Skip to main content

Posts

Perfect Vanilla Cake

Vanilla Cake This cake uses the reverse creaming method. This means instead of creaming the butter and sugar at the beginning you mix the dry ingredients together, then add the butter, then add the liquid. What that does is coat the fat from the butter in flour and prevent the gluten in the flour from being built up too much. The result is a lighter cake. This recipe produces a light, fluffy cake. The texture is delicate and falls apart in your mouth. The vanilla bean gives it such an exquisite vanilla flavor. It’s the best vanilla cake! And it is easily adaptable. This is the base cake mix for my banana walnut upside-down cake and my lemon and elderflower cake. Ingredients • 150g flour • 150g sugar • 60g butter, cold (plus extra for greasing) • 1 ½  teaspoons baking powder • 100mL whole milk • 1 egg • ½ vanilla bean pod seeds (My preference is Madagascar Vanilla beans) OR 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract Click Here to get a PDF of the recipe with steps and pict...
Recent posts

White Chocolate, Caramel, and Coconut Chewy Cookies

This year everyone got baked goods as their Christmas gift. I wanted to make sure I gave everyone a variety of goodies and flavors, so I set out to create some new flavor combinations along the way. I know chocolate chip cookies are a great comfort cookie; they are classic, the balance of chocolate to cookie is inviting. Everything is wonderful. However, I wanted to expand the classic chocolate chip cookie and see what else could be done with it. Much like the brownie debate (are you a cakey brownie person or a fudgey brownie person? I'm more of a fudgey, chewy person myself!), there is also a cookie debate: Do you like your cookies crunchy and a bit firm, or chewy and a bit moist? These particular cookies, as you guessed from the title, are chewy. The edges crisp up a bit, but the center remains chewy and delightful. The inspiration for this cookie came from me scrounging around in my cupboard. I try to always have chocolate chips on hand because sometimes I want to bake cooki...

Autumn Squash with Rice Pilaf

Hello again! I know it's been a while since my last post; some of that was laziness, sorry! But I'm back to share a simple and flavorful meal with all of you. I know bread bowls are popular, but in this recipe I use an acorn squash as my edible bowl. It's a great way to add flavor and nutrition to my diet, plus it's tasty. What I like most about this dish is that it provides a lot of flavor. Also, it is easily adapted to be vegetarian/vegan friendly. The following recipe uses a box of rice, so it already came with some of it's own seasoning (some herbs and things like garlic and onion powder). I still added a bit of flavor on my own, just less of it than I would for plain rice. Also, the box of rice makes about 4 servings, so if you are making it for only 2 people you will have leftovers. (Or you could just eat more rice. 😉) As always, please consider  making a donation here  so I can keep providing everyone with the goods! Autumn Squash filled with Rice ...

Take it easy with Green Tea

Let’s take it easy today, huh. This past week has been a bit morose here; I’ve gone to a memorial service and discovered one of my cats has severe heart disease (she’s now on hospice care at home, which means around the clock supervision and medicine 5xs a day). That means not only have I not really been up to baking, but I also haven’t had much time. I’ve been trying to stay positive and maintain my calmness, so I thought tea was appropriate. Last night was the first night in a long while it’s been chilly, where I am at least, and I snuggled in bed with a nice hot cup of tea. Any of my friends at my old job remember me always toting tea bags around with me, even during the summer when it was hot. For a while I chatted about tea and where I bought the new flavor I was sporting and how much I loved tea. I received tea as gifts (and still do!) because it was pricy sometimes if you wanted something unique. While there is nothing wrong with fancy teas, I wanted to talk to you all ...

Hayley's Herbalicious Bread

Hayley's Herb-alicious Bread! If you enjoy going out to dinner and nomming on the bread platter because they put those yummy herbs in them then you are going to love this bread. Fans of garlic and herb bread will find themselves serving this as a side with more than just pasta. It makes a tasty sandwich, accompanies risotto well, and can be enjoyed toasted with some butter. This recipe makes 2 loaves of bread or about 18-20 dinner rolls. Waiting for the bread to rise: 2 1/2 hours. Baking: 80 minutes (depending on loaf. See steps 5-7 and Additional Tips below) As always, please consider  making a donation here  if you enjoy my recipes. Herbalicious Bread Tools Kitchen scale Large bowl Hand mixer with bread hook attachment (or stand mixer with bread hook) Measuring spoons Ingredients 500g strong bread flour 1 ½ packet instant yeast (about 12g) 2 teaspoons salt 300-350ml cold water 2 ½ tablespoons olive oil 2 teaspoons garlic powder 1 teaspoo...

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies (with a kick)

Hayley’s Oatmeal Raisin Cookies (with a kick) I say these cookies have a bit of a kick because of the added ground ginger and molasses. The spice it provides isn't too spicy, but it helps cut down on the sweetness of the cookies overall.  I think these cookies are great for fall because they smell and taste like fall. Other oatmeal raisin cookies are good, but the molasses and ginger added to these cookies remind me a bit of gingerbread. The molasses and brown sugar give the cookies a deep color that holds the flavor of the cookie. What I enjoy most about oatmeal cookies is how versatile they are; I've added raisins and orange zest, but if you like chopped walnuts that flavor is a nice compliment to the rich flavor of the cookies. Enjoy these all year around and remember to make a donation if you can.  Enjoy your baking adventure!  Tools Kitchen Scale (or measuring cups) Large Bowl Small Bowl Measuring Spoons Baking Tray Silpat or Parchme...

Spooky Creations: Halloween Part 4

Welcome back everyone! This post is a continuation of my Halloween celebration this year. In this post I use my sugar cookies recipe as well as some non-Halloween themed cookie cutters to make spooky or Halloween themed cookies. It only takes a little imagination and *poof* you've got some new creations in your kitchen. Every Halloween season I see cookie cutters emerge and the same ones make their way through each year with a variation or two. Cookies available in part 1 Cookies available in part 2 Halloween Cookies Part 1 Halloween Cookies Part 2 Shapes I used Each video is 5-6 minutes long and has about 8 cookie designs each. I'll be updating this post with written directions later this week.