It's like a portable rhubarb crisp! I imagine that most folks can get down with a rhubarb crisp/ rhubarb crumble bar... but perhaps I lost some of you at BASIL. But wait! Don't go! Ya gotta try it before you judge. I too was skeptical at first because upon first think, basil = pesto = pizza = savoury... BUT Basil has a place in the land of sweet things too! Quite a lovely place I might add. Basil has a lovely brightness and floral note... and it has kind of a sweetness of it's own... When paired with the right things, basil is a lovely addition to sweet treats! The basil in these bars does not remind me of pesto or pizza whatsoever. It is more like a lovely fruity complement to the rhubarb, not overpowering, just subtly adding it's flair. The cookie base of this is extra delish because I like to toast the oats, making them taste rich and nutty. The rhubarb filling is not too sweet, in fact it's pretty tart. But I think it balances everything out nicely. If it's too sour for you, stir in a couple extra spoonfuls of strawberry jam or sugar to taste. Rhubarb-Basil Oatmeal Crumble BarsRecipe adapted from Sticky Fingers Green Thumb for the rhubarb compote:
0 Comments
This is a custom invention, created for none other than my very own father, my papa bear, also often known among friends as Pablo. My papa (and I'm sure many other papas out there) dearly adores oatmeal raisin cookies... Anytime I bake cookies, he wishes aloud and quite clearly that they will be oatmeal raisin cookies, which unfortunately for him they usually are not. Another thing he often requests is my homemade ice cream. Since I moved out, he has had to resort to STORE BOUGHT ICE CREAM heaven forbid. Seeing as it's not only FATHERS DAY but also his BIRTHDAY this past weekend... I figured I owed it to him to whip up a special treat! In the spirit of "why or when you can and" I decided not to make cookies or ice cream, but to instead make an ice cream INSPIRED by cookies! This flavour is designed specifically with my dad in mind, however I am fairly confident that this concoction would suit many a father on Father's day. Or any hot summer weekend for that matter, of which I'm sure there will be plenty. And worst case scenario it suits me juuuuust fine. Oatmeal Raisin Ice cream begins humbly with whole milk, heavy cream and all the usual custard-culprits. However I'm twisting things up by infusing the milk with toasted oats, hoping to squeeze out any extra nutty-oat-flavour that I can to make this ice cream special. While we wait for things to chill, we're still busy in the kitchen, baking up oat streusel to crumble into the ice cream at the end. We're also soaking raisins in RUM because YUM. Layers of flavour, layers of love. Kinda like an oatmeal ice cream sandwich, all blended into one bowl. To my papa and to all the DADs out there... this scoop's for you! What makes this ice cream as special as my papa? I've toasted oats to bring out their nutty flavour, then steeped them in the ice cream base. I've used three varieties of raisins just for fun and colour and partially due to my curiosity... (The bulk bins have three different kinds, and so I'm like, LETS TRY THEM ALL) and soaked them in a spiced-rum simple syrup. The spiced flavour of the rum will pair nicely with everything here, however any old rum will do. By soaking our raisins in syrup, this will plump them up and ensure that they stay soft even when frozen into the ice cream. If you don't have rum you can always soak the raisins in a simple syrup without the rum instead. THE RESULT: A creamy smooth ice cream, reminiscent of vanilla but dare I say creamier in flavour due to the oats. Soft & sweet fruity raisins swirled throughout, (not the rock hard pellets of disappointment that raisins sometimes can be...) and a crunchy, salty oat-cookie crumb in every bite. I give you: The Papa Bear Ice Cream! Oatmeal Raisin Ice Cream (AKA Papa Bear Ice Cream)Recipe adapted from Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams, inspired by my Dad ice cream base:
March 14th is one of my favourite days to celebrate! If you haven't heard of Pi Day before... here you go: March 14 = the 14th day of the 3rd month = 3.14 = Pi = Pie My kind of math. I have been wanting to try my hand at making an apple crumble pie for a while now... we sell one such pie at the cafe where I work and it is a thing of beauty. Or at least, it looks like a thing of beauty. I confess I've never actually had a whole slice but I have tried broken bits and pieces that were not fit enough to sell. I'm no pie connoisseur, but it looks picture perfect and that crumble topping is all I ever want to eat ever. I always hope that a big chunk will fall off as we are cutting it to serve, so that I can snatch it up and have a taste for myself :) You might say, "Why don't you just buy a slice?" But, if you know me, my style response is more along the lines of, "Let's go home and figure out how to make this myself" Here is my attempt to re-create that pie, mashing together a few recipes from one of my most trusted baking mentors... that's right I'm talking about Martha. She usually doesn't let me down, and in this case, she pulled through once again. I believe the pie was a success!! For two reasons:
I added a few of my own twists to make the pie of my apple-crumble-dreams by throwing in some chopped walnuts and toasted oats into the crumble mixture. I also made sure there was a good pinch of salt in there too, as the slight salt in the crumb is what keeps me hoping a big chunk will decide to stray from the pie and make for easy snacking ;) The apple filling uses both fuji and granny smith apples for a nice balance of sweet/tart, and the filling itself is not overly wet but still juicy. I highly encourage you to serve this with a big scoop of ice cream... a good quality vanilla OR if you are feeling sassy, salted caramel is my weapon of choice. (High five that a Village Ice Cream store is just a few blocks up the street from where I live) Happy Pi Day! Apple Crumble Pierecipe adapted from Martha Stewart Pâte Brisée:
LIFE IS SO GRAND RIGHT NOW! I have finally put on my big girl socks and MOVED OUT. It sounds more final and official than it really is. I've lived away from home on my own before and done lots of travelling, so it doesn't feel like too much of a stretch... but everything does feel new and exciting and darn weird when I realize my old room back "home" no longer exists. Yikes. To cope with any potential feelings of overwhelming unfamiliarity, we make the things that are familiar. The things we can't go for a week without, or even a day. The things like, homemade granola. I've been making homemade granola for yeeeeeeeears and with some fresh fruit and yogurt, it's my favourite everyday breakfast. I have been thinking about MY FIRST BAKE IN THE NEW KITCHEN and getting stoked and making a big deal about it. Then I realized that without thinking about it, I started making granola because I just can't live without that stuff. So I guess that's my "first bake", and I feel like that is completely appropriate. Also I haven't set up my NEW MIXER yet... I smell a future blog post. Of course I'm not used to this new oven entirely and I put a little too much faith in it (and, true confession, started doing yoga while it was baking) and I kinda burnt it. Definitely still edible... but a little extra toasty let's just say... whoopsie daisies! A reminder that not all ovens are created equal! Making this easy recipe (even though I almost burnt it, haha!) brings me much comfort.And much tasty snacking for the week :) It also helps me and the new kitchen get acquainted with one another, like "Hello, I am Larissa and we are going to make some weird and wonderful stuff together, okay? Let's do this." So here is to figuring out new ovens and new routines and new bus routes and making the very first batch of good ol' granola in my new home! <3 Happy Days. Good Ol' Granolathis recipe is extensively adaptable, and you can/are encouraged to use whatever you have on hand or like! here are the basic ratios: (This recipe is good for one sheet pan, I normally double it and spread it out over two pans. However, this is a good starter amount)
THE DRY:
ADD INS:
Happy Baking :) And now, the only kind of date square I ever want to make ever. It will take much convincing for me NOT to put chocolate into all my date squares now. Let's talk about one of my favourite things to do in life: House sitting. It's the best. I get to pretend I live somewhere new, with all these new and wonderful things, I have space all to myself, but best of all I get to use somebody else's kitchen and discover all their wonderful dishes and snoop through the pantry to see what ingredients lurk within. This might sound (okay it does sound very) creepy. BUT I only do so with permission from the home owner... and they know full well that I will only use their kitchen for good. They can also rest assured that when they come home they better believe that there will be fresh baking awaiting them upon their (clean) countertop. My kind and gracious Aunt let me live in her cozy home for a week, and these next-level date squares are what I created in her cute little tidy kitchen. It is so clean and organized it's inspirational. I brought some of the ingredients from my home but had a time using her measuring spoons and little hand mixer... which felt strange and foreign to me. (I am spoiled with my fancy stand mixer). Her oven is amazing, which is all the more encouragement for me to bake. I mean, it's so clean! The front glass you can ACTUALLY SEE THROUGH. I don't think I've ever had that in an oven. I could just sit on the kitchen floor and watch things bake. Dates are great! I love how they are naturally sweet and taste like brown sugar. When you cook them down until they are soft and jam-like, then add chocolate, and orange zest (!) you have my ultimate attention. (I saved some of this filling back just so I could eat it with a spoon later. No shame. Just smart.) I wish I could take credit for this recipe idea but this is another great and fabulous recipe from the brilliant Renee Kohlman AKA SweetSugarBean. Be prepared for lots of her to show up on this lil site... Her tastes, cravings and ideas are freakishly similar to my own and sometimes I feel like she has taken things out of my own head and published them in a book. I love it. **Said book was given to me by said Aunt as a baking-school-graduation gift, and therefore an appropriate thing to bake from whilst taking care of her home. I can take credit for one thing in this recipe, I decided to toast both the oats and the walnuts before I mixed them into the crumb, just to ooompf up the flavour a bit more. Once you learn the wonders of toasted oats, it's hard to go back to life as it once was. I love and adore how oats taste and smell nutty when you toast them to a dark amber; it helps balance the sweetness of the filling nicely I think. I love these date squares!! They are so good please try them!! Make tonight date night. Chocolate Date Square with Toasted Oat and Walnut CrumbleRecipe from SweetSugarBean (Renee Kohlman) All The Sweet Things cookbook Chocolate Date Filling:
Toasted Oat & Walnut Crumble:
|
Tiny Tea PartyIt's about celebrating the tiny things. Categories
All
© 2015 Larissa Costella
All Rights Reserved (All images and content are my own unless otherwise noted) |