Spicy Tofu Scramble

So I have a LOT of tofu left over from the vegan stuffing/dressing I made and have been trying to think of interesting ways to use it up! I love tofu in stir-fries but the silken tofu just doesn't hold up so well in those types of dishes. Knowing it makes a great egg substitute, I decided to try it to make "scrambled eggs."
This was so yummy - I couldn't tell it wasn't really eggs! The texture was just a bit off but since tofu takes on the flavours of whatever you mix it with, you can't taste it. It's a pretty versatile dish - you could warm up tortillas and fill them with this and some salsa; just throw some salsa on top of the scramble; or serve this with cheese - dairy cheese would not be vegan but would be appropriate for ovo-lacto vegetarians or you could keep it vegan by using soy cheese. You could also mix in some vegan breakfast sausage that has been browned. I bet this would make a great substitute for the eggs in huevos rancheros or alongside some breakfast potatoes. I'm currently hunting for some great potato recipes so I can make some with rosemary and lavender. You can also use different spices to change up this recipe (I'll have to try those and post some more!)
This recipe is also great for people who are looking for a low-fat or low cholesterol alternative to an egg breakfast.
Ooh, I just realized I have mushrooms I could have added to this.. boo! Guess I'm making it again tomorrow :)

Serves 1 (my husband refuses to try anything that has been in the vicinity of tofu so I got to enjoy this by myself! It's easy to multiply if needed).

Ingredients:
1/8 yellow onion, diced
1/8 green bell pepper, diced (I have some frozen tri-coloured peppers that I got at Trader Joes. They are great to just dice up and throw in dishes like this!)
1/4 block silken/soft tofu, drained and pressed between paper towels
1 tsp. olive oil or vegan margarine (Smart Balance or Earth Balance are two that I've used and work well for cooking)
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. onion powder
1/8 tsp. dried parsley
1 tsp. low-sodium soy sauce
1/8 tsp. turmeric (this is optional so don't worry if you don't have any - it does give the great yellow colour, though!)
Couple dashes hot sauce
Fresh/refrigerated salsa (I don't use the shelf-stable salsa. The fresh stuff just tastes a million times better!) Pico de gallo would also work well here!

Method:
1. Slice tofu into 1-inch cubes and crumble slightly with a fork.

2. Heat oil or margarine in a small skillet over medium heat. Add onion, pepper, and tofu. Raise heat to medium-high and sautee for 3-5 minutes, stirring often.

3. Add the remaining ingredients. Reduce the heat to medium and cook 5-7 minutes, stirring frequently.

Reference:
I found this recipe by doing a Google search for tofu scramble. :) Gotta love Google! Here is the original recipe.

Whole-Wheat Bread

This is the whole-wheat bread recipe I used in the Vegan Stuffing/Dressing recipe below. It's just the recipe from my bread machine recipe book - turned out great and worked really well in the dressing!

Ingredients:
1 5/8 cups water
1/3 cup packed brown sugar (I use the "cruelty-free" stuff that specifies it's safe for vegan cooking. Raw sugar may be a suitable option for this recipe).
2 tsp. salt
4 2/3 cups whole wheat flour
3 tsp. active dry yeast

Method:
1. Measure and add liquid ingredients to the bread pan. Your water should be between 115 and 125 degrees F.

2. Measure and add dry ingredients (except yeast) to the bread pan.

3. Use your finger to form a shallow hole in the flour where you will pour in the yeast. Yeast must not come in contact with a liquid while you are adding ingredients. Measure the yeast and carefully pour it into the hole.

4. Place the baking pan into the bread maker and close the lid.

5. Select the Whole Wheat setting and desired crust colour. Press start. This bread took about 4 hours to make including prep time (it needs 3 hours and 40 minutes in the bread maker). Make sure you leave enough time for the bread to "dry out" overnight if you are using this to make a dressing or stuffing.

Reference:
This recipe came from the little book that came with my Oster 2lb. EXPRESSBAKE (TM) Breadmaker.

Vegan Stuffing/Dressing

My parents requested the stuffing/dressing I made for Thanksgiving again for Christmas. Since we're English we serve turkey at Christmas as well and they were looking for a yummy dressing to go with it. Well, after I said I could make it, my mom asked for a vegan version that my sister and brother-in-law could have. After a bit of tweaking and an "are these ingredients OK" email to my sister, here's what I came up with for them!
This is basically the same as the Sausage and Fruit Stuffing except I used tofu for the egg and made sure the bread recipes were vegan. I halved the bread, onion, and celery amounts from the original recipe but kept the fruits, nuts, and mushrooms the same since I was not using sausage. If you'd like, you could use 1/4 pound of vegan breakfast sausage (it will specify on the packaging that it is vegan) in this recipe. Just brown the sausage before mixing in with the bread, fruit, and veggies.

This was really very yummy! Perfect alongside a Tofurkey (also very yummy!)

This will make about 4 servings ~ the leftovers of this and the regular version are wonderful!

Ingredients:
1/2 yellow onion, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 cup vegan cornbread, cubed (make the cornbread the day before so it has some time to dry out a little)
1 cup day-old whole-wheat bread, cubed (I made my own to make sure it did not contain any milk/milk sugars. Be careful here - most grocery store breads have milk).
1/6 cup vegetarian vegetable broth
1/8 cup soft/silken tofu, pureed (I just smushed mine up with a fork) - this is a great egg substitute (1/4 cup silken tofu = 1 egg)
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup walnuts, chopped
1/2 Red Delicious apple, peeled, cored, and diced
3 white mushrooms, chopped
1/4 tsp. sage
1/8 tsp. thyme
1/8 tsp. rosemary
1/8 tsp. marjoram
1/2 tsp. applesauce
1 tsp. salt
Olive oil

Method:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
1. Place a small amount of olive oil in a skillet and heat over medium heat. Add the onion and celery and cook until slightly browned.

2. In a large bowl, toss together the onion, celery, cornbread, whole-wheat bread, vegetable broth, and tofu. Mix in the herbs, applesauce, salt, mushrooms, cranberries, walnuts, and apple.

3. Place the mixture in an oven-safe dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Vegan Cornbread

I have been asked to make the sausage and fruit dressing that I made for Thanksgiving for Christmas dinner. Given that my sister and brother-in-law will be there, I wanted to make a vegan version for them. I think the cornbread really added to the original dressing recipe so I went on a hunt for a vegan cornbread that I could use as the base for their dressing. Here's the one I used.

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups corn meal
2 tbsp. baking powder
2 tbsp. maple syrup or 1/4 cup white sugar (please look for sugar that has been processed in a cruelty-free manner; some sugars are processed using animal products...)
1 1/2 cups soy milk or other non-dairy milk
2 tbsp. olive oil

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease muffin cups or a square pan (I used a 9-inch x 9-inch baking pan).

2. Mix the dry ingredients and maple syrup together in a large bowl. Mix the soy milk and oil together and then add all at once to the dry ingredients. Stir until just moistened.

3. Pour the cornbread batter into the prepared pan and bake at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

Reference:
I found this recipe on Recipezaar. Here's a link to the original Vegan Cornbread recipe.

Gingerbread Cookies w/ Fresh Ginger

And here's the other gingerbread recipe. I really think the fresh ginger adds something to them! If you don't have fresh ginger, you can always substitute an additional 1/2 tsp. ground ginger for the 2 tsp. of fresh ginger called for in this recipe.

**Photos coming later on after I have a chance to decorate them!**

I usually get anywhere from 30-45 cookies from this recipe; depending on which cutters I use (I have a small village worth of gingerbread men cutters!)

Ingredients:
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. ground ginger
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground allspice
2/3 cup packed brown sugar (I always use light brown sugar; since these also use molasses I don't suppose it matters if you use dark or light sugar)
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted, warm
1/4 cup molasses
2 tsp. grated fresh ginger
1 egg

Method:
1. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, salt, baking soda, ground ginger, cinnamon, and allspice. In a large bowl (I used my KA mixer), stir together the brown sugar, butter, molasses, fresh ginger, and egg until well-blended. Slowly stir in the flour mixture until just combined. Form dough into 2 flat rounds. Cover and refrigerate overnight or up to 3 days.

2. Line baking sheets with parchment paper and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

3. Lightly sprinkle rolling surface with flour. Roll one dough round to 1/8- to 1/4-inch thickness. Use cookie cutters to cut dough into desired shapes. Remove and reserve dough scraps from around each cookie - you can re-use them! Place cookies at least 1 inch apart on the prepared cookie sheets. Bake 7-9 minutes or until cookies just begin to colour at the edges. Cool completely on a wire rack. Repeat with remaining dough and dough scraps. Cookies can be decorated with frosting, nuts, candies, etc. once they are cooled.


Great Gingerbread Icing Ideas:
*1 cup powdered sugar mixed with 1-2 tbsp. water.

*1 cup powdered sugar combined with 1-2 tbsp. water plus 1/4 tsp. finely grated fresh ginger.

*2 cups powdered sugar, 1 tsp. vanilla extract, 2 tbsp. milk.

*One I haven't tried but it sounds great - mix some melted white chocolate with a little lemon extract. I made a chocolate topping for Grand Marnier cupcakes which used 3 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, coarsely chopped and 1/2 tsp. vegetable shortening. For gingerbread, I'd use 3 oz. white chocolate chopped, 1/2 tsp. veg. shortening, and 1/4-1/2 tsp. lemon extract. Melt the chocolate and shortening in a double-boiler. Place the melted chocolate mix in a large Zip-Lock bag and mix in the extract by squishing the bag. Snip a corner off the bag and use this to decorate the cookies. **You may need to play around with the extract amount - I've never tried this so I honestly wouldn't know how much to use! That amount is just a guess :)

Reference:
This recipe came from the December 2001/January 2002 issue of Cooking Pleasures Magazine. The name of the original recipe was "Golden Gingerbread People." This is also where I got the idea to add fresh ginger to the basic frosting. When I tried that the first time I thought I'd died and gone to heaven! :)

Tips for Rolled Cookies
I know how much of a pest rolled cookies can be so here's a couple tips to help make your life a little easier :)

*Chill the dough for an adequate amount of time. For these sugar cookies, I let mine chill for at least 4 hours. Patience is definitely a virtue when making rolled cookies!

*Keep dough that you are not rolling/cutting in the fridge.

*Flour your work surface, rolling pin, and cutters. You can always gently dust off extra flour using a pastry brush - especially important with darker cookies like gingerbread.

*Work with small pieces of dough at a time.

*Try rolling the dough between two sheets of either wax or parchment paper. You will still need a little flour on the paper but it will prevent the dough from sticking to your counter-tops, rolling pin, or cutting board.

*Remember, they are so worth it when they're all done and decorated! :)

Gingerbread Cookies (w/ Ground Ginger)

I actually have 2 gingerbread cookie recipes that I like - this is the one which does not require fresh ginger.

**Photos coming later after I decorate them!**

This will make a LOT of dough - enough for 30 or so large cookies. You can easily halve the recipe if needed.

Ingredients:
5 cups all-purpose flour
4 tsp. ground ginger
1 tbsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg or 1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
16 tbsp. (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
2 large eggs
2/3 cup molasses

Method:
1. Combine the flour, spices, salt, and baking soda in a large bowl; stir well to mix.

2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the butter and brown sugar on medium speed until well mixed (about 1 minute). Beat in the eggs, one at a time, beating smooth after each addition. Scrape down the bowl and beater.
**There is no law saying you have to use a stand mixer for this! If you don't have one you can always make these by hand. Goodness knows people have been making cookies since long before KA mixers were invented (I do have to say, mine makes my life so much easier, though!!**

3. Lower the mixer speed and beat in about half the flour mixture. Beat in all the molasses, then scrape the bowl and beater. Add the remaining flour mixture, about a cup at a time, and beat after each addition until it has all been absorbed.

4. Remove the bowl from the mixer and give the dough a final mixing with a large rubber spatula. Scrape half the dough onto a large piece of plastic wrap and press it to about a 1/2-inch thickness. Wrap the dough securely and repeat with the remaining dough. Chill the dough for at least 2 hours or up to 3 days (I always let mine chill overnight).

5. When you are ready to bake the cookies, prepare the cookie sheets by lining them with parchment paper and pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees F.

6. Unwrap one of the pieces of dough and cut it in half. Re-wrap the dough you are not using and return it to the fridge!
7. On a floured surface, roll out the dough to about 1/4-inch thick. Use a floured cookie cutter to cut the cookies. As they are cut, place them on the prepared pans about an inch apart in all directions. Repeat with the remaining dough. Save, press together, and re-roll the dough scraps.

8. Bake the cookies for 12-15 minutes (I only give mine 7-9 since my oven is a bit funny), or until they become dull and dry-looking and feel slightly firm when pressed with a fingertip. Slide the papers onto racks to cool. After the cookies have cooled they can be decorated with icing, candies, nuts, whatever you like.

9. Store cooled cookies between sheets of parchment or wax paper in a tin or plastic container with a tight-fitting lid.

Great Gingerbread Icing Ideas:
*1 cup powdered sugar mixed with 1-2 tbsp. water.

*1 cup powdered sugar combined with 1-2 tbsp. water plus 1/4 tsp. finely grated fresh ginger.

*2 cups powdered sugar, 1 tsp. vanilla extract, 2 tbsp. milk.

*One I haven't tried but it sounds great - mix some melted white chocolate with a little lemon extract. I made a chocolate topping for Grand Marnier cupcakes which used 3 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, coarsely chopped and 1/2 tsp. vegetable shortening. For gingerbread, I'd use 3 oz. white chocolate chopped, 1/2 tsp. veg. shortening, and 1/4-1/2 tsp. lemon extract. Melt the chocolate and shortening in a double-boiler. Place the melted chocolate mix in a large Zip-Lock bag and mix in the extract by squishing the bag. Snip a corner off the bag and use this to decorate the cookies. **You may need to play around with the extract amount - I've never tried this so I honestly wouldn't know how much to use! That amount is just a guess :)

Reference:
This is the "Gingerbread People" recipe from Nick Malgieri's "Cookies Unlimited."

Tips for Rolled Cookies
I know how much of a pest rolled cookies can be so here's a couple tips to help make your life a little easier :)

*Chill the dough for an adequate amount of time. For these sugar cookies, I let mine chill for at least 4 hours. Patience is definitely a virtue when making rolled cookies!

*Keep dough that you are not rolling/cutting in the fridge.

*Flour your work surface, rolling pin, and cutters. You can always gently dust off extra flour using a pastry brush.

*Work with small pieces of dough at a time.

*Try rolling the dough between two sheets of either wax or parchment paper. You will still need a little flour on the paper but it will prevent the dough from sticking to your counter-tops, rolling pin, or cutting board.

*Remember, they are so worth it when they're all done and decorated! :)

Christmas Sugar Cookies

For these cookies, I used the recipe from Annie's Eats. Since I really didn't change any of the ingredients, I'll just put a link to her post. The only thing I did change was to decrease the oven temperature to 350 degrees but that's just because I have a pretty ancient oven and it seems to do best at 350! :)

Here's the link: Christmas Cookies.

Photos coming later on after I decorate them all tonight!

Frosting:
I use a very basic frosting for sugar cookies.
2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract (you could also use almond extract or do 1/2 tsp. vanilla and 1/2 tsp. almond)
2 tbsp. milk
Food colouring

Mix sugar and vanilla extract. Add milk gradually while mixing until icing is a good, slightly stiff, consistency for decorating.

Tips for Rolled Cookies
I know how much of a pest rolled cookies can be so here's a couple tips to help make your life a little easier :)

*Chill the dough for an adequate amount of time. For these sugar cookies, I let mine chill for at least 4 hours. Patience is definitely a virtue when making rolled cookies!

*Keep dough that you are not rolling/cutting in the fridge.

*Flour your work surface, rolling pin, and cutters. You can always gently dust off extra flour using a pastry brush.

*Work with small pieces of dough at a time.

*Try rolling the dough between two sheets of either wax or parchment paper. You will still need a little flour on the paper but it will prevent the dough from sticking to your counter-tops, rolling pin, or cutting board.

*Remember, they are so worth it when they're all done and decorated! :)

Butterscotch Bread Pudding

One of the girls on the Nest board hosted a recipe exchange where we all e-mailed her a recipe and then got one in return (anonymously). I got Butterscotch Bread Pudding (I still don't know who it belongs to - I hope they claim it!) and decided to make it for a San Diego Nest get-together/ornament exchange which is tonight.
Here are the results :)

This was my first time making bread pudding so I hope it tastes OK!

For the bread, I made a loaf of white bread using my bread machine. Can't beat home-made bread!

Ingredients:
3-4 cups day-old bread, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
4 cups milk
2 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, melted
3 eggs, beaten
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup butterscotch chips
1 tsp. ground cinnamon (I added this just for kicks!)

Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9"x13" baking dish with Pam or grease with a little butter.

2. Gently mix the bread, milk, sugar, butter, eggs, vanilla, butterscotch chips, and cinnamon together in a large bowl. Pour this mixture into the prepared baking pan.
It should look something like this:















3. Bake the bread pudding in the preheated oven for 1 hour or until nearly set (it should wiggle a little when it is done). Can be served warm or cold.

Blondies

Confession: I have never even tried a blondie before but have been intrigued, if you will, by them for some time... maybe it's a blond thing? Anyway, I bought a bunch (ie: too many) butterscotch chips over the weekend and needed a way to use them.
I read some blondie recipes thinking they would require butterscotch chips only to find that they all said chocolate chips... well humph! I really wanted to use the butterscotch chips but figured a butterscotch-flavoured bar plus butterscotch chips would be a bit of butterscotch overload (I know, hard to imagine!) So, I sort of adjusted one to use both semi-sweet chocolate chips and some of the butterscotch chips. Here's what I ended up with:

This is enough for an 8- or 9-inch baking pan (mine is 8x8). It will yield about 18 bar cookies. You can double this if needed.

Ingredients:
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup butter
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/8 tsp. baking soda
1/4 cup butterscotch chips
1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (yeay! Ghiradelli were on sale!)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Method:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
1. Grease an 8- or 9-inch baking pan; set aside. In a medium saucepan, heat the brown sugar and butter over medium heat until the sugar dissolves. You will need to stir it constantly. Allow this to cool slightly before adding the egg (you do not want butterscotch scrambled eggs!). Stir in the egg and then add the vanilla. Stir in flour, baking soda, and baking powder but do not over-mix. Fold in the nuts and chips.

2. Spread the batter into the prepared baking pan. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 20-25 minutes (adjust the time to 25-30 if using a larger pan) or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool slightly on a wire rack. Cut into bars while still slightly warm.

Reference:
I used several recipes to create this one! First, I found blondie recipes in the Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book as well as Baking Illustrated. I mostly used the BH&G book but consulted the Baking Illustrated to make sure I really didn't have to just sprinkle the nuts and chips on top of the un-baked bar mixture - sure enough, I could mix them in. I also found this recipe on BakingBlonde's Blonde Ambition in the Kitchen blog which suggested using butterscotch chips.















Happiness is a warm cookie and a glass of milk.

Black Bean Soup

I found the original recipe for Black Bean and Salsa Soup on Annie's blog a couple months ago and have been wanting to try it. Unfortunately, it's just not something my husband would go for! Since I'm working from home today I decided to make it for lunch.
Really yummy and very quick to make! The only change I made from the original was to add some corn and to use regular white onion in place of the green onion.

2 servings

Ingredients:
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
3/4 cup vegetarian vegetable broth
1/2 cup salsa (I prefer the refrigerated salsa to the jar salsa)
1/2 tsp. cumin
2/3 cup frozen corn, cooked and drained
sour cream, shredded sharp cheddar, onion as a garnish

Method:
1. Pour the beans, broth, salsa, and cumin into the bowl of a food processor (you can use a blender if you don't own a food processor). Pulse until smooth.

2. Transfer the mixture to a medium saucepan. Add the cooked corn. Cook the soup over medium heat until cooked through and thoroughly heated. Ladle into bowls and garnish with the toppings.

**As far as I can tell, this soup is vegan if you leave off the cheese and sour cream.**

Sugar Cookies

I was a busy baking bee last week getting ready for that bridal shower! These were the other cookies I made - I used pink decorative sugar on them to go with the wedding colours.

Ingredients:
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. aluminium-free baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
16 tbsp. (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar, plus 1/2 cup for rolling dough
1 tbsp. light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
Colored sugar or edible glitter (optional) for decorating

Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

2. Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl; set aside.

3. Either by hand or with an electric mixer, cream the butter, 1 cup granulated sugar, and the brown sugar at medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the eggs and vanilla; beat at medium speed until combined, about 30 seconds. Add the dry ingredients and beat at low speed until just combined, about 30 seconds. Scrape down the bowl.

4. Place the 1/2 cup sugar for rolling on a cutting board. Roll a tablespoon of dough into a ball and roll the ball into the sugar then place it on the prepared baking pan. Repeat with the remaining dough. Butter the bottom of a drinking glass and then dip the bottom of the glass in the remaining sugar (or colored sugar). Flatten the dough balls with the bottom of the glass until they are about 3/4 inch thick, dipping the glass in sugar as necessary (every 2-3 cookies).

5. Bake until the cookies are golden brown around the edges and their centers are just set and very lightly colored, about 15 minutes. Cool the cookies on wire racks and store between sheets of wax or parchment paper in an air-tight container.

Reference:
For these cookies, I used the "Soft and Chewy Sugar Cookie" recipe from Baking Illustrated.

Lavender Shortbread Cookies

Wow, these are cookie heaven! Seriously.. they are really good! These were yet another goodie I made for the bridal shower on Saturday. I actually made these and a batch of regular shortbread (just make this sans lavender).
You can find culinary lavender at natural food stores - check Whole Foods and Jimbo's (I found mine at Jimbo's). I found you can also order it from Penzey's (or just go pick it up if you're lucky enough to live close to one)! If you grow lavender, you can also use it from the garden. Just make sure it is grown organically so you're not adding nasty chemicals to your cookies!
The lavender adds a certain sweetness to the cookies - it works really well with the simple shortbread ingredients - and your kitchen will smell amazing while these bake!

In folklore, lavender has always been linked with love, as has food ;)

Ingredients:
2 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup sugar
3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp. dried culinary lavender or 2 tbsp. fresh lavender florets

**You may want to try using 1/3 cup granulated sugar and 1/3 cup light brown sugar for these (or regular shortbread) cookies.**

Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Line 2-3 cookie sheets with parchment paper.

2. In the bowl of a standing electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar on medium speed for 5-10 minutes, or until the mixture becomes light in colour and very soft and fluffy.

3. Remove the bowl from the mixer and fold in the flour by hand. The dough will be soft.

4. Place a handful of the dough at a time on a lightly floured work surface. Use a floured rolling pin to press out the dough to about 3/8 inch thick. ***Do not use a lot of flour or your shortbreads will be tough which is absolutely not the effect you want! Shortbreads are known for being light.***

5. Cut out the shortbreads using any shape cookie cutter you like (since these were for a bridal tea party, I used a heart shape). With a spatula, transfer them to the prepared pans, spacing them about 1 1/2 inches apart (they will not spread, but they do puff a little).

6. Continue in this manner until all the dough has been used. Remember to use very little flour when rolling out the dough so your last shortbread will be as tender as the first.

7. Bake for 15-20 minutes until they are just a very pale golden colour. Slide the papers from the pans onto wire racks. Store the cooled cookies between sheets of parchment or wax paper in an air-tight container.

Wonderful with a cup of hot tea!


*Photo of the regular (no lavender) shortbreads I also made*

Reference:
This is based on the "Scottish Shortbread" recipe from Nick Malgieri's Cookies Unlimited book.

Grand Marnier Cupcakes

If you like orange and chocolate together, you have GOT to try these! They are so yummy (I would know, I'm eating one as I type this blog entry!)
I made these for the bridal shower I co-hosted on Saturday. I thought they were perfect since the wedding colours are pink, gold, and chocolate brown - these pretty little cakes incorporated the gold and brown quite nicely.

If you don't have Grand Marnier (or you don't drink/use alcohol), you can use orange juice. I got really lucky and found just enough left in a bottle of GM at my parents' house :) Another tip, if you have a good liquor store nearby or a BevMo, you can sometimes find the mini bottles of Grand Marnier. So much cheaper than buying a huge one! Unless, of course, you like to add it to your margaritas! ;)

These make me think of Christmas - we always get those Chocolate Oranges for Christmas (English thing...) and these have that yummy chocolate-orange combination. I might have to throw down the cash for my own bottle of GM (instead of mooching off mum and dad!) and make some for Christmas Eve!

Makes 12 Cupcakes

Cupcakes
Ingredients:
6 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tbsp. finely grated orange peel
1 tsp. Grand Marnier
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup sour cream

Glaze:
1/3 cup sugar
2 tbsp. fresh orange juice
2 tbsp. Grand Marnier

Topping:
3 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
1/2 tsp. vegetable shortening

Method:
1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a regular muffin pan with liners.

2. In a large bowl, beat the butter and 3/4 cup sugar at medium speed 5-6 minutes or until light and fluffy. Beat in one egg, 1 tbsp. orange peel, and 1 tsp. Grand Marnier.

3. In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. At low speed, beat sour cream into the butter mixture alternatively with the flour mixture. Spoon the batter into the muffin liners, filling two-thirds full (an ice-cream scoop is your best friend for this!)

4. Bake the cupcakes 20-25 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove cupcakes from the pan. Cool completely on a wire rack.

5. While the cupcakes cool, make the glaze. Heat 1/3 cup sugar and orange juice in a small saucepan over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Remove from the heat and stir in 2 tbsp. Grand Marnier.

6. Poke holes in the top of each cupcake using a toothpick. Using a pastry brush, brush the tops of each cake liberally with the Grand Marnier glaze.

7. Now you will make the chocolate topping. Place the chocolate in a small heavy Zip-Lock bag; add shortening and seal. Place the bag in a pan of simmering water and turn off the heat. Allow the bag to sit for several minutes; remove from the water. Smooth melted chocolate by working the bag with your hands. Cool 5 minutes. Cut off a tiny corner of the bag; drizzle chocolate over the cupcakes.

Daisy Cupcakes

I co-hosted a bridal shower for a good friend over the weekend. The friend who I helped out (the other host) requested these cupcakes which I'd made for an all-girls' brunch a couple years ago. They are really cute! The last time I made them, I used green frosting and yellow spice drops to look more like actual daisies. This time, I decided to use pink frosting and pink and purple spice drops since the wedding colours are pink, chocolate brown, and gold.

Makes 12 Cupcakes

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
8 tbsp. (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup sour cream
1 large egg plus 2 large egg yolks, at room temperature
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
Quick Vanilla Frosting recipe (see below)
12 spice drops
Large marshmallows

Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a standard muffin pan with paper or foil liners.

2. Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in the bowl of a standing mixer. Add the butter, sour cream, egg, yolks, and vanilla and beat the wet ingredients into the dry at medium speed until smooth and satiny, about 30 seconds. Scrape down the bowl and stir by hand until smooth and no flour pockets remain.

3. Divide the batter evenly among the cups of the prepared pan (an ice-cream scoop works wonders for this!) Bake until the cupcake tops are pale gold and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Use a knife to lift the cakes from the tin and transfer them to a wire rack to cool. Cool to room temperature before decorating.

Quick Vanilla Frosting
Ingredients:
1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup confectioners' sugar, sifted
2/3 tbsp. milk
2/3 tsp. vanilla extract
dash salt

Method:
1. Using an electric mixer, beat the butter in a large bowl until fluffy, about 30 seconds. With the mixer on low speed, add the sugar and mix to combine. Increase speed to high and beat until pale and fluffy, about 1 minute. Reduce the speed to medium-low and add milk, vanilla, and salt. Increase speed to high and beat until fluffy, 30 more seconds.

2. Add food coloring, if desired, and mix until all is incorporated.

To Decorate:
1. Frost the cupcakes with the butter frosting.

2. Using a clean knife, cut each marshmallow into 4-5 pieces (it helps to dip the knife in warm water to clean it). Place the marshmallow pieces onto the frosted cakes.

3. Place a spice drop in the center of the marshmallow "petals" to form the center of the flower.

Reference:
I used the "Yellow Cupcakes with Simple Chocolate Frosting" recipe from Baking Illustrated for the cupcakes (but I did not use the chocolate frosting, obviously!) For the frosting, I used a butter cream frosting recipe I've had for years. The idea for the daisy decorations came from a Cupcake-Decorating Contest article in an issue of Cook's Country magazine (I think that just came in the mail one day, totally random! Glad I kept it, though!)

Brussels Sprouts Amandine

I was one of those strange children who actually liked Brussels sprouts when I was growing up! :) They were actually one of the things I looked forward to at Christmas because I knew they would be served with the large turkey dinner! I never claimed to be 100% normal...
My parents started making this jazzed up version of my favourite mini cabbages a few years ago and I decided to treat them, and my in-laws, to it at Thanksgiving this year.

Ingredients:
Brussels sprouts
1 tbsp. slivered almonds
1/2 tbsp. margarine or butter (I like to use Earth Balance so they're vegan)
1/2 tsp. lemon juice

Method:
1. Cook Brussels sprouts until crisp-tender. Allow to cool a little and then slice.

2. Melt the margarine in a skillet and add the almonds. Cook and stir until golden. Add the Brussels sprouts and lemon juice. Cook until sprouts are warmed through.

Apple Pie #2

I made this apple pie as an alternative to the double-crust apple pie since my husband prefers Dutch apple. This wasn't a true Dutch apple pie, I just used the crumbly topping from the fruit cobblers I make as the topping of this pie and a regular pastry crust as the base. Here's the recipe. This was almost as yummy as the two-crust pie ;)

Bottom pastry crust
Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup unsalted butter, chilled, cut up
1/8 cup vegetable shortening
3/4 tbsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1/6 cup to 1/4 cup ice water

Method:
1. Place all ingredients (except water) in a large bowl. Crumble together with your fingers until you have some pea-sized pieces of dough along with coarse crumbs. Add 1/3 cup water; knead just until dough begins to form, adding additional water 1 tsp. at a time if necessary.

2. Divide dough in half; shape each half into a flat round. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate 20-30 minutes.

3. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly flour a work surface and roll one piece of dough into a 13-inch round (I can never made perfect circles..!) Gently line a 9-inch pie pan with the dough. Trim dough along the edge of the pan. Press a doubled 12-inch piece of aluminium foil inside the unbaked pie shell and cover the foil with pie weights. Bake, leaving the foil and weights in place until the dough looks dry and is light in color, about 25 minutes. Carefully remove the foil and weights and transfer the pie crust to a wire rack to cool.

Filling:
Ingredients:
2 tbsp. unbleached all-purpose flour
3 large Granny Smith apples
3 large McIntosh apples
1 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1 tsp. grated lemon zest
3/4 cup plus 1 tbsp. granulated sugar (I wonder if light brown sugar would taste good as a substitute...?)
1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp. ground allspice
1/4 tsp. salt

Method:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
1. Peel, core, and quarter the apples. Cut the quarters into bite-sized pieces and toss apple pieces with the lemon juice and zest. In a medium bowl, mix 3/4 cup of the sugar, the flour, spices, and salt. Toss the dry ingredients with the apples. Turn the fruit mixture, including juices, into the pie shell and mound the fruit slightly in the center.

2. Top with crumbly cobbler topping - see recipe below.

Crumbly Topping
Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1 egg, beaten
6 tbsp. melted butter

Method:
1. Sift the flour, sugar, and salt together; add the egg. Toss until crumbly then sprinkle over the apple pie filling. Drizzle with melted butter.

2. Bake at 375 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until bubbly and browned. ***It's a good idea to place your pie plate on a baking sheet so the filling does not make a mess in your oven!***

Reference:
The filling recipe is the Classic Apple Pie recipe from Baking Illustrated. The bottom pastry crust is "Perfect Pie Pastry" from Cooking Pleasures Magazine (October/November 2007). Unfortunately, I have forgotten where I got the cobbler topping recipe from - I've had it for years!