Traced Elements

Tag: sweet

  • Peaches, from Peachland no less!

    Peaches, from Peachland no less!

    Recently we went on a bit of road trip, starting out by heading to the Canmore / Cochrane area and then heading down to Fernie and Nelson. Our last stop, while covering some 3,000 kms, before heading home was to Peachland. We found a lovely little AirBNB right slap bang in the middle of wine country! (Don’t worry we both sampled wine and brought some back with us! 😉 )

    However, it was our host that offered us the peaches, and right from her very own garden.

    (Did you know? Peaches have been cultivated in the Okanagan since the 1890s and are available July through September.)

    Anyway, who was I to say no? Of course, having received said peaches I had to find the right recipe with which to showcase them.

    Okanagan Peaches
    Okanagan Peaches

    I wanted to make some kind of pie and have been searching for the ultimate pastry recipe for ever. Well I think I finally found it with this recipe for a Rustic Peach Galette with Orange [and Ginger – which I didn’t add as it’s not my very favourite!].

    The pastry in this galette is melt in the mouth soft, explodes with the flavour of the oranges (even more so as I used the orange juice to bind it all together) and has a lovely crumbly texture. In fact, it was to die for – no exaggeration!

    The peaches were soft and not too sweet and really showcased the very best of the Okanagan.

    For all the above reasons, this recipe is a keeper and I would encourage you all to try making it before peach season is over. It is can be especially enjoyed warm from the oven with a nice helping of decent vanilla ice cream.

    Peach Galette
    Peach Galette

    Ingredients

    Pastry

    • 1 cup all-purpose flour
    • 1 tsp granulated sugar
    • 1/2 tsp salt
    • 1/2 cup cold butter, cut into small cubes
    • 1/4 cup ice water

    Filling

    • 4 peaches, sliced 1/2 thick
    • 2 tbsp granulated sugar
    • 1 tbsp all-purpose flour
    • 1 tbsp orange juice
    • 2 tsp grated ginger
    • 1/4 tsp salt
    • 2 tbsp butter

    Additional Ingredients

    • 1 egg
    • 2 tbsp milk
    • 2 tbsp coarse sugar
    • 1 small sprig basil
    • 1/2 cup ice cream

    Directions

    1. In a medium sized bowl, mix together 1 cup of flour, 1 teaspoon of sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Add the butter, and using a fork crush and mix the butter into the flour until it is coated and becomes the size of small peas. Add the water 1 tablespoon at a time and mix until it forms into a dough. Shape into a 1 inch disc, wrap and place in the fridge for at least 1 hour.

    2. Preheat oven to 425°.

    3. In a medium sized bowl, whisk together 2 tablespoons of sugar, 1 tablespoon of flour, orange juice, grated ginger, and 1/4 teaspoon of salt, until smooth. Add the peach slices and toss gently to coat.

    4. Remove the dough and place on a large, lightly floured, piece of parchment paper. Roll the dough out to a 14-15 inch circle. Starting from about 1 inch from the edge, layer the peach slices on their sides clockwise, one at a time, ensuring they lay on top of each slightly. Continue, working your way to the centre of the galette until the galette is filled. The peaches will be higher in the centre than the edges. Fold the edges of the dough up in 2-3 inch sections, over top the outer layer of peaches covering them by about half. Dot the peaches with 1/2 teaspoon chunks of butter.

    5. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg and milk to make egg wash. Brush a light layer of egg wash on the crust then sprinkle with coarse sugar.

    6. Place the galette on a baking sheet or pizza stone and bake for 20 minutes, until the peaches are bubbling and the crust is gold brown. Allow to cool for at least 20 minutes before serving.

    7. Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a few small basil leaves.

    Peach Galette
    Warm Peach Galette with vanilla ice cream

     

  • Zucchini – again!

    Zucchini – again!

    It seems to be that time of year again! So many people I know are offering up their excess zucchini’s as they have too many and don’t know what to do with them!

    So when my neighbour put out a post saying she had some up for grabs I volunteered to take one of her hands. And it was a monster! So much so that I made to make up half as much again of the recipe I found. This meant that I could make four mini-loaves and one standard size loaf. Good job I’m a fan of zucchini bread.

    Besides, I gifted back two of the mini-loaves for her, and her family, to enjoy! 🙂

    The Mini Zucchini Loaf recipe I found included walnuts which I didn’t have on hand, but the pecans worked just as well!

    So, if you have any spare zucchini’s I won’t say no. 😉

    Ingredients

    • 2 cups grated zucchini (about 2-3 zucchini)
    • 3 cups all-purpose flour
    • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
    • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
    • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
    • 1 tablespoon cinnamon
    • 1 cup sugar
    • 1 cup packed brown sugar
    • 1 cup vegetable oil
    • 3 large eggs
    • 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
    • 1 cup chopped walnuts

    Directions

    1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat two [or three] 5 1/2 by 3-inch loaf pans with nonstick spray, line with parchment paper, and then spray paper.
    2. To reduce the moisture, press the grated zucchini between sheets of paper towel. When most of the moisture has been absorbed, you can fluff with your hands or a fork and then set aside.
    3. In a small bowl, mix together flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon.
    4. In a large bowl, combine sugar, brown sugar, vegetable oil, almond extract and eggs and mix until well combined. Stir in the zucchini.
    5. Add dry ingredients to the bowl of wet ingredients and mix well. Fold in nuts. Divide batter between the two mini loaf pans. If you have extra batter, you can drop liners into a muffin pan and make a few zucchini muffins.
    6. Bake for 35-45 minutes. Use a toothpick to test – if it comes out clean, it’s ready to take out. Let cool for about 10 minutes on wire rack before removing from the pan to cool completely.

  • It’s never too early…

    It’s never too early…

    In fact, to my mind, I am actually late! For what, you ask. Christmas, I say. More specifically Christmas Cake, the traditional fruit, soaked in alcohol, version.

    In years past I have made my cake at the end of September and then spent the next few months feeding it before marzipanning and icing it in mid-December. A rich fruit cake can be made 2 to 3 months in advance and kept in an airtight container in a cool, dark place. Feeding a cake means that once every few weeks you make holes in the cake using a skewer and then pour an amount of alcohol over it, before re-wrapping.

    The recipe I always use comes from a cake decoration cook book that I purchased way back when! But the recipe works every time, albeit I always need to cook it for longer than suggested. I even used the same recipe to make my friends wedding cake!

    You need a little time for this recipe as you should ideally start it the day before you want to actually make the cake mixture to allow the fruit to soak in the alcohol overnight. Once the mixture is in the tin, the surface can be covered with clingfilm and stored in a cool place overnight if cooking is not possible on the day (there are no leavening agents to worry about). However, do remember to allow for a longer cooking time as the temperature of the mixture will be colder.

    I know that a lot of people don’t like fruit cake, but this recipe offers a moist cake with the delicious spices and and flavours of Christmas and is a must in my house. The instructions below are for an 8″ round or 7″ square tin, but if you want the recipe for another size tin let me know as I can provide details for a 6″ round, all the way up to a 13″ round tin!

    Ingredients

    • 325g raisins
    • 250g sultanas
    • 175g currants
    • 150g glacé cherries (the bright red cocktail ones)
    • 50g cut mixed peel (I omit this in favour of more cherries!)
    • 50g flaked (sliced) almonds
    • 2 tsps lemon rind
    • 2 tbsps lemon juice
    • 3 tbsps Brandy or Sherry
    • 275g plain flour
    • 2.5 tsps ground mixed spice
    • 65g ground almonds
    • 200g dark brown soft sugar
    • 200g butter or margerine, softened
    • 1.5 tbsp black treacle or molasses
    • 4 eggs

    Directions

    1. Preheat the oven to 275F degrees and prepare the cake tin by double lining the inside of the tin with greaseproof paper, and the outside with a double thickness of brown paper. This will prevent the outside of the cake from bing overcooked.
    2. In a large mixing bowl place the raisins, sultanas, currants, glacé cherries, mixed peel, flaked almonds, lemon rind and lemon juice together with the Brandy or Sherry. Mix all the ingredients together until well blended, then cover the bowl with clingfilm. Leave for several hours or, ideally, overnight.
    3. Sift the flour and mixed spice into another mixing bowl. Add the ground almonds, sugar, butter (or margerine), treacle (or molasses) and eggs. Mix together with a wooden spoon, then beat for 2-3 minutes until smooth and glossy.
    4. Gradually add the mixed fruit to the creamed mixture and fold it in, using a spatula, until all the fruit has been evenly blended. Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin and spread it evenly. Give the tin a few sharp taps to level the mixture and to remove any air pockets. Smooth the surface with the back of a metal spoon, making a slight depression in the centre.
    5. Bake the cake in the centre of a pre-heated oven. Test the cake to see if it is cooked 30 minutes before the end of the cooking time (total 2.5 to 3 hours for a cake of this size). If it is cooked, the cake should feel firm and a fine skewer inserted into the centre should come out clean. If the cake is not cooked, re-test it at 15 minute intervals. Once cooked remove from the oven and allow it to cool in the tin.
    6. Once cooled, turn the cake out of the tin but do not remove the lining paper as it helps to keep the moisture in. Using half the quantity of alcohol as used in the recipe, spoon over the top of the cake and then wrap it in a double thickness of foil.
    7. Store the cake in a cool, dry place on its base with the top uppermost for a week. Unwrap the cake and spoon over another half quantity of the Brandy or Sherry. Re-wrap the cake well and store it upside down, so that the Brandy or Sherry moistens the top and helps to keep it flat. The cake will store well for up to 3 months; if it going to stored for this length of time, add the Brandy or Sherry just a little bit at a time at monthly intervals.

    I have a cake decorating “bake off” with one of my friends in the UK so I will provide an update once decorated so you can see the finished result too!

    Merry early Christmas! 😉

  • A zucchini recipe to be thankful for

    A zucchini recipe to be thankful for

    I know, I know! I’ve already written about zucchini, surely there must be some other ingredient I can use?

    Yes there is, but there was still some sitting in my fridge to be used up and Thanksgiving is just round the corner. Plus, I like to make cupcakes for all the boys and girls at my work, just to let them know that they are appreciated so having had success with my other zucchini cake and bread recipes I thought I’d give one more recipe a try.

    Zucchini CupcakesBesides, I am thankful that I had my granny to show me her love for baking and that I have people to appreciate the bakes that I try out on them.

    So enjoy these zucchini cupcakes, which have delicate pumpkin spice flavours and are so soft they melt in your mouth, topped off with a wonderfully fluffy cream cheese buttercream.

    I can’t think of anything better this Thanksgiving.

    Cupcake Ingredients

    • 3/4 cup finely grated zucchini (I actually used a cup!)
    • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
    • 2 teaspoons baking powder
    • 1/4 teaspoon salt
    • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
    • 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
    • 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
    • 1/2 cup vegetable or canola oil
    • 2/3 cup white sugar
    • 1/3 cup brown sugar
    • 2 large eggs
    • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
    • 1/4 cup milk

    Cream Cheese Frosting Ingredients

    • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
    • 4 oz brick-style cream cheese
    • 3 – 4 cups powdered sugar
    • 1 tablespoon heavy cream, if needed

    Cupcake Directions

    1. Preheat the oven to 350F degrees and line a muffin pan with muffin papers.
    2. Gently dab the grated zucchini with a paper towel to remove excess liquid. It shouldn’t be dry, but there shouldn’t be extra water.
    3. In a large bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves.
    4. In a separate large bowl whisk together the oil and sugars until no lumps remain. Then whisk in the eggs, vanilla extract and milk.
    5. Whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, then gently fold in the grated zucchini using a rubber spatula or wooden spoon.
    6. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin tin, filling each about 2/3 full. Be careful not to fill them any more than 3/4 full.
    7. Bake in the preheated oven for 16-19 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
    8. Allow to cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes, then continue cooling on a wire rack.

    Cream Cheese Frosting Directions

    1. In a large bowl using an electric mixer, beat the butter until soft.
    2. Then mix in the cream cheese.
    3. With the mixer on low, beat in 3 cups of powdered sugar until combined.
    4. If needed, slowly beat in the rest of the powdered sugar a little at a time until the desired consistency and sweetness level is reached. If it gets a little too thick, then beat in the cream.
    5. Frost the cupcakes with a knife or using a piping bag and piping tip.

    If they last that long the cupcakes can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. Unfrosted cupcakes can be frozen and thawed in the fridge overnight.

    DSC01021

  • Zucchini – two ways

    Zucchini – two ways

    I recently bumped into a friend who has a veggie patch and she asked if I had any recipes for zucchinis as she had lots growing. She also wanted to know what it was with Pemberton that zucchinis grew so well!

    I wasn’t quite sure what she meant until another friend gifted me the mother of all zucchinis! I mean, this one was about as large as the marrows my grandad used to grow! (Egg for scale.)

    Being curious I did a Google search on zucchinis, which are a summer squash and are a cultivar of the marrow I remember from my childhood. It appears that they can actually reach almost 1 metre (100 cm; 39 in) in length, but are usually harvested when still immature at about 15 to 25 cm (6 to 10 in). They are also very productive plants and just one or two plants will produce enough for a small family. You can also harvest the large yellow squash blossoms and eat them raw or cooked. Only female blossoms produce fruit, so you can harvest most of the male flowers without slowing down the plant’s productivity. Who knew?

    With a zucchini this large I didn’t know what I was going to do with it. I could make a quiche, galettes or even gnocchi. But no, with temperatures much cooler, and with my propensity towards baking, I decided to try both a savoury and a sweet bread.

    The trick to cooking or baking with the grated zucchini is to squeeze some of the moisture out before adding to your recipe. Just use a clean tea towel, place the zucchini in the centre, twist and watch the excess water drip out.

    Whether you prefer savoury or sweet I hope one of the following recipes helps you out with your glut of zucchinis, but if you still have too many then I have a couple more bread recipes that I’d like to try!

    First up is a Zucchini Cheddar Quick Bread made with buttermilk (or a home-made version as in the recipe) and which smelled as delicious cooking in the oven as it tasted not long out of it. Cheesy mouthwatering goodness!

    Ingredients

      • 1 1/2 cups zucchini, grated
      • 2 cups all purpose white flour
      • 2 teaspoons baking powder
      • 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
      • 1/2 teaspoon salt
      • 1 cup milk plus 1 tablespoon vinegar, white or apple cider to make home-made buttermilk or use 1 cup buttermilk
      • 1 egg
      • 3 tablespoons butter, melted
      • 1 1/2 cups grated sharp cheddar
      • 2 green onions, chopped

    Directions

    1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray a 9 x 5 bread pan with non stick spray. (I would also add a layer of parchment paper to the bottom of the pan to ensure that the bread does not stick.)
    2. Wrap grated zucchini in a paper towel, or clean tea towel, and squeeze until some of the liquid releases. (You don’t need to completely dry it out.)
    3. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
    4. If making home-made buttermilk, combine milk and vinegar in a small bowl. (The milk will curdle a bit). If not making then use 1 cup traditional buttermilk. Mix in melted butter and egg.
    5. Add milk mixture to dry mixture being careful not to over mix to avoid the bread turning out flat.
    6. Add grated zucchini, cheese and onions, mixing lightly until just combined.
    7. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake at 350 degrees for one hour.
    8. If toothpick inserted comes out clean, bread is done!  Cool for 10 minutes in the pan.  Remove carefully and cool on wire rack.

    After your savoury zucchini bread what do you need? Orange Zucchini Bread with Orange Glaze of course! The orange provided a nice zing and the glaze was a touch of sweetness against the bread itself. My orange was very juicy and I could have done with a bit more icing sugar to thicken it up. I’ll know for next time. 😉

    Ingredients

    For the bread:

    • 3 large eggs
    • 2 cups sugar
    • 1 cup vegetable or canola oil
    • 1 tsp vanilla
    • zest and juice of 1 large orange
    • 3 cups all-purpose flour
    • 1 tsp salt
    • 1 tsp cardamom (optional)
    • 1/4 tsp baking soda
    • 2 cups grated zucchini

    For the glaze:

    • zest and juice of 1 large orange
    • 3 tbsp. butter melted
    • 1 tsp. vanilla
    • 3 cups powdered sugar

    Directions

    For the bread:

    1. In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, sugar, oil, vanilla, and orange zest and juice.
    2. In another large bowl, whisk together flour, salt, cardamom (if using), and baking soda.
    3. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, along with the zucchini, and stir until just combined. Do not overmix.
    4. If you’d like to add any nuts, fold in about 1 cup chopped nuts.
    5. Line a 9×5-inch loaf pan with foil or parchment paper, letting the edges hang over the pan. This is a MUST as the bread will to stick to the pan. Coat with non-stick spray.
    6. Spread batter into prepared pan.
    7. Bake at 325 degrees for 60-70 minutes, or until top and edges are golden and a toothpick inserted near the centre comes out clean.
    8. Remove to a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes.
    9. Run a knife along any edges that may have seeped and stuck to the pan.
    10. Remove bread from the pan completely using the foil or parchment paper edges. Cool completely.
    11. Meanwhile, prepare glaze.

    For glaze:

    1. In a medium bowl, whisk together all the glaze ingredients until smooth.
    2. Depending on how juicy your orange was, you may need to add a little water or more powdered sugar! You should be able to drizzle or pour it, but it shouldn’t easily run off the bread.
    3. Drizzle glaze over cooled bread. Cut and serve.