It’s my sister @adjoa’s birthday in a few hours; and I’ve spent a bit of time trying to come up with the perfect gift.
We aren’t big birthday people, our birthdays were never really ‘celebrated’ even as kids – there were no parties, or cakes or ponies or tiaras.
Over the years we’ve managed to settle into a comfortable place where birthdays are commemorated handsomely without feeling like we’re making up for lost time.
We try to stick to the norm, although it doesn’t always work out – I was lost in a sea of cards this afternoon determined to find the perfect birthday card, none truly said what I wanted to say, they were either too syrupy, not germane, unfunny or downright depressing.
I went back to think on it at my desk, and later in the day… in lieu of a birthday card I went downstairs and got the new Kinfolk volume 3.

This malted milk cake isn’t a birthday cake per se; it’s a union of nostalgia items from my pantry.
The idea for this cake came to me a couple of weeks ago while discussing favourite childhood treats, I’m not sure where the conversation was headed but I remember thinking ‘what if we could take some of our favourite things from childhood and bake them into a cake’

And so we made ourselves a little cake with a bit of nostalgia baked into it; my mom’s soothing cup of hot Horlicks, those rare lazy hot afternoons we snacked on Maltesers, and the childhood decadence of thick custard puddings with spongy vanilla cake.

We wavered at the start… but then when we got a rich batter that tasted like salted caramel ice cream, we knew we were on to something.
A cake most deliciously light and fluffy, just sweet with that subtle malted milk flavour.
Perfect for that un-birthday dessert!

       Print This!    

I’d like to talk about recipe disasters first before I get into this awesome (but slightly flawed) cranberry oat and honey bread.
When I started this little culinary adventure, my goal was to at least try a new recipe a week.
As you can probably guess, when it comes to trying out new recipes, I’ve had my share of failures – I’ve been assured that this happens to everyone.

There are many reasons why recipes fail, and for me, most of the time it’s usually because of something I did (or didn’t do)
I will be honest here as I’m not one lay undue blame on other people (unless you’re my parent, then it’s all your fault!)
90% of the time, it’s my fault the recipe failed, and that’s because as my mom would say “I don’t listen”.

Because my diet is typically plant-based, I make a lot of substitutions, especially when it comes to baking; ground flax or banana replaces eggs, and nut-milk usually replaces dairy.
While this works out great most of the time, there are limits… like, if a recipe calls for a dozen eggs; chances are substituting those for flax will result in horrible failure.

Following instructions used to be another one; I’ve gradually come to understand that following the simplest of instructions saves you so much heartache in the end – like, if the recipe says bake at 350 for 40 minutes, don’t be a smartass and bake at 375 for 30 minutes because you’re in a hurry, chances are, you’ll end up with a lovely looking cranberry oat and honey bread with an uncooked middle.

One very simple thing I’ve learned that also helps avert recipe disasters is planning; the French have a phrase for it; mise en place – have your ingredients prepared and ready before you begin.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve in a rush made bread and forgotten the yeast!

I was gifted with several pounds of fresh cranberries over the holidays, I kept them in the freezer while I googled ‘what can you make with fresh cranberries?’, eventually I found this cranberry oat and honey bread.

I made it hastily one night to take on a hike. The next morning I cut three slices… the fourth slice was soft and still gooey in the middle. I salvaged what I could, cut the half-baked part into thin slices and put them back in the oven, the results was something resembling a poor man’s Raincoast Crisps, still delicious but not what I was going for.

So the take away here is that when it comes to this bread, don’t be like me, stick to the cooking instructions and let it cook through. Do insert a toothpick in the center and make sure it comes out clean before you take it out of the oven, because it’s a wonderful, wonderful bread.

       Print This!    

I took a few duvet days last week, and then got totally swamped and overwhelmed when I went back to work.
That’ll teach me!
I’ve been feeling a tad rundown lately, a sure sign that the dreaded seasonal allergy season upon us.
A quiet rainy weekend is in the forecast.
I just saw an ad about a place where people go to find their ‘creative soul’.
It sounds nice, I’m a little envious – I think my ‘creative soul’ may be a little lost.
Here’s to a creative weekend!

I have lots of pears and some leftover carob chips, maybe I’ll bake a pear and carob loaf…

       Print This!    

I love my dentist; he makes me feel like rock star every time I go to see him.
He’s always raving about how nice and amazingly clean my teeth are.
Now, maybe that’s just a trick he uses to get his patients to take good care of their teeth, but it totally works, because clean teeth is a minor obsession of mine now, especially in the days leading up to my appointment. I guess I’m part of the minority who don’t mind going to the dentist.
Since I go in twice a year, we try to catch each other up on what we’ve been up to in the last six months. On my last visit, which was right after the holidays, I joked that I’d been baking up a storm, and he gave me a lecture on sugar and tooth decay.
I don’t think my dentist would like this pomegranate molasses butter cake – this cake is sticky, tart and sweet, and has nuts doused in sugar… oh no, he wouldn’t like it.

When you combine the acidity of the pomegranate molasses with a bit of sugar, you get something so spectacularly delicious, it’s got to be bad for you somehow.
I didn’t think I would like this cake; I needed two tablespoons of pomegranate molasses for this lentil salad, so I got a bottle and then tried to find other recipes to use the rest up.
Pomegranate molasses is made from boiled down pomegranate juice, lemon and sugar (although some versions omit the lemon and sugar altogether).
The sauce is very tart and sweet, thick with a deep rich maroon colour; it adds an incredibly rich flavour to everything!

The recipe for this cake comes from The New York Times; I adapted the recipe a little to make it egg and dairy free.
It’s a buttery, moist, sweet and tart cake that everyone loved. It’s great with tea and as a snack too.
We had it for dessert, and yes, I brushed my teeth every night after dessert.

       Print This!    

The year that just passed feels long gone already, we’re settling back into routine and I feel a little bereft, not for the year past but for the little break we had in between.
I can’t bring myself to feel optimistic about the New Year, which isn’t to say that I won’t get there; but is it weird that I suddenly want to stay home and bake all the time now?

I know it’s not strawberry season; we’re supposed to be in the dead of winter, yet we’ve had a couple of strange warm days, and I see strawberries (imported from Mexico) at the supermarket all the time.
I don’t have my usual stash of frozen berries because I didn’t go berry picking last summer, I caved and bought a pound of strawberries to make strawberry lemon loaf.
This loaf is a little like strawberry lemonade, which reminds me of summer, which cheers me up a bit.

I don’t remember where I got the recipe from, but I’ve been making this quick bread for a while now; it’s light, tart, moist and sweet, the strawberries and lemon compliment each other well.

It’s superb as a snack, or for dessert, dress it up with ice cream and and topped with strawberries.

       Print This!