A lovely dessert with fresh, vibrant flavours and a smooth, velvety texture.   Don’t be intimidated by the recipe – this is definitely both manageable and worth the effort!  To make it easy on yourself, measure everything out before-hand.

Robyn cooked us an amazing dinner last night: herbed polenta with balsamic mushrooms, caramelized onions, slow roasted tomatoes and roasted garlic.  I made this for dessert, and we all loved it – it’s fresh and light enough to follow a rich or heavy meal.

Ingredients:
3/4 cup plus 4 tbsp sugar
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 tbsp grated lemon peel
3 large eggs, separated
1/3  cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 cups milk (do not use low-fat or nonfat)

Optional topping ingredients:
1-2 cups whipping cream
½ cup-1 cup raspberries or blueberries
¼ cup water

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter 6-8 ramekins. Place dishes in metal cake pan. Using electric mixer, beat 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar, 6 tablespoons butter and lemon peel in medium bowl until well blended. Add egg yolks 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in flour, then lemon juice. Gradually mix in milk (mixture will be thin and may look curdled).

Using clean dry beaters, beat egg whites in large bowl until soft peaks form. Add remaining 2 tablespoons sugar and beat until stiff but not dry. Fold whites into yolk mixture in 3 additions (mixture will be runny).

Divide pudding-cake mixture among prepared soufflé dishes. Pour enough hot water into cake pan to come halfway up sides of dishes.

Bake pudding cakes until puffed and firm to touch, about 40 minutes. Transfer dishes to plates.

While the cakes are baking, prepare the topping: To make the berry puree, simmer berries with a little water in a saucepot until it reduces, then strain through a fine sieve.  Let cool.  Whip the cream, and then swirl the puree into the whipped cream (just a few strokes with your spoon will do – don’t overmix).

Adapted from Bon Appetit
-Theresa

I saw this recipe in a magazine, and had to give it a try!  Instead of using a regular cake pan as suggested, I used ‘brownie’ tins which are kind of like muffin tins, but instead of round cups they have rectangles… perfect for those of us that aren’t the best at cutting pieces evenly!  Special thanks to AT for the new brownies tins!  Using the brownie tins means a little extra work (you have to press the crust into individual cutout) but it pays off in the end – each bar tipped out easily and was perfectly formed!
- Theresa

Base:
2 cups chocolate wafer crumbs
½ cup butter, melted
Brownie:
2 eggs
1 can (300 ml) sweetened condensed milk
1 ½ cups dried cranberries
4 oz (115 g) bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2 oz (55 g) white chocolate, chopped
½ cup chopped hazelnuts

Base: In bowl, stir chocolate wafer crumbs with butter until moistened; press into 13”x9” parchment paper-lined or greased cake pan.  (Or, you can use brownie tins as I did).  Bake in 350˚F oven until firm, about 10 minutes.  Let cool on rack.

Meanwhile, in bowl, beat eggs with condensed milk; stir in cranberries, bittersweet and white chocolates, and hazelnuts.  Spread over base.

Bake in 350˚F until set in centre, about 20 minutes (or 15 if using brownie tins).  Let cool on rack.  Cut into bars.

Recipe from Canadian Living Holiday Favourites Cookbook Edition 2011

Hi folks,

A new recipe coming up soon (tonight or tomorrow) - until then, here's the first in a series of assorted baking tips:

Afraid to use a bundt pan because you have trouble flipping the entire cake out?  Before you pour the batter in, completely grease (and I mean completely) the pan and then dust flour over all of it.  If you're making a chocolate cake and don't want the white flour to show after it's been baked, use cocoa instead!

I like to make this cake once or twice during the Christmas season – a nice, dark cake with a lovely hint of ginger and spice.  I brought this into my workplace today and served with The Prairie Woman’s Caramel Sauce - it went quickly!

2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground allspice
1 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup molasses
3 eggs
1 cup hot water
1 and 1/2 tsp soda
 
Measure first 8 ingredients into bowl.  Measure hot water into large cup, add baking soda to hot water while holding it over the bowl as it foams up (however, don’t worry if it doesn’t foam up, just pour in).  Mix well. Pour into your choice of cake pan (9x13, or I usually use a standard bundt pan, greased and floured). Bake at 350˚ for approximately 35 minutes – however, keep an eye on it as baking time varies.  You’ll know that it’s done when a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean, and the edges start pulling away from the edge of the pan.
 
Serve warm with whipped cream, caramel sauce, or a lemon sauce.

I’ve been making this cake for so many years I can’t remember where the recipe came from – if you recognize it, let me know so I can give credit where credit is due!  Thanks ☺ 
- Theresa

These cookies are one of my favorites to make. Super quick, super tasty and best of all...vegan friendly!

1/2 cup jam (I used my homemade blueberry jam for this batch but raspberry is amazing as well!)
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup olive oil (could use canola, olive oil is better for ya!)
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup + 2 tbsp cocoa
1.5 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a cookie sheet or use a Silpat. Mix together jam, sugar, oil, vanilla and beat well so that all the sugar dissolves. In a separate bowl, mix together all of the dry ingredients. Slowly add dry to wet in 3 batches. You might have to get in there with your hands close to the end! The batter will seem a little dry but should mold easily into a ball. Roll dough into small rounds and flatten with your hands. Bake for 10 minutes, let cool and eat them up! These sweet little cookies make amazing ice cream sandwiches as well!

heavily adapted from The Vegano

I made this for our Sunday morning brunch - one of my favourites!  I used a 9"x13" dish instead of an 8", and just added a little extra of everything to better fill the pan.   I served it as the main dish with a few sides: oven roasted herb potatoes, scrambled eggs with veggies, and fresh fruit.  We definitely recommend it!
-theresa

8 slices white bread, torn into small pieces
1 package (8 oz/250g ) cream cheese, cut into small pieces
1 cup fresh or frozen raspberries
1/2 cup almonds, toasted
6 eggs
1/2 cup granulated sugar, divided
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup half-and-half (10%) cream
1 tsp cinnamon
maple or fruit syrup
 
Grease an 8-inch (2 L) square glass baking dish.  Scatter half the bread pieces in dish.  Arrange cream cheese, raspberries and almonds on top.  Finish with the remaining bread pieces.  In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, 1/4 cup of the sugar, milk, cream and cinnamon.  Pour over bread.  Sprinkle the remaining sugar over top.  Cover with foil and refrigerate overnight.
 
Preheat oven to 350˚F (180˚C).  Bake french toast, covered with foil, for 30 minutes.  Remove foil and bake for another 30 minutes or until puffy and golden brown.  Serve with maple syrup.  Serves 6.

Recipe from the Best of Bridge

Crust:
1 cup vanilla wafer crumbs (we crushed up Nila wafers)
1/2 cup ground pecans
1/2 cup butter, melted
Stir all these together and press the crust into a 8-10" springform pan

Cheesecake:
2 pkgs cream cheese
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
3 large eggs
1/4 cup whipping cream
1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp pumpkin spice (or cinnamon)
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup canned pumpkin

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix cream cheese until smooth in a food processor until smooth. Add brown sugar and mix well. Add eggs one at a time, blending well between each one. Add flour, salt, pumpkin spice, vanilla and pumpkin. Blend until smooth.
Pour over the crust. Bake for 1 hr and let it cool completely.

Make the Prairie Woman's Caramel Sauce (below) and a recipe for the Cinnamon-Spiked Whipping Cream.

1/4 cup butter that is just out of the fridge.
1/4 cup whipping cream
1/2 cup brown sugar

Place ingredients in a pot. Heat on medium-low until it starts to boil, stirring the whole time. Remove from heat and serve over anything worthy of caramel. This is a deadly recipe and will definitely make close friends!