Frozen Lemon Dessert

This is by far the most refreshing summer dessert! Probably one of my favourites! You may remember my Passover Lemon Dessert, a variation of this one, but not quite as good! This lemony, frozen dessert is such a crowd pleaser.

Here are the ingredients you will need.

For the base and topping:

-1/8 lb. butter

-1 cup brown sugar

-3 cups hand crushed Corn Flakes

For the frozen center:

-6 eggs separated

-1 cup white sugar

-1/2 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice (2 lemons)

-1 large container of Cool Whip melted (left out for about an hour)

To make the base and the topping...

1. Melt butter over low heat.  Add brown sugar. 

2. Mix until melted butter has combined with brown sugar.

3. Add crushed cornflake crumbs and combine with sugar mixture. Spread on foil lined cookie sheet to cool.

4. Cover the bottom of a spring form pan with half of the crumb mixture. Press firmly into bottom of pan. Set aside. Reserve the other half of crumb mixture for the topping.

To make the filling...

Beat egg whites with paddle attachment in a stand mixer until foamy.  Add white sugar until stiff.

Beat egg yolks in a small bowl. Add to egg whites. Add lemon juice and Cool Whip alternately. Fold in. Mix well.

Pour filling into a spring form pan.

Sprinkle remaining crumbs on top. Put in freezer overnight. When ready to serve, use a knife to cut around the circumference of the cake before removing the edge of the spring form pan. Remove the edge of the spring form pan and present on a cake stand/plate with a lip to avoid dripping. Enjoy! 

Cookies and More for my Sister's Bridal Shower

We made a bridal shower for my sister a couple of months ago!  (By "we," I mean her bridesmaids and me). You may remember some of the goodies that I made for her last year when she announced her engagement. To make this blog post extra unique, aside from the cookies I made, (with the help of a few of her bridesmaids), I also posted some of the other beautiful desserts made by her very creative friends.

I used a new bridal gown cookie cutter for the cookies above as well as a wedding cake cutter for the wedding cake cookies and decorated them with my sister's friend Jolene.  

A quick lesson on how to easily jazz up these cake cookies and create a feathered look. Pipe and flood one cookie at a time. Immediately pipe alternate colours in horizontal lines on the same cookie.

Drag a toothpick vertically, (perpendicular to the horizontal lines) up and down in opposite directions on the wet flood and let dry overnight. 

Package in cellophane bags.

Tie with a pretty ribbon.

If desired, add labels to the back of the packaged cookies.

Arrange on little tables at the entry/exit as a loot bag for guests.

Watch how happy the bride-to-be is when she notices the treats! 

Take a cute picture of the bride-to-be with a cookie!

Now onto the more creative desserts made by my sister's friends.

I just loved these chocolate covered pretzels made by my sister's friend Shawna. She used Wilton candy melts, (the same chocolate used to make cake pops) and garnished them with sprinkles, drizzled chocolate and mini chocolate chips.

I ordered a candy sushi platter from Sweet Sushi by Jessica. I have also made candy sushi before. Check out the candy sushi that I made with Riley to learn how to make it yourself! 

Adrienne's friend Jessica made these adorable cupcakes topped with fondant flowers.

My friend Adrienne did me a huge favour by making her delicious apple tart!  This was a hit!

And...Saving the best for last...my sister's bridesmaid Jen makes gorgeous cakes (as a hobby)!  I love what she did for this cake....and yes, the number of dresses is equivalent to the number of bridesmaids my sister will have! You may remember me mention her talent in the bridal shower cake post that she made for my shower a few years ago!

Mazel tov Agie!

We are all very excited for the stagette...and then the wedding!

Flourless Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Espresso Glaze

I can't take credit for this mouth-watering, perfectly baked flourless chocolate cake.  But, if you are a chocolate lover, like my cousin Naomi, she made this delicious dessert especially for your taste buds!

Doesn't it look professional?!

To make this deliciousness, Naomi combined two recipes. She used Laura Calder's recipe from the Food Network for the cake part and a different recipe for the glaze.

Follow this link to see a video of how to make the cake part of this dessert as well as all of the ingredients you will need.

*N.B.The only difference was that Naomi substituted the butter for margarine.



To make the Chocolate Espresso Glaze, she used a recipe from Canadaianliving.com

Chocolate Espresso Glaze

-4 ounces bittersweet chocolate chopped

-1/4 cup parve (non dairy) margarine or unsalted butter

-1/4 cup hot water 

-1/4 tsp instant espresso powder

In heatproof bowl over saucepan of hot (not boiling) water, stir together chocolate, margarine, water and espresso powder until smooth. Pour over centre of cake; spread to within 1 inch (2.5 cm) of edge. Refrigerate until set, about 1 hour. (Make-ahead: Cover loosely and refrigerate for up to 24 hours.)

Enjoy!



On a side note...this is a wonderful cake for any time of year, but works especially well for Passover since there is no flour in the ingredients!

Delicious Passover Desserts that your Family will LOVE!

Matza Crunch

I just made a fresh batch of matza crunch!  How can anyone deprive themselves of sweet and gooey caramel covered matza with chocolate drizzle?  It's a simple recipe that you can make.  The worst part about it....the clean up.  Click on this link for a detailed matza crunch tutorial.

Frozen Lemon Dessert

Another dessert that I made last year was a frozen lemon cake.  Click here for a tutorial on how to impress your guests with a light lemony frozen dessert that you would never even know was kosher for Passover!

Sponge Cake

I'm sure that your mother or grandmother has their favourite sponge cake recipe that rises sky high when baked without any egg yolks. I still can't get it right! But, when my aunt showed me how to do it, (she has perfected this cake) her recipe and the moistness of her cake was delicious. Click here for a detailed tutorial on how to make my Auntie Helen's Sponge Cake.

Cheesecake Squares

If you are a cheesecake lover, like my husband and I, I improvised and made this version of cheesecake squares last year.  Since lemon is a staple in Passover desserts, this is yet another recipe that includes it!  But, why not change it up by omitting the lemon and adding chocolate? 

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Attention all of you mommy's with kiddies...Ryan absolutely loved mixing up the batter for these kosher for Passover chocolate chip cookies we made together last year. This is an easy recipe to make with the kids over the weekend and believe it or not, these cookies are actually delicious!

Meringues

For those of you with a sweet tooth, (like me), meringues are always a sweet treat that are simple to make.  If you have a piping bag and a star tip, they look really pretty, especially if you add a little food color to brighten them up.  They taste just as yummy when the fluffy egg white mixture is spooned onto a cookie sheet and baked!

Wishing you and your families a SWEET Passover!

St Patrick's Day Cookies

What do you do on St. Patrick's Day?

Do you drink green beer? 

How about eat green cookies?

These shamrock cookies are simple to make and are super cute for any St. Patty's Day get together.

 

To make these cookies, follow my favourite sugar cookie recipe. Use the cookie cutter seen below which can be purchased at Crate and Barrel.

This cookie cutter is quite large so make sure you make enough dough for the number of cookies you wish to have.  I made about 25 cookies by doubling the recipe.

While the cookies are cooling, prepare the royal icing.

I used Kelly Green and Rose to add color to the cookies.

Pipe...

...then flood.

Letting the cookies dry overnight is typically what I do before adding a message on top.

Since these cookies were ordered for a bridal shower, the name of the couple was written on top of each cookie.

I used Clear Drop Flat bags that I purchased at Creative Bag to package each cookie.

Congrats Jaimie and Adrian.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Upside Down Swiss Roll Ice Cream Cake

This may be the easiest dessert that I have ever made! But it wasn't my idea.  My aunt made it for dessert years ago and when I passed by the swiss rolls at the grocery store it reminded me of this recipe. Since she didn't remember how she made it, I made up my own steps.

Warning: ANYONE can make this ice cream cake! YES, EVEN YOU!

This recipe only calls for 2 ingredients:

-1 box of Swiss Rolls 

-1 litre of melted ice cream  (I chose Chocolate Ripple.)

The other items  you will need are:

-a large bowl

-plastic wrap

-a bread knife

-a spatula

-non stick spray

Line up 3-4 swiss rolls on a cutting board.

Using a bread knife, cut into half inch slices, about 5 per roll. Continue to cut each roll until all rolls are cut.

Line a bowl with plastic wrap so that it hangs over the edges of the bowl. Spray with non stick spray like Pam.

Line the sliced swiss rolls beginning in the center of the bowl until all slices are used, about half way up the sides of the bowl.

Pour the melted ice cream into the bowl.

Use a spatula to even out the melted ice cream.

Wait!  Don't waste all of the crumbs from the swiss rolls.  Sprinkle them onto the bottom of the cake!

Cover cake with plastic wrap and freeze for 24-48 hours.

Remove from freezer. Place a plate or cake plate over the top of the bowl. Flip plate and bowl of ice cream with frozen cake over. Remove the bowl and the plastic wrap and serve!

Hint: ensure that the plate you are using has a lip around the edges to catch any melted ice cream!

What a simple and delicious treat. 

Enjoy!

Chanukah Desserts Part 1-Homemade Souvganiot

Happy Chanukah! The first night of Chanukah was on Tuesday night.  On Monday night, I received a personal lesson by a former student's mom who is from Israel. She taught me how to make homemade souvganiot!  Souvganiot is the hebrew work for jelly doughnuts. Jelly doughnuts are a traditional treat for the Chanukah dessert table, since on Chanukah, it is a tradition to fry all foods in oil to remember the oil that burned in the temple for 8 days.

 

If you want to make your own souvganiot for Chanukah, here are the ingredients you will need:

2 1/2 cups flour

2 eggs

1/4 cup sugar

1 1/4 cups plain yogurt

2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp lemon juice

3/4 tbsp baking powder

vegetable oil for cooking

strawberry jam

icing sugar

Below are the utensils/items you will need:

-a large mixing bowl

-towel

-stand mixer

-two spoons

-tall pot

-candy thermometer

-squeeze bottle

-sifter/metal strainer

-paper towel

-cookie sheet

 

Combine all ingredients into the bowl of a stand mixed attached with the paddle attachment. Mix all ingredients until just combined and dough has formed. Cover with a towel and set aside for about 15 minutes.

Fill a pot about one and a half inches high with vegetable oil. Turn on the burner just past medium, until the heat reaches between 350-360 degrees. This temperature will  create the perfect golden brown coloured doughnuts.

Using two spoons, spoon out the dough from the mixing bowl, forming a round ball.  Drop the dough into the hot oil and watch it sizzle!

Once the first side reaches the perfect golden brown color, flip the doughnuts over to cook the opposite side. (About 4 minutes per side.)

Test a few doughnuts initially by cutting them in half to see if the insides are completely cooked through.  This doughnut was not ready.  As you can see, it was still raw inside.

Once removed from the hot oil, set on a cookie sheet lined with layers of paper towel. This will absorb some of the oil. Use a knife to poke holes in each doughnut.  This will make it easier to fill the doughnuts with strawberry jam.

Stick the nose of the squeeze bottle directly inside the hole of the doughnut. Squeeze a fair amount of strawberry jam into each doughnut allowing a dollop to show on the outside of the doughnuts.

Garnish with icing sugar.

Arrange on a plate and enjoy!