I’m embracing Fall and fresh fig season with this FIG AND CINNAMON ROLL CAKE. Fresh juicy figs and honey mascarpone cream rolled inside a soft, fluffy Japanese-style sponge cake baked with a kiss of cinnamon. Honey-glazed walnuts are baked alongside the cake for an easy, most perfect embellishment.
Read moreCoffee Agar Jelly
When the humidex is humidex-ing, I’m taking my afternoon coffee in the form of refreshing COFFEE AGAR JELLY! It is served with a chilled sweet milk but a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top is highly encouraged too if you’re an affogato girlie. A là mode or on its own, COFFEE AGAR JELLY with chilled sweet milk is the delicious hot weather coffee reprieve you deserve.
Read moreRaspberry Yogurt Clusters
These cool, sweet and tangy RASPBERRY YOGURT CLUSTERS are a spin-off of the viral Blueberry Yogurt Clusters that I shared in my previous post. Those were so good we immediately created a different — dare I say it — even BETTER version with these RASPBERRY YOGURT CLUSTERS!
Read moreBlueberry Yogurt Clusters
Thin, crunchy chocolate enveloping a creamy centre with pops of juicy blueberries, these BLUEBERRY YOGURT CLUSTERS have been going viral recently! I added my own spin to it by adding tahini, maple syrup and cinnamon to the yogurt mixture which add really nice flavour dimensions.
Read moreBlueberry Iced Latte
Blueberry and coffee is one of those flavour combos people smugly hashtag #IYKYK every time they put it together (kk that might be me lol). This BLUEBERRY ICED LATTE is a celebration of that flavour pairing in a tall, delicious, gorgeous glass! I highly recommend topping it with dashes of cinnamon not just for garnish but as a flavour boost because cinnamon intensifies the flavour of blueberries. #IYKYK 😉
Read moreStrawberry Matcha Iced Latte
Once Spring hits, I’m enjoying this gorgeous STRAWBERRY MATCHA ICED LATTE on repeat into the summer months while strawberries are sweet and bountiful! The layers of strawberry sauce, cold creamy oat milk and grassy matcha is heaven in a tall glass.
Read moreApple Cranberry Crumble
This APPLE CRANBERRY CRUMBLE is the perfect dessert to welcome Autumn and the perfect dessert for the holiday season. You’ll love the bright tartness of the cranberries with the softened sweet apples, and the crunchy fragrant almond-flecked crumble. You’ll also love the ease of this recipe! I served it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream (a must!) and a dusting of cinnamon on top.
Read moreSweet Glutinous Rice Dumplings with Black Sesame Filling with Step-by-Step Photos and Video 黑芝麻湯圓 (Tang Yuan)
Tender and chewy glutinous rice dough encasing a rich, oozy sweet black sesame filling and served in a light ginger broth, these SWEET GLUTINOUS RICE DUMPLINGS WITH BLACK SESAME FILLING are heaven in every bite!
Read moreSheet Pan Strawberry Shortcake
With Spring well and truly here (yes, I hold my breath until the month of May), I knew I had to make this STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE recipe. This was definitely my first time baking a cake in a sheet pan and as you can clearly see, it worked out wonderfully. I love the fact that this single layer situation makes it fuss-free to feed a crowd. This cake serves 16 or more. The cake itself is rich and spongy, and super easy to make. My girls made the cake on their own and I added the toppings after the cake cooled. Everyone LOVED IT.
Read moreMeringue Nest Cookies with Mascarpone Whipped Cream
These MERINGUE NEST COOKIES WITH MASCARPONE WHIPPED CREAM topped with mini chocolate eggs are absolutely necessary for Easter! These darling treats are definitely not just for the kids 😉
Read moreBaked Alaska
It was New Year’s Eve. The restaurant was fancy and the crowd dressed in their celebratory best. When the Baked Alaska arrived at the table, I pounced and devoured with fervent enthusiasm in a very unladylike manner. “That was soooo good” I gushed in my post-ecstasy state, to which my friend gleefully pointed out the chocolate schmears all over my chin. Okay so it wasn’t my most elegant moment but now you understand my obsession with BAKED ALASKA’s! 😆 It’s also been something on my To-Make bucket list since forever so I’m not sure why it took me so long to finally make it. This show-stopping dessert is much easier than it looks, especially when you cut out a lot of the work by buying quality gelato that is as good as anything you can make at home (probably better, if you’re me) like I did using Righteous Gelato.
Read moreMochi Waffles with Cinnamon Sugar + Lemon { gluten free }
What happens when you cross-breed a Belgian waffle, with Japanese mochi, with a Canadian doughnut aka a ‘Beaver Tail’? The result is like culinary eugenic whereby the best qualities of each are leveraged to create a superior breakfast or anytime treat – these addictively delicious Mochi Waffles with Cinnamon Sugar and Lemon. Don’t be misled by their unpretentious appearance. The texture of the waffles with the cinnamon-sugar-lemon combination is so amazing they need no further adornment. What’s more is, after researching other mochi waffle recipes and testing a handful myself, I streamlined the method so that the batter involves merely whisking dry ingredients and wet ingredients, then combining the two with a spatula. No stand mixer, and no need to first microwave a portion of flour and water separately. Because I’m lazy. And mostly because I didn’t feel the extra step was justified based on the outcome in this particular application. Awesome, right? Wait til you read what’s next!!
Read moreHoney Cardamom Meringue Roulade with Mandarin Curd { gluten-free, dairy-free option }
In my humble opinion, meringues live their best life when tumbled together with barely-sweetened cream and fresh fruits. If you’re feeling extra, a citrus curd adds a rich dimension while conveniently using up orphaned egg yolks from making the meringue. If that’s not delicious serendipity, I dunno what is. In this luxurious Honey Cardamom Meringue Roulade with Mandarin Curd, there is billowy whipped cream kissed with honey and orange blossom water, dribbles of luscious mandarin curd, and fresh juicy mandarin segments. All of it gets rolled up snug as a bug inside a marshmallow-y duvet of cardamom-flavored meringue. More fresh fruit and a smattering of crunchy slivered almonds on top is the perfect touch for a beautiful presentation and for each perfect, textured bite.
Read moreApple and Tahini Frangipane Tart
Considering how much this Apple and Tahini Frangipane Tart blew my socks off, it has taken me too long to post the recipe here! Imagine the flavors and textures of these layers: shatteringly flaky puff pastry, creamy decadent frangipane, sweet apple slices and crunchy almonds. Altogether, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
Read moreVanilla Layer Cake with Peach-Passionfruit Curd { gluten-free }
Tender and rich. Gorrrgeous in a subtle and unpretentious way. Reliable, yet full of surprise. Ladies, I know it sounds like I’m describing the perfect man but what I’m talking about is even better (read: attainable, real, non-fictitious. Ha. Sorry fellas, I couldn't resist 😉). I’m talking about this cake: gluten-free vanilla cake layers with vanilla Swiss meringue buttercream hiding a luscious, peach-passionfruit curd inside. I’ve declared this Vanilla Layer Cake with Peach-Passionfruit Curd my favourite cake of all time! The recipe for the gluten-free vanilla cake itself is frankly, the only gf vanilla cake recipe you’ll ever need. But the show-stopper here is the peach-passionfruit curd which is simply sublime.
And both of my girls agree. Which is extra, extra important because I made this cake for Elise, for her 6th birthday. The flavour of her birthday cake to-be was the topic of many, many conversations leading up to the actual day. Six year olds take their birthdays very seriously (bless their sweet little hearts). We came up with this flavour together, the day we stumbled upon our beloved passionfruit on sale for half price at Whole Foods and each gleefully grabbed handfuls of them into our shopping cart. They are normally pricey little suckers probably on account of them being tropical, or at least subtropical, fruits that do not grow anywhere near us.
It’s also late summer, so there are loads of peaches on sale as well. Peaches and passionfruit are heavenly together so it is no surprise that this peach-passionfruit curd is to die for. Do try to make it before peach season is over. (And if the season is over, you can puree frozen peaches for the curd).
Remember when I said ‘tender and rich’? I was in fact referring to the gluten-free vanilla cake layers. I make it often as my go-to vanilla cake or cupcakes. Some say it tastes as good as, if not better than, a traditional version made with wheat flour. Yup. It’s really good. The egg (yolks), the butter, and the almond flour are to be credited for its lovely richness. Whipped egg whites folded into the batter at the last step to lighten it up, my trick for gluten-free bakes. This cake is similar to a pound cake in that it has a dense but moist crumb. Do take a moment to read the NOTES below, before starting, as they are there to help you.
NOTES:
Thick batter: The vanilla cake layers in this cake are rich and cakey, rather than light and fluffy. This is by design, as it is more similar to pound cake. The cake batter will seem very thick when spreading into cake pans but don’t worry, they will bake up just as it looks in the photos, with a moist and dense crumb.
Lightly sweet: The cake batter is intentionally sweetened with a light hand (i.e. not a lot of sugar) since it is part of a layer cake, surrounded by Swiss Meringue Buttercream which is very sweet. Together, they are a perfect bite.
Almond Flour: For baked goods, you should always use almond flour that is blanched (no brown bits / skin) and finely-ground. I use either Bob’s Red Mill Super Fine Blanched Almond Flour or JK Gourmet Very Fine Ground Almond Flour. I believe Costco also sells a reasonably priced fine almond flour under their Kirkland brand. (not sponsored)
Gluten-Free Flour: Each brand of gluten-free flour blend is not the same. Therefore, using different brands may yield different outcomes. I always use Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour because it is very accessible and available in most grocery stores. (not sponsored)
Make in Advance: The cake layers can be baked a day ahead, kept well-wrapped in a cool room or several days ahead but kept frozen (wrap well then frozen inside freezer bag) and defrosted overnight. The Swiss Meringue Buttercream can be made ahead and kept in a cool room for 3-4 days. The Peach-Passionfruit Curd can be stored in tightly-lidded container in the fridge for up to a week.
Tip for Swiss Meringue Buttercream: Make sure the butter is at a “cool” room temp of about 65f. If it curdles at any point, whip the mixture on high speed for as long as it takes to get it smooth again, anywhere from 5 to 10 minutes. Quickest way is to also aim a hairdryer perpendicularly at the mixing bowl as it whips. Works like a charm every single time.
Vanilla Layer Cake with Peach-Passionfruit Curd
Recipe makes one 3-layer 6” round cake (pictured in blog post) or one 2-layer 8” round cake.
INGREDIENTS
For the Peach-Passionfruit Curd (makes ~1 cup of curd; can be stored refrigerated in an air-tight container for up to a week):
2 large egg yolks (save egg whites to use in Swiss meringue buttercream – recipe below)
3 tbsp (45ml) honey or pure maple syrup
¼ C (60ml) pureed peach (from about 1 medium peach, de-skinned and pit removed)
1 tsp (10ml) fresh lemon juice
Pinch sea salt
3 tbsp (43g) unsalted butter (can substitute coconut oil or ghee)
Pulp from 2 fresh passionfruits (or about 2-3 tbsp of pulp)
For the Vanilla Swiss Meringue Buttercream (Makes ~3 cups which is just enough for naked cake look, as pictured in blog post. Double the recipe for traditional frosted cake. SMB can be made 3-4 days ahead and stored in a cool room. Extras can be frozen.):
3 large egg whites (90g)
¾ C (140g) granulated sugar
½ C + 2-3tbsp (80g) confectioner’s sugar, sifted
1 C + 2 tbsp (256g) unsalted butter, softened at room temperature 1-2 hrs or 65f
2 tsp vanilla bean paste or pure vanilla extract
Pinch sea salt
For the Gluten-Free Vanilla Cake Layers:
4 large eggs, separated
1 C (228g) unsalted butter, softened at room temperature 1-2 hrs or 65f
¾ C (140g) granulated sugar
1 1/3 C (130g) finely ground blanched almond flour (see headnotes)
2/3 C (90g) Bob's Red Mill Gluten-Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour (see headnotes)
2 tsp baking powder
Pinch sea salt
2 tsp vanilla bean paste or pure vanilla extract
Optional for garnish:
Additional peaches (sliced) and fresh passionfruits (halved)
METHOD
Prepare the Peach-Passionfruit Curd (can be stored in tight container refrigerated for up to 1 week): Heat and whisk all the curd ingredients, except the passionfruit pulp, in a small pot over low heat. Once the butter has completely melted, increase the heat to medium-low and cook 7-10 minutes or until tiny bubbles surface, all the while stirring frequently. Keep going until mixture is noticeably thickened, like thin yogurt. A thermometer should read 170f. Strain over a sieve into a bowl and stir in passionfruit pulp. The curd will thicken further as it cools, to the final pudding-like consistency of curd. Refrigerate if not using right away. Once fully cooled, check to make sure your curd is thick. If it is too thin, it may bleed through the cake layers or cause your cake layers to be less stable once stacked. Put the curd over a double-boiler again and repeat the process to cook further. Whisking in another egg yolk while you do this is also an option.
Prepare the Vanilla Swiss Meringue Buttercream (can be made 3-4 days ahead and stored in a cool room): Place both sugar and whites together in a large bowl. Over a double boiler, whisk sugar and egg whites, stirring and moving everything around constantly, until mixture reaches 115f [ update: mixture can heat up to as high as 160f ] or you can feel between your fingers that the sugar grains are completely dissolved. Pour mixture into the metal bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Whip on high speed until thick, glossy and white (very firm peaks), about 4 minutes. Meanwhile, sift confectioner's sugar. Once the egg whites are done, turn the stand mixer to the lowest speed and add the confectioner's sugar all at once. Let the whisk turn a few times to settle the sugar before increasing mixer speed to medium-high and whisking until everything is evenly incorporated. While the mixer is still running on medium-high, add the room temperature butter in 2-tbsp chunks at a time until all of it is incorporated. Add the vanilla bean paste or extract. Mix until thoroughly combined. Switch to the paddle attachment and blend on medium-low speed until the buttercream is nice and smooth, about a minute. Swiss meringue buttercream can be stored at room temperature for up to 4 days. Tip: if your Swiss meringue buttercream curdles at any point, whip the mixture on high speed for as long as it takes to get it smooth again, anywhere from 5 to 10 minutes. Quickest way is to also aim a hairdryer perpendicularly at the mixing bowl as it whips. Works like a charm every single time.
Prepare the Gluten-Free Vanilla Cake Layers: Preheat oven to 325f. Lightly grease and/or line with parchment paper, three 6” round cake pans (or two 8” round pans). Whisk the flours, baking powder and salt together and set aside. Place the butter and sugar in the mixing bowl of a stand mixer, and cream them at medium speed for 5 minutes or until light and fluffy. Separate the eggs. Add the yolks and vanilla to the butter-sugar mixture and beat a minute more. Add the flour mixture all at once and beat on low until just mixed. Transfer batter to new bowl and clean the stand mixer bowl very thoroughly with soap and wipe dry. Whip egg whites to soft peaks. Fold whites into cake batter. Divide batter evenly amongst prepared cake pans. If you are making three 6” cakes, bake them for 25-30 minutes, or until a skewer pierced into the middle emerges clean with just a crumb or two. If you are bake two 8” cakes, bake for 50-60 minutes or until a skewer emerges clean with just a crumb or two. Since ovens vary widely, it is always a good idea to check doneness earlier to ensure cake does not over-bake. Over-baking will surely result in dry cake. Cool cakes in their pans for 5 minutes on a wire rack, then remove the cakes and cool fully. Make sure cakes are fully cooled before frosting.
Assemble the Cake: Scoop some of the buttercream into a piping bag and snip off the end for ¾” opening – you just need to eyeball enough to pipe rings around the edge of the inside layer(s) to encircle the curd. Place bottom cake layer on your cake stand or serving plate. Scoop about ½ cup of buttercream for 6” cake (more for 8” cake) and spread evenly with spatula. Pipe a ring of buttercream around the edge. Fill center of the ring with fully cooled peach-passionfruit curd, about ¼ cup for a 6” cake layer, more for 8”. Place next cake layer on top, upside down so the flat bottom is facing upward. Repeat one more time for a three-layered cake, placing final cake layer upside down again so the flat cake bottom is facing upward. Frost top and outside of cake with a thin layer of buttercream, filling in the outside in between the layers as needed and smoothing the buttercream with a spatula or icing smoother. This is the crumb coat. Refrigerate 15 minutes. Frost entire cake with remaining buttercream, this time taking more care for a smooth finish. Garnish the cake with fresh peaches, fresh passionfruit curd and flowers or petals if you like. I used Dahlias.
If you like this recipe, pin it to Pinterest. You can also leave me a comment below to let me know what you think of this post - I would love that!
Gluten-Free Carrot Cake
You may have noticed my love affair with cake. I’m not too selective when it comes to flavour. I have no prejudices and have enough love (and sweet tooth) in me to love them all! Unless they are excessively sweet. If you’ve baked any of my cake or loaf recipes, you may have noticed that my palate prefers just-sweet-enough desserts that don’t ache my teeth or leaves me feeling ill after eating it. Carrot cakes, in particular, seem to be guilty of being cloyingly sweet. Is it the sweetness of the carrots? The cream cheese frosting? Perhaps both. In any case, if you love carrot cakes, you will love this perfectly sweet, perfectly moist, slightly better-for-you Gluten Free Carrot Cake with an amazing tangy, “no-cream-cheese” frosting that might blow your mind like it did mine.
Read moreTahini Cake with Berries { gluten-free }
I’ve baked enough gluten-free cakes to confidently say that despite its bad rap, gluten-free cakes need not to be dry or dense or sandy in texture. They can be moist, light and often times in my opinion, more flavourful than wheat flour cakes depending on the ingredients used. In this case, I use a mix of almond flour (see - flavour boost right there) and gluten-free flour blend. Egg yolks provide richness and egg whites (whipped) provide airiness to lighten the denser nature of gluten-free flours.
Read morePeppermint Chocolate Mousse with Peppermint Meringue Kisses { dairy-free, vegan, egg-free, refined sugar-free }
SPOILER ALERT: This dairy-free and vegan chocolate mousse involves NO tofu, NO avocado, NO aquafaba and NO praying that the coconut cream will whip up properly. It is luxuriously rich with that dreamy fluffiness of traditional mousse. It is SUBLIME.
When I set out to make a dairy-free and vegan chocolate mousse, I deep-dived Google and Pinterest and came across a multitude of recipes using one of the four aforementioned ingredients: avocado, silken tofu, aquafaba (brine from canned chickpeas) and whipped up coconut cream. But I really, really wanted to create a version that steered clear of all of them. I wanted a recipe that uses more conventional dessert ingredients AND a fool-proof method, while still achieving a mousse that delivers the same intense chocolate flavor with a billowy texture that slightly melts on the tongue. No compromise.
Read moreBlueberry Swirl Meringue Cookies from Oh Sweet Day! Cookbook { gluten-free, Grain-Free, dairy-free }
When talented baker, mama, and fellow Canadian blogger Fanny sent me a copy of her new debut cookbook Oh Sweet Day! A Celebration Cookbook of Edible Gifts, Party Treats and Festive Desserts to review, I could not have been more delighted! Fanny and I have been following each other on Instagram for a few years. Her IG posts torture me (in the best way hehe) with elegantly executed desserts that inevitably awaken the dessert monster inside me! So much so, I have already made two of Fanny’s recipes, not including this delectable meringue treat (which we will get to in a beat, I promise). One such recipe was her Pecan Lemon Cream Cheese Cookies which was published in the 2017 Holiday issue of the Bake From Scratch Cookie Magazine, an issue full of featured recipes from a handful of the most elite baking bloggers. I made the Pecan Lemon Cream Cheese Cookies to include in my annual holiday cookie boxes for giving away, and hers turned out to be my personal favorite (by far) of the season. I was tempted to keep them all for myself.
Read moreSpiced Apple Almond Cake { gluten-free }
This cake is studded throughout with bits of soft apples and flavored with cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom and allspice - aka all the distinctive notes of Fall. Moreover, it has such a wonderfully light and tender crumb! As someone who bakes gluten-free regularly, texture is a major measure of success. And everyone who had a piece of this cake said it didn’t taste like a gluten-free cake at all. Woot! It always feels like a bit of wizardry to get results as good as, or even better, than conventional cakes made with all-purpose flour. Even for people who are not gluten-sensitive, this cake is a win-win because it is lower in carbs and higher in nutrition (especially protein) than cakes made with all-purpose flour. I think everyone will enjoy it. Let me know if you agree!
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