Cooking with Alison

Archive for the ‘Desserts’ Category

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and the delicious cakes just keep getting… uglier (Strawberry and Vanilla Cake Recipe)

In Cakes, Desserts on September 24, 2013 at am

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After incredible success with turning Sweetapolita’s vanilla birthday cake into a lemon layer cake (recipe here), I knew that I had to try her fluffy vanilla cake with whipped vanilla frosting as originally intended.  Especially after she validated my preference for homemade vanilla cake that resembles boxed cake mix!  But since I only like vanilla cake that has fruit in it, I couldn’t help but add some fresh strawberries.  The tartness of the strawberries contrasted the not-too-sweet vanilla frosting beautifully.  You could always omit the strawberries and whipped cream filling.  I made this for my sister’s surprise 28th birthday party.  In my opinion, it was quite ugly up close.  John said that it was even uglier than the cake I made for his birthday (see photo here), haha.  🙂  Personally, I like the lemon cake more (probably because it uses lard in the cake batter), but the flavour and texture of this strawberry vanilla cake won’t disappoint, as long as you don’t overbake it.

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Favourite Lemon Layer Cake Recipe

In Cakes, Desserts on September 20, 2013 at am

Although this may be the ugliest cake I’ve ever made, it is the best lemon layer cake that I have ever 1. eaten and 2. made.  This triple-lemon cake consists of four layers of cake, two layers of lemon curd, one layer of whipped cream and fresh blueberries, and a covering of whipped frosting.  There is lemon in the frosting, the cake layers, and, of course, the lemon curd filling.  I know it sounds like a lot of work, but many of the components can be made days in advance and it truly is worth it.

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Favourite Chocolate Cupcakes with Light and Fluffy Nutella Frosting

In Cupcakes, Desserts on August 22, 2013 at am

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This is my new favourite chocolate cupcake recipe.  I have also used it successfully to make a layer cake.  This recipe is very similar to the previous favourite chocolate cake recipe (see here), with the main difference being that this new recipe includes cornstarch.  The difference in result is very subtle, but I’m convinced that the texture of these cupcakes is slightly better.

This nutella and chocolate frosting is also worth mentioning.  I never knew that such a simple frosting could be so light in weight, smooth and delicate in flavour, and still hold its shape when piped.  In fact, Sweetapolita calls it “nutella cloud frosting” to describe the texture.  It is comparable to swiss meringue buttercream in heavenly texture but requires much less work, time, and ingredients.  Note that I’ve also paired this chocolate cake recipe with a chocolate swiss meringue buttercream and it was incredible.  See instructions here.

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How to Render Lard

In Appetizers, Hors D'oeuvres, Snacks, Asian, Breakfast, Desserts, How-To, Main Course on August 18, 2013 at pm

I recently jumped onto the lard band wagon and I saved a seat for you.  I know what you’ve heard about lard.  I heard the same warnings about high cholesterol and clogged arteries.  In fact, I grew up listening to my dad blame his blocked arteries on the use of lard in every day cooking during his youth.  But the truth is that home rendered lard can actually be considered a healthy fat!  (See here for more details.)  It is better for you than butter and is a rich source of vitamin D.  But I want to be very clear that only home rendered lard is good, and it’s best if the fat comes from naturally raised hogs.  Processed store-bought lard, however, contains trans fats – the very bad fats – and preservatives.

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Home rendered lard

I am so glad that we’ve cleared up that misunderstanding, because lard makes everything taste better.  For example, it’s perfect for deep frying foods, because it has a high smoke point.  This allows your food to cook more quickly, meaning that your food will be crispy on the outside and moist on the inside, all the while absorbing less oil.  Also, lard is necessary for making the best flaky pastries.  You may be surprised to know that lard is one of the secrets to many delicious Asian dishes as well.  Cooking your stir fried noodles in lard will result in an inimitable flavor and silky texture.

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Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake Recipe

In Cakes on July 6, 2012 at am

I love making baked goods that use sour cream, because I always have trouble finishing a tub of sour cream.  It also happens to give cake a great moist texture.  I made this sour cream chocolate chip coffee cake for co-workers and the flavour and texture received great reviews.  For those of you who aren’t familiar with coffee cake, coffee cake doesn’t necessarily contain coffee.  It is often simply served with a cup of coffee.

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Hong Kong Egg Tarts Recipe

In Asian Desserts, Pies & Tarts on June 28, 2012 at am

Chinese (Cantonese) egg tarts are subtly sweet snacks/desserts that consist of a egg custard filling (notpudding-y) that is baked in pastry shells that are either flaky puff pastry or soft, shortcrust pastry.  Eventually, I will make the pastry from scratch, but for now, the store bought puff pastry tart shells work beautifully and make these egg tarts one of the quickest and easiest desserts to put together.  My family thought that these were even better than the ones that we buy from Chinese bakeries.  Now that I know how easy they are to make, I’ll never buy them again.

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Favourite Crème Brûlée Recipe

In Other Desserts on May 29, 2012 at pm

I love the crunchy, torched sugar topping of crème brûlée.  Although crème brûlée is one of my favourite desserts, I only eat the custard part because I don’t want to feel guilty about wasting food.  I used to order crème brûlée more often than any other dessert at restaurants, but that changed when I discovered this recipe.  My family and I love this recipe, even though we don’t normally like custardy desserts. The texture of the custard is just right, in my opinion; it’s creamy without being heavy or too rich, and it’s soft and jiggly without being runny or too pudding-y.

I made these in disposable aluminum tart pans for my sister to take to work for her lunch club.  One of her friends liked it so much that she used her finger to get the remaining custard out of the pan.  This dessert is classy enough to serve at any occasion and it can be made a day or two in advance.

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Wild Blueberry Sauce Recipe

In Other Desserts on May 16, 2012 at am

Wild blueberries will forever remind me of the trip that my sister and I took to New England (East coast of Canada and USA).  (See my New England clam chowder recipe and review here and my review of a New England restaurant that Barack Obama ate at here.)  I was feeling nostalgic when I discovered that President’s Choice sells frozen Canadian wild blueberries, so I purchased a very large bag and have been making this simple wild blueberry sauce ever since.  (On a side note, I’m hoping to come up with a recipe that uses frozen blueberries to make a good wild blueberry pie.  I’ve had a failed attempt so far.  I’ll keep you posted.)  I have made this sauce for family, friends, and Ed, and everyone has loved it.  It’s subtly sweet and natural tasting and is versatile for a range of simple and delicious desserts.  For example, you could serve it warm over ice cream (photo below) or a slice of pound cake (recipe here) with a dollop of whipped cream.  (If you have leftover whipped cream, you can freeze it (see here for instructions)!)  I’ve also used this sauce (cooled) in trifles (photo above) and danishes (recipe here).  I don’t recommend making this sauce with regular blueberries, because they’re not as flavourful, they’re more tart, and they don’t hold their shape as well as wild blueberries.

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Favourite Lemon Tart Recipe

In Pies & Tarts on March 31, 2012 at am

I love this lemon dessert.  As you can probably tell from the picture below, I over baked my tart a little bit, and it was still delicious.  I made it for Thanksgiving last year and it was the perfect finish to a hearty prime rib dinner.  When I was making the tart crust, I was doubtful of the recipe, because it was more crumbly and dry than any other crust I’d ever made, but it turned out beautifully crispy!  The crispy crust is the perfect compliment to the tart filling.  I love that the filling is so fresh and natural tasting; it’s not too tart and it’s not too sweet.  This is simple to make and elegant enough to serve for a special occasion.  Note that although the crust only stays crispy for the first day, it’s still very good the next day.  In fact, my mom loved the crust and she didn’t try it until the second day.  The word she used was “success” in Chinese.

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Chocolate Malt Cake Recipe

In Cakes on February 9, 2012 at am

As a child, my favourite comfort drink was the malted milk drink, Horlicks.  When I grew up, it became hot chocolate.  Now I am revisiting malted milk by baking with it, and everyone around me is falling in love with it all over again (or for the first time).  (See my malted chocolate chip cookies recipe here.)  I made this delicious, 3-layer, chocolate malt cake for my sister’s birthday.  My family really liked it even though they’re not normally fans of chocolate cake.  My mom kept picking the Maltesers off the cake and my sister kept stealing them from other peoples’ plates, so the next time I make this cake, I may cover the entire top of it with Maltesers.  🙂

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Best Jien Duy Recipe (Chinese Deep Fried Sesame Balls with Red Bean Paste)

In Asian Desserts on January 27, 2012 at pm

Jien duy are deep fried, sesame seed coated, glutinous rice balls with a sweet red bean paste filling.  These homemade jien duy are the best that I have ever had and I’ve even tried the jien duy in China.  These are crispy on the outside, light and airy on the inside, and they have a perfectly thin layer of sticky and chewy glutinous rice flour.  These are best when served warm and the day that they were made.  They’re surprisingly easy to make, but getting the oil to the right temperature can be a bit tricky.

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Baked Nian Gao (Chinese New Year Cake Variation)

In Asian Desserts on January 22, 2012 at am

Happy Chinese New Year!  “Nian gao” or “leen go” (translation: year cake) is a cake that is traditionally eaten at Chinese New Year.  It has a soft, dense, sticky and chewy texture and is not meant to be very sweet.  Traditionally, it is vegan and steamed.  See the traditional recipe here.  However, the non-traditional, non-vegan baked variation tastes even better (in my opinion).  This baked version combines a Western cake-like crust with the traditional sticky and chewy middle.  Traditional nian gao / leen go is usually made in 9″ or 10″ pie plates, but for the baked version, I prefer to make small individual sized cakes, because the crispy edges are the best part.  These make cute gifts for Chinese new year and are great for introducing people to Chinese new year cake, because nian gao could be considered an acquired taste.  Baked nian gao tastes best when served hot.

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