winter citrus fruit salad

February and I haven't always been on the best of terms. Grey short days with lots of rain don't do much to raise the spirits. This February (& throw in January too) has been nothing short of spectacular. Sunny, warm weather, cherry trees in bloom and snowdrops and crocuses in full colour. February, I'm starting to change my mind about you! Sure, there's a little thing called the Winter Olympics going on in our city as well and while this warm weather isn't boding well for the snow sports, it's sure making everyone smile a whole lot more.

Another thing that has been putting a grin on my face is this fruit salad. Normally, I'm not one to dive head first into the fruit salad bowl. I tend to be fruit-picky and shy away from things like pears and melons and other awful things that tend to overcrowd most fruit bowls. But if I'm making a fruit salad at home, it's going to play by my rules. So this salad uses up the best of winter fruits like blood oranges, grapefruits and Honeycrisp apples and it's perfect. Normally, I'd throw in a qualifier like "this winter fruit salad is perfect for me", but I made this for my friend and my husband (who readily admits that he isn't a fan of grapefruit), and it received rave reviews. So there, keep your melons to yourself.

In town for the Olympics, a soon-to-be tourist or a Vancouver native? Check out my top picks on where to grab a tasty & affordable bite over at ReadyMade. Got your own picks? Leave me a comment.

winter citrus fruit salad
2 pink grapefruits
2 blood oranges
1 Honeycrisp apple (or sub in another apple of your choice)
1 lime, juiced and zested
2 heaping T of sugar

With a sharp knife, remove the rind and pith of the grapefruits and oranges and cut them into rounds. Cut into quarters, removing any thick segmenty bits if necessary. Cut the apple into a bite-sized dice and throw them all into a medium sized serving bowl. Add the sugar and lime juice over top and give everything a good stir so that the sugar melts into the salad. Sprinkle with lime zest and serve. This salad also keeps nicely for a few days in the fridge.

napa mustard slaw with apple & walnuts

Winter is a busy time when you've got a craft business. There's craft fairs, holiday orders and a lot of extra work. Double it when you add in your own web business. Add in a blog or two, and things start to slide. But I'm not going to beat myself up. Instead, I'm going to celebrate because I've created a very tasty little salad in between coding, designing, folding, packaging and selling. In fact, I've made for than a few meals out of it and within the past 2 weeks, have probably made it more times than I'd care to admit. It's delicious and great and it's a perfect reminder to why salads are to be eaten year round.

And this slaw is perfectly seasonal. Cabbage? Totally available. Apples? Oh boy! And the vinaigrette? It's a delicate, powerful and sophisticated mouthful. I think it helps that the magic ingredient is a homemade vanilla meyer lemon marmalade gifted to me by a wonderful food blogger, but I'm sure any other marmalade will provide just the perfect touch. So hunker down this winter with a slaw and forgo the soup once in awhile.

Please take a peek over at Poppytalk where I've also gone slaw crazy! Over there I've posted a delicious Asian-inspired and super colourful vegetable slaw with pineapple, diakon and a ginger dressing. So let's just take some time in the coming month to remember vegetables alongside candy canes, chocolate and the like.

napa mustard slaw with apple & walnuts
1/2 head of napa cabbage, shredded
1 tart apple, julienned
1/2 c walnuts, toasted & roughly chopped

vinaigrette
1/4 c olive oil
1-2 T grainy mustard
1 T marmalade
2 T cider vinegar
1 t honey
salt & pepper

In a large bowl, add in the cabbage and apples and toss well. Whisk together the vinaigrette ingredients, taste & adjust, if necessary and pour over salad. Scatter walnuts over top and serve.

light & fluffy pancakes with maple apples

This past weekend, Cornelius wanted to go out for pancakes. I wavered. There's a diner in our neighbourhood that used to have the very best pancakes and good service, but the last couple times the service really was terrible and the pancakes weren't up to their usual par. So I put my foot down and make pancakes at home. It turned out to be a great option. The pancakes were light and fluffy and the apples simmered in maple syrup that topped the pancakes was liquid gold. They were perfect and they beat out the pancakes from the local diner hands down.

light & fluffy pancakes with maple apples
(recipe adapted from Bon Appetit)

maple syrup apples
2 T unsalted butter
2 large tart apples, like Bramley Seedings, cored and sliced
1 t ground cinnamon
1 T plus 1/3 c pure maple syrup

pancakes
1 c all purpose flour
2 T yellow cornmeal
1 t baking powder
1 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1 c buttermilk
1 c plain yogurt
1 t vanilla
1 large egg
1 1/2 T unsalted butter, melted

For maple syrup apples:
Melt butter in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add apples, cinnamon and 1 tablespoon of maple syrup and saute for a few minutes until soft. Add remaining syrup and stir until warm. Set aside.

For pancakes:
Combine first 5 ingredients in large bowl and whisk until blended. In another bowl, blend together buttermilk, yogurt, vanilla, and egg. Add wet to dry ingredients and stir until just blended but still lumpy. Gently mix in the melted butter.

In a large pan, melt a bit of butter or oil over med-high heat and drop in a large spoonful of batter. When bubbles appear on the surface, flip. When the underside is golden, remove and repeat process. Spoon maple apples over pancakes and serve.

apple cinnamon biscuits

Wake up to these babies. They are light, fluffy and perfect - and chock full of apples and spice. They taste like autumn, especially when eaten with an apple-cranberry-rosemary sauce. Or apple butter. Or smeared with cherry jam. Even plain, these biscuits are the bomb. Get the hot little recipe over at Poppytalk.

pumpkin apple crumb cake

I had mentioned that this Thanksgiving I took it easy in the kitchen. There was no time to fuss about with turkeys, sides or complicated dishes. I took the simple route and made only two things: the sweet potato, corn & jalapeño bisque and this crumb cake. It worked out perfectly because both the soup and this cake tasted deeply like autumn. And they were so easy to prepare that I could enjoy time with my guests and let the evening roll out easily. Simple pleasures, indeed.

Made with lightly sauteed apples and bursting with cinnamon and spice, this cake is kept moist with the addition of pumpkin puree. The original recipe calls for 4 cups of apples and a 9 inch round pan. I made this in an 8 inch cake pan and was able to only add in half the amount of apples. Worried that my cake would spill over, I took the extra precaution of putting a baking sheet underneath, but everything worked out perfectly. No spills! The batter rose up high in the oven and fell quickly when I took out the cake to cool. It was dense and delicious and perfectly unfussy....and I'm sure if you were short on time & didn't want to saute the apples, you'd still find yourself with a cake to be thankful for.

pumpkin apple crumb cake
(adapted from Bon Appetit)
2 large apples, diced (about 2 cups worth)
2 T demera sugar
1 T salted butter
1 t cinnamon
pinch of nutmeg

1 1/2 c all-purpose flour
1 c brown sugar
1 t cinnamon
1/4 t cardamom
1/4 t nutmeg
1/4 t allspice
1/2 t salt
1/2 c unsalted butter, cut into pieces

3/4 c canned pure pumpkin
1/3 c plain yogurt
2 T sugar
1 t baking soda
2 large eggs

1. Preheat oven to 350F and butter up an 8 or 9 inch cake pan. Set aside. In a large skillet, heat butter and stir apples, sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. Saute lightly for a few minutes until fragrant and the mixture starts to caramelize. Remove from heat.

2. Mix together the flour, salt, brown sugar, and spices. Cut in butter and use your hands to break up the mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs. Set aside 2/3 of a cup to use as crumble topping.

3. In another bowl, combine pumpkin, yogurt, sugar, baking soda and eggs. Stir in the flour mixture and beat until smooth. Pour batter into prepared cake pan. Spread diced apples over top and then sprinkle with reserved crumb topping. Bake for 1 hour and 10 minutes or until cake is golden and a cake tester comes out clean. Let cool on wire rack and serve with generous dollops of floppy maple whipped cream.

haute egg sandwich

First off, I really want to thank you all for your nice comments on my last post! This blog would have been nothing but a whisper without all of you, so thank you! I'm really touched and still giddy over it all.

A little while ago I received an email from Adrienne who is the food blogger behind Nosheteria. She just published a memoir entitled Cooking and Screaming: Finding My Own Recipe for Recovery and wanted to know if I wouldn't mind a copy. Of course I said yes! Her book recounts her recovery after a stroke-like condition at age 21 and how she discovered what she wanted to do with her life: cook and write.

Each chapter begins with a recipe, including a version of a "haute" egg sandwich. But there's so many recipes worthy of making, especially the Tagliatelle with Grated Zucchini that starts off the book. But that one will come later in summer when I'm bombarded with zucchinis. As for the book? It was an enjoyable read. Adrienne's descriptions of food transported me to the Berkley market where she did her shopping or made me wish I was snacking on her catered canapes. She not only cooks with passion but she definitely lives with passion. You can read my full review and follow me on my GoodReads page.

I really liked this sandwich and it reminded me of a simpler version of my apple & cheddar omelette. Next time I make this, I'll follow Adrienne's recipe and sub in English muffins for the toast. Also I'd make 4 sandwiches, as recommended, rather than just 2 giant ones. It would be much easier to grab-and-go that way. The original recipe called for blue cheese rather than cheddar and pear instead of apple. I'm not a huge fan of blue cheese and I hate pears, so this really is my take on her haute egg sandwich. But like most recipes here, it's a highly adaptable one, so do with it what you will and enjoy a mighty fine breakfast sandwich.

And totally off topic, on my other blog, I'm having my first give away clearing out some "damaged goods" note cards from my etsy shop. Enter to win!

haute egg sandwich
(adapted from Cooking and Screaming)
4 eggs
3 T milk
salt & pepper to taste
1 T butter
1/2 T olive oil
1/3 c shredded cheddar cheese
4 slices of sturdy whole grain bread, toasted and buttered
1 T honey
1 tart apple, sliced thin

Whisk the eggs with the milk and salt & pepper and set aside. In a medium skillet, heat olive oil and butter together over medium-high heat. Add in eggs and scramble until nearly set, about 3-4 minutes. Turn off heat. Sprinkle cheese over top, do not mix in.

Spread honey thinly on toasts and divide the apple slices equally over top. Grind some pepper over the apple. Divide the eggs in half and place on the apple slices. Top with remaining toast and eat up. It's gonna be messy.

a warm send-off: cinnamon apple dutch baby

Last week it was cinnamon waffles and now I'm posting about cinnamon dutch babies. I'm breakfast-crazy or at least cinnamon-crazy. Either way, I'm not complaining. This is a simple but impressive breakfast and it takes the not-so-humble dutch baby and makes it, dare I say, even a bit better. It's a sweet and cozy way to spend a Saturday morning with a pot of hot coffee and the crosswords.

It's been a pretty crazy couple of weeks. We've been tying up loose ends, wrapping up projects and beating deadlines so we could make some time for a visit with family. Tomorrow we're flying to Ontario to visit my mom in the hospital, so it will be pretty quiet here until next week or so. I've got a stack of books, some homemade fig newtons (my parent's favorite) and a few Ritter Sport bars to help keep my mom in good spirits.

cinnamon apple dutch baby
2 T butter
2 small apples, sliced
1 T cinnamon
1 T brown sugar
4 large eggs
½ c all-purpose flour
½ c skim milk

For the topping:
juice of ½ lemon
powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 400. In a large cast iron pan, heat butter and add in sliced apples, cinnamon and sugar. Saute until the apples are golden brown and the sugar has melted into a delicious caramel sauce.

In a large bowl, whisk the eggs together and add in flour and milk. Whisk until combined and pour over the apple mixture. Place skillet in oven and bake for 20 minutes or so, until the pancake is fluffy and golden brown. Remove from oven and squeeze lemon juice over top and sprinkle generously with powdered sugar. Serve immediately.

baked apples and a little begging...

I had baked apples once as a kid. I wasn't too impressed, but then again I was picky and fruit didn't count as dessert in my books. Fortunately, tastes change and baked apples are pretty rad. And easy to make. It helps if you've already got dinner in the oven, so the oven is nice and heated, but if not that's okay too! It's winter and turning on the oven certainly helps to heat up our apartment.

I got the idea for this dish when I looked in my fruit crisper and saw three sad looking apples. These babies needed a higher purpose and baking them into soft sweet dessert is a fitting end, I think. To stuff the apples, I just used stuff found in my cupboards...my homemade granola and bits of nuts and dried fruit. Any nuts, coconut or dried fruit would work. Dried figs would be wonderful here! I used hazelnuts but honestly, I wasn't a fan of them in this dish. Next time I'll use almonds, walnuts of pecans instead. I used brown sugar, but raw sugar or honey would be nice too. I also cut down the butter since I was going to be serving this with ice cream...no need to add a huge amount of extra fat! And if you don't have port, don't bother running out to buy some. Just use apple juice, red wine, brandy or even water would be fine. Simple and easily adaptable...my favorite kind of recipe!

And hey look, I've been nominated as Best Canadian Weblog for the 2009 Bloggies! I'm so super excited, more so than I'd care to admit, but dammit, I'm thrilled! Voting is open until February 2nd and if you could spare the time and wouldn't mind throwing me a vote for Best Canadian Blog, I'd be so thankful! Thank you also to everyone who took time out to nominate for me. I'm not much of a begger, but pretty please with sugar on top? Please, please, please vote for me. Thank you!!

baked apples in port
3 apples, cored
2 T brown sugar
3 T granola
1 T dried cranberries
1 T chopped almonds, walnuts or pecans
1 t butter
1/4 c port (or apple cider or cranberry juice)

1. Preheat oven to 350. To core the apples, use a paring knife and cut a triangle shaped wedge out of the top of the apple. Use a spoon to get out the remaining core. Do not cut through to the bottom of the apple. Place apples in a small glass baking dish.

2. In a small bowl combine the brown sugar, granola, dried cranberries and nuts together and stuff into each apple. Divide the teaspoon of butter into three and plop a the butter on top of each apple. Pour port on the bottom of the baking dish.

3. Bake for 30 minutes, basting occasionally. Serve with ice cream.

packing on the pancakes: apple pancakes for two

A couple of weekends ago, some friends and I, drove out into the country in search of fancy apples. Last year, at the UBC Apple Festival, I had my first taste of a Belle de Boskoop and I was hooked. It was tart and crisp and so beautiful and I wanted some of my very own. I did a ton of online searching and couldn't find a local grower or any grower period. When I made stops at grocery stores while on trips, I always perused the apple selection just hoping for a sight of that russet beauty. Nothing. Then, I picked up a local guide to farms around the area, and sure enough, Belle de Boskoops were available at an orchard in Langley. I emailed them and they got back to me saying that they only had a few left. When we arrived, I bought a bag full, even though they were past the point of perfection. Sure, they were less crisp than I would have liked, but they still packed a wallop of flavour. And when I described my quest for the perfect apple to one of the owners - that it had to be tart, crisp and juicy - he came back with just the thing: the Sundance. Well, those are my eatin' apples. The Belles, I left for something else entirely. Like these apple pancakes.


And oh, these apple pancakes are perfect. Fluffy and tiny and oh so appley! They are like little apple fritters and perfect for a lazy weekend morning. Whenever I make pancakes, I always end up making too much and while left over batter isn't the worst thing in the world, I wanted these to be enjoyed just once. It's winter you know and I shouldn't be packing on the pancakes. So I just made enough for the husband and me, but please feel free to double up and make enough for an entire family.


apple pancakes for 2
1 egg
3/4 c buttermilk
1 c all-purpose flour
1 t baking powder
1 t cinnamon
pinch of nutmeg
1/4 t salt
2 t brown sugar
2 small tart apples, grated (I leave the skin on)
1 T butter for frying

Whisk together the egg and buttermilk and set aside. In a larger bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, spices, salt and brown sugar. Dump in the milk/egg mixture along with the grated apples and combine until just blended. Don't over mix. Let the batter rest for 15 minutes. Heat butter in a cast iron pan and drop batter by the tablespoon, as you want to create silver dollar sized pancakes. Once the pancakes bubble up, flip and fry until both sides are golden. Repeat until all the batter is used up. Serve with maple syrup. This recipe should garner about 10 little pancakes.

autumn sweets: salted honey caramel apples

This Halloween I wanted to make something special for our friends. We had a few scary movies planned but I wanted to make an autumn treat. When I saw 101 Cookbook's recipe for caramel apples, I was instantly won over. The ingredients were simple: honey, cream, salt, apples. The previous weekend, I picked up several kinds of apples at a local orchard and I had some local blueberry honey from a previous farm visit. Local heavy cream was easy to find and I figured adding in some imported french fleur de sel wouldn't ruin my almost all-local sweets. I also decided to toast and roughly chop some almonds which not only would provide a nice crunch and counter balance the sweetness, but would also provide some traction to prevent the caramel from sticking to my baking sheet. The resulting apples were beautiful and delicious. I should note, that if you don't like honey, don't make these as as the honey flavour is definitely there, even with a mild-tasting honey.

For the apples, I used Granny Smith's and Cox Orange Pippins which are both very crisp apples with a nice bit of tartness. I purchased the lollipop sticks at a local kitchen shop in Chinatown and got to work on the caramel. It was easy going and while I do have a candy thermometer, I really rely more on the old fashioned cold water test for figuring out which stage my caramel has reached. I can never get my candy thermometer to reach the "hard ball" stage but using my fingers to gauge a bit of caramel dropped in ice water never fails. For me it took about 30-35 minutes to reach caramel perfection. I was afraid that the caramel would slide off the apples, but luckily that didn't happen!

After dipping the apples in the caramel, I had extra caramel leftover, so I spread some out on my silpat mat, adding in some roasted almonds and some fleur de sel and let cool in the refrigerator. Once it was cool and ready to cut, I sliced the caramel into squares and wrapped the golden nuggets in waxed paper.

salted honey caramel apples
(adapted from 101 Cookbooks)
8 tart, crisp apples
8 lollipop or popsicle sticks
1 3/4 c heavy cream
1 3/4 c mild-flavoured honey
2-3 t fleur de sel
1/3 c chopped roasted almonds

Pierce apples with a stick and set aside.

In a large heavy-bottomed pot, heat the cream and salt until small bubbles appear. Whisk in the honey and bring to a boil, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. You want to bring the mixture to a constant steady boil, so turn down the heat to medium or medium-high. If you are using a candy thermometer, you should reach 250-290F or do the cold water test. It should take 20 - 35 minutes to reach this stage. Look for a rich, golden caramel colour and the mixture should look heavy. The caramel reached as high as 250F and I let it boil away at that temperature for 5 minutes or so, testing always in cold water to make sure I had the correct consistency. Take caramel off the stove and carefully dip each apple in the caramel mixture, setting the finished apples on lightly oiled waxed paper or a silpat mat covered in chopped almonds. Place in fridge to set and then wrap each apple in waxed paper.

If you have any leftover caramel, pour the remaining caramel onto a well oiled sheet or silpat mat and sprinkle with almonds and fleur de sel. Refrigerate until cool and cut into squares, wrapping each square in waxed paper.

get your egg cred here: apple cheddar omelette

Look at that photo! I made this breakfast a few weeks ago and when I look back to this photo, I think, damn, I've got some serious style here! Sure, I can make a mean oatmeal or scone but the eggs that come out of my kitchen aren't that photogenic. But now, I'm a believer. I gots skillz. Or maybe it's just that I bought a fancy (but inexpensive) Benriner Japanese Mandolin Slicer. Whatever it is, I feel like a pro.

The idea for the apple omelette comes from Crave, a local Vancouver restaurant. I've been there twice for brunch and both times I had their omelette with goat cheese and apples. It was some serious love at first bite but I never tried to recreate it until I had my hands on the mandoline. If you don't have a mandoline, fear not, just use very thin slices of apples instead or julienne it with a knife. I used cheddar since it's what I had on hand and it was delicious...but using goat cheese will create some serious love. I also had a bit of prosciutto and added it in, but you could skip it if you wanted to keep things vegetarian. This weekend, try something different and put your autumn apples to good use. And why not wander over to the Food Network Canada blog, Eating Well and read my post on Seed Saving at the UBC Farm.

apple cheddar omelette
4 eggs
2 T milk
1 T olive oil or butter
salt & pepper
1/2 c grated cheddar cheese
2 T diced prosciutto
1 Granny Smith apple, julienned

Add butter or olive oil into a large cast iron pan and toss in the diced prosciutto, letting it get crispy. Meanwhile, whisk together the eggs, milk and salt and pepper in a small bowl. Slowly pour the egg mixture over the prosciutto and into the hot pan, tilting to spread the eggs evenly. Let eggs firm up a little, sloshing the mixture away from the sides and into the middle. Use your spatula to allow the remaining liquid to then flow into the undersides of the cooked eggs while still keeping the egg mixture even.

Continue to cook for another minute or so until the egg mixture holds together. While the middle is still a little runny, add grated cheese and then top with the julienned apples. Fold the omelette in half with your spatula. Cut in half and serve on a plate. Use any reserved matchstick apples as garnish. Serve with buttered toast and coffee while trying not to get a big head cuz dammit you just made a pretty spectacular omelette!

best oatmeal ever: baked oatmeal with apples

Saturday morning I awoke later than usual. The skies were dark and grey and rain was pouring out of the sky. I could have easily pulled the covers up over my head and tried to forget that this was supposed to be the very last weekend of summer. But I overcame. After drinking my first cup of coffee, I set to work getting breakfast ready.

I've made baked oatmeal before a few times so I didn't expect anything so revolutionary this time around. I was wrong. I made a few tweaks to my usual recipe, deciding that this would be a vegan breakfast by adding in almond milk and apple cider and again using those delicious MacIntosh apples that lately have invaded my cooking. If you don't have vegan ingredients on hand, just use regular milk and butter. Halfway through the baking, there were some seriously delicious smells coming from my oven. Oh man, if I could bottle that scent I would be rich! So so so good. As for taste? Oh yeah, mark this one as a definite favorite. Best oatmeal ever ever.

baked oatmeal with apples
1 c large flake organic oatmeal
1 t cinnamon
pinch each of ground cloves, nutmeg, cardamom
1/4 t salt
2 T maple syrup
1 T dessicated unsweetened coconut
1 large apple, diced
1 c unsweetened almond or soy milk
2/3 c apple cider or juice
2 T chopped toasted pecans

Preheat oven to 350. In a large bowl, combine everything but the pecans. Using oil or a vegan margarine, grease up a casserole dish and then dump in oatmeal mixture. Sprinkle pecans over top. Bake for 30 minutes or until all liquid is absorbed. Serve with additional milk or topped with yogurt.

Looking for more oatmeal recipes? Take a look at these from my archives:
Chai-Spiced Apple Oatmeal Bread
Cranberry Walnut Oatmeal
Pan Fried Oatmeal
Coconut Oatmeal Cookies
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies
Walnut Oatmeal Burgers

the mac daddy: apple, onion and cheddar pizza

Sundays are often a night we head out with friends to a local brew pub and eat cheap thin crust pizzas, drink delicious pints and play cards. One of the pizzas I like at this pub is called the "Johnny Mac" because it's topped with MacIntosh apples. I kid you not. It also has ranch dressing instead of tomato sauce, along with fresh tomatoes, bacon and cheddar cheese. I could do without the ranch dressing, but the pizza itself is delicious. This Sunday I was sick, so I stayed inside and dealt with the hand I was given. But not wanting to ruin the fun, I decided to make pizza at home for dinner. And as luck would have it, I had a huge bag of local, organic MacIntosh apples! Forget the Johnny Mac, this was gonna be the Mac Daddy of pizzas.

I kept the cheddar and apples, but did away with everything else and worked with what I had available. I caramelized a whack load of onions, threw on some salty capers along with some chewy sun dried tomatoes and a few dabs of pesto for good measure. The Johnny who?? This pizza was delicious.

apple, onion & cheddar pizza
2 T olive oil
2 large red onions, sliced thin
5 cloves garlic, sliced
1 T balsamic vinegar
1 ball of pizza dough (store bought or homemade)
1 T capers
1/4 c sliced sun-dried tomatoes
3 T pesto
2 MacIntosh apples (or any tart apple), sliced thinly
1 c cheddar cheese, grated

1. Preheat oven to 375. In a large pan, heat olive oil over medium heat, adding in onions and garlic. Stir until onions turn soft, about 10 minutes. Add in balsamic vinegar and turn down heat to medium-low, stirring occassionally. The onions should be soft, glossy and caramelized, if they get too dry, add in a little water. Remove from heat.

2. Roll out your pizza dough and place on sheet. Spread dough with a thin layer of pesto and cover with caramelized onions and sprinkle with capers, and sun-dried tomatoes. Spread a layer of apples over top and then cover with cheese. Bake in oven for about 15-20 minutes or until crust is golden and cheese is bubbly.

midnight at the oasis: apple crumb coffee cake

It's great to wake up and have breakfast ready and waiting. Last night I made this coffee cake that I saw on La Vie Cerise and decided that it would be perfect for a Saturday morning with a whole lot of coffee. And it was. The topping was plentiful and sweet and the apples scattered throughout the cake added just the right amount of tartness to balance everything out.


But the thing about baking this cake was that I started it quite late in the evening....after 1 am to be exact. And because it was so late, I wasn't in best form and I missed an ingredient—baking powder. I didn't realize it until I started typing out the recipe this morning. Doh! And since I'm in confession mode, I also over-baked this cake. I guess that's what happens when it's late and I'm not so focused. Oops! Not that you'd ever know it cuz this cake is good, miscalculations and all. So maybe my cake didn't rise very much and was a bit too golden, it was still a fantastic way to start the day along with a whole lot of strong coffee.


Want more? Why not head over to my latest post over at the Food Network Canada and say hi! Vancouver is quickly losing it's history in the rush to build up a condo or two (thousand) and this weekend marks the end of Wally's Burgers, a local burger joint. Read my write up on the Food Network Canada blog, Bazaar.

apple crumb coffee cake
1 1/2 c flour
2 1/4 t baking powder
1/2 c brown sugar
1/2 t salt
1/2 t cinnamon
1 egg
1/2 c milk
1/2 c canola oil
1 Granny Smith apple, chopped

crumb topping:
1/2 c brown sugar
1/4 c flour
2 T butter
1/2 t cinnamon
1/4 c walnuts

Preheat oven to 400. Butter and flour an 8" round cake pan, shaking off any excess flour. Prepare crumb topping in a medium-sized bowl, crumbling mixtures with your fingers until it looks like crumbs. Set aside.

In a large bowl, mix together dry ingredients. In a smaller bowl, combine egg, milk and oil. Add the wet to the dry and mix. Add in apples and stir until combined. Pour batter into prepared pan and top with crumb mixture. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a knife inserted in the centre comes out clean. Let cool. Prepare a pot of your favorite coffee and go to town.

uhh, shortest post ever? apple cheddar yogurt muffins

I made muffins on the weekend and they were freakin' amazing. Apple and cheddar? What's not to love. Go and make them already!


apple cheddar yogurt muffins
3 apples, grated (I don't bother peeling them)
1/2 c sugar
1/2 c plain or vanilla yogurt
1 egg
1/2 c oil
1 1/4 c flour
1 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
1 t cinnamon
pinch each of ground cardamon & nutmeg
1/2 c grated old cheddar cheese + extra for tops

1. Preheat oven to 375. In a large bowl, combine the first 5 ingredients and blend well. In a second bowl, mix together the dry ingredients and the grated cheese. Add the dry to the wet and be careful to not overmix.

2. Add batter to a muffin tin lined with paper cups or grease your pan well. Sprinkle remaining cheese on top. For me, this made 16 muffins but it will depend on the size of your pan. Bake for about 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

spread the love: maple apple butter

I mentioned last week that I was smitten with apples and my love of the fruit is still holding strong. I've been snacking all week on the delicious Newtown Pippins that I purchased at the UBC Apple Festival but after spying this recipe for Maple Apple Butter at Aimée's blog, Under the High Chair, I knew that it was time to get those apples into something new.


Apple butter! It sounds more decadent than it really is....but it is luxurious, nonetheless. I remember making and eating butter as part of a grade three class activity and that delicious memory has stayed with me. Aimée's recipe requires preserving and while I have neither the counter space or the equipment for such an endeavor, I decided to make half the recipe so that it could keep quite comfortably in the fridge. While my apple butter didn't turn out quite as dark as I remember it being from my elementary school days, it is still thick, spicy and just the right amount of tart. You could definitely increase the maple syrup to increase the sweetness, but I like it just as it is. It's delicious spread over a homemade scone for breakfast and it makes for a lovely late night treat by the spoonful.

Want to read about my adventures at the apple fest? Check out my new post at the Food TV blog, Food for Thought. As an added treat, you'll even catch a photo of me mugging it up for the camera. Oh boy!


maple apple butter
3 Jonamacs (or any red sweet apple)
3 Newtown Pippins (or any green tart apple)
1/2 c apple juice
1 cinnamon stick
2 T maple syrup

1. Cut apples into quarters. Add apples, juice and cinnamon stick into a pot. Simmer until the apples become soft and fragrant, about 25 minutes.

2. Remove cinnamon stick and reserve. Put the mixture through a strainer to remove seeds and peel.

3. Return the apple puree and the cinnamon stick back to the pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for another 30 minutes stirring occasionally until the mixture thickens. Add maple syrup and cook for another 20 minutes. Remove from heat and cool. This should keep in the fridge for 4 weeks.

smitten with apples

There is nothing like a tart, crisp apple. I love apples and autumn and all the comforts that come along with it: hot apple cider, apple pies and those rare days of crisp autumn weather. Thankfully, this past weekend was all about the blue skies, sunshine and that crisp autumm air...and it was also the UBC Apple Festival! I've written about my apple extravaganza weekend for the Food Network blog (which should appear next week or so), but needless to say an apple festival is a pretty wonderful thing. Besides a whole lot of apple tasting and a bit of candy apple eating, I also came home with some BC-grown goodness: one bag of Jonamacs and one bag of organic Newtown Pippins. While the pippins are pretty good eating as is, I'm not too fond of the Jonamac's not-so-crisp texture. In my eyes, it's an apple destined for something more.

Yesterday I was in a baking mood. I was leaning towards a crumble or a cake, but as it was still morning, I figured something more wholesome and breakfast-friendly would be more suitable.


This quick bread is really easy to make even when you haven't filled your coffee quota for the day. I shared a slice with Cornelius shortly after it came out of the oven and I wasn't swayed...the bread was very apple-y, very dense and a bit too moist for my liking. So once it fully cooled (and after Cornelius grabbed a second slice of his very own), I put it in the fridge and promptly forgot about it. Until this morning, that is. After I poured myself a cup of coffee, I started rooting around the fridge for breakfast and stumbled upon yesterday's baking experiment. I gave it another shot and was glad that I did. Yes, it's still very dense and apple-y, but it really works for breakfast. It's hearty and filling and has a very lovely chai flavour that compliments that apple goodness. It may not be something you want to share with company, but who wants to share anyway.

chai-spiced apple oatmeal bread
1 c oats (not instant)
1 c flour
1 t baking soda
1/2 t ground cardamom
1 t cinnamon
1/8 t ground cloves
1/8 t ground nutmeg
1/3 c canola oil
1/3 c skim milk
1/3 c honey
1 egg
2 jonamac apples, diced (or sub in another tart apple)

1. Preheat oven to 350. Mix together the first 7 ingredients in a medium sized bowl. In a separate bowl, combine the milk, honey, oil and egg until well blended. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir until just combined. Fold in the diced apples.

2. Dump the batter into a well-greased loaf pan and bake for 45-50 minutes or until the top gets golden and a knife inserted into the centre comes out clean. Cool.

thanksgiving is pretty much all about food.

I love three day weekends...especially the sunny kinds in October that are also known as Thanksgiving. It's definitely true that a three day weekend is much more meaningful when you actually work away from home. For that 3-day break, I'm so thankful! It was a wonderful weekend filled with bike rides, boardgames, and food. For once, I didn't host the Thanksgiving dinner at our little 400 sq. ft. apartment. Instead, we stuffed our panniers with sauteed brussels sprouts topped with pecans*, spicy cranberry chutney**, green salad with apple dressing***, and of course, pumpkin pie**** topped with maple whipped cream all the way to our friend's lovely home. All of this plus our host's amazing coca-cola ham, roasted roots with bocconcini, and lots and lots of delicious mulled wine. Definitely a meal to be thankful for.

* I love brussles sprouts and I see no reason to gussy them up with extras, but this recipe from Elise was simple and lovely. If you're not a fan of the humble sprout, try this recipe and become a true believer! As for my own interpretation of the recipe, I substituted lime juice for the lemon and added pecans instead of almonds. Delicious!

** Every wintery holiday, I make this chutney. It's a time-honoured favorite that I've tweaked and twiddled with until it reached perfection. This time around, I was all out of oranges so I couldn't add the juice. I could have subbed in some plain ol' water, but oh lucky me, I found a half bottle of reisling in the fridge! Saved the day and the chutney. Yum!

*** I love green salad and I love apples in salads. This was a winner. Of course I didn't have the walnut oil the recipe called for, so instead I added olive oil with a couple drops of sesame oil for added flavour. Again, I added some toasted pecans for crunch. And who eats Red Delicious apples? Not me! Granny Smith all the way. I'll definitely be making this salad again.

**** I've made this recipe for a few years now and it's never failed me. In fact, dare I say it, it's the best damn pumpkin pie I've ever eaten. Did I mention it's way too easy to make?

don't be a hater

Homer Simpson declared "You don't win friends with salad!" during an episode of the Simpsons but I think I could prove him wrong with today's lunch salad.

Sometimes in the clutch of desperation, you grab wildly and blindly and hope for the best. I trust my culinary instincts and figure that wandering off the beaten path can make for some interesting results. Last night, Cornelius came home with a large bag of Munchies Snack Mix to help him tide his hunger pangs and when he came home for lunch today, he immediately dove head first into the junkfood bag. I decided that a bag of greasy, salty snacks probably wasn't the best lunch, so I decided to up the nutritional content somewhat. And here is what I came up with:

junkfood salad
1 granny smith apple, diced
2 handfuls of Munchie mix, slightly crushed
salad greens
Kraft Catalina Dressing

1. Put salad greens into 2 bowls.

2. Top with apples and 1 handful each of the Munchie Mix.

3. Drizzle with dressing.

Did Cornelius love it? Hmmm, love may be too strong a word but he declared it "edible" -- he would have preferred the snack mix outside the salad. Me, I actually liked the stuff! It had the right elements of salty-sweetness and crunch mixed with an earthy tang. Kraft Catalina dressing was my most favorite salad dressing growing up as a child and I had bought it in a pinch one day at the grocery store. It may not be the best salad dressing now for my refined adult tastes, but it really worked its child-like charm on this salad.

let me eat cake

Wow, two new posts in one night?! I must be procrastinating! Actually, I'm still thinking about that article about Vancouver housing costs....

Last month, the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver reported that the average sale price of a single-family home was $705,141. Townhouses averaged $397,214 and condos sold for an average of $321,151.

Yeesh, I guess Cornelius and I won't be owning a home ever in this city! Even most 1 bedroom condos are out of our price range. Instead of crying in my beer, this evening I decided to console my pain in some cake that I adapted from the New Recipes from Moosewood Restaurant cookbook. And man, what a cake! Moist, flavourful and absolutely fantastic! So what if we will have to be renters forever, at least we have the best tasting cake...right?

Fresh Apple Cake
Recipe adapted from New Recipes from Moosewood Restaurant

1 1/3 c vegetable oil
2 c brown sugar
3 eggs
3 c flour (half whole wheat & half unbleached white flour works well)
1 t baking soda
1 t baking powder
¼ t ground cardamom
1 t cinnamon
2 t pure vanilla extract
3 T rum (the original recipe called for apple juice, milk or water)
3 cups chopped apples
1 cup chopped walnuts (pecans, or almonds could be used instead)
2 T sesame seeds

1. Butter a 10-inch bundt pan, two 9-inch round cake pans, or one 9X13-inch sheet pan. Sprinkle the bottom and sides with the sesame seeds. Preheat the oven to 350°.

2. Beat the oil and sugar and add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, leavenings, and spices. Add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture along with the rum and vanilla, mixing well. Fold in the chopped apples and nuts.

3. Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 30 to 45 minutes, depending upon the size of the pan, until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.