Bunny Buns

I made these bunny buns for Easter. They are basically dinner rolls cut to look like bunnies or in my case they look more like cats or pikachus. They were very easy and quick to make as the dough does not take hours to rise. We tried them with honey and without. The honey definitely enhances the flavor of the buns. The boys enjoyed them for breakfast.

Bunny Buns

Inspired by Kirby Cravings

1 cup plus 2 Tbsp. warm water

1/3 cup canola oil

2 Tbsp. active dry yeast

1/4 cup sugar

1 tsp. salt

1 egg

3 1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour

1/3 cup honey, warm

1. Stir together water, oil, yeast and sugar in stand mixer bowl. Let it sit for 15 minutes until foamy. Attach a dough hook to your mixer. Mix in salt, egg and flour for 3 minutes on medium speed.

2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Divide dough into 24 balls. Make one end more tapered and the other end more rounded. Place on baking sheets lined with parchment. Cover with a clean towel and let rise for 15 minutes.

3. Use a sharp kitchen scissors to snip ears from the thinner end. Make very deep cuts or the ears will get lost during baking. Bake 12 minutes until tops are golden brown.

4. Cook on a wire rack and brush the tops with warm honey. Use a chopstick to poke holes for eyes.

Brave Cake

I was commissioned to do a Brave cake for a little girl's 5th birthday. The boys and I watched the movie a night before I started the cake so I could be familiar with the characters, storyline and scenery. This is a 9" two layered vanilla cake. It ended up being a lesson in icing.

I made 4 kinds- strawberry Swiss buttercream, vanilla Swiss buttercream, vanilla Italian buttercream and royal icing.  Strawberry Swiss buttercream was too sweet and wasn't as smooth as I wanted due to too much strawberry puree. I lessened it in the recipe below. This was the filling for the cake.  Then I made a vanilla Swiss buttercream to crumb coat the cake. This had a yellowish tint to it and was pretty dense but was smooth and had a great flavor. The third icing was vanilla Italian buttercream which I used to frost the cake. This was fluffy and white. The fourth icing was royal icing. This was great for coloring and piping into various designs. It held its shape well. 

I used a variety of decorating tips for piping- star, leaf, round, and grass. The grass tip was one I had never used before. I also researched Scottish highlands to find the colors for the icing. I like the heather is particular which I got from mixing red, sky blue, and pink. I made the waterfall using blue sparkle gel and spreading it with a small paint brush. The rocks are candy one I bought from the local candy shop. The figurines of Merida, the bear and bow and arrow were purchased from a toy store.

Vanilla Birthday Cake

Inspired by Sweetapolita

Makes 3- 8" cakes or 2- 9" cakes

4 large eggs (separated), at room temperature

3 1/2 cups (420 g) sifted cake flour

4 teaspoons baking powder

1/2  teaspoon salt

1 cup (227 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature

2 cups (400 g) granulated sugar, divided

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1 cup (250 mL) milk, at room temperature

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

1. Preheat oven to 350°F (180° C) and place rack in center of oven. Butter and flour three - 8 inch round cake pans. Line bottoms of pans with parchment paper and grease and flour parchment paper.
2. While eggs are still cold, separate them, placing the yolks in one bowl and the whites in another bowl. Cover the two bowls with plastic warp and allow the eggs to come to room temperature before using, about 30 mins.
3. In a medium mixing bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.
4. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter until soft (about 1-2 minutes). Add 1 1/2 cups of the sugar and beat until light and fluffy (about 5 minutes).
5. Add egg yolks, one at a time, beating after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the vanilla and beat until combined.
6. With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and milk, in three additions, beginning and ending with the flour.
7. In the clean bowl of your electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites until foamy. Add the cream of tartar and continue beating until soft peaks form. Gradually add the remaining 1/2 cup sugar and continue to beat until stiff peaks form.
8. With a rubber spatula gently fold a little of the whites into the batter to lighten it, and then fold in the remaining whites until combined. Do not over-mix the batter or it will deflate.
9. Divide the batter evenly between the three prepared pans and smooth the tops with an offset spatula.
10. Bake in preheated oven for approximately 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. Cool the cakes in their pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Place a wire rack on top of the cake pan and invert, lifting off the pan gently. Once the cakes of completely cooled, wrap in plastic and place the cake layers in the freezer for at least an hour (to make filling and frosting the cakes easier). 

Swiss Meringue Buttercream

2 egg whites

1/2 cup sugar

2 sticks unsalted butter

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1/3 cup pureed strawberry jam if making strawberry buttercream

1. Whisk eggs and sugar in a bowl over simmering water until temperature reaches 140 degrees F.

2. Pour hot mixture into a stand mixer bowl and whip with whisk attachment on medium high speed. Whip to stiff peaks.

3. Cut butter into Tbsp. sized pieces. Change whisk attachment to paddle attachment. Add in 4 parts gradually increasing speed from low to medium high. Beat until light and fluffy. Scrape bowl and add vanilla extract. Beat in strawberry puree if making strawberry buttercream. Store in airtight containers and refrigerate for up to 1 week if not using right away.

Italian Meringue Buttercream

1/4 tsp. cream of tartar

3 large egg whites

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup cold water

1/4 tsp. salt

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 tsp. almond extract

1 1/2 cups unsalted butter

1. Beat cream of tartar and egg whites in stand mixer bowl with whisk attachment until stiff peaks form.

2. In a saucepan, combine sugar, water and salt. Heat till it reaches 238 degrees F.

3.  Pour hot syrup into the bowl while whites are still whisking. Make sure the syrup doesn't touch the side of the bowl or the whisk.

4. Whisk until bowl is cool about 6 minutes.

5. Cut the butter into Tbsp. sized pieces. Whisk until smooth then add in vanilla and almond extract. Beat until light and fluffy.


Royal Icing

37 g meringue powder

120 ml. cold water

454 g sifted confectioner's sugar

1/2 tsp. lemon extract

Stir meringue powder and water in stand mixer bowl with paddle attachment. Beat about 2 minutes on medium high speed until soft peaks form. Beat in sugar slowly. Add lemon extract and beat on medium high speed for 5 minutes until stiff peaks form. Cover with plastic wrap. Keeps 2 weeks at room temperature in an airtight container in a cool place.

Hazelnut Gelato

The deliciously nutty flavor of hazelnut meets a hint of chocolate in this rich creamy gelato. I was debating whether to add chocolate chunks or drizzle melted chocolate into the base while churning but decided that would take away from the hazelnut flavor. The most challenging part of this project was trying to get all the papery skins off of the hazelnuts.

Hazelnut Gelato

Inspired by The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz

1 1/2  cup (185 g) hazelnuts

1 cup (250 ml) whole milk

2 cups (500 ml) heavy cream

3/4 cups (150 g) sugar

1/4 tsp. coarse salt

4 oz. (115 g) milk chocolate, finely chopped

5 large egg yolks

1/8 tsp. vanilla

1. Toast hazelnuts on a sheet pan in a 350 degrees F oven for 10 -12 minutes. Stir two or three times to toast evenly. Let cool. Rub the papery skins off. If they are stubborn, pare with a small knife. Place in food processor and finely chop.

2. Heat milk with 1 cup of the cream, sugar and salt in saucepan. Remove from heat and add chopped hazelnuts. Cover and steep at room temperature for 1 hour. 

3. Place milk chocolate in large bowl. Heat 1 cup heavy cream in saucepan just until boiling. Pour over milk chocolate. Stir until smooth. Place a strainer on top of bowl.

4. Place a strainer over medium saucepan. Empty hazelnut milk into strainer. Discard hazelnuts. Rewarm the milk over medium heat.

5. Prepare an ice bath.

6. In a medium bowl, whisk the egg yolks and pour hazelnut milk into eggs a little at a time to temper them. Pour the custard back into the saucepan. Heat and stir with a rubber spatula until mixture thickens. Pour custard through strainer and into melted chocolate. Stir in vanilla. Cool in ice bath. Chill in fridge overnight. Churn in ice cream maker. Freeze.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel Cups

I never liked Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. I always got a ton of them for Halloween and ended up giving them away. But I do like these. Perhaps it's the quality dark chocolate or the salty crunch of pretzels or maybe the peanut butter which is made from just peanuts and not chemicals. We like to keep these in the freezer and just pull them out to eat whenever the mood strikes.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel Cups

Inspired by King Arthur Flour

1 1/2 cups flour

3/4 cup ground pretzels (measure after grinding)

1/3 cup confectioner's sugar

1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted

3 cups dark chocolate, finely chopped

1 1/2 cup natural peanut butter, smooth

1 cup coarsely chopped pretzel sticks


1. Line mini muffin pan or regular muffin pan with paper liners. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. In a medium bowl, mix flour, ground pretzels and sugar together.  Stir in melted butter. Press into muffin pan. Press down with fingertips and bake for 7 minutes until set. Remove from oven and cool muffin pan on wire rack.

3. Melt dark chocolate in a double boiler. Stir in peanut butter until smooth. Pour onto crusts. Sprinkle with chopped pretzel pieces. Freeze for 1 hour. Serve frozen, chilled or at room temperature.

Milk Chocolate Pudding With Bailey's Whipped Cream

This chocolate pudding brings me back to the days of eating instant Jello pudding from a box. But this pudding is the grown up sophisticated version- richer and creamier and topped with some alcoholic whipped cream. I had leftover egg yolks from the macarons and leftover Bailey's from the mini cheesecakes. These glass dessert dishes are ones I grew up eating pudding in. Thanks mom for giving them to me!

Milk Chocolate Pudding

Inspired by Baking at Home with the Culinary Institute of America

3/4 cup sugar, divided use

1/3 cup cornstarch

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

3 cups whole milk, divided use

2 large eggs

2 large egg yolks

4 oz. milk chocolate, melted

2 Tbsp. unsalted butter

1 tsp. vanilla

1. Whisk 1/4 cup sugar with cornstarch in a large bowl. Stir in 1/2 cup milk, eggs, and egg yolks. Whisk until smooth.

2. In a medium saucepan, combine 2 1/2 cups milk and 1/2 cup sugar. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Add the hot mixture to the eggs in 3 increments, whisking constantly to temper eggs. Return mixture to saucepan.

3. Cook over medium heat stirring constantly until thick.

4. Place melted chocolate in a medium bowl. Add 1/2 cup of the hot custard to the chocolate whisking constantly. Return the chocolate mixture to the saucepan and stir in butter and vanilla.

5. Divide into dessert dishes. Press parchment paper on the top of each dish so a pudding skin . does not form. Poke holes in parchment for steam to escape. Chill for two hours.


Bailey's Whipped Cream

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

2 Tbsp. Bailey's Irish Cream



1. Chill stand mixer bowl and whip attachment in fridge.

2. Pour heavy cream into cold stand mixer bowl.

3. Whip until stiff peaks form.

4. Fold in Bailey's Irish Cream.

5. Pipe onto pudding using a large star tip.

Pistachio Macarons

I was commissioned to make these pistachio macarons for Christmas and they were well received. I decided to make them again for St. Patrick's Day so everyone in August's office could enjoy them. Light and airy shells with feet surround a creamy, nutty French buttercream centre. For the recipe, see my December post.

Guinness Bread

I still have 1 can left of Guinness in the cupboard since you have to buy them in a pack of 4. One can went to making cupcakes, one can to wash my hair in to make it fluffy, and the third can I made into bread. This bread was very moist. It's almost like banana bread but without the bananas. Very easy to make if you need a way to get rid of some extra Guinness.

Guinness Bread

Adapated from Allrecipes

1 cup oats (plus extra for sprinkling on the top)

2 cups whole wheat flour

1/2 cup dark brown sugar

2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 cup melted butter

2 tsp. vanilla

1 cup buttermilk

12 oz. Guinness beer

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Grease an 8x8 pan.

2. In a large bowl, mix together oats, flour, brown sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt.

3. In a medium bowl, mix together butter, vanilla, buttermilk and Guinness beer. Blend wet ingredients and dry ingredients together. Pour into 8x8 pan. Sprinkle with oats.

4. Bake for 30 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

Bailey's Mini Cheesecakes

St. Patty's Day is just around the corner. Time to break out the Bailey's and try some new recipes. To make the shamrocks I tempered some dark chocolate and piped it into shamrock designs on parchment paper and let them dry overnight. The next day I placed them on the cheesecakes and sprinkled some green sugar over them.

Bailey's Mini Cheesecakes

Makes 30 

Adapted from Slow Like Honey

Crust:

1 3/4 cup finely ground graham cracker crumbs (I like to food process and then sift mine)

3 Tbsp. sugar

pinch of salt

1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted (56 g)

Cheesecake:

1 lb. cream cheese (2 -8 oz. boxes), room temperature

1/2 cup + 1/6 cup sugar

1/4 tsp. salt

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2 large eggs, room temperature

1/2 cup + 1/6 cup sour cream

1/4 cup Bailey's Irish Cream

1. Grease mini cheesecake pans with removable bottoms or mini muffin pans with butter. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. In a medium bowl, mix graham cracker crumbs, sugar and salt. Stir in the melted butter until moist. Spoon the mixture into the pans and press down to form the crust. Bake for 5 minutes. Set aside to cool. Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees F.

3. In a stand mixer with paddle attachment, beat cream cheese at medium speed until soft and creamy. About 4 minutes.  Add sugar and salt. Beat another 4 minutes. Add vanilla. Beat in eggs one at a time for 1 minute each. Slow the mixer to low and mix in sour cream and Bailey's.

4. Wrap the bottom and sides of the mini cheesecake pans with foil. Place in a large roasting pan. If using mini muffin pans you can use a sheet pan with sides. Fill cheesecake pans with batter 2/3 full.

5. Place in oven and pour hot water into the roasting pan or sheet pan. This will help the cheesecakes to bake more evenly. Bake for 15 minutes until tops are set. Turn off the heat. Crack the oven door open with a wooden spoon and let cheesecakes cool in the oven for 10 minutes. Remove from water bath. Let cheesecakes fully cool in their pans on wire rack.

6. Cover and refrigerate 4 hours or overnight.

7. Use a small knife to pop cheesecakes out of pan.

Sunshine Muffins

Orange muffins brighten these last gloomy days of winter. These are great for the boys for breakfast incorporating orange juice, carrots, cranberries and oats.

Sunshine Muffins

Makes 16

1 cup all purpose flour

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup oatmeal

1 cup sugar

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

1/2 cup raisins or dried cranberries

1 Tbsp. orange or grapefruit zest

1 cup carrots, grated

1 egg, lightly beaten

3/4 cup orange juice

1/8 cup vegetable oil

1/8 cup unsweetened applesauce

1/4 cup walnuts, chopped (optional)

1. Line muffin pans with paper cups. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

2. In a large bowl, mix flours, oatmeal, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add raisins or cranberries and stir to coat. Stir in carrots and orange zest.

3. In a medium bowl, combine egg, oil, applesauce and orange juice.

4. Mix wet ingredients into dry ingredients.  Stir in nuts.

5. Fill muffin cups 2/3 full. Bake for 20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

6. Cool on wire rack. Keeps fresh in airtight container for up to 3 days. They freeze well too.