Cranberry Nut Loaf

Stella shared this lovely Cranberry Nut Loaf with the members of the South Arm Cooking Club for seniors. She was given a cook book by one of the members of the South Arm seniors titled “A World Community Cookbook’, Simply in Season. This recipe from extracted from this cookbook.
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Stella insisted that everyone must try her cake because it is very rare for her to bake. Of course, we will never resist such a healthy cake loaded with flax seeds, cranberries and nuts.

Ingredients

Dry:

  • 1 cup (250ml) whole wheat flour
  • 1 cup (250ml) all-purpose flour
  • 1/3 cup (75ml) flax seed meal
  • 1 1//2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt

Wet:

  • 3/4 cup (175ml) sugar
  • 3/4 cup (175ml) orange juice
  • 1/4 cup (60ml) oil
  • 2 tablespoons grated orange zest
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla

Additions:

  • 1 1/2 cups (375ml) sweetened dried cranberries (coarsely chopped)
  • 1/2 cup (125ml) walnuts or pecans (chopped)

This recipe yields 1 loaf.

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Beets in Orange Butter Sauce

For dessert, Minoo made Beets in Orange Butter Sauce.  Minoo roasted the beets the night before as it takes some time to do it.  Roasted beets are sweeter and have a deeper flavour than boiling them.

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To roast beets, preheat the oven to 375F.  Rinse beets clean and place in on a piece of aluminium foil.  Drizzle with some vegetable or olive oil.  Fold the foil over the beets and seal the package.  Bake until the beets are tender from 30 to 60 minutes depending on the size and number of the beets.

You’ll probably need a pair of disposable kitchen gloves when handling beets as it will stained your hand reddish or purplish.

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Toffee Apple Cake

Chris shared this Toffee Apple Cake recipe with the South Arm Cooking Club for Seniors as dessert.  According to Chris, this cake is tops.  The best part is we can make most out the local apples in the fall.

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This Toffee Apple Cake is very moist and almost custard like.  The toffee bits topping add some crunch to it. This is certainly not a dietary kind of dessert.  Well, it’s ok to let ourselves indulge for a treat once in a while.

Chris and Paul worked on this dessert.  This recipe serves 24.

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Raisin Tea Muffins

For dessert, Minoo prepared a Raisin Tea Muffin recipe.  Muffin is great for breakfast, lunch box, after school snack or tea time.  It is easy to make, easy to transport and quick to bake.  All you have to remember is to combine all the dry ingredients in one bowl, the wet ingredients in another bowl and combine them without over mixing.  Over mixing will yield tough muffin.

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This Raisin Tea Muffin has just the right sweetness and has a mild tea flavour with hint of spices.  Perfect with a cup of chai tea.

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Ingredients

  • 1 teabag
  • 1/2 cup boiling water
  • 1 cup raisins
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 2 teaspoons lemon juice
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • a pinch of cinnamon, nutneg, cardamon and cloves.

This recipe yields 6 muffins.

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Peach Cobbler with Oat Scones Topping

We have Peach Cobbler as dessert in the South Arm Cooking Club for seniors.  Cobbler toppings take on many forms.  Some resemble sugar cookie dough while some are like pie crusts.  This topping is a tender oatmeal scone, which bakes up crisp, nubbly, and slightly sweet.

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A scoop of vanilla ice-cream will make this dessert perfect.

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This recipe is adapted from America’s Test Kitchen and Cooking Light and it serves 6.

Ingredients

  • 2 pounds peaches
  • 2 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
  • 1/3 cup brown sugar
  • pinch of nutmeg and cloves
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

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Oat Scones Topping:

  • 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 1/4 cups old-fashioned oatmeal
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted (1 stick)
  • 1/3 cup milk
  • 1 egg, beaten to blend

Christina and Chris made this dessert.

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Easy Chocolate Pudding

For dessert, Christina, Paul and Lorna made this Easy Chocolate Pudding for the South Arm Cooking Club for Seniors pizza mania meet. Apparently, Paul is a fan of chocolate. This Easy Chocolate Pudding is made specifically for Paul.

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This Easy Chocolate Pudding recipe is adapted from John Scharffenberger. This recipe serves 6. The chocolate pudding is not overly sweet and I’m sure kids will love this. This makes a great dessert for any chocolate lover.

Ingredients

  • 1/4 cup cornstarch
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 3 cups whole milk (we used 2% milk for a lower fat)
  • 6 ounces semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped (or good chocolate chips)
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

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Brown Sugar Baked Apples

For dessert, Frank and Christina made this Brown Sugar Baked Apples for the South Arm Cooking Club for seniors. This recipe is adapted from Bon Appetit and it serves 8. We used Gala apple for this recipe.

For this recipe, we’ll need apples which are suitable for baking. It must be able to hold it’s shape and will not turn mushy and becomes a sauce. Some of the apples that are good for baking are Jonagold, Fuji, and Pink Lady which names that I’m familiar with. McIntosh and Cortland are examples of apples which will turn mushy when cooked.

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This Brown Sugar Baked Apples is sweet and cinnamony. Cinnamon gives any dessert a very inviting aroma. Someone once told me that if you have a open house to sell your home, simply boiled a couple cinnamon sticks in some water and this creates a natural refresher in your home.

Ingredients

  • 8 baking apples
  • 1/2 cup (packed) dark brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 4 tablespoons pure maple syrup
  • 3 tablespoons butter

Sauce:

  • 2 tablespoons maple syrup
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 1 cup water
  • chilled whipping cream (optional)

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Tapioca Pearl Tart

Heidi made a Tapioca Pearl (Sago) Tart for dessert. The Tapioca Pearl Tart is best eaten cold as the tapioca will be more chewy when chilled.

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The translucent tapioca looks like little pearls, very delicate and soft but it has a chewy texture unlike it’s look.

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The salted egg yolk and sweet yellow mung bean paste filing complements one another well.

Ingredients

Sago Layer:

  • 400g tapioca pearl (soak in 6 cups of cold water for 6 hours, drain)
  • 50g coconut cream powder
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 tablespoon wheat starch
  • 1 tablespoon tapioca starch
  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Filings:

  • 1 cup yellow mung beans
  • 2 oz butter
  • 4 tablespoons sugar
  • 4 salted egg yolk (cut into quarters)

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Click on Read More for the instructions.

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