Angel Food Cake with Strawberry-Blueberry Sauce

This cake was wonderful in every way! To make because it was for my mother-in-law's birthday. To bake because it's a great recipe. To eat because well...ditto, it's a great recipe!  I made it in the few hours I was home that day (after a fantastic hike and before eating dinner out with the 'rents).  It was such a breeze to make and an excellent use of the accumulating egg whites in my freezer.  I think it wins as the nicest angel food cake I've eaten.  It was light and tender,  had a great flavour, light on the sugar and the perfect amount of almond. There isn't much more to say, it was brilliant!  And that sauce! I subbed out raspberries for strawberries since there is a surplus flowing through my kitchen right now.  The flavours are fresh and bright, and luckily for me, one of her favourite desserts!

Buttermilk Sorbet with Fresh Strawberries

Strawberry season is in full swing now.  We've been eating them like they're going out of style. Shortcakes, yogurt, drinks, jam, anything you can think of really, we're doing it.  We had this dessert with friends after what was supposed to be an outdoor BBQ, and was instead us huddled around on the couch with our plates on our laps while it poured down rain. Again.  Anyway, I churned the sorbet after dinner, so it would be as smooth as possible.  It was loud (again, we weren't supposed to be inside), and a tad bit embarrassing, not only that, but the ice cream bowl wasn't fully frozen, so it was more of a buttermilk soup.  Whoomp whooomp.  Another disappointing recipe.  I personally didn't care for the buttermilk sorbet.  I guess I don't love buttermilk enough to make it center stage.  The strawberries were fine, but why wouldn't they be, they're in their prime right now!  This recipe is very simple; five ingredients and about 20 minutes start to finish, I just wish it was better.

Strawberry Shortcakes with White Chocolate Mousse

It's a rare day that I can resist strawberry shortcake, which is why I was so excited to make this one.  It sounds terrific doesn't it? Shortcakes dotted with chocolate, a light and wonderful white chocolate mousse and macerated strawberries in their peak season.  What's not to love?  If you offered me that dessert tonight though, I would turn you down.  My experience was entirely unpleasant. My oven (or I, if you consider that denial) burned the shortcakes after only a few minutes in the oven (at decreased temperature).  The white chocolate mousse was grainy like a bowl of millet, and to top it off, it separated, with the whole underbelly of the bowl a liquid-y mess.  The best component of the dessert; the too-sweet strawberries.  Overall I was so disappointed! Burned, grainy, and over-sweetened to the point I had to stop. Whomp Whoomp!  This time last year I was also indulging in strawberry shortcake, but with far more favorable results.

Raspberry-Yogurt Cake

Easter weekend was a whirlwind.  There was my working the whole thing and trying to find time to sleep.  There was glorious sunshine and warm (even hot) temperatures.  We ate outside where the flowers were blooming and the mosquitoes were biting.  I think my face might have burnt my face on a very long training run on Saturday morning.  But the very best part of the weekend was the brunch-for-dinner we had on Sunday night.  I had a few contributions to the meal, but the main one was this cake.  Among the spread of waffles and sausage this cake held it's ground.

I was looking around for a sweet to bake for this "dinner".  I thought about ginger, or lemon or even carrot cake (a personal favorite).  But no, I decided there had to be berries involved this year, which I will directly attribute to the amazing weather we'd been having.  Once that was decided the decision was easy, berries + yogurt = breakfast.  And done.

This cake was wonderful, soft and moist.  I found it pleasantly tart, not too sweet.  It's is a great slice of cake to have with a cup of tea in the afternoon, or a indulgent breakfast in the morning.  The orange was a beautiful bright flavour, but the almond was truly wonderful.  I had a bunch of frozen raspberries that I layered (after I thawed and drained them) on the bottom, covered them with batter and then used fresh quartered strawberries on the top layer.  The strawberries cooked down into sweet gooey spring-y bites.  Now that the weather has turned back into it's dark, grey self, it's the bright spot in my morning, even without a garden and sun hat.

Baking notes:
-I followed the recipe exactly as it instructed, except for the type of berries I used.
-I thawed some of last years raspberries in a strainer, leaving the juices behind.  I dolloped some batter in the very bottom of the bundt pan, added a layer of raspberries (about a cup), dolloped another layer of batter, smoothed it out, tossed about 1 to 1 1/2 cups of quartered strawberries with 2 Tbsp of flour and layered them in and then finished with the remaining batter, smoothing the top nicely.
-My cake took only one hour to bake, watch that you don't overcook it.
-To get the slightly sticky cake out of the pan I took a skewer and pushed it down the sides jiggling it loose all the way around, but carefully so it didn't tear the cake.  The same for the inside tube.  (Be careful!)

The recipe for Raspberry-Yogurt Cake can be found on the epicurious website.

73/569

Apple Strudel with Cranberry Sauce

Finally and sadly the holidays have passed.  Tonight is a last hurrah, the grand finale.  We'll celebrate New Years with a beer and a midnight kiss before we crash into bed.  Then the long winter starts and five months later the sunshine begins.  I always have such mixed feelings about the start of the new year, anticipation and restlessness, and a sense of dread of the impending diet restrictions.  It's all fair though, since I have eaten without thought these last few weeks, and most definitely gained a few pounds.  It's time to clean up our diets and focus on getting back to health (and not carrying those pounds into bathing suit season).

This strudel served us well at our last Christmas dinner.  I thought the strudel needed to be baked just before it was eaten to keep it crispy, but the recipe said to let it cool completely before serving, so I baked it several hours before it was served.  Unfortunately I was right and the crust did not stay crisp, the layers were soft and soggy, totally disappointing.  The apples seemed a tad under baked and the phyllo layers a little over baked.  The cranberry sauce however was perfectly awesome.  It had a wonderful fruity light flavour that was both sweet and tart enough.

Baking notes:
-I left out the raisins, and added only 1 Tbsp of kirsch to the apple filling.
-I baked the strudel for 25 minutes total, covering it with tinfoil after 15 minutes.
-As you can see I forgot/didn't cover the dessert with powdered sugar.

The recipe for Apple Strudel with Cranberry Sauce can be found on the epicurious website.

58/569

Nectarine and Almond Crisp

I realized my absence of baked summer fruits all season long.  In place of the usual pies, crisps and fools was...nothing.  I've been baking less, but I'm sure you noticed that.  I hope it changes again, I hope baking fills our bellies and warms our homes.  It's always such a trip, of guilt and remorse with me.  But I'm weird! Don't mind me! Instead focus on the fleeting summer all around you for it will be gone in two weeks.  Two weeks before the peaches and nectarines don't show up in the markets.  Two weeks before the mornings are too cold to brave without a coat.  Two weeks before the rains begin.  And two weeks before the cinnamon starts to fly.  Goodbye summer, welcome fall.

This crisp bridges the summer-fall gap perfectly with it's soft juicy nectarines freckled with warm cardamom and ginger.  The fruit is luscious and bright, the crumble is nutty and crisp.  It's all a perfect balance, now quick! get to the store before it's to late!

Baking notes:
-I didn't have apricot preserves, so I used a peach jam preserved in the summer.
-I couldn't find almond paste so instead I added two tablespoons of butter and 1 tsp almond extract to the topping. It worked beautifully.
-The cardamom comes through quite strong in this recipe, if you aren't the biggest fan I would recommend reducing the spice by 1/4 tsp.
-I baked the crisp for 30 minutes at 400 F.  When I went to check on it I saw the almonds starting to burn.  I reduced the oven temperature to 350 F and baked for 5 more minutes.

You can find the recipe for Nectarine and Almond Crisp on the epicurious website.

28/569

Grilled Peaches with Fresh Raspberry Sauce

Sorry about the awful picture! Indoor night lighting = crap.

We ate this dessert with Shane's parents after dinner one rather stormy summer night.  We had jerk chicken, coleslaw and that yummy August corn that is so prolific 'round these parts.  Dinner was delicious and after we all ate our fill we added this light dessert to the mix.  Shane grilled the peaches on the charcoal bbq, which added more flavour than I thought possible.  But that bbq adds more flavour to everything!  It was sweet, fresh and bright.  While I wouldn't make it again, it's just not my kind of dessert, we really did enjoy it.  We served the peaches with a sweetened creme fraiche and a vanilla shortbread cookie.  It was delicious.

Baking notes:

-I used frozen raspberries thawed quickly in the microwave.  

-Instead of water and sugar added separately to the raspberries, which would give the sauce a grainy sugar texture, I added a simple syrup. (Equal parts sugar and water, heated to dissolve the sugar.)  I thought this was much better.

The recipe for Grilled Peaches with Fresh Raspberry Sauce can be found on the epicurious website.

23/569

Individual Plum Cobblers with Hazelnut Topping

This recipe is the first I actually, genuinely, did not like.  To the point that I didn't eat it!  There were several things I found unappetizing. Firstly, the plums got way to thick and gummy, and they tasted bitter oddly.  The biscuit topping was dry and sandy textured.  Together I was totally unimpressed.  I'm not sure if it was even my fault.  I did make a half batch, and substituted cornstarch for tapioca, which I suppose could thicken a little stronger.  I also used an odd shape ramekin, which would have altered the baking time.  The biscuits were just plain bad, and I was sure not to over mix them.  All and all it was a total fail. Boo!

Baking notes:
-As stated I halved the recipe, changed the size of the baking dish, and substituted cornstarch for tapioca.
-I also omitted the cinnamon and added a touch of ginger powder.

The recipe for plum cobblers with hazelnut topping can be found on the epicurious website.

22/569