. They can forage out of the bottom of the bread drawer if they have to.

So his general thing is he just wants to eat carbs. The whiter and more flavourless the better. I hear that's known as 'the toddler diet'. With a little bit of cheese maybe, but only the plainest of the orange cheddar varieties will do. And he'll always eat a banana. But seriously, with a diet like that this kid will never poop again. So clearly, something has got to be done. (I'm not saying that he'll only eat those three things, he still loves his oatmeal and fruit, but still, there is a very heavy carb bias) Not that I have anything against carbs. But too much of any good thing is not a good thing anymore, right? So I was reading this article about a book called Bringing Up Bébé by Pamela Druckerman about her experience of raising her children in France. I can't say I agree with all of it, but she made a very good point about why she feels that there are very few 'picky eaters' among the kids of France. Not only are children introduced to a wide variety of flavourful foods early on (yeah we already did that) but also, and more importantly, they don't snack. Theoretically, French mother's purses are not filled with tupperware containers of goldfish crackers and cheerios. (because there's not enough room what with all the Hermés scarves and Channel lipstick. haha.) There is only one snack time in a French child's routine and that is at four o'clock. Otherwise, meals are eaten at meal times. And as a result, by the time a meal rolls around, they are hungry. And voila, the braised endive for lunch looks pretty good to a four year old when they haven't eaten since breakfast. 

So, our new routine is three meals and two snacks (I'm not quite French you see) and those snacks must occur at minimum two hours before a meal. In other words, no snack after 10, and no snack after 4. And those snacks are small and plain. A handful of pretzels, or something like that. Oh, and here's the part where I'm a genius. Because even with these provisions, and only healthy food on the table, the bread and cheese and pasta are the things that get eaten, not the veggies and protein. So at 11:45 today, when he was really hungry, but it wasn't quite lunch time, he had an appetizer that looked like this:

Veggies and hummus. There were more, but in the time it took me to find my camera he ate quite a bit. Served to him where he was playing (which made it all the more attractive.) And he ate every last bit of it. Awesome.

And then for dinner time (again, no snack after four) I put out a plate of broccoli and meatballs (a protien and a veg) and he ate it all again. And when it was gone, he asked for a piece of bread. No problem, since he'd already eaten the other stuff. Then after the bread was gone, he had more meatballs. I was very, very happy.  But quietly so, of course. I don't want to jinx it. 

So the moral of the story is; Kids will eat when they are hungry. Duh.

ok, and finally, my awesome meatball recipe. 

Turkey Meatballs

 1 lb ground turkey

½ cup panko bread crumbs

¼ plus 1 tbsp of milk

1 egg

1 tsp kosher salt

½ tsp freshly ground pepper

¼ tsp oregano

¼ tsp oregano

¼ tsp thyme

¼ tsp sage

 cornmeal for rolling (optional)

 olive oil and canola oil and a pat of butter for frying.

 

Dump the bread crumbs into a large bowl and stir in the milk. Let them sit for a minute to absorb the milk. Then add the turkey, egg, salt pepper and spices. Mix with a fork, but just until blended because it you mix it too much they get tough. Roll them into meatballs with your hands, and if you like them extra crispy, put some cornmeal on a saucer and roll each meat ball in the cornmeal. They get a nice crust then. Put them on a cookie sheet and throw them in the freezer to chill if you have time. Don’t freeze them, just let them get cold, because that way they stay round when you fry them.

 Pour a few gluggs of olive oil into a pan, and another few glugs of canola oil if you like, and then a little pat of butter, just for flavour. I really like a cast iron pan for this, as they don’t stick and it cooks them nice and hot, but that’s just my preference. Use what you have. Turn the element to med heat, but on the low side. Don’t crank it to eleven like I am always tempted to do. (So impatient) Once the oil is hot, put in a layer of meat balls, but don’t crowd them. You can do multiple batches, that’s fine. Cook, turning as each side gets browned. When they are done, put them in the oven on a plate covered with a little foil to keep warm and cook the next batch. It’ll probably take two batches. But you could easily double this recipe and then do four. If you have more than three people who will eat them, you should probably double it. And don’t worry if you have too many, the left overs are awesome in spaghetti. Or on their own for lunch.

 Also, don’t worry it you can’t find panko crumbs (though they have them at the evil Wal Mart here, so I’ll bet they have them near you too). I ran out tonight, so I improvised and crushed up some cornbread crackers and used that instead and they were just fine. Regular breadcrumbs would probably work too.

 I like to serve them with a fruity jelly (memories of Ikea) so tonight I mixed some President’s Choice Hot Pepper Jelly with Hub’s home made wild grape jam and it was awesome. But cranberry jelly is also very good. Also, mashed potatoes, gravy and a green veg will round out the meal nicely.

 

Lemon Poppy Seed Charlotte

I'm always nervous about posting a recipe that I didn't make up myself or at least heavily alter. But this one is one I've made over and over again and people always ask me for the recipe (including you, dear regulars). But all I have is a butter stained shred of paper ripped from a magazine at least a decade ago. I don't know where it comes from, but I do know that it's great and should be shared. If you created this recipe, feel free to contact me so that I can credit you or redirect readers to a web source for it, or at least a cookbook. But I looked and could not find it anywhere, and I don't feel the world should be deprived of it any longer. So there you have it. This is at the front of the 'cake' section in my recipe binder. It rose to prominence in my baking repretoire while we lived in Montreal. It is light but decadent at the same time and flavourful without being too sweet. It was a big hit both with the foodies and the conscious eaters at art school. Kids love it, adults will rave about it, and it just seems to ring everybody's bells. Unless you don't like lemon, in which case, forget about it.

This is definitely a special occasion cake, as there are a lot of ins and a lot of outs. But its totally totally worth it. DO NOT be scared of making your own lemon curd. Its so ridiculously simple that you'll wonder why you never did it before (if your the type to wonder about such things). It is so much better than any of the ones you can buy at the store. And please, for the love of Mike, don't use lemon pie filling or lemon spread. That would be a disaster. And you don't need a fancy stand mixer, I've always made it with my $19.99 hand mixer with lovely results. What you do need is a ton of berries for the garnish. Take the money you saved not buying a KitchenMade mixer and get yourself, like three or four pints of berries. You will not regret it.  Wash berries and lay them out on a clean tea towel to dry. If you are a pattern nerd like me, you can lay them out in rows. Very pleasing. Ok, on to the recipe.

Lemon Poppy Seed Charlotte

Cake

 ½ cup melted butter

7 eggs, separated

½ tsp cream of tartar

1 cup of granulated sugar, divided

¾ tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla

1 1/3 cups cake and pastry flour (that’s one and one-third, don’t screw it up!)

1/3 cup of poppy seeds

 

 Frosting

 ¼ cup granulated sugar

1 envelope unflavoured gelatin powder (about 1 tbsp)

¼ cup lemon juice

¼ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (do not use that stuff you have in the fridge in the little lemon shaped squeeze thingy)

1 cup of home made lemon curd (its really easy, you can totally do it, see recipe below)

500 ml container of whipping cream (about two cups)

 

Lemon Curd

 4 egg yolks

2 whole eggs

1 cup granulated sugar

½ cup butter

2/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice 

 

1. Preheat the over to 350 degrees F. Grease two round 8-inch cake pans and line bottoms with waxed paper or dust lightly with flour. Melt butter. Set aside to cool. Separate eggs placing whites in a large bowl and yolks in a separate medium sized bowl. (It’s smart to do the separation egg by egg over a little bowl, and then pour each successfully separated white into the big bowl, because it you screw up and break a yolk and any yolk goes into the white, it won’t beat up as airy as you need it to)

 2. Beat whites with cream of tartar just until soft peaks form when unmoving beaters are lifted out of the bowl. Do not over beat. Gradually beat in ½ cup of sugar. Beat until very shiny, stiff peaks form. Set aside. Beat egg yolks until very thick and lemon-coloured, (about four minutes). Gradually beat in remaining ½ cup of sugar and room-temperature melted butter, salt and vanilla. In 4 additions (of 1/3 cup each), sift flour over egg yolk mixture, gently folding after each addition. Fold in the poppy seeds with the last 1/3 cup of flour.

 3. Fold egg yolk mixture on top of beaten egg whites and fold just until no big streaks of white remain. Turn into prepared pans. Gently smooth tops. Bake in centre of 350 degree over just until tops string back, about 20 minutes. (while you are waiting for them to bake, make the lemon curd, see below) Cool in pans for 10 minutes. Turn out onto a cooling rack. Cool completely. Using a serrated knife , cut cakes in half horizontally to make 4 layers.

 4. To make the lemon curd, whisk together the eggs, sugar and lemon juice in a small heavy bottomed saucepan. Cut the butter into chunks and add to the pan. Place saucepan over low heat and cook, stirring constantly, until sugar and butter are melted. Continue to cook, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes. Then, stirring constantly, cook until mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 7 minutes. Fill a one-cup measuring up and set aside until room temperature. Pour the remaining into a jar and refrigerate once cooled. It will keep well for several days (if it lasts). Enjoy it with yoghurt, scones, fruit, whatever. It is so, so good.

 5.  Meanwhile, to make frosting, in a small saucepan, stir sugar with gelatin. Then stir in water and lemon juice. Stir constantly over medium heat until gelatin is dissolved, about 4 minutes. Pour into a large bowl. Immediately add room-temperature lemon curd. Whish until the mixture is smooth. Put in the fridge to cool just to room temperature, about 15 or 20 minutes.

 6. Beat cream in a large bowl until soft peaks will form. Using a wooden spoon or spatula, stir in about one-third of the whipped cream into the lemon mixture. Fold in the remaining cream just until no white streaks remain.

 7. Get a pretty plate or cake stand. Set one of the cake layers on it. Spoon about one-fifth of the lemon/whipping cream frosting onto it and gently spread almost, but not all the way to the edges. The put the next layer on top of that and repeat until you’ve used all four layers. Frost top and sides with the remaining mixture. Then garnish as you please. This is really the most enjoyable part. I like to use a couple of pints of raspberries or blue berries and just completely cover it with them. But I’ll bet strawberries would be lovely too. 

Here is the blueberry garnished version. See, you just completely stud it with blueberries. You could also do a sort of fibonnaci swirl pattern, that would be very cool. I had to dig through my old photos to find this. I made it and a matching no-sugar mini cake for the Little Dude's first birthday, back in 2009. Looking at the pictures just blew my mind, because he was the exact same age as the Baby is now, and it seems a lifetime ago!
Seriously! Can you believe that! So cute. And so liddle! And yet, so big. He was much bigger at that age than our current Baby.

Lookit 'im stuffing his face on my lap. It boggles the mind, I tell you.

Its such a great example of how everything changes and yet so much stays the same. I look at the pictures we took just yesterday and they are so similar. Cards and presents and cake and excitement. We just all get a little older (or a lot older as the Little Dude's case may be). 

And I'm throwing this one in just because its another good shot of the cake, but also an awesome picture of my Dad. What a good lookin' fella. Doesn't that face just say, "I have a pick-up truck, do you need help hauling anything?" He's got a heart as deep as a four layer cake that man. Just sayin'. 

icing

I do a lot of baking. Or rather, I used to do a lot of baking. You know, B.C. Before Children. Now I just do some baking, mostly muffins and some cookies of a rather utilitarian nature. But back in the day I was all about fancy cakes and cupcakes and tarts. My baking now also tends to be a bit more moderate/healthy. I like real food; real butter, muffins that don't have enough sugar to jump start a small car, and flavours like lemon, cinnamon, ginger.  We try to keep sugar to a minimum for the Little Dude. Most three year olds have enough energy without packing a sugar rush on top of it. So you know, my baking tends to be sensible.

But yesterday, we threw all that out of the window.   Because yesterday I did some baking with my niece and her friend who'd come up to visit GranGran and Grandpapa for a few days. My niece has a pretty firm plan to be a world renowned baker when she grows up (a la Cake Boss, she tells me). And she's been practicing. She has a cake decorating kit, and is well versed in techniques that she has learned from youtube videos. So when we decided to use nap time yesterday to 'make something' she suggested cupcakes. 

First we baked a batch of vanilla cupcakes (used this Martha Stewart recipe for Buttermilk Cupcakes. Very tasty) And then we made a quick trip to the bulk store for candy, sprinkles and additional icing tips. And then we were off and decorating.   Y'see this is crazy enough for me. I mean there is food colouring in the icing. I haven't used food colouring since, oh, 2003. But I still had some in the cupboard and my niece suggested that we use it. So use it we did. So to recap, sugary cupcakes (though we baked them from scratch) with sugary food colour icing. That's enough right?

Wrong. When you are eleven there is no such thing as minimalism. Or tasteful restraint. Eleven is the time of extravagence, ornament, full on, gung ho, unabashed decoration. Eleven year olds are brave and unwavering in their aesthetic choices. Eleven year olds are maximalists.

So we bought gummy butterflies, (because they are the flattest gummies we could find) and used tiny cookie cutters to cut out little shapes.

And then put those little shapes on the cupcakes. And again, this is where I might have stopped. The icing is a colour that would never be found in nature and there is a gummy cut-out topper. Surely this is enough to please the eye. But there was no stopping these girls. 

Because then we got out the mini m&m's.  

And then we went to town on the sprinkles.

In fact, we had multiple types of sprinkles. It was epic. Epic, non-stop, extreme cupcake decoration. To the max.

We had meant to do this all during nap, but an hour and a half is not a very long, so eventually the Little Dude woke up and got in on the good times. With a fish-in-the-stormy sea cupcake designed by my niece. It was almost biblical. m&m's added by L.D. Not so biblical. 

And then came the moment everyone had been waiting for. There was no avoiding it. We had to eat those crazy, fracking, sprinkle-encrusted cupcakes.  

With gusto. And great concentration. And much eyebrow raising and finger licking. 

Every last little bit of blue icing went down. Though the gummy fish got rejected. Texture to weird and hard to negotiate I think. A bit like the first time I had eel sushi I expect. You keep chewing and chewing and really, it gets you nowhere. 

By the end of the day, after making a giant double batch of from-scratch macaroni and cheese it felt like I had washed my face with butter. You'd think that'd be a good thing. (after all I'm one of the two founding members of Team Butter), but after yesterday I'll be ok if I don't see that much butter again for awhile. Or at least until tomorrow. When I'll make a tasteful batch of mocha icing to top the six remaining undecorated cupcakes. I might even add a few sprinkles. But they'll probably be boring old chocolate.