And now it's time for another edition of The Travelling Cookie Monster! In this episode, we travel to the grungey-cool graffiti-coated boat-harbouring city in southern France known as Marseille. (think, Mar-Say... not mar-sigh). Not many people choose to travel here because it's considered less glamorous than say Paris of course or Nice, however it was WELL worth the trip. Marseille is just COOL. I loved my brief stay in this artsy city. Also, like many regions in Europe, they have their OWN SYMBOLIC COOKIE. That's worth a visit for me if nothing else. Enter: The Navette. FUN FACT: Navette cookies are traditionally eaten on the lesser known religious holiday known as Candlemas. Not to be confused with Candlemass which is a Swedish "doom metal" band. This year, Candlemas happens to be February 2... WHICH IS TODAY! What a great day to make Navette cookies. Sometimes referred to as shuttle cookies, Navettes are named after their boat-like shape. Appropriate for a city that does indeed have many many boats that fill it's harbour. Right along the docks is a long boardwalk lined with market stands and tables with people selling souveniers, housewares, treats, sailor-themed baby clothes, and of course, Navette cookies. You can also find them in all the bakeries, piled high in baskets. The most common flavour is orange blossom, but there are also lemon, anise, and many other variations to be found. As far as treats go, they are pretty darn basic. But when looking for something to dunk into your tea whilst in Marseille, one must reach for a navette. And cookie monster never says no to a cookie. As mentioned before, the classic Navette cookie is made with Orange Blossom water. I really wanted to make these cookie today, (cuz it's Candlemas! LOL) but I do not have orange blossom water. I do have, however, a real orange. So, I used orange zest instead. Not the traditional Navette, but good enough for me :) True confession time, The Navette that I ate in Marseille, and the ones that I re-created in my kitchen back home, are not the same. Let me just say the cookie I ate in France was much more pleasant. I don't know if it is just me, or the recipe I used, but these cookies were a little disappointing. However it's the thought that counts and it made for some fun reminiscing. And you never know until you try! Regardless, here is the recipe. Navette Cookiesrecipe adapted from Saveur
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For the sake of cakeI love cake! The strange part about me saying this is that I think eating cake is all good and fine, however I would probably rather eat cookies, cuz I am a COOKIE MONSTER and that's just me. Give me a choice between a chunky cookie or a slice of elegance and I will pick the cookie nearly every time. I could instead re-phrase "I LOVE CAKE" to a more specific "I love the concept of cake!" I love the way cakes look, how they are symbols for PARTY and CELEBRATION. They are food of happy times and meant to bring joy. I could also say "I love the act of making cakes", as it is an art form all on it's own!!! Cake decorating is one of those areas in life where the worlds of pastry and fine art collide... and it's a weird and wonderful zone. I've realized however, that I spend a lot of time looking at pictures of cakes and thinking about making them, more than the actual act of making them. I have learned and read enough to know how certain cakes are produced and the various fascinating techniques that are used. But, I haven't had much practice in actually making them. It's time to stop being the naive viewer in the art gallery saying "I could do that" and to actually get out there (or stay at home) and actually JUST DO IT. My problem is that I seem to be always waiting for the right occasion for which to bake a cake, because I have this mental block that says: you need an occasion to bake a cake. What if we flipped this? What if the opposite became true? What if... the cake created an occasion for itself? The cake is the cause! (Tiny epiphany, cue tiny fireworks and explosions of inspiration). I need to make time for cake. Resolution: Stop waiting for an occasion and just bake a darn cake. For the sake of cake! Try new techniques! Make ugly messes! Because this is how we learn things. My goal for 2019 (this is dangerous, now that I am officially announcing it as a goal,) is to each month make one cake, using a baking or decorating technique that I have never tried before, or one that I need more practice with. I figure this will be fun, because cake is fun. It's like painting or any other hobby, only you can eat it. If I mess up, it's just cake. I will be learning and growing as a baker, and I will have delicious treats to share with family and friends. Please help me eat all this cake that's about to happen. January: A cake for a FiestaIt's 2019, it's a new year, it's a new dawn, it's a new day! And... I have a new home! Naturally, my roomies and I wanted to throw a housewarming shindig to make things official, and to brag to our friends/show off our new digs. After rejecting my suggestion that the party be themed "House" or "Warm" (appropriate, yes! But also lame? kay fine) we very quickly agreed to having a fiesta themed housewarming party. My favorite theme. And so with this in mind, along with the long-time desire I've had for wanting to make succulents out of frosting... I designed the Paloma Cactus Cake! If you are thinking "What in tarnation is a Paloma?", let me tell you... Firstly, it is amazing. A Paloma is a cocktail with a fun name and even more fun ingredients: tequila (my spirit-spirit), grapefruit and lime. SO, I wanted to let these flavours set the stage for my fiesta-party-cactus-cake. This is a triple layer cake, using grapefruit and lime zest and juices AND TEQUILA to flavour the sponge and the frosting. To really bring it home, I (generously) soaked each cake layer with a dousing of tequila-grapefruit-syrup. This adds flaaaayyyyve and helps prevent the dreaded dry-cake-phenomena. Between the layers is a grapefruit curd, then the whole shebang is frosted with paloma frosting, and decorated with little buttercream succulents. I giggled a lot when making these tiny guys cuz they're just so darn cute! Buttercream decorating like this takes a decent amount of time and preparation and makes a decent sized mess. However, being able to pipe the succulents then keep them in freezer until you are ready to decorate makes life that much simpler and tidier. And remember the golden rule of kitchen: clean as you go. The "sand" crumbs that you see are made from leftover cake scraps that I toasted until crisp in the oven, snacked on a few, then blitzed them up in the food processor. Definitely room for improvement, but I'm pretty happy with how this first attempt worked out :) So glad I finally made the time to try this! If a grapefruit-lime-tequila cake speaks to your soul, then lucky you, here is the recipe! It tastes just as tropical without the tiny cacti, but they do make life fun. Happy Baking! Paloma Cakerecipe from Wilton
Paloma Frostingrecipe from Wilton *note:when I made my cake, I only used half this recipe of frosting, and it worked, however I had absolutely none left over and probably could have used a little more to cover the sides of my cake better. If you want to be safer and have some frosting leftover, use the full recipe.
Grapefruit CurdRecipe adapted from Martha Stewart
CAKE ASSEMBLY!
Buttercream SucculentsSwiss meringue buttercream is my favourite for piping, because it is so silky smooth. Below is a favourite recipe of mine that has the addition of white chocolate, which I believe does two wonderful things: helps stabilize the buttercream, and also helps it taste delicious. You can use your own buttercream recipe if you have one you like, or you can even use the paloma frosting if that feels simpler, however you may have to adjust the consistency by adding milk or icing sugar as needed. I liked the contrast of the two frostings on this cake, for their different appearance, textures, and flavours! White Chocolate Buttercream
I would be silly to try and leave instructions here, for I am certainly no expert on this topic. Instead, here is a link to a video that helped me as I endeavoured on this time consuming but deeply satisfying procedure: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRTNu-8026k High five to Wilton, thank you! And there we are! Easy right? Get ready to make a mess :) Speaking of which, I can't help but include this beautifully grotesque image of the cake-eating-aftermath: Nobody wanted me to cut into the cake, however I am happy to report that it was worth it as the cake itself was in fact delicious as it was pretty. Yay for cake! We are off to a grand start.
A very wise lady inspired the belief in me that a house is not a home until one has baked homemade banana bread in it. I am 100% on board with this concept. And so in an effort to make my new house my new home... I baked banana bread. Amen. My mom, and her sister, are both banana bread baking queens. They both use the same recipe, one passed down from their Aunt, known by most as, Auntie Irene. My great Auntie Irene was the sweetest of little ladies, with fire-truck red hair and the cutest smile. Despite her petite size, she would smother you with hugs and kisses and tons of food. Her recipes remain family favourites, and are made often in my household. A few recipes come to mind including cheesy mashed potatoes, her famous chocolate sauce... but made most often, her whole-wheat-banana-bread. One taste of this loaf and I am instantly "home" no matter where I actually am. I love the combo of half whole wheat flour and half regular flour, not just because I trick myself into thinking its good for you, but the whole wheat flour adds another layer of nutty flavour which I crave! This baby is delicious just on its own, but I also love adding toasted walnuts for some crunch, or chocolate chips if I'm feeling it. Oh I'm feeling it. Can't go wrong. I baked two mini loafs in my new place to welcome myself into the kitchen and lay a foundation for home-baked goodies to come. Before we can get crazy making new experiments, we gotta stick to the old favourites first, ya know? When I got to sit down and enjoy a warm slice of my labour... my first thought was "Tastes like mom!" (Hi mom) Life is good. Auntie Irene's Whole Wheat Banana Breadmakes 1 large loaf, or 4 mini loaf pans. Or ~12 muffins!
ingredients:
Happy Baking <3 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 :) When you want to eat something like chips and dip but you want it to feel super healthy. YOU MAKE THIS! Also known as: I think I will be a bird in my next life because I really love eating seeds of all kinds. Baking with seeds makes me happy and this recipe makes me especially happy because you can use whatever seeds you have on hand, along with a large helping of super-good-for-you flaxseeds. Homemade crackers full of crunchy healthy seeds, and a mashed up bean dip topped with feta and cilantro to feed your healthy munchy fix. This is a tasty snack BUT it's also something you can feel good about because:
I like to have both whole flaxseeds and ground flax on hand to use for different purposes. Obviously if you buy whole flaxseeds you can always grind them yourself, but I use both kinds frequently so I buy both... Like I said, I am a bird. For all seeds (and nuts!), it's a good idea to keep them in the fridge or freezer so they last longer and don't go rancid. Switch up the seeds in the crackers depending on your preference/what you have on hand, same deal for the beans in the dip! If you have time and patience you can roll out the crackers and cut them into desired shapes... or you can be "rustic" like moi and just bake one giant sheet of cracker, breaking it up into shards after it's baked and cooled. Rustic it is. Flax Seed CrackersRecipe adapted from "Beauty Foods" by Caroline Artiss
Bean + Feta Dip
WARNING these cupcakes are dangerously sweet but sometimes you just need that hard core sugar hit. Brown sugar is the star here and when combined with a healthy amount of butter and cream (and most importantly SALT to balance all that sticky sweetness) we have a tasty treat for you. These cupcakes came about when I wanted to make a Harry-Potter-Butterbeer-type of cupcake for the cafe where I work (hence the lightning bolt garnish). I made way too much butterscotch sauce the first go-round so I got to make the cupcakes again for halloween, this time with lil ghosts on top! I giggled a lot while decorating each one with tiny edible googly eyes... which I now want to put on everything. Butterscotch CupcakesThe cupcake recipe makes a delicious brown sugar cupcake all on it's own, if you don't want to go the extra sweet route of filling them with the butterscotch. I've been known to add a teaspoon of cinnamon to the batter which I think makes them even better! Brown Sugar Cupcakes:
*I hardly use a recipe for cream cheese frosting these days... rather I tend to use a ratio of approximately 2 parts cream cheese to one part butter, and add powdered sugar to taste. A good pinch of salt helps to balance out the super sweet powdered sugar, and vanilla makes it extra tasty. Follow your heart, but a good starting point is:
Butterscotch Sauce: Again, this will probably make more than you need for the cupcakes... the leftover can be used in hot drinks, drizzled on cakes or as a tasty ice cream sundae topping!
I yay, you yay, we all yay for PAEEEEELLA! (Spanish pronunciation lesson) FIRST things first: check out my tiny paella pan!! A souvenir I snagged from a dollar store in Barcelona. I was looking for a traditional paella pan to take home, but then LOOK TINY THINGS!! And if we all know me, we know that it's hard to say no to tiny things. Also, way more travel friendly am I right? Paella, if you are unfamiliar, is a rice dish hailing from SPAIN and it is darn delicious. It is made (and often served) in it's own namesake pan, which is recognized by it's shallow depth and two skinny U-shaped handles on opposite sides and is much bigger than the one shown above. Paella usually contains a mixture of seafood and/or chicken and/or pork and sometimes vegetables, and always a lemon wedge to squeeze over the top before you dive in. Spiced with smoked paprika (HELLO I'm sold), it gets its signature golden yellow colour from tiny expensive threads of saffron... the gold of the culinary world. Some dishes are worth the splurge. Paella is one of those dishes. I had the joy, privilege and pleasure of experiencing paella for the first time whilst travelling in... where else... SPAIN! Yes! I was lucky enough to find myself in the little southern town of Nerja with my dear mother and father. Traveling with mom and dad is great because we try our best to live like the locals, buy ingredients from local stores and cook our own meals in our little rental apartment. We learn about new ingredients and go out for ice creams and coffees and bakery treats, but we rarely eat full meals out... mostly because it's very expensive and there are sooo many tourist traps! But Mom and I (mostly Mom) do our research and if we find a good authentic restaurant, we might be able to convince my dad to go out ;) One sunny Spanish day, we decided to throw caution and our frugal budget to the wind and treat ourselves to a lunch on the town. Or, I should say, a lunch on the beach. #livingthedream A high priority on our vacation To-Do List (or at least on mine) was to try an authentic Spanish Paella. My dear mother is the best travel researcher and she scoped out a suitable venue: a bustling oceanside outdoor "restaurant" feeding fresh paella to the masses, complete with white plastic chairs and tables allowing you to feel the sand under your feet and the sun above your head. We set out on a warm walk along the beach, hearts hungry for adventure and stomachs hungry for PAELLA. GOOD NEWS: It was DELICIOUS! So flavourful and comforting and exotic all in one dish. We loved it! One of the best parts of the experience though was getting to see how they made it... In a GIANT paella pan! This is how you feed the masses, out on the beach, with one massive pan. It's a little bigger than my mini one ;) Look at that golden rice! And all those shrimpies! I'll take three helpings please. Our little fiesta on the beach was so deliciously inspiring that we knew we must learn how we could re-create our own paella back home... My dear Papa, who is a fantastic cook, especially of ethnic foods, took to researching and creating and quickly perfecting his own version of paella. Now, it is a regular dinner request in our home and one of my personal favourites! Which is why I was terribly excited to once again get the opportunity to eat paella in its country of origin... this time in the grand city of BARCELONA. I visited Barcelona with one of my best travel buddies... my Aunt! Traveling with my Aunt is kind of the best for a few reasons:
Not a bad day I must say, not a bad day at all. We sipped our sangria whilst looking out the window and across the street at the famous Sagrida Familia Church (which we coined the Sangria Church, for obvious reasons, but also much easier to say) and shared a pan of paella. Another trip to flavour town with a super fun mixture of seafood and pork along for the ride! It's an adventure in a pan let me tell you. Yup, pretty hard to beat that experience... HOWEVER... I have to admit that while the paella I ate in Barcelona that day was mighty tasty, I could not help but compare it to the paella I have become accustomed to at home, prepared by my dear father. I must say, he makes a mean paella. It might not be 100% authentic, but it's darn close and it's 100% tasty so who cares! Every time I eat it I am transported back to wonderful memories of warm and sunny Spain. And now, aren't we all the luckiest bunch because today he shares his recipe! Enough rambling about my travels, here's how you can have your own Spanish Paella fiesta! Pablo's Spanish PaellaRecipe from my papa (serves about 3-4 people) ingredients:
Two things I love most in life: Fresh Muffins. Fresh Hair do's. Yesterday both of these occured within the same morning... and life was glorious Fall is sort of like spring in that there is a feeling of renewal in the air. It's hard to deny. When the world around you is changing colour, you can't help but feel like you should change a bit too. Suddenly I find myself inspired to clean out forgotten drawers, organize my closet, start a new project, refresh my look... My tastebuds crave all the warm spices, but my heart and soul also desires to spice things up a bit... I finally did a thing I have been threatening to do for a few months now... I went WILD and got my hair permed. My inner grandma is so content right now. There is nothing quite like a new hair-do to put a new spring in your step. Or in my current case, a spring in your hair (Sorry not sorry). Although I am still not used to my reflection, and admittedly can't help myself giggling every time I look in the mirror... I am pretty happy with my new curls! Even though I am not going back to school this fall I still feel like I want a fun fresh start. So why the heck not?! Yes, a new season, a new look, a new Lar. I do love the fall. Spice it up! That's what fall is all about #amiright? More importantly however, fall is about PUMPKIN EVERYTHING Hence I made these pumpkin muffins which are soft and fluffy and spiced with all the happy spices and studded with chocolate because CHOCOLATE and crowned with pumpkin seeds to make them pretty. I brought some to my hair dresser which I think helped her to forgive me for showing up late... Note to self, if you're gonna be late, at least bring muffins. Also known as, nobody notices your flaws if you distract them with fresh baking. This is how I get through life. Here's to the pumpkin-spice-curly-perm life. Amen. Pumpkin-Chai-Chocolate-Chip MuffinsRecipe from Renee Kohlman (Sweetsugarbean) and her wonderful book: All The Sweet Things {makes about 12-14 muffins}
WET ingredients:
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:
Muffin Monday!!! There is nothing quite like alliteration to encourage one to bake. Although I have often worked on Mondays, this particular Monday was a DAY OFF for me, and so a perfect muffin-making-monday opportunity. I have recently acquired a GORGEOUS NEW HARD COVER SHINY COOKBOOK, of which is bursting with handfuls of recipes that I am so very excited to try. It's rather difficult deciding where to begin when one is so inspired by so many ideas... but seeing as it is blueberry season, (and muffin monday) these blueberry muffins seemed appropriate enough, and so I stopped thinking about it and just MADE MUFFINS. These are not your usual blueberry muffins however... See how yellow they are? That is not just me putting some hipster filter over the photo, no, the yellow is for real! The colour comes naturally from one of my favourite spices... turmeric! I've had turmeric in savoury foods and in tea before, but never have I ever seen turmeric in muffins. I love turmeric because people claim that it is healthy for you and I claim that it is delicious. Both turmeric and blueberries have anti-inflammatory properties, and with all the biking and on-my-feet-all-day days, I could use some of that healing power. Topped off with a honey-oat-sunflower streusel because streusel makes muffins more fun! The turmeric in these muffins is intriguing but not overpowering and they are sweetened only with a bit of maple syrup and banana, so a lovely option when you want muffins but don't want a lot of refined sugar for breakfast. But I must say they taste delicious with a bit of butter and honey fresh and warm from the oven ;) This recipe comes from "All The Sweet Things" by Renee Kohlman, and at first glance the book appears beautiful and the recipes divine. Upon closer inspection, Renee, who is also known as SweetSugarBean, is my new hero, as her interests and career path align with my interests and life goals and her words and stories both give me encouragement and inspiration. Also, there are so many wonderful photos in this book, and she does all of her own photography. Let's just say I am a huge fan and I look forward to my future days off when I can try out more of these creative, scrumptious sounding recipes. Blueberry-Turmeric Muffins with Honey Oat StreusalRecipe from Renee Kohlman's (Sweetsugarbean) All the Sweet Things cookbook muffin inngredients:
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