All posts filed under: Baking

Easter Baking!

This past weekend, we welcomed the rain as we had lots of Easter baking to get done and I really enjoy baking in the rain. That may sound strange since I’m not baking in a rainstorm outside, but if I’m going to be inside for endless hours I prefer that it’s raining then a beautiful day outside. See below some pics of some of the cakes/cupcakes we made!  

Chewy Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

The tiny tots whipped these chewy, chocolate chip, oatmeal cookies in about 20 minutes. Baking with kids is a great way for them to learn about counting and numbers. To avoid big messes we have them sit at the table in their booster seats and bring all the ingredients to the table. Then they each get a turn and thus we are also working on our waiting our turn. All great skills for the tots to learn about. I got the recipe from here, I have also pasted it below. We added 3/4 cup of raisins too! Happy baking! Ingredients: 1/2C unsalted butter, softened 1/2C granulated sugar 1/2C light brown sugar 1 large egg 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract 1/2 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 tsp cinnamon 3/4C all purpose flour 1 1/2C old fashioned oats 3/4C chocolate chips, plus extra for topping Directions: Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a cookie sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper. In a large bowl or stand mixer, cream together …

Unicorns!

Not sure when these fantastic, mythical creatures made such a roaring comeback, maybe they never left in the first place! We’ve been asked to do several unicorn themed birthdays and events lately and I thought would share some of the pics for inspiration. All our cupcakes and cookies were made on site at Seasons Family Centre in the Annex. If you’re not up for baking or hosting your own birthday – visit our Birthday Page for more information on how we can help you!  

Spelt Cinnamon Raisin Bread

This bread will honestly melt in your mouth and oozes yumminess (the truth though, you’ve got to eat it right out of the oven with butter) otherwise it definitely tastes as healthy as it sounds. I got the recipe from Texanerin Baking and followed it pretty much exactly. If you’re following some kind of special diet (which chances are you’re trying, since it’s that time of year) you could have it with earth balance “butter” instead and feel even better about eating half of the loaf in one sitting. Treat yourself to a cup of tea and slice (or the whole loaf) and enjoy!  

Rosette Cakes

I have been seeing a ton of these Rosette Cakes online lately and wanted to give it a go. I was delighted with how easy they are to make, it’s all about having the right icing tip, it really is. I’ve come to learn that as long as you have the right tools baking is quite simple. I used a Wilton tip #2D or you can use #1M, either one works. I baked a 3 layer cake and used a buttercream icing to mask the cake first. For the pink rosette cake, I did the top first and then worked my way down the sides, some people may suggest starting the other way, I think whatever you’re comfortable with. For the purple rosette cake I actually only used one icing bag and one bowl for mixing. It seemed like a daunting cake to make at first with 3 different colours of icing, but using one bag and one bowl made it super easy. I started by adding a very small amount of icing gel to …

Easy Peasy Focaccia (I promise)

Have you ever wanted to try making focaccia but thought it was a daunting, time consuming task? Well, fear not, this recipe here is not only easy but quick to make. Our teen cooking class was able to finish the bread in under an hour and it was absolutely delicious. Ingredients 2 3⁄4 cups flour 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon white sugar 1 (1/4 ounce) packet active dry yeast 1 teaspoon garlic powder 1 teaspoon oregano 1⁄2 teaspoon dried thyme 1⁄2 teaspoon dried basil 1 dash pepper 1 cup warm water (105-115 degrees) 2 tablespoons olive oil 3 handfuls of cherry tomatoes – halved 1 handful of basil – chopped 1 tbsp of white wine vinegar 2 tbsp of olive oil  Directions Mix the yeast and water in a small bowl. Let stand for 10 minutes (until bubbles begin to form). In large bowl, stir together flour, salt, sugar, garlic powder, oregano, thyme, basil, and black pepper. Add the yeast mix and vegetable oil to the dry ingredients. When dough has pulled together, turn out …

Valentine’s Mini Cakes!

We hosted a Valentine’s Day Mini Cake Workshop this past Sunday. The cakes were pretty easy to make and you could easily host this at home for your friends or little ones. Keep it really simple and buy one of those infamous cakes in a box, 3 eggs and vegetable oil. Or make it harder on yourself and bake the cake from scratch. Here’s a great recipe for a simple traditional white cake. Next, make buttercream icing, I always use the Wilton recipe, I find it quick and easy. For step by step instructions on how to make your very own mini cake visit one of our previous posts. Once your mini cake is complete all that is left is decorating it, which is really the very best part!    

guilt free fudgy, chocolate blondies

New year, new diet, or really ancient caveman diet. Depending on which version of the Paleo diet you follow, this little treat may fit into your dessert menu perfectly. I got the recipe for the fudgy pumpkin blondies, from here and not only were they easy to make, they were delicious! Even my husband got into them and if it passes his sweet tooth test, we a have winner folks.

DIY birthday (for big, grown-up people)

For starters, I apologize for the delay in posting. I got a little lost over the holidays and have only recently found my way back to the keyborad. I find December to be all consuming and it takes a bit of time to recover, but I’m ready to completely return to routine. I was even able to host a private dinner party recently. Putting that little extra effort into creating a special birthday for a friend is well worth it. If you would like to host a private event at our venue in the Annex, with access to our commercial kitchen please feel free to visit our Birthday page.  If you’re feeling crafty for your next party, try making a couple of these tassels to hang. Lots of websites list different ways you can create the tassel look. I was really drawn to the shiny tassel, after all which girl doesn’t like a little sparkle. Check out this DIY tassels for instructions. For mine, I used three different types of paper, wouldn’t recommend using the kraft …