Chocolate Raspberry Brownies

These are my favorite brownies. They look like ordinary brownies but inside is a burst of juicy raspberries. They are easy to make and keep well in the fridge. Personally, I like to eat them cold. They are great when you don't know if you want a fruity dessert or a chocolaty dessert and when you are torn between an easy to make treat or a gourmet plated indulgence. Just add a drizzle of chocolate sauce to your plate, pipe on some whipped cream and add fresh raspberries. Fancy enough to be served in a restaurant.

Minecraft Cake Pops

Sage turned 7 and requested these cake pops for his birthday. He loves Minecraft. For his birthday he got a Minecraft Lego set and a program that lets him create his own mods for Minecraft. He got the stuffed animals for Christmas. I liked that he picked different creatures than Dagan did. They were a challenge but also a lot of fun to make. The inside is yellow cake with vanilla frosting both made from scratch. They are decorated with food safe pens, candy melts, chocolate chips, Airheads candy in watermelon and white mystery, and brown jellybeans.

Cinnamon Rolls

After Sage made this art project, he wanted to make cinnamon rolls.

Strawberry Ice Cream

Sage loves strawberry ice cream. I like to add a splash of lemon juice in the base to brighten the flavour.

Dark Chocolate Raspberry Tart

 Whenever the boys and I rode the bus to chess, I'd look out the window and see a shop called Tarts Bakery. I vowed that one day I would go there. When I finally decided to check it out it was closed on three different occasions. After that there was a "for lease" sign and then it was gone. It was then that I realized. I had a tart pan sitting in my cupboard all this time, begging to be used. Ripe summer berries from the farmer's market plus Callebaut dark chocolate from Charlie's Chocolate Factory and a yummy tart is born. Maybe one day I'll open up my own tart shop.

Vanilla Bean Strawberry Pops

Hot summer days, cool treats. We picked up a basket of ripe strawberries from the local fruit stand and were inspired to make these pops. I have fond memories of being  a kid and eating vanilla twin pops. I made the vanilla base using whole milk, vanilla extract and vanilla bean. Then I floated pieces of fresh strawberries in the molds.  I blended a bit of the vanilla base with the strawberries to make a strawberry layer.