Family Bites

Pumpkin Spice Bundt Cake with Maple Glaze

This was supposed to be a blog post about molasses oatmeal rye rolls, but instead you're getting a recipe for a pumpkin spice bundt cake with maple glaze. It couldn't be easier to make, is just as suitable on a holiday dessert table as it is served for weekend tea, and is both classic and completely comforting. I dare say we’ve never needed comfort food more than we have in the past four weeks, and at a time that’s filled with plenty of challenging days, the silver lining is that this is the right season for such meals.

Rob’s dad has been in the ICU for 31 days, and while he’s made several steps forward in the right direction, there have also been a few setbacks that left us wondering what the next day would bring. We honestly weren't sure which direction things were going to go, and while we've tried to keep some sense of normalcy at home for the past month for the kids, with daily trips to the hospital and the heavy hearts we were carrying, it’s certainly hasn't been easy.

I put a system in place over the past few weeks to make getting meals on the table a little easier. I relied on my slow cooker a lot. I picked a recipe that would yield enough food for dinner as well as the next day’s lunches – ideally something that will feed about 10 -  and used that to keep us nourished throughout the week. On Fridays – three of the past four have been real doozies, the kind that bring urgent phone calls from the hospital – we crashed on the sofa at 9pm with a bottle of red wine, a bag of chips and some store-bought guacamole. Fortunately, the boys are often out with friends this night so we don’t need to worry about feeding them and Matthew is generally happy with scrambled eggs, toast and a smoothie.

On Saturdays, we plan for pizza. If I’m around during the day I make it, thankful for the distracting task of lining rimmed sheet pans with rolled balls of homemade or bakery-bought dough, ensuring there’s enough to feed anyone who’s been at the hospital that afternoon. If I’m also at the hospital, we grab a few pizzas on the way home.

We’ve made a point to be home on Sundays and have been cooking a big meal with and for the boys. Pasta with Bolognese, salad and bread; aromatic curies; beef stroganoff and homemade rolls. And while we've tried to commit to eating healthier in the weeks leading up to Christmas, there's also been cake. Specifically this simple bundt cake that first appeared at Thanksgiving for the pie-haters in the crowd, and is now a staple fall dessert in our house.

I know half the world seems to have their holiday decorations in place already, but we're a little behind on life these days, so I'm still eating like it's fall. We’re not sure what the next few days, weeks or months will bring, but keeping everyone well fed remains top of mind, especially those incredible ICU nurses. Matthew and I have big plans to bake a few batches of cookies this week in attempt to say thank you for taking care of Poppa.

Pumpkin Spice Bundt Cake with Maple Glaze

Serves 10 to 12

For cake:

• 2 1/2 cups cane or granulated sugar
• 1 cup canola oil
• 3 large eggs
• 3 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for pan
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 3/4 cups pumpkin purée

For glaze:

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup pure maple syrup 

 

1. Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat oven 350°F. Generously grease and flour a 10-inch bundt pan; set aside.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together sugar and oil until blended. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

3. In a second bowl, combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and cinnamon; add to egg mixture alternately with pumpkin, and beating well after each addition.

4. Scrape batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 60 to 65 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.

5. While the cake is baking, prepare the glaze by beat glaze ingredients with a whisk until smooth. Add more powdered sugar or maple syrup, if necessary, for desired consistency. 

6. Remove cake from oven and cool for 10 minutes before inverting onto a wire rack. Remove pan and cool completely. Place cooled cake on a serving platter or cake stand and spoon glaze over top, letting it drip down sides. Let glaze set at least 15 minutes before serving.

All the Sweet Things

I met Renée Kohlman at the first Food Bloggers of Canada conference back in 2013. I was immediately charmed by her down-to-earth demeanour and Prairie accent, and I like to think we hit it off immediately. Several Skype sessions and a few hundred emails later, she shared the news that she was writing a cookbook with Touchwood Editions, a British Columbia-based publisher, and I couldn’t have been more thrilled for her.

All the Sweet Things, Renée’s debut cookbook, is in fact very, very sweet. In short, I really adore it. Packed full of beautiful photos she took with her iPhone (!!!), recipes that are as charming as they are delicious, and captivating stories that literally force you to curl up with a cup of tea and blanket because you don't want to put the book down, it’s a hefty tome, boasting 60 brand new recipes and 40 favourites from her beloved blog. Now that I've spent a month with it, I have no doubt you'll struggle with deciding which of those 100 recipes to start with because each one looks more appetizing than the last.

My favourite thing about the book are the recipe headnotes. Esteemed food writer Ruth Reichl once said, “Recipe headers are the heart of the cookbook – stories within their own right” and Renee’s certainly heeds that advice, whether she knows it or not. As you read each one it really feels like she’s right there in the kitchen with you, guiding you through her recipes with practical pep talks and a private tête-à-tête.  

No-Bake Chocolate Espresso Pots de Créme

I’ve been logging a lot of hours in the kitchen lately, and Matthew is usually in there with me, ready to help whisk a bowl of pancake batter, press the buttons to blend a smoothie or stir something in our big red pot, one of his favourite tasks. He has no fear when he enters the room, and doesn’t hesitate to swipe a knife off the counter or stand this close to the stove where a large Dutch oven sits gurgling full of hot liquid. I try to encourage his curiosity, but dang it if he isn’t immediately drawn to the most dangerous tools of the trade.

My solution is to encourage him to make a mess instead. His attention is immediately diverted from that which can harm him if he can a) play with flour and oats and rice and other random dry ingredients or b) use a machine that makes a lot of noise. He used to love to work the food processor – also a safety hazard if one isn’t careful – but now he’s completely captivated by our new blender, and quite frankly so am I.

Funfetti Biscotti

Matthew turned two on Sunday. Can you believe this sweet little baby is now a curly-haired, chatty toddler? He brings our household so much joy, and to quote my friend Tess, “ He’s like Christmas morning every day!” Unfortunately, this particular version of Christmas still starts around 4 a.m. each morning (every. dang. day.), but it’s pretty hard not to be charmed by his early morning antics, which include making pancakes with Dad, doling out treats to the dog, and watching the first 20 minutes of Shrek on repeat.

We love having him around and despite the behaviours that prove he is indeed a two-year-old, I simply can’t imagine my days without him. It makes me miss the toddler versions of Ben and Jackson fiercely, and I am profoundly aware of how very short these years are as I sit with a diaper-clad son on one side of me, and a University-bound one on the other.

Chewy Chocolate Molasses Cookies

‘Tis the season for cookies, clementines, hot chocolate and pomegranates. Eat, and repeat. Like my Christmas decorations, every part of my merry making this year has been pared down to the very basic and most essential, and I can honestly say I’m enjoying the lead up to the holidays far more than any other year.

In place of vibrant holiday decorations, I’ve decked my halls with candles, fairy lights, greenery and a Christmas tree that’s sporting nothing more than white lights and oven-dried orange slices. My minimalist approach is mostly due to my curious, climbing toddler, but it’s also a reflection of my obsession with all things hygge (you can read more about it and this Danish word over on SavvyMom).

No-Bake S'mores Squares

It’s hard to know who enjoys 2016’s contribution to my growing list of s’mores-flavoured snacks more: the adults or the kids.

I made these for SavvyMom this month, and here’s what I had to say about this bakery-style square: “These oversized squares are for eaters of all ages, but we can confirm that it’s usually the adults who swoon at the sight of these s’mores flavoured summer treats. Made in less than 30 minutes with just five ingredients, you won’t find a simpler sweet to make this season. While easy to pack up for a picnic or potluck party, we like the idea of serving them after dinner for a crowd-pleasing dessert the whole gang will fawn over.”

I stand by what I said, of course, and hope you’ll give them a try; I really don’t think you’ll be disappointed! You can find the recipe here, if you’re interested.

P.S. Curious about the previous s’mores-inspired sweets shared on the blog? Here’s a look at what we made in 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010)!

A Build-Your-Own Ice Cream Sandwich Bar

June. How are you surviving it? I know you don't need me to tell you it's a happy yet hectic few weeks, mixed with a little heartbreak, especially for those of us with kids moving on and moving up this month. Jackson graduated from grade eight last Friday night, and after more than a decade the doors are closing on our elementary school experience. Only for now, of course, because in three years we'll be sending our little one off to Kindergarten, and then we'll get to do the whole thing all over again. Oh, my heart.

To celebrate the special occasion we threw a big backyard party on Saturday night and invited our Sunday Supper crew for dinner. As I hinted at in my newsletter, I made nothing but large platter salads and filled the buffet table with the following: Cobb salad, chicken Caesar salad, Orzo salad with shrimp, taco salad, and chopped Italian salad with salami, chickpeas, provolone, and pepperoncini peppers. There were also various salad dressings, fresh bread and tortilla chips to round out the menu, and I made a dozen hot dogs for the little kids and served them with a platter of watermelon sticks. Once they caught wind of my all-salad menu I spent the pre-dinner hours dodging a few side-eyes being thrown in my direction, so I'm glad I had a plan B in place for them. 

While dinner may have lacked some excitement for the kids, my dessert more than made up for it. Two of my nieces spent part of the night arguing over who would get to help me in the kitchen the most, and my food-phobic nephew was third in line for what's sure to be the best dessert I'll make this summer: a build-your-own ice cream sandwich bar. When I walked into the backyard carrying a basket of 48 oversized cookies, four litres of ice cream, and aluminum pie plates loaded with sprinkles, mini chocolate chips, and chopped Skor bars you can be sure I had everyone's attention. 

The how-to for something like this is simple, and it starts with filling your freezer with several dozen cookie dough balls. For those interested, I made chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin, peanut butter chocolate chip, and sprinkle cookies, all of which are decidedly kid-friendly and my own boys' personal favourites. I did this a few days in advance and on Saturday morning, I baked off four dozen so they were fresh for when we needed them. I lined a large wicker basket with the cookies, going heavy on the sprinkled variety as I knew they would be popular with the young ones, and set out ice cream scoops, ice cream, and the candy-covered pie plates, which were just large enough to allow for rolling the edges of the cookie into a sweet coating that added some nice crunchiness to the sandwich. It was awesome, and most of the adults joined in on the fun, too. After all, who doesn't like an ice cream sandwich? 

A Build-Your-Own Ice Cream Sandwich Bar

Serves as many as desired

• Homemade cookies (2 per sandwich)
• Assorted ice creams
• Coatings for rolling and covering the side of the cookies (i.e. sprinkles, mini chocolate chips, Skor bits, cookie crumbs, etc.)

1. Fill your freezer with frozen cookie dough balls up to one month in advance of your party (you can freeze almost any drop cookie in its raw state).

2. On the day you want to serve the cookies, baked off as many as needed and allow them to cool completely before serving.

3. Remove ice cream from freezer and thaw for 5-10 minutes so it softens slightly.

4. Fill pie plates or another shallow plate with assorted coverings.

5. To make a sandwich, lay two cookies bottom sides up on a plate. Place a scoop of ice cream on one cookie and sandwich it with the second cookie placing it bottom side down on the ice cream. Roll the sides of the sandwich in the desired candy to cover the exposed ice cream. Eat and enjoy. 

Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies

These cookies have been made, baked, and eaten no less than ten times in the past two months in our house. Here are five things we really love about them:

1. They are made solely with whole wheat flour. I get these are still cookies that contain butter, sugar and chocolate, but somehow I feel a little more virtuous handing them out to the kids because the whole grain game is pretty strong here. Also, I like the nutty flavour it adds to the taste, so there’s that, too.

2. They can be made with cold butter! If like me, you often forget to bring your butter to room temperature before you decide to bake a batch of cookies, this is the recipe for you.

3. I’ve reduced the sugar by twenty-five percent and they still taste amazing.

4. The next month is almost always a busy one for parents everywhere. These cookies can be your contribution to any potlucks or picnics you’re invited to, they can be sold at a bake sale, taken to a class party, passed around post-soccer or baseball practice, and/or packaged up in a clear cello bag for a tasty teacher’s gift.

5. They make really great ice cream sandwiches.

Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies

Adapted from Kim Boyce via Genius Recipes.

Makes 20-24 cookies

• 3 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 cup cold butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 1 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1/2 cup evaporated cane or granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cup chocolate chips

1. Place oven racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat to 350°F. Line two large rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

2. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a mixing bowl and set aside.

3. Place the butter and sugars in the bowl of an electric mixer and cream together on the lowest speed just until blended, about 2 minutes. Add the eggs, one at time, mixing well between each addition.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl, add the vanilla and mix. 

4. Slowly add in the flour mixture, blending until just combined. Remove the bowl from the mixer, pour in the chocolate chips, and stir with a spatula. 

5. Scoop mounds of dough (about 3 tbsp. worth - I use this cookie scoop to portion) onto the prepared cookie sheets, leaving 2-3 inches between them.

6. Bake for 16 (soft cookies) to 18 (crisp cookies) minutes. Remove from the oven and transfer to the counter to cool on the baking sheet. Cookies are best eaten warm or later the same day, but will hold up in an airtight container for up to 3 days. 

Greek Yogurt Pizza Dough

I’m popping in early this week to let you know about the pizza dough that has completely transformed a few of my recent meals. It’s not a new method, or a new recipe for that matter, but it wasn’t familiar to me when I came across it, and I’ve made three pizzas in four days just to prove to myself that it is in fact as good as I think it is.

It’s supposed to be a two ingredient pizza dough, but since I don’t keep self-rising flour on hand, it’s actually a four-ingredient recipe in my house. Since two of those are salt and baking powder, I think we can agree that this still qualifies as one of the most succinct recipes you’ll ever make. Are you ready? Here goes: to make a 12x14-inch pizza dough you’ll need: 2 ¼ teaspoons baking powder + ¾ teaspoons fine sea salt +1½ cups all-purpose flour + 1 cup Greek yogurt. That’s it.

Can you believe it? I doubt it because when I first read about it I couldn’t either. The fact that flour plus yogurt could equal pizza dough was hard for me to imagine, but it totally does. In fact, it makes a mighty fine pizza dough that doesn’t require any rising time and can be mixed, rolled and ready for toppings in the time it takes your oven to preheat. I bake mine at 500°F for 12 minutes, which results in a crisp bottom crust topped with golden melted mozzarella cheese.

I hope you give it a go. I’ve tried it with two different brands of Greek yogurt just to be sure it wasn’t beginners luck the first time I made it, and I can say for certain this pizza dough really does work. While I won’t let it always replace the yeasted variations we’ve come to love, I do think this version has a permanent place in my recipe repertoire for those nights and mornings when pizza is the answer to the last-minute question “what’s for dinner/lunch?” today.

Greek Yogurt Pizza Dough

• 2¼ teaspoons baking powder

• ¾ teaspoons fine sea salt

• 1½ cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting

• 1 cup plain Greek yogurt

1. Preheat oven to 500°F and oil a large rimmed baking sheet.

2. Place the baking powder and salt in a 1-cup dry measure. Add enough all-purpose flour to measure one cup, and dump into a medium mixing bowl. Add an additional 1/2 cup all-purpose flour and whisk well to combine.

3. Add Greek yogurt and mix together with a rubber spatula. Transfer the dough to a flour-dusted work surface, and knead the dough for 5 minutes, or until smooth to the touch. It shouldn't be sticky at all, so add more flour as needed.

4. Using a floured rolling pin, roll the dough into a 12x14-inch rectangle and transfer to the prepared baking sheet.

5. Cover pizza dough with desired toppings and bake for 12 minutes. Let cool for 1 minute before cutting.

Sweet and Salty Whole Wheat Blondies

The above picture looks cute, I’m sure. Three hands – one of which is barely big enough to hold an egg – reaching across the coffee table to grab a just-cut, freshly baked blondie that finished cooling on the countertop only moments before. In reality, the older brothers are mocking the youngest one, whose pudgy fingers find their way into all of my food photos these days, because I have exactly two seconds to take a snap before he tries devour whatever he finds on the plate.

It’s adorable, without a doubt, but equally as frustrating. I try to plan my photo sessions around naptimes, but since those are few and far between these days (and always have been), my 13-month-old assistant is around for most of my working hours. The writing part of my work I try to reserve for a booth at Starbucks one night a week, or, more frequently, the front seat of my vehicle. Jerry Seinfeld may be a comedian in a car getting coffee, but Jan Scott is a writer in a mini van with a hot chocolate and a sleeping toddler. My non-napper will almost always sleep in the car, so sometimes we drive until he dozes off and then I park somewhere with a nice view, or where I can access some Wi-Fi, haul out my laptop, and write in the car while it’s quiet. Did you ever think working from home could be so glamorous?

When we aren’t hauling around the travelling workbag, we spend most of our mornings in the kitchen coming up with new recipes, like this sweet and salty whole-wheat blondie. There’s something so satisfying about sinking your teeth into a traditional brownie, but the sugar and fat content are admittedly a little higher than I like for an everyday snack. Since the big boys can scarf down half a pan in one sitting, I try to make treats like these a little healthier when I can. In this recipe, I’ve swapped whole-wheat flour for the all-purpose kind, and reduced the sugar and butter by roughly forty percent. The result is a not-too-sweet afternoon treat that everyone, toddler included, wants in on.

Sweet and Salty Whole Wheat Blondies

Makes 24

• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup pure maple syrup
• 2 tablespoons liquid honey
• 2 eggs
• 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup mini chocolate chips
• 3/4 cup chopped pretzel sticks
• Optional: Maldon sea salt, for sprinkling

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly spray a 9x13-inch baking pan with nonstick spray and line with a piece of parchment paper.

2. In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder and salt. In a second bowl, combine the butter, brown sugar, maple syrup and honey. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix well. 

3. Add the wet ingredients to the flour mixture and stir until almost combined. Add the chocolate chips and pretzel pieces and mix until just blended.

4. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan, spreading it evenly with a spatula. Sprinkle with a little sea salt, if using. Bake for 18-22 minutes, or until the centre is soft but barely set. It will firm up as it cools. Once completely cooled, cut into 24 squares.