Jamie Oliver's Christmas Cookbook

What a lovely surprise yesterday when opening presents and my son gave me Jamie Oliver's Christmas Cookbook. I love it!!! So many delicious recipes and the recipes can be used year-around and not only during the Holidays. I will be using this book a lot! The pictures inside are also beautiful. I have spent most of Boxing Day flipping through this recipe book and already planning next Christmas!

We lived in England for 12 years and all our children were born there. Hence, my cooking during those years were highly influenced by Annabel Karmel when the kids were babies and I was weaning them onto solids. Then I moved on to family meals and I took a lot of guidance from Jamie Oliver, Nigella and Gordon Ramsey. I used to watch their television programs and buy their cookbooks. A lot of our family favourites are now based on what I learned from these Chefs. Great inspirations!!

Caramel & Cinnamon Buns

Getting organized for Christmas today! I always prepare a sausage casserole on Christmas eve and I pop it into the oven just before we start unwrapping presents in the morning. Then, when are finished, the casserole is ready to be eaten! I also decided to prepare some Caramel & Cinnamon Rolls this year so we can end our Christmas morning brunch with some sweetness. I used Ricardo's recipe in his latest magazine:

Buns:
1 1/2 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons yeast
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 eggs
3/4 cup of soft unsalted butter

Caramel:
3/4 of brown sugar
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1/4 cup of corn syrup
2 tablespoons water
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Filling:
1/2 cup of brown sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 tablespoons of non-salted butter

Bun: 

1. In a bowl, mix the buttermilk, sugar, yeast and salt. Keep aside.

2. Using my Kitchen Aid mixer, mix the flour, eggs et the milk mixture until the dough is formed.

3. Incorporate the butter et let the Kitchen Aid kneed the dough for 5 minutes. The dough will be soft and lightly sticky. Put the dough in an oiled bowl and cover with a lightly wet tea towel or cling film. Leave aside in a warm area for an hour.

Caramel:

4. In a bowl, whip all the ingredients together. Pour into a 33x23 cm (13 x 9 inches) buttered baking tray. Keep aside.

Filling:

5. In a bowl, mix the brown sugar and ground cinnamon together.

6. On your working area, generously put some flour et work the dough into a 50 x 35 cm (20 x14 inches) rectangle. Gently put some melted butter on the rectangle and add the sugar & cinnamon mixture on top of the dough. Roll the dough into a cylindre. Cut the cylindre into 12 slices.

7. Gently put the slices on top of the caramel in the baking tray. Cover with a humid tea towel and keep in a warm area for an hour. You can also refrigerate over night.

8. Warm the over at 350 F (180 C).

9. Gently put some melted butter on the buns and bake for 30 minutes until the buns are golden. Let the buns rest for 10 minutes.

10. Using a large dish, put on top of the baking tray and turn around for the buns to come out of the baking tray.

Thank you Ricardo!!!!!

Winter Wonderland Christmas Log

I decided to make a classic chocolate Christmas Log this year. I used Ricardo's recipe which was easy to make... However, I did not have enough of the chocolate whipped cream. I should have doubled the recipe. At this stage, I wanted to finish my log.... so I used all the chocolate whipped cream for the inside of the log and I whipped some cream for the outside of the log. I decorated with some little trees. My teenage boys loved this log!!! Now I know for next time to double the chocolate whipped cream!

It was perfect along with our Christmas Eve buffet and games! Excited about Christmas!!!!

Boozy Fruitcake - part 2

The time has finally come to bake the fruitcakes! My dried fruits have been soaking in the rum and Porto for over a month now. I have been carefully making the fruits every day and it simply smelled delicious.

Today, I ran the dried fruits in my Vitamix and turned them into a paste.

I prepared my ingredients:

2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus more for pans
4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pans
4 ounces blanched almonds (2/3 cup)
1/3 cup boiling water
1/4 cup unseetened cocoa powder
2 1/2 cups packed dark-brown sugar
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
10 large eggs, at room temperature
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup molasses or cane sugar

Once all my ingredients were mixed together, I added the dried fruit puree and mixed well.

I lined my baking trays with parchament paper and buttered them well. I warmed my oven at 300 F and baked the cakes for 2 hours. It smelled like Christmas in my house!

Today, I carefully cut the cakes into squares and prepared some gift boxes for some neighbours.

Merry Christmas everyone!!

White cake with maple frosting & raspberries

What is a snowy Sunday without a bit of a treat to end the weekend? Growing up, the weekends were always busy. We would usually go to my grandparents house in the Laurentiens where in the winter, I spent my days outside snowmobiling. I would only come in to warm up and have a meal. I loved being at my grandparents' - skating on the lake, sliding on the km long slide all the way down the lake, playing with the dogs, the endless stream of guests who would stop by at my grandparents. They represented the definition of hospitability to me. They made everyone feel so welcome.

I also enjoyed going home to the calm of my home in St-Bruno where we would spend the rest of the Sunday relaxing by the fireplace, watching some NFL games and indulging in some comfort French-Canadian food my mum would make.... and the meal always ended with a dessert!

I try to keep this kind of Sunday with my children. They are such busy teenagers and it is nice to find time together on Sundays. I try to make a special dessert to end our weekend. I made this cake as a Christmas log last year and decided to make it as a cake. I did not have the white chocolate to make the curls to decorate it but I had maple crumbs and raspberries. I used Ricardo's recipe again - perfection!

ProFuel Protein Balls

My son is part of a Business Program at his school. He has been working very hard in creating a product which he will pitch on Monday in front of judges and present to the student-body as part of a Business Fair. The company he created is called ProFuel and they make energy bars targeted for athletes. As part of his Fair, he wanted to have some samples handy of the 'next' product they plan on creating.

We created these Protein Balls and ensured they were completely nut-free so they would be safe in a school environment. They turned out delicious and fun to make!

ProFuel Protein Balls

12 organic Medjool dates
2 tbsp organic brown rice flour
1/2 cup organic shredded coconut
1/3 cup organic coconut oil
1/3 cup organic cocoa powder
1 tbsp organic chia seeds

Makes about 25 protein balls.

Take the pits out the dates. Put all the dates in a bowl and cover them with boiling water. Let the dates sit for about an hour. Remove the liquid from the dates and using a fork, smash them into a paste. Add the other ingredients. Place in the fridge for about 1 hour (this makes it easier to roll them). Make small balls using your hands to roll them into shape.

Sucre a la creme - in preparation for Christmas!

This evening, I am hosting a Ladies' Night with my friends - just to get together before the Holidays craziness!

We like to have a drink and some nibbles. I also prepared some sweets and included on the list was sucre a la creme.

The recipe I make is simple but delicious and turns out perfect every time!

Sucre a la creme:

1 cup of sugar
1 cup of brown sugar
1 cup of 35% cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon non-salted butter

I sent this picture to my family and they immediately asked if I will be making some for them!!!

A great evening - always great to be with the girls!

Tarte au sucre

Tarte au sucre or sugar pie is a French-Canadian staple. There are so many different recipes for this pie and they are all good! I remember exactly how my Grand-maman Auger's  (paternal grand-mother) tarte au sucre tasted, I remember how my Grand-maman Deveau's (maternal grand-mother) tarte au sucre tasted and of course I remember my mother's pie tasted. When a dessert is SO DELICIOUS, you assume that it is very difficult to prepare! It's not!! I only started making tarte au sucre a few years ago and I will be making them for a long time. They are perfect fresh out of the oven with vanilla ice cream or a tiny bit of cream on it.

Tarte au sucre:

1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup of all-purpose flour
2 tbsp cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup 1/2 cream
1/2 maple syrup

Mix all the ingredients together and bring to a near boil. Let the mixture rest.

Easiest dough:

2 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup of unsalted butter, cold and cut in small piece
6 tbsp sour cream

Mix all the ingredients together. Form a ball. Wrap in cling film and let rest in the fridge for 45 minutes. 

Bake at 350 F for 40 minutes.

Happy 16th birthday!

You blink and they grow! My little ray of sunshine is turning 16 today. As for each birthday, I ask the kids what kind of cake they would like. When they were little, we made all kinds of cakes for them... Spiderman, Formula 1 car, Dora the Explorer, etc. Now, they are more interested in their favourite cake rather than what has been pipped on it.

My son had no hesitation in demanding his favourite: my homemade chocolate cake! He said he did not want anything else than that. And that's what he got!

I printed a football figure stencil from the internet and used it to decorate the cake. I used powder sugar on the stencil. My son was extremely pleased with his cake!

Ingredients:

A little butter to grease the pans
Flour to dust over the butter in plans

Cake:
2 cups of all-purpose flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 eggs
1 3/4 cup of granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup of sour cream
1 1/3 cup of water
3/4 cup of melted milk chocolate

Bake at 350 C for 35 minutes.

Icing:
1 pound of room temperature butter
1/2 cup of cocoa powder
4 cups of icing sugar
1/2 cup of melted milk chocolate (incorporate the chocolate when all the other ingredients have been mixed together)

White Chocolate Chips & Cranberry Cookies

I love baking cookies around Christmas time! I made these today and they are quickly flying out of the cookie jar!

I used the standard recipe I use for chocolate chip cookies and just added the cranberries.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

1 egg

1 tablespoon vanilla

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 cup white chocolate chips

1 cup dried cranberries

Bake at 350 F for around 10 minutes.

Tira Misu

Tira Misu is one of my favourite desserts! I love it!

I had a friend called Ana Cristina who made the most delicious Tira Misu when we lived in England. Sadly, Ana Cristina passed away a few years ago at the very young age of 46. I remember eating this lush dessert she would make for me fondly.

I made this recipe mainly for Tarun who loves Tira Misu just as much as I do!

I used Ricardo's recipe - so easy to make and so delicious!!

I made it yesterday as it needs to be stored in the fridge for 24 hours.

A huge hit! Perfect when entertaining a small group.