The Baking Blog of Patrissherie

No baking involved, but sooo delicious!!!  Place raw cashews into a food processor and it somehow turns into a sweet, creamy, frosting-like spread.  I personally find raw cashews sweeter than their roasted twin, and they retain a lot more nutrients.

Simply put some raw cashews into a food processor and whirl away.  You're going to come across the following stages:

1. Crushed cashews - "oh this seems like it's going to be easy...."

2. Dry flour-like mess - "wtf happened?  Did I just waste my cashews?? (keep going)"

3. Clumped dry mess - "it's not getting any better!!! Maybe I should add some water or oil into this thing." (don't do it!!)

4. A ball of cashew paste - "okay... is this it??? It kinda sucks..." (nope...keep going)

5. Dry "paste" - "This really isn't going anywhere... why did I do this? I just wasted $5 worth of cashews!" (Just keep whirling)

6. Smooth paste - "Yay!! It's looking like thick peanut butter...but it still looks pretty dry... is this it?? I was expecting something nicer..." (Keep whirling still!!!!  You're almost there)

7. CASHEW BUTTER - "OMG!! It finally worked.  Holy crap! That took forever...and why is there so little? I put like a million cashews in here!!"  (Just taste the damn thing and know why you worked so hard to get it).

Cover and keep in fridge up to 2 weeks.

When you ask the average person what their favourite flavour is for desserts, you usually get chocolate, vanilla, caramel or strawberry.  I have to be different.. mine is lemon. Lemon everything!  But it's hard to find a good lemon dessert out there because they usually use stimulated lemon flavouring instead of real lemons.  And let's face it, the flavour of real lemons cannot be beat by artificial lemon flavouring.  So I usually get pretty disappointed by the lemon ice-cream and cheesecakes.

I once had a (fairly intelligent) friend tell me that lemons are not fruits.  They are condiments.  Boy was I mistaken all these years...

In case some of you have been following my previous posts, I have NOT fallen off my wagon for my clean eating lifestyle.  It's all about moderation. So we allow ourselves 2 cheat days a week.  And I took full advantage of mine.  J was away on business so I was able to make a dessert that is all about ME!!!!

This lemon pudding cake has a creamy lemon custard (similar to lemon curd) at the bottom, and a light airy souffle-like cake topping.  It screams sweet and tart, just the way real lemons should.

It's a bit of hassle for the amount that you get.  In fact, when I pulled them out of the oven, I thought, "pfft...2 servings? I'm eating both of them!!".  But in the end, I could only handle one.. I know.. how disappointing?!?!?!

So if you have a love for lemons like I do, check out the recipe:

Lemon Pudding Cake:

•  1/3 c sugar
• 2 tsp all purpose flour
• 1/3 c milk
• 2 tbs freshly squeezed lemon juice (if you cannot handle too much tartness, reduce to 1.5 tbs)
• 1 tsp lemon zest (my microplane made them fairly large, which added too much texture to the smooth custard bottom.  If that happens to you, run your knife through the zest before adding it to the recipe)
• 1 egg separated
• 1/4 tsp vanilla
• confectioner's (icing) sugar

I started making my own ketchup ever since we started the clean eating lifestyle. Please don't roll your eyes at me.  Hear me out, making your own ketchup lets you customize it to your taste and control the ingredients going into it.  How about bacon-flavoured ketcup?  I think that would be amazing!!

This one has a bit of a kick and is sugar-free.  It definitely does not taste like Heinz, which I love.  But it taste as real food should.  And it's still damn good.

Homemade Ketchup 

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 28-oz can crushed tomatoes
• 1 apple cored and diced (don't worry about peeling)
• 1/4 cup cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground mustard
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/8 teaspoon allspice
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1. Heat oil in sauce pan over medium heat. Add onion and apple and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, about 5 minutes. Add in garlic and stir until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in the rest of the ingredients, bring to boil and then reduce heat to low and simmer until thick, stirring occasionally, for 45 to 60 minutes.

2. Puree in food processor until smooth.

3. Wash and dry saucepan, then place a fine mesh strainer over top. Pour ketchup in the strainer and, using a spatula, force through all of the ketchup.

4. Taste ketchup and adjust seasonings if necessary. Pour ketchup into a jar, seal, and store in the refrigerator for up to a month.

This makes A LOT of ketchup. So if you don't think you can go through the entire batch in 1 month, then split it into 2 jars, and freeze one of them.  To use, defrost in the fridge approximately 2 days before you need it, and it will keep well for another 3 - 4 weeks.

What to do with it?

Use it as you would with your normal store-bought ketchup.  Have it with your fries, chicken nuggets or add it to your meat loaf.

P.s. Yes I know I'm deviating from my normal theme.  This has NOTHING to do with desserts or baking.  And it's healthy. IEW!! What are you doing Patrissherie???  I will continue to post the desserts and baked goods, but I wanted to share recipes with those who may have difficulty enjoying the things that they love due to dietary restrictions.    

These were a request from 2 friends, friends whom can really stand the heat. I personally cannot say I have yet to try one.  The request came from a friend whom found chocolate-dipped jalapenos on an online store.  At the insane price they were selling it for, I offered to make them one instead.  When the story got told to another friend, the request got extended also.

So out came milk chocolate-dipped jalapenos, drizzled with dark chocolate.  Too bad I can't review these bad boys, since I've yet to have one.  Maybe next time...

I recently finally purchased a Kitchen Aid Artisan Mixer.  Today, I threw out 2 batches of cupcakes.  Here's what happened:

I threw in the dry ingredients, turned the mixer on stir setting with the whip attachment and tossed in the wet ingredients a minute later, letting the mixer do it's magic.  First bite, the cupcakes contained pockets of salt.  Into the garbage they went.  

Pulled out the ingredients and tried again thinking it was a measuring error with the salt.  Threw in the dry ingredients to be stirred again with the whip attachment, and tossed in the wet ingredients once the dry ingredients appeared uniform.  The cupcakes are inedible!  There are pockets of bitter baking soda like random grenades.  Again, garbage they went!

I realized I was too dependent on my new toy to do the work and assumed it would mix uniformly as I would have manually.  Lesson learnt: check the mix or do it manually for dry ingredients.

No more cupcakes tonight.. 2 batches garbaged is enough for the day....

(photo courtesy of amazon.com)

What better way to start off something new, than with something old? I have decided to post some of my past creative creations as my first entry.  

Chocolate Fudge Cake

Four layers of chocolate cake in between layers of chocolate fudge frosting and finished with dark chocolate shavings.

Cinnamon Raisin Bread Swirled with Cinnamon Brown Sugar

Pumpkin Spiced Swiss Roll

Pumpkin spiced cake swirled with cream cheese frosting, and dusted with confectioner sugar.

Rosemary and Thyme Fougasse

A herb crusted bread with excellent chewy texture.  This crowd-pleasing beauty measures about 12 inches by 12 inches, making it a great party dish but only if you can resist eating it all.

 Blueberry Pie

This is my significant other (J)'s favorite.  Fresh farmer market blueberries baked into a deep 9 inch pie crust, with a lattice top.