Lovecakes Gourmet Cupcakes
Lovecakes Bakery was a huge part of my life for several years and I got so much satisfaction from seeing people truly enjoying my baking and being thrilled and amazed by the decorating. I cringe, absolutely squirm in my seat, when I see pics of some of my earliest icing attempts. Dear Lord. But I did get better and since there is no longer any record, anywhere, of my creations (I’ve closed the website and facebook pages) I thought I’d post some of my favourite cake pictures here for posterity. #cakes #cupcakes #lovecakes #baking #recipes #bacon #chocolate #pinacolada #rainbow #maplesyrup #oreos #cookiesandcream
Egg Free Banana & Coconut Pancakes
One of the questions I ask guests before they arrive is “do you have any allergies or food preferences?” It is so much better to be prepared and nothing worse than being told right before breakfast that someone is lactose intolerant or allergic to eggs. I prepare my buttermilk pancake batter the night before so it can do its bubbly, ferment-y thing. So when the nice German couple arrived home from dinner and Stephi told me she was lactose intolerant I had to find a plan B. I had coconut milk. I love coconut. I found lots of coconut pancake recipes but after reading them I wasn’t really convinced any…
Pear & Pecan Ricotta Galette
This pie was almost like a “Pantry Challenge”: I bought a huge bag of pears on special at Superstore and wanted to make something that would be good for breakfast. I also had ricotta in the fridge – I bought it at Costco for gnocchi and of course only needed ONE of the 2 tubs, so finding a use for the second one was becoming critical. I scoured dozens of recipes…and finally settled on a pear and ricotta galette which I adapted to make it more “Canadian”, eh. In other words I swapped out the walnuts in the original recipe for pecans. What I love about this pie is that…
Oatmeal Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookies
GLUTEN FREE – EGG FREE – DAIRY FREE and DELICIOUS! I had 2 groups of people recently staying for several days and two (one from each group) was gluten free, and dairy and egg free. I’ve got GF and DF pancakes down to a fine art. People always ask for seconds, but I wanted to do some baking for them too. I came upon an oatmeal recipe I liked the look of (probably because it had coconut in it) so I set about making the cookies. When I had the cookie dough all ready to measure out onto the baking tray I had a dizzy moment and threw a generous…
Heavenly Lemon Ricotta Cookies
Lemon is one of my favourite ingredients for both cooking and baking. My lemon cupcakes were for sure one of my personal favourites and by far the most fiddly and complex: a rich lemon cake, filled with home made lemon curd, glazed with lemon syrup, frosted with a rich buttery frosting and topped with a slice of candied lemon. Today I made Lemon Ricotta Cookies..a Giada De Laurentiis recipe I knew they were going to be gorgeous when I looked at the batter. I tasted it (quite a lot) and it was delicious! The Ricotta makes the mixture very moist and light. I was very generous with the lemon juice.…
I DON’T BELIEVE IT’S (Gluten Free) Chocolate Cake
This is seriously one of my favourite chocolate cake recipes and one of my favourite dessert cake recipes. It has NO FLOUR. None. Not even Gluten Free Flour. It’s made with Quinoa. Quinoa is a super food. And it is super easy to cook. Use the same proportions as rice (one cup of quinoa to 2 cups of water. Bring it to the boil, cover and simmer for 15 minutes. The Quinoa should be opaque. Take it off the heat and let it absorb the water for 5 minutes then fluff it with a fork. INGREDIENTS 2 cups cooked quinoa 1/3 cup almond milk or whatever milk you prefer 4…
Obviously I am Obsessed!
I had a hugely busy day today with the morning taken up at Gwynne Vaughan Park and our big spring clean-up. Check out the park website by the way – I just finished it a couple of weeks ago and am pretty stoked with it. I took a bunch of pictures the other day and when I came to edit/cull them it was quite amusing to see how many MIRRORS I’ve got – and quite a few hallways too! The mirror below (and the table) were both scores at the Old General Store auction which I would go to every Sunday. I miss the auction but it’s nice having my…
Low Carb Lime & Coconut Icecream
I put the lime in the coconut and VOILA! Best Icecream Ever according to Jim and I am pretty sure Tracy was equally enamored. First of all, I am not a HUGE icecream fan – put me in the once a month category and that would be maximum consumption and I always go for the artisan gelato bar places. Unless I’ve got company I never keep icecream in my freezer at home. BUT last week I found a perfectly pristine icecream maker at Value Village for $7.99 on a Tuesday (so I get 30% off). It is a Donvier. I looked the brand up on my phone and liked what…
Raspberry White Chocolate Scones
Best scones on the planet, hands down! Ingredients 2 cups flour 1/4 cup sugar 1 cup raspberries 1/2 cup white chocolate chips 1 cup whipping cream 6 tbspns cold unsalted butter pinch of salt 1 tablespoon baking powder Preheat oven to 400° Place rack in the middle of the oven Sift dry ingredients into a large bowl Rub in the butter Gently fold in the raspberries and white chocolate chips Stir in the whipping cream Empty the contents of the bowl onto a floured board Pat the mix into a circle on the board and cut circles with a round cutter dipped in flour to prevent sticking. You could use…
Blueberry Lemon Glazed Scones
Sometimes I think I’ve actually become my mother because I make scones now once or twice every week. My Grandmother was a dab hand at baking scones and hers were deliciously flaky and loaded with plump sultanas. She served them warm with lashings of butter. I am pretty sure she baked them practically every day. Only one of her daughters had the slightest interest in cooking or baking and luckily for me, that was my Mum. She would knock up a batch of scones at the drop of a hat…usually they were fruit (of the dried variety) though sometimes she’d make cheese ones at lunchtime. Yummy. I used to always…
