Cake and Ice Cream

What a classic combination!
Seriously - everything is better, a la mode! I can just see it now...prime rib with a scoop of horseradish/butter frozen souffle...mmmmm... I bet that would taste amazing. Just imagine gently gliding that scoop of condiment over a hot slice of beef, watching the frozen quenelle slowly meeting (or meating, hee hee) it's fate as it sinks into every tender, pink-red pore.

But let's go back to the sweet side of this combination.

I spent a few days in la belle province last fall and partook in a cooking class, en francais! We made a potage, veal steaks with mashed potatoes and a delicious apple cake soaked in syrup. Maple syrup. You all know how I feel about maple, right? Hahaha - this cake didn't disappoint! Small individual ramekins filled with apple-flavoured cake soaked in a deadly maple syrup. Served warm. With a scoop of ice cream. Nothing better on a cold day.

I bring to you, "Renverse de pommes rouges a l'erable" (accent markings missing on a few of the letters, my apologies) from Ateliers et Saveurs. If you're in Vieux Montreal, I highly recommend a visit!

100g salted butter
100g sugar
100g flour
50g almond meal/finely ground almonds
10g baking powder
2 eggs
1 apple, diced in small cubes
2 tablespoons applesauce

250ml (1 cup) water
100g sugar
25ml maple syrup

Preheat your oven to 400F

In a mixer, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add one egg at a time, followed by the applesauce and then the dry ingredients.
Gently fold in the apples.

Divide the batter among ramekins - I use about 8, but they specified 4.
Bake until golden and a tester comes out clean, about 20-25 min.
(the recipe 'says' 8-10 min, but it took A LOT longer, and during the class, I could tell it took much longer than 8-10 minutes)

To prepare the syrup:
In a saucepan - heat the water, syrup, and sugar until the sugar has dissolved and the syrup has reduced a bit (I couldn't tell what the recipe said, I let it boil for a solid 15 min or so).

CAREFULLY ladle syrup over the cakes. If you're having difficulties getting the syrup to 'soak' right away, take a skewer and pierce a few holes to get it started.



Serve warm with a generous scoop of ice cream.
(in this case, a scoop of lemon thyme ice cream)

Sandwich Saturday

I had a really mellow this weekend. It helped that the weather in this corner of the world was spectacular - a beautiful spring break. The sun was shining, but it was still rather cool and I wore a vest over my sweatshirt while wandering around my neighborhood. One perk that results from the seasonal change is the different types of produce available. Hooray for fruit! I scored some Alphonso mangoes for a pretty decent price - I've been having one every morning for the last week or so and I get quite a few envious looks around the workplace watercooler as I prepare my breakfast. It's such a fantastic way to star the day and they are so easy to eat! I was also tempted to buy a bunch of well-priced asparagus, but...err...wasn't too keen on the after-effects of eating asparagus. I am definitely a part of the population that suffers from that peculiar side effect of eating asparagus. Too bad, because I really like asparagus!

Anyway, getting back to the topic at hand - I was digging around my fridge and trying to find something to eat for a post-gym snack. I had leftover chicken and scallions = chicken salad it is!
Note: I love onions. Seriously - if they didn't cause such stinky breath I would eat onions ALL DAY. I can never leave a grocery store without grabbing a bunch of scallions.

Here is my rough recipe for chicken salad:

Take a medium bowl and mix together = chopped up chicken (breast, leg, whatever), scallions (I put three, for the more moderate - maybe just one, hee hee), 1 rib of celery finely chopped, 1/2 cup mayonnaise, 2 cloves of pressed garlic (passed through a garlic press), salt and pepper to taste. Mix well - add more mayonnaise if you prefer. I would also recommend 1/2 an avocado finely chopped.

I was thinking up of sandwich pairings and like ice cream, the possibilities are endless! It really depends on your taste. For this spring day, I chose sliced apples, avocado, and lettuce. The apples added a beautiful crunch and sweetness to each bite and I would highly recommend it! The next day, I did Laughing Cow cheese, apples, and toasted almond slices on top of baguette.

Oh yeah. A spoon can dream. And make it into reality! Unfortunately, I was too hungry to take snaps of the baguette-wich, so you'll have to make do with the Saturday meal. And yes, my sandwich is held together by generic "whole wheat" bread. Others have vices like Twinkies or french fries - mine? Dirty, generic, not-enriched bread.

It goes without saying that I can't wait for summer - BBQ time!

Maple Apple Mini Cakes

I'm a child of the fall. This is the figurative and literal sense. I was born in the fall, and I am drawn to the scents, sights, sounds, and smells of the autumn as well. The theme for my 'dream' wedding would be fall-themed as well: multi-coloured maple leaves carefully and thoughtfully strewn on tables, centrepieces featuring ruby red apples and for the main dish - a family-sized portion of coq au vin or beef stew. And maple. The smell of maple syrup would be wafted through the warmly lit reception hall and it would be put on every table as a gravy-style condiment.

It is no wonder that even in the heat of summer, I was inspired to make these cinnamon-sugar coated maple apple cakes (c/o Donna Hay). In retrospect, I would have added some toasted pecans to that delicious mess - perhaps topped each mini-cake with one? And I would have upped the amount of maple syrup for sure. There's definitely a trick to coating these babies - when they say, "coat while warm" - seriously, coat while warm. Frantically pressing cinnamon-sugar on lukewarm cakes = not fun. But eating these cakes = very fun! And delicious!

Cinnamon-Sugar Coated Maple Apple Cakes

2 1/2 cups self-rising cake flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
250g butter, melted
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup maple syrup
4 eggs
6 red apples, grated
2 teaspoons cinnamon + 1 cup sugar

Preheat oven to 350F.

Stir together flour and cinnamon.
Add butter, brown sugar, maple syrup, eggs and apples and mix until combined.
Spoon into tins and bake about 27 minutes (mine took about 15-20 min in mini-muffin tins).

Toss together cinnamon and sugar for coating, and coat cakes while warm.

Obviously the original instructions were much more details than above - but this was my summary of the steps - and it really is that easy!