Game of Thrones: House Greyjoy Cake

Tomorrow is the day the final season of Game of Thrones starts. If you’re like me, you’re still waiting for the next book…

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But until then, we make do with the TV show.

I started this series of cakes with some of the main houses: Stark, Lannister, Targaryen. No one can dispute that these are the main competitors in the Song of Ice and Fire.

But at least in the last season and the last book, House Greyjoy has become increasingly important.

Bread and Butter Ice Cream

Bread and butter is one of those things that’s so simple, yet so amazing. I’ve had the conversation with my mother-in-law before – we could probably survive on bread and butter alone for the rest of our lives. It’s something you can never resist at a restaurant no matter how much food you know you’re going to get after.

Froot Loop Cake

A while ago, after eating ice cream with cinnamon toast crunch, I had the idea of baking with cereal. Until today, I only got as far as this cereal milk white Russian. Now I’m adding this cake to our cereal repertoire.

Brioche Pie Crust And A PB&J Sandwich Pie

I’ve just solved all your pie crust problems.

Gone are the days of crumbly crust nightmares, falling apart before you can get them in the pan. This pie crust has two ingredients and takes 20 minutes including baking. 

Seriously.

Salted Buttermilk Milkshakes

Times they are a-changing! Two weeks ago I was finishing my thesis, looking for jobs, and worrying about fitting my resume into two pages. This week I have one part time job writing about science, which you all know I love to do, and the promise of a full-time job that will hopefully start early next year.

I really didn’t know what to do with myself. So we had some sparkling wine (of course) and I made milkshakes. 

Crema (Ri) Cotta

One of the things I love about living in Toronto is the number of great places to eat.  Alex and I have an ongoing list of restaurants that we want to try and it just keeps getting longer.  It seems that for every place we visit, two more come up.  And that doesn’t even include the places that we go off-list that turn out to be amazing.  Let’s just say everyone should go get a cubano sandwich from La Cubana on Ossington. 

Creme Fraiche Ice Cream With Truffle Oil

We went to Hawaii a couple of weeks ago for a cousin’s wedding.  We had absolutely no ulterior motives in going, such as escaping the Canadian not-so-spring and the opportunity to explore the food scene somewhere else.  Definitely not.  

But we had to eat.  

Peach Blueberry Crisp

Apple crisp is one of the desserts my sister Verulam used to make often at my parents’ house, way back when we all lived on the same continent.  Apple desserts were my brother’s favourite. I loved it for the crispy oat and brown sugar topping, the vanilla ice cream melting in little pools around it.  

Chocolate Cherry Almond Galette

When I was little, I liked to hang out in my older sister’s room and look at all her things. They always seemed so grown up and cooler than what I had.  She had a bookshelf with books (of course), but also knickknacks, little figurines, and photographs.  

Lemon Cream Pie Sundae

A couple of weeks ago I posted this cold berry pie and the perfect pie crust recipe.  You may have noticed that the pie crust recipe makes two crusts, but the pie only requires one. What do you do with the extra crust?  

The Perfect Pie Crust And A Cold Berry Pie

I came home early on a Friday.  It had been a tough week with lots of setbacks, but with the prospect of a relaxing weekend ahead, I tried to put all other thoughts out of my mind. As I wandered through our little grocery store, a plan starting forming in my head for a nice Friday night dinner.  

Downton Abbey: Tea and Honey Macarons

Maybe it’s because I’m a baker that I always tend to notice the food in books, tv shows, and movies.  Or maybe it’s because food is such an integral part of human life that you’d be hard pressed to find a book or tv show or movie without it.  Either way, the food always transports me into the fantasy.  

Maple Rum Walnut Ice Cream And Two Years Blogging

Two years ago today, I decided to carve out a space for myself on the internet.  However small, it was a place where I could share my passion for baking, my highs and lows as a PhD student, and any other thoughts that happened to be littering my mind at the moment.  

Butterscotch Buttermilk Cake With Mascarpone Frosting

I’m very bad at estimating things.  Numbers, age, weight.  Don’t ask me to guess how old you are, you’ll probably be offended.  This rarely poses a real problem until you end up buying 2 kg of butterscotch chips. 

I didn’t THINK it was 2 kg. 

Caramel Sea Salt Pudding

Just in case you’re sick of all the salads, and soups, and overall greenery that’s invaded Pinterest and the internet since January, here’s some pudding.

I didn’t think I liked pudding.  I was wrong.
 

Candied Cranberry Pavlova

When I imagined this dessert, it was the first snow of the season.  It wasn’t fluffy or pretty.  It was blowing hard and it didn’t stay on the ground, but it made me think of a winter wonderland.  What dessert speaks of mountains of fluffy white snow better than the fluffy peaks of a pavlova with its mounds of whipped cream? 

That’s a rhetorical question. 

Spicy Pecan Chocolate Chunk Cookies

So remember these spicy pecans?  I put them into cookies.  I warned you this was coming.

Lemon Meringue Pie Cookies

Sometimes when I’m looking for recipe inspiration, I like to make things into other things.  Confused yet?

Plum Clafoutis

Time seems to go by so fast.  One minute we’re grabbing at the first strawberries of the season, the next we’re knee deep in stone fruit.  Too soon apples and pumpkins will make their way into our recipes.  We have to make the most of everything while we can.  Fruit is a good metaphor for life.  

Pineapple Sorbet

My brain is sea of thoughts that never stops.  A jumble of emotions and ideas.  A mishmash of memories and inklings.  Organized thoughts are impossible, that’s what lists are for.  I write and erase and rewrite so that these posts are at least coherent, if not eloquent.  Some days it takes longer than others.