Dulce de Leche Cheesecake Bars

I made these cheesecake squares for a birthday party a few weeks ago. I don’t like showing up to a party empty-handed. Cake makes perfect conversation-starters, especially if you're shy around a new group of people and love being showered with compliments. Besides, who doesn’t like to celebrate their birthday with a little sweet treat? 

These bars are delicately sweet, the filling is velvety smooth and rich, it sits on top a thick graham cracker crust flavoured with a hint of cinnamon. I prefer cheesecake with a thicker crust for some textural contract to the cream cheese and these seal the deal. Also, you might have noticed the flaky sea salt, everyone at the party loved it. The combination of salty and sweet never gets old. Happy December!

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Recipe here!

Cinnamon Rolls with Cream Cheese Glaze

Whenever the heavy rubber-lipped subway doors spring open at Eglinton station here in Toronto, a gust of sweet cinnamon fills the train. Other passengers don’t seem to notice, no one’s eyes light up, nor does anyone breathe deeply, taking in the sugary scent, or how, like me, I immediately perk up from my seat, a smile slowly spreading across my face and worries of my tardiness to my appointment dissipates as the buttery aroma of fresh, yeasty rolls float into the TTC.

There is a Cinnabon or something with the similar name on the basement level of a mall in Montréal (another evil decoy to tease hungry subway goers), always luring me to stop by and buy a cinnamon roll but I’ve always resisted the urge. The only time I did give in to its seductive scent was at the Cinnabon at Union Station. I bought one with my then-boyfriend, an impulse purchase in our morning rush to some event we were on our way to. 

The cinnamon roll was given to us in a large turquoise box, similar to the paper boxes that McDonald’s packages its Big Macs, and for a second, I thought we bought a quarter pounder, the box was heavy and as I peeked at the cinnamon bun, it was massive, large enough to feed a family of four. Its microwave warmth numbed my hands and I grabbed a handful of napkins to clean up the thick, glossy syrup seeping through the folds of the cinnamon roll.

Yet I don’t remember how it tasted at all. Clearly, it wasn't enough for me to turn back on my heels and demand the young cinnabon server to hand me over the recipe lest I call the cops for his disobedience.

So I made these cinnamon rolls, yeasty buns to be shared with friends and family and even a stranger or two. I promise they will be remembered, engraved in your palate memory for many years to come, you won’t be able to resist their sticky, cinnamony fun. From the day these bad boys are baked to the end of their lifespan, they will be the reason to get up in the morning. Forget coffee, forget breakfast, forget work, these cinnamon rolls my friends, is your new reason to live. 

 

Written by one of my favourite food bloggers, Molly Wizenberg (whose book the Homemade Life made me cry when she pours her heart out about the French boy who broke her heart), this recipe has been sitting in my ridiculously long list of “Must-Make” recipes for a much too long. If you start on it now, you could have fresh, warm, cinnamon rolls in less than three hours. To help you pass the time, you could busy yourself reading this (hilarious!) or this (heartbreaking!) while the dough rises or make plenty of this to enjoy with the rolls, and trust me, the three hours will pass very quickly. 

You don’t even need a stand mixer (though I’m counting on you Santa), since the dough easily comes together in a few steps. Besides, who doesn’t like playing with food? Or revelling in that soft, silky feeling of flour between your fingers? Or the way a sticky, raggedy mess transforms into a smooth ball with just the kneading of your palms? This takes a bit more time than say, quick breads, but it was well worth the extra effort. Really.

In other news! Guess who I had the honour of meeting last week? Another of my favourite food bloggers: Clotilde Dusoulier of Chocolate and Zucchini. She gave a talk on the Art of Food Blogging and George Brown College, part of the Stratford Chef School Joseph Hoare Gastronomic Writer in Residence. I’ve never pounced on anyone before, not even James Franco (Oh! I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to drool on you). She’s the sweetest, kindest person and I’m glad she didn’t call on security given the eager way I urged her to sign my cookbook. Thanks to Lisa for taking the picture!

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Recipe here!

Chocolate Guinness Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

I was intrigued when I first saw this cake in Nigella Lawson’s book, then it popped up again on Athena’s blog in which I was redirected to Design Sponge and ding ding! that’s when I knew it was a sign for me to make this cake. A cake like this beauty, reminiscent of a tall glass of stout, a cake with a glowing halo above it begs to be baked and frosted and shared among friends.

Despite the inky, lava-like batter threatening to overflow my mixing bowl, the cakes turned out beautifully. I did make one booboo though. One cake pan was actually larger in diameter than the other, so when I stacked them on top of another, it turned out wonky, not to mention that the cake itself is quite delicate and as I transferred it to my brand spanking new cake plate, I nearly split it in half. I’m not one to have the patience over layered cakes, I’m the kinda girl who prefers her desserts simple and rustic, but it’s always fun to have beautiful cakes, especially for birthdays (like me and my mom’s). 

For the first time in my life, I used fancy cocoa powder. By fancy, I mean I-treated-myself-as-if-I-were-the-Queen fancy. I went to the Delicious Food Show on Friday with a classmate and walked away with a kilo of Cacoa Barry Extra Brute cocoa powder and a spring in my step. I know that ideally, the best quality chocolate should be used in baked goods, though sometimes I can’t afford to buy expensive ingredients, there was something about the dark, musky scent of cocoa that lured me to splurge and splurge I did.

Nigella describes this cake having a “resonant, ferrous tang” and Katie deems it “one of the best chocolate cakes recipes out there” so come on, isn’t that enough to urge you to make it too? 

This cake is dreamy. In the oven, the signature bitterness of the Guinness evaporates, replaced with a cake that is moist, dense, with a soft, delicate crumb. This cake could be a fatal cavity-inducing treat in each bite, yet the beer adorns it with an unmistakable dampness, leaving it not overly sweet, but just right. 

I suspect the use of fancy cocoa powder amps up the richness of the cake. The white frothy frosting gives a striking contrast to the dark, charcoal layers and on your tongue, there’s the undeniable twang from silky cream cheese. And when the sparkler candles went off, it was a like a mini fireworks show. But nothing beats a chocolate birthday cake more than a night surrounded by the kindest, the funniest, the sweetest friends you could ever hope for.

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Recipe here!