Pumpkin Spice Bread Pudding with Rummy Raisins

What's with all the pumpkin? you are probably asking right now, but don't tell me you can resist their rock-bottom prices, rich fall colors, or a chance to make something other than pie either! I can't promise this will be the last recipe...

I have had all these ideas in my head about building a dessert around a classic bread pudding made with a fluffy brioche, adding pumpkin puree for that seasonal flavor, plenty of spices to complement the tame pumpkin, a creme caramel-type base for added stickiness, and rum-soaked raisins thrown in just because. Sound good? It was!


(I had also though about making it with heavy cream for a crème brulée feel, but decided to add whipping cream as a garnish instead.)
The bread pudding turned out well, and as good as it was straight from the oven, I thought it was even better the next day when I warmed it up for lunch. Maybe all those flavors needed a chance to meld, or maybe I was just really, really hungry and anything sweet would have tasted like heaven. (That happens a lot)

While the bread pudding baked, the smells coming from the oven that perfumed the whole house were absolutely amazing--forget scented candles. If my windows had been opened we would have had people lining up outside the front door. Roasted pumpkin, freshly ground spices and Jamaican rum all contributed to having our home smell better than any Thanksgiving dinner you have ever sat down to enjoy.

Hmmm..., comfort food seems to be in the spotlight on Under the High Chair these days. With rice pudding a few days ago and a bread pudding today, what's next? Pease pudding? I think I'll leave that one up to the British - like Amanda at Little Foodies who makes her pease pudding with ham. Delicious!

And now for the recipe.

Pumpkin Spice Bread Pudding with Rummy Raisins

Unsalted butter, room temperature, for ramekins
½ cup sugar, for dissolving
1 cup golden raisins
1/3 cup rum
1/3 cup hot water
1 1/12 cups firm pumpkin puree
4 large eggs
1 ¼ cups granulated sugar
1 ½ cups milk
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon ground ginger
½ inch fresh cinnamon stick
Three whole allspice
½ tonka bean
Pinch of salt
One 12-ounce, day-old loaf brioche cut into 3/4-inch cubes (or desired size)
Whipping cream, for serving

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter six 10-ounce ramekins or custard cups.

In a small, heavy bottomed pot, carefully dissolve 1/2 cup sugar and cook until golden, stirring occasionally. Divide evenly among ramekins to coat the bottom and allow to cool.

Place raisins in a small bowl, and cover with rum and the hot water; let soak until plump, about 20 minutes. Drain; set aside.

Combine cinnamon stick, whole allspice and tonka bean in a spice grinder and grind until fine.

In a large bowl, whisk together pumpkin, eggs, granulated sugar, milk, ginger, vanilla, spice mix, and salt. Toss in the bread cubes, and stir gently to evenly coat; let stand a few minutes.


Fold in the raisins. Divide among prepared dishes, pressing down slightly to make level.
Bake until custard is set in the center and top is golden, about 40 minutes.
If bread browns too quickly, cover loosely with aluminum foil.

Remove from oven and run a sharp knife around the edges; let cool slightly.
To serve, un-mold onto plates; serve with sweetened whipped cream. It is entirely up to you if you wish to spike the cream or not!

WFD? Pumpkin & Parmesan Ravioli with Rapini & Pine Nuts

Now that have I moved into the second trimester of this pregnancy, I can feel my energy creeping back. It feels good--maybe a little too good. Uh oh, do I really have this many things on the go?
As we speed toward the holidays and with the impending baby arriving soon after, it’s as if a fire has been lit under us to get some of the house projects wrapped up—I mean, started--which, as anyone who knows us can testify, means renovations.

So, let’s see. There is wall paper to strip, closets to build, flooring to lay and painting all around. I’ve also taken on a small, weekly catering contract that helps keep me even busier in the kitchen. All this on top of our usual active schedule makes for some long days.

I like to work, I really do, I don’t really know how to not be busy, but when my doctor is telling me I have low blood pressure and to slow down, I realize I have to try and not do quite so much.

That brings us to our recipe for tonight’s dinner. It involves a shortcut. Although I am not one to regularly open a can of soup or bake from a mix, I am not opposed to simplifying recipes or eliminating steps such as this one.
I have used dumpling skins on occasion to make ravioli or tortellini and find that they are a superb alternative to the time-consuming homemade pasta dough. I would love to haul out my pasta machine in the afternoon and spend an hour or so playing with dough, but I don't always have the time or energy. Although the taste of fresh pasta is hard to beat, these dumpling skins at least provide great texture and look pretty good too!

Pumpkin recipes are popping up all over the place and so I'll add my two cents with this ravioli recipe. The squashes are particularly beautiful this fall and if you live anywhere near a market, you should get out and enjoy the colours.

The bitter rapini is a perfect contrast to the rich filling of the ravioli and the pine nuts provide a needed crunch. Of course, no pasta is complete without some shavings of Parmesan!


This is a quick supper to put together. Have your partner toss a salad and let the kids grate the Parmesan. You can fill the ravioli while your water is coming to a boil and before you know it, dinner is on the table.

Pumpkin & Parmesan Ravioli with Rapini, Brown Butter and Pine Nuts
Serves 6

2 cups firm pumpkin puree
½ cup grated parmesan
1 egg yolk
¼ teaspoon white pepper, ground
1 teaspoon salt
1 pkg dumpling skins (available at most Asian grocers)
1 small bunch of rapini
¼ cup pine nuts, toasted
¼ cup butter


Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
In a small pan, melt butter and cook gently until it browns lightly. Set aside.
Trim rapini, removing tough stalks and keeping the heads. Blanch or sauté lightly, season ,and reserve for dish.

Prepare filling by combining pumpkin puree, Parmesan, egg yolk and seasoning. Have a small dish of water on hand. Place about a tablespoon of filling in the center of a dumpling skin. Dip your finger in the dish of water and run your finger around the edge of the skin to moisten. Top with another skin and press firmly around edges. Repeat with remaining filling and dumpling skins.

Drop into rapidly boiling water and boil for two minutes. Drain and toss with brown butter and warm rapini. Transfer to a serving dish, sprinkle with pine nuts and parmesan. Serve at once.
Makes about 24 ravioli.

Cardamom and Rose Water Rice Pudding

In the 'Travel' folder of my favorite bookmarks, I have the Rice to Riches website linked.
To me, travel consists mostly of eating, so it shouldn't surprise anyone that the folder doesn't contain many hotels, cheap flight deals, or online translation helps, but just a slew of restaurant links, bakery websites and promos for a few dream wine vacations (someday). I meant to get to the rice pudding mecca when I was in New York the last time, but it didn't happen.

Well, that's not totally true, I did get there--I walked in and then back out.


I love rice pudding, hot or cold, and I had heard enough buzz from friends about Rice to Riches, that I knew I was going to have to get down to Little Italy and taste for myself; however, when I got there I couldn't bring myself to order. Maybe I should blame the large Lombardi's pizza we had just scarfed down. Perhaps the Katz's pastrami on rye, enjoyed only an hour before the pizza, wasn't quite laid to rest, or I was still experiencing cramping from those oh-so-heavy Upper West Side bagels.

Whatever it was, at that moment , standing in the ultra-modern, one-and-only Rice to Riches, surrounded by people hunched over orange plastic bowls, I knew that it would have to be enjoyed the next time I was in town.

Still, I'm not totally convinced though. To me rice pudding should be something simple, not over the top. It should be slightly perfumed, maybe jazzed up with a handful of currants or toasted coconut.
You know, satisfying and straightforward.

Does Cookies and Cream Rice Pudding with Toasted Buttery Pound Cake sound like this to you? See for yourself; check out the Rice to Riches menu for more wild flavors such as Rum 'n Raisin, Rocky Road and Pecan Pie. It's like they swapped menus with Baskin Robbins or something.
Even now, while battling a serious case of the late-night munchies, these choices don't sound particularly appealing.

I'll tell you what does do it for me in the rice pudding department. A little recipe for traditional Persian rice pudding, delicately flavored with the aromatic rose water and cardamom, adapted from the superb Seductions of Rice by the talented Jeffery Alford & Naomi Duguid. I enjoyed this dessert so much I am wondering if I need ever head south for the Big Apple's famed rice pudding hot spot.

Oh well, I hear they ship. (How appetizing does that sound?) But trust me, simmer a pot of this rose water and cardamom rice pudding on your stove for a few hours and you will never need to leave home.

Satisfying and straightforward, simple and seductive.

Cardamom and Rose Water Rice Pudding

1 cup short-grain rice
4 cups whole milk
2 cups water
¾ cup sugar
3 tablespoons rose water
Seeds from 2 cardamom pods, ground
Pale honey (optional)

Wash the rice thoroughly. Combine in a large heavy saucepan with the milk and water and bring to a boil. Lower the heat to very low and simmer, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking, for 2 hours, or until most of the liquid has been absorbed; the texture should be slightly soupy.

Stir in the sugar, the rose water and cardamom and cook, stirring, for another five minutes. Taste and stir in more sugar if you want. Transfer to a serving dish and let cool to room temperature.

If you wish, just before serving drizzle a little honey over the pudding and garnish with chopped pistachios.

Serves 6

Preserving Autumn: Maple Apple Butter

Maple Apple Butter with Cinnamon on a Oatmeal Scone

We were married in an apple orchard, Danny and I. It was spring and the sun shone, the grass was tall and the apple blossoms were budding a light pink. I had always dreamt of getting married outside and Quebec's sprawling apple orchards provided the perfect backdrop when the time came.

We are fortunate enough to live close enough to that same orchard so we can visit it a few times a year. Usually we plan this around two seasons: in the spring when the blossoms are in full bridal splendor, and in the fall to gather the harvest.

This autumn we brought Noah, who picked apples for the first time. He was oblivious to the history of the orchard, but ran around happily with a partially eaten apple permanently clutched in his little hand. We gathered as many apples as out bag would hold and then sat to eat a few and enjoy the beautiful day.

This year I vowed to do something different with my apples other than pies and caramel apples-a personal favorite. Although I had stocked up on enough candy apple sticks to last me a lifetime (or at least the lifetime of my teeth) it was time to make some butter, just like my mother used to make for us kids. A normal Sunday morning in winter would become unexpectedly extraordinary when she opened a jar of apple butter to have with our homemade toast.
This recipe is a combination of about three different ones, yet turned out great. The majority of the work is passing the pulp through a sieve to get the tasty puree. It is well worth the work and we now have a shelf in our pantry stocked with this luscious spread to enjoy during the coming cold months.

Maple Apple Butter

4.5 lbs apples
1 cup cider or apple juice
1 cinnamon stick
1/4 cup maple syrup

Wash, quarter and remove both stem and blossom ends from apples.
Combine apples, apple cider and cinnamon sticks in large, deep stainless steel sauce pan. Simmer, covered, until apples are soft, about 25 minutes.

Remove cinnamon sticks and reserve. Crush apples with potato masher. Put mixture through sieve or strainer to remove peels and seeds. Measure out 6 cups of applesauce, set aside.
Measure maple syrup; set aside.

Return apple puree (and, if you want, cinnamon stick for a more potent cinnamon flavor) to a clean large stainless steel saucepan and stirring occasionally, bring to a boil. Reduce heat and boil gently for 30 minutes or until apple spread mounds on a spoon or desired thickness is reached.
Add maple syrup and cook gently another 30 minutes, stirring often.

Now at this point I chose to throw caution to the wind and abandon traditional canning directions in favor of a time-saving technique I got from a friend. It worked for me, so here's what I did.
Place 7- 250 ml mason jars in your dishwasher and run through a hot rinse cycle. Set screw bands aside and place lids of jars in a small pot. Bring to a low simmer. Have ready a sterilized ladle, tongs, funnel and a clean dish towel for moving jars.

When apple mixture has reached desired consistency, remove from heat. Working with one jar at a time, remove hot jar from dishwasher and using a funnel and a ladle, fill jars with apple butter. Remove a hot lid from the water with your tongs, place on the jar and screw on the screw band to finger tight.

Place on a clean towel on your counter and DO NOT TOUCH for 24 hours. (Tip: make sure you husband knows to stay the heck away from them too, or you’ll have issues like I did.) Repeat with remaining jars until apple butter is finished.

Jars will seal on their own. After 24 hours test for seal. Sealed lids curve downward and do not move when pressed. If any have not sealed, place in refrigerator for immediate use.

Thankful for...Raspberry Rhubarb Pie and More

Some of you may be aware that Thanksgiving is just around the corner. Canadian Thanksgiving, that is, as we celebrate it a month earlier than the USA. There is always so much to be thankful for and this year is no exception…health, family and friends, a baby on the way, and of course, great food!


I love this fall holiday; we enjoy a lot of the same great food as we do at Christmas, but experience little of the rush and hectic pace of those days surrounding Noel…
This year I am not doing my own grandiose dinner, but rather collaborating on two different events-one with family and one with friends.
However in most Canadian homes you will find menus that center around a roast turkey, cranberry sauce, probably a stuffing, mashed potatoes, autumn vegetables…and-most importantly-PIES!

Mini Apple-Raspberry Pies

Early on in my childhood years, my parents realized that I had a passion for food and cooking. I mean how else can you explain the gift of a beautiful pie cookbook for my 11^th birthday from them? I spent many a happy hour rolling pie dough and trying new fillings, some of them successful, and some of them failures.
Perhaps it was all that early practice that sparked my love of pies and so for me, Thanksgiving is largely about these special, fruity tarts.
So now, even though I have pumpkin roasting for the must-have Pumpkin Pies, cranberries on the shopping list for my traditional Cranberry-Orange Pie, and things set in motion for a few dozen Butter Tarts, I wanted to use up what I have in my garden for a seasonal pie. Most of my small plots have been turned over for the winter but the rhubarb is hanging in there and my raspberries have decided to renew their efforts and produce a second crop of berries. I couldn’t be happier! (maybe this is normal for raspberries, I don’t know, but when I finished harvesting in July, I thought I had seen the last of them.)
So this pie is showcasing these fall fruits fresh from my garden and the flavors did not disappoint. I love a tart pie!
For the top I had a bit of fun and cut little baby turkeys out of the dough with a cookie cutter and partially covered the filling. They looked a little less recognizable when they came of of the oven, but tasted yummy anyway!
Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Rhubarb Raspberry Pie

6 cups chopped rhubarb
1 pint fresh raspberries
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
pinch of salt
2 tablespoons butter
1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon cream
double crust pie dough

Roll out bottom pie crush and mold into pan. Chill 20 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350F.
Beat egg yolk and cream together, set aside.
Toss rhubarb, sugar, cornstarch, and salt together until well coated. Gently add raspberries to mixture. Heap up into chilled pie shell and dot with butter. Roll out top pie crust and make desired designs with it (lattice, etc). Cover pie filling with the pot crust, crimp edges and brush with egg mixture.
Bake until crust is golden brown and juices run from the rhubarb. Cool at room temperature. Chill before serving.
Lovely with vanilla ice cream!

Tea Time with Eccles Cakes

The Complete Book of Pastry by Bernard Clayton, JR. is a battered, dog-eared, stained cookbook that I took with me from home when I left. My dad gave it to my mother back in 1985, so the inscription dates, but it was more my sisters and I who delved into it and began baking our own sweet and savory delicacies at a very young age. I have an attachment to this cookbook, not just because of all the great recipes it holds, but because of all those memories between its pages.
Recipes such as Quiche Lorraine, Croissants, Apple Strudel and Classic Puff Paste are penciled-over, ripped, and well-used. My dad certainly benefited from this purchase, but then he generally did for every cookbook he brought home!

As a young girl, a particular favorite recipe of mine was Eccles Cakes. This particular interpretation of a classic British tea-time treat is more of a Canadian version of the original tea cakes of Eccles, England.
Imagine a layer of black currants and sugar pressed between two sheets of puff pastry and baked to a crisp, caramelized delicious morsel.
What’s not to love?

With only three ingredients (once you have bought or made that time-consuming puff pastry) it is fast to make and you can easily whip up a batch for afternoon tea. So put the kettle on.

Bernard Clayton credits British Columbian chef, Bert J. Phillips for the recipe.

Eccles Cakes

1 ½ lbs puff pastry, chilled
½ cup granulated sugar
1 cup currants

Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Plump currants in hot water 10 minutes, drain and set aside. Roll chilled dough in a floured surface in to a rectangle 3/16 inch thick. Put aside for a moment while removing all dusting flour. Sprinkle the work surface generously with sugar and continue rolling dough to 1/8 inch thickness.
Trim the piece in to a precise rectangle. Cover half the dough solidly with currants in a single layer. Sprinkle lightly with sugar. Fold the remaining half of the dough over the top of the currants.
Gently press a rolling pin over the entire surface until the black currants show through the sheet of thin dough. The result is a nice speckled appearance.

With a knife or pastry wheel, cut the dough into 2-inch squares and place 12 inch apart on the prepared baking sheet.
Place in the refrigerator to relax the dough for 25 minutes while the oven heats.

Reheat oven to 375F.
Place the baking sheet in the middle of the oven. When the bottoms have caramelized and who light brown, carefully turn the cakes over and finish baking. ( I forgot to do this step, so my tops are less caramelized.)
Place cakes on rack to cool. Enjoy!

WFD? Tartiflette: French Comfort Food

What is more comforting than the combination of cheese and potatoes? In the cooler months here in Canada, I can't think of anything. For this exquisite marriage of the two, I have to hand it to the French; they really, really know how to make one's tummy smile.

Tartiflette before baking...

Tartiflette after baking.

It’s was Valli over at More than Burnt Toast, who has been singing the praises of the humble potato recently, who inspired me to finally try out this French potato dish. For a while now I’ve had the recipe (which came in a flyer from the local liquor store!) but put off making it because it always seemed like a cooler weather dish to me.

Fortunately, I didn’t wait too long because it was fantastic! Imagine: fresh potatoes with some sautéed onions and slab bacon, a dash of white wine, and thick cream; all topped with an entire round of tangy, rich cheese and baked slowly until the cream bubbles up and the cheese oozes out.

A glorified scalloped potato? Perhaps, but absolutely over-the-top delicious. It reminded me a bit of raclette, another French meal where you melt Raclette cheese under a tabletop grill and scrape it onto boiled potatoes and various other morsels. Of course, this is like the casserole version (hate that word) and I can imagine it making an ideal apres-ski feast.

Wait a minute. Was I just wishing for snow for a second? Really, this pregnancy is doing funny things to my head!

Noah and I dug these fresh spuds up from the garden and the taste of them was a real reminder that homegrown potatoes really are a step above anything you can buy, no matter how fresh. Funnily enough,these beauties popped up uninvited as a result of some random potato from the compost going to seed. Thank goodness they did!

Next year I plan on planting a whole plot of potatoes...I'll need them for all the tartiflette I'll be making!

If you are unable to locate the traditional Reblochon cheese (I couldn't), substitute another semi-soft, cow's milk cheese that is creamy, but with a bite to it!

Valli, this recipe is for you.

Tartiflette

1 ¾ lb Yukon Gold Potatoes, peeled and cut into large pieces
150 g blanched lardons or slab bacon
1 onion, thinly sliced
1/3 cup white wine
1 pinch nutmeg
Freshly ground pepper
¾ cup 35% cream
1 small wheel Reblochon cheese (240g)

Preheat oven to 350F.

Cook the potatoes in salted water until tender, but still slightly firm in the center. Drain, cool and cut into cubes.
In a skillet, lightly brown the lardons. Add the onion and continue cooking for two minutes. Deglaze with white wine. Let reduce by half.

Add the cubed potatoes, nutmeg and pepper. Mix well. Pour into a lightly buttered ovenproof casserole. Drizzle the cream over the top. Remove the rind from the bottom of the cheese and lightly scratch the top rind of the cheese. Place the cheese rind up on the potato mixture.

Bake on the lowest rack in the oven for 40 -45 minutes.
Serve immediately.

Preserving Summer: Crabapple Jelly

Every autumn comes around and I can’t resist buying a basket of pretty crabapples thinking I’ll make a jelly. The problem is, I’ve never made jelly and as simple as it may be, the first time for anything is reason enough to drag one’s feet. I usually end up packing the small apples into a wide mouth jar, adding some sugar and topping it up with vodka for a nice pink liquor come Christmas time.
But this fall was different and I actually produced a batch of crabapple jelly; mornings are cheerier when you can wake up to this pretty pink spread on toast .

There is very little labor involved in this jelly. No apple peeling, coring, or sieving; just wash them, cut in half and cook them down slowly, then mash them up and leave them to drain overnight in a jelly bag and see the lovely pink juices gather.

These will make great gifts come holiday season!

Crabapple Jelly

4 lb (1.8 kg) apples or crabapples
5 cups (1250 ml) water
5 cups (1250 ml) granulated sugar
1 pkg (57 g) Fruit Pectin
½ teaspoon butter

Wash and remove both stem and blossom ends from apples. Cut apples into chunks and combine with water in a large stainless steel saucepan. Bring mixture to a boil. Cover and boil gently 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Thoroughly crush mixture and boil gently 5 minutes longer.
Pour cooked fruit into a dampened jelly bag or cheesecloth-lined sieve over a large bowl. Let juice drip, undisturbed, 2 hours or overnight (squeezing bag may cause cloudy jelly).

Place 7 clean 250 ml mason jars on a rack in a boiling water canner; cover jars with water and heat to a simmer Set screw bands aside. Heat sealing discs in hot water, not boiling. Keep jars and sealing discs hot until ready to use.

Measure sugar; set aside.
Measure 5 cups juice into a large, deep stainless steel saucepan. Whisk in pectin until dissolved and add 1/2 tsp (2 ml) butter to reduce foaming

Over high heat, bring mixture to a full rolling boil. Add all the sugar. Stirring constantly, return mixture to a full rolling boil that cannot be stirred down. Boil hard 1 minute. Remove from heat; skim foam if necessary.

Quickly ladle hot jelly into a hot jar to within 1/4 inch of top rim. Wipe jar rim removing any stickiness. Centre hot sealing disc on clean jar rim. Screw band down until resistance is met, then increase to fingertip tight. Return filled jar to rack in canner ensuring jars are covered by water. Repeat for remaining jelly.

Cover canner and bring water to full rolling boil before starting to count processing time. Process 10 minutes.
Turn stove off, remove canner lid, wait 5 minutes, then remove jars without tilting and place them upright on a protected work surface. Cool upright, undisturbed 24 hours. After cooling check jar seals. Label and store jars in a cool, dark place.

Makes about 7 x 250 ml jars

Doughnuts & Coffee: Wish You Were Here

Sourdough Cinnamon Doughnuts with a Latte

As a young girl growing up in the wild, northern, Yukon Territories, I didn’t know the whole history behind the term ‘sourdough’ and how it traced back to the Klondike Gold Rush, but I did know that I loved sourdough bread and baking. Those days, one of the biggest treats we could be allowed to make were sourdough doughnuts—just the combination of sugar and fat was enough to make my mother cringe and make me jump up and down with anticipation.

I recently dug up that old recipe from an even older cookbook that my mother started when she got married, and decided to give it a shot. Boy was I glad I did! There is only a slight 'sour' taste, but enough to give these delicious treats a uniqueness you certainly won't find at Dunkin.

These doughnuts contain both yeast (in the sourdough starter) and baking powder, so they are right in the middle of a cake doughnut and a yeast. Even if you have a strong preference for one or the other, either way, you will love these.
Not that it should be a problem, but they are best eaten the day they are made.

I can’t tell you how many of these I ate while I was photographing them...I'm embarrassed. Sure it was a trip down memory lane, but it was a really loooong trip--and I'm not that old yet!

As I looked at the platter of doughnuts, I had to resist to urge to run out of the house, down the street, bang on all my neighbors doors and say "You HAVE to taste these!”
What a shame, there was no one at home to share them with. And let me tell you, warm from the pan, coated in vanilla sugar, you should have been here.

Fortunately, a friend dropped in later with her two little girls and we enjoyed them with some spiced chai.
These tiny doughnut holes are perfect for little fingers....

Fresh from the oil

Dressed up with vanilla sugar

Sourdough Starter

2 cups flour
2 cups lukewarm water
1 tablespoon yeast

Mix well in a large bowl. Cover and let sit overnight in a warm place.

Sourdough Cinnamon Doughnuts

½ cup sourdough
2 Tablespoons oil
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 egg
2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon salt
1/3 cup sour milk

Prepare a wok or deep fryer for frying. Prepare a tray with paper towel for draining doughnuts. Heat oil to 360 degrees.

Sift dry ingredients together. Mix remaining ingredients together and add to dry. Bring dough together gently with you hands. Sprinkle some flour onto a work surface and turn dough on to it. Knead it gently about 3 times to help bring the dough together. Roll out to a thickness of 2 centimeters and cut with a doughnut cutter.

Fry until golden brown. Test the first one for doneness by breaking it in two and checking if the middle is doughy. Drain on paper town. Toss with vanilla sugar or cinnamon sugar to coat.

Enjoy!

Noah Turns Two

My little one turned two today and I am still coming to terms with the fact that he is growing up. Although he proves to us everyday by accomplishing a new feat or sentence that he is no longer a baby, I still sometimes see that tiny bundle that we brought home two years ago when I look at him.
I wanted to do him an airplane cake as he is bananas over airplanes, and this is what I came up with. In case you can't tell, it's a little airplane flying in the clouds.

I made an apple spice cake, layered it with maple butter and iced it with cream cheese frosting.
I wasn't happy with the overly-dense apple cake part, so I won't post the recipe, but it was a nice combination of flavors.
And Noah ate it, which is what matters most.

Happy birthday, darling.