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I’m doing something today that I’ve never done before. I’m repeating a blog post. It’s not a step I take lightly but given the news on Friday, it’s needed.

In case you haven’t heard, Ronald Howes, the inventor of the Easy Bake oven died last week. So, in his honour, I rerun my post from November 2007 about how the Easy Bake oven affected my life. R.I.P. Mr. Howes.

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My generation is divided into two groups: women who had Easy Bake ovens as children and those who didn’t.

I was in the ‘have’ group and truly, I’m glad for it. I loved my turquoise Easy Bake oven! It was a present from Santa Claus the year I was in grade one and it gave me such a sense of maturity and accomplishment to make those little too sweet cakes and unnaturally flavoured cookies! Success with my Easy Bake oven encouraged me to try baking from scratch and gave me the confidence to master the full-size appliances in our kitchen. In retrospect, I think having an Easy Bake oven was an important step on my path to becoming a professional cook.

Launched in 1963 when many young girls still imagined their ultimate adult success to be landing a steno pool job at a prosperous company where one could easily snag a rich husband, I don’t think the inventors of the Easy Bake oven ever expected someone to type a statement like that one!

Yet despite our modern society’s very different attitudes about female success, Easy Bake ovens remain popular toys. Although today’s Easy Bake ovens are still pretty girly (the newest model is pink, after all) it’s no longer considered weird for a boy to play with one. Likewise, I’m sure no Canadian girl who receives one will imagine herself growing up to bake cakes all day long while her husband works.

I bought my son one of the modern models that look like a microwave several years ago and I was delighted and relieved to see that he and his friends enjoyed cooking by light bulb almost as much as I had! It’s interesting to see that some pastimes can remain fun even after the type of person they were invented to please no longer exists.

Tip: Since 2006 Easy Bake ovens have been made to cook with heating elements and not light bulbs. These new machines have been the subject of at least 2 recalls so if you decide to buy an Easy Bake oven consider buying vintage. They often have great models at good prices on ebay.

Photo credit: Tracy Cox

Today, my colleague Sabrina Falone shares her expertise on baking with honey. That means I’ve got the day off – sweet!

By: Sabrina Falone

Almost everyone has honey in his or her pantry. It’s most commonly used to sweeten tea, drizzle over toast or as an ingredient in home remedy recipes. I personally think honey is one of the most versatile ingredients in my pantry and I use it on almost a daily basis.

I use honey to balance tart salad dressings; to aid in caramelizing foods; in glazes and sauces; and, I love to serve small bowls of different varietals of honey on a cheese platter. The list of dishes I use honey in could go on and on, but my favourite thing to do with honey is bake.

Honey is 100% natural and contains minerals and vitamins, so it’s a healthier choice than most sweeteners. It also adds a great flavour that regular white sugar doesn’t have. Although, there are a few baked goods that need sugar for structure (such as soufflé and some cookies) in many of those cases, a portion of the sugar can be replaced with honey, too. Another advantage to baking with honey is that it’s hygroscopic, meaning it attracts water. This allows honey-based baked goods, such as cakes, muffins, scones etc. to stay fresh and moist longer.

It’s very easy to substitute honey for sugar in many recipes:
• Substitute 3/4 cup (175 mL) honey for 1 cup (250 mL) of granulated sugar called for in recipe
• Reduce the fluid in the recipe by 1/4 cup (50 mL)
• Add 1/4 tsp (1 mL) baking soda (to neutralized the acid in the honey)
• Reduce oven temperature by 25°F
Do keep in mind that substituting honey for sugar alters flavour and tends to make baked goods moister, chewier and slightly darker. It’s a good idea to check the item a few minutes before the specified baking time is over to ensure it doesn’t get over-baked.

Do you bake or cook with honey? If so, what are some of your favourite dishes?

While I’m generally a warm weather lover, I do enjoy one aspect of winter cold: When it’s -15 °C and the wind is howling, there is not only very little incentive to go outside, but there is no peer pressure either. Absolutely no one is going to raise their eyebrows at you for staying home to cook and bake instead of heading outdoors to exercise when it’s this cold. (The exception might be those  odd people who go winter camping but I don’t know any of them so all is well.)

So, I’ve been taking advantage of the recent cold snap by keeping the oven warm. Pumpkin loaf and scones both popped out of that  toasty cavern last week looking (and smelling!) good enough to eat. While I’ve given you my cardamom and ginger spiked pumpkin loaf recipe before, I’ve been stingy with my scone directions. It’s time that changed. So, without further ado, here is my scone recipe. It’s adapted from one that was in Cook’s Illustrated a couple of years ago:

Toasted Maple Oat Scones

11/2 cups ( 375 mL) rolled oats

½ cup (125 mL) chopped pecans

½ cup (125 mL) homo milk (use light cream if you’re a skinny mini)

1 egg

¼ cup (50 mL) maple syrup

11/2 cups (375 mL) all-purpose flour (approx.)

2 tbsp (30 mL) baking powder

½ tsp (1 mL) salt

2/3 cup (150 mL) cold butter, cubed

½ cup (125 mL) dried sour cherries or cranberries

1 tbsp (15 mL) turbinado or other coarse sugar

Preheat the oven to 300°C (150°F). Spread the oats evenly over a baking sheet. Arrange the the nuts at one end. Toast for 5 to 8 minutes or until lightly golden.  Transfer to a rack to cool. Measure out 2 tbsp (30 mL) of the oats and set aside. Increase the oven temperature to 450°F (225°C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Whisk the milk and egg until smooth. Stir in the maple syrup. Measure out 1 tbsp (15 mL) of this mixture and set aside.

In a food processor fitted with a metal blade, combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Pulse to combine. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture is mealy in texture. Transfer to a bowl. Add the cooled oats and nuts. Blend well. Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour in the milk mixture. Blend until a ragged dough forms. Use lightly floured hands to bring the dough together into a ball.

Lightly dust a clean work surface with a little flour. Sprinkle half the reserved oats over the flour. Transfer the dough to this area and pat into a circle that is 1-inch (2.5 cm) thick. Sprinkle with remaining oats. Brush with the reserved milk mixture and sprinkle evenly with coarse sugar. Using a sharp knife or a pastry chef’s scraper, cut the dough into 8 wedges. Transfer to the prepared pan. Bake on the middle rack for 12 to 14 minutes or until golden. Serve warm.

Damn it’s been cold. Last weekend I seriously didn’t want to go out on Saturday (our daytime high temperature was -10°C /14°F!) So I decided to stay in and make cookies. In the end my boredom led me to create an edible game!

It was easy. I made a basic sugar cookie dough (you can use a mix if you like); cut them into domino-shaped cookies and chilled the trimmed dough in the refrigerator (to prevent spreading) before I baked them. Once they were cool I decorated them to look like dominoes. To be honest, we did more eating than playing but it was fun nonetheless.

You could also frost sugar cookies to look like checkers, I suppose. Do you have any other ideas for fun ways to turn eating cookies into a way to play a game, too?

A few weeks ago on Facebook, my sister-in-law asked me a deceptively complex question:

“If you had to choose between plastic wrap, foil or parchment – which would you give up first?”

While I’d miss plastic wrap (who doesn’t like being able to see their food?) and find it inconvenient to be without parchment paper (especially when baking), I’d give them both up long before foil.

After all, foil can:
• Cover food to seal in freshness
• Be used to prevent food from sticking to cooking surfaces
• Be shaped into foil swans to hold leftovers that you want to send home with your dinner party guests (I used to love making those swans when I was a chef)
• Be used to make cooking packets for fish and other delicate foods that people often cook in parchment pouches.

What about you? Which would you give up last?

Good ole canned pumpkin. Why do we only use it to make pies when it makes such a moist, yummy loaf to eat in the evening while you watch 30 Rock? Seriously, why is that?

Pumpkin Spice Loaf
2/3 cup (150 mL) softened butter
½ cup (125 mL) lightly packed brown sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup (250 mL) pumpkin puree
1 tsp (5 mL) pure vanilla extract
2 cups (500 mL) all-purpose flour
1 tbsp (15 mL) baking powder
1 tsp (5 mL) ground ginger
½ tsp (2 mL) each ground cinnamon, cardamom ad nutmeg
½ tsp (2 mL) each baking soda and salt
1 cup (250 mL) chopped pecans or walnuts
ginger sugar (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Place the butter in a large bowl and beat with a wooden spoon until light and fluffy (feel free to use an electric mixer if you prefer). Blend in the brown sugar and beat until light. Beat in the eggs, adding one at time. Blend in the pumpkin and vanilla until well incorporated.

Add the flour. Sprinkle the baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, nutmeg, baking soda and salt over the flour. Stir these smaller amounts of dry ingredients into the flour. Using deeper strokes, blend the dry ingredients into the butter mixture until almost fully combined. If adding nuts, fold them in.

Scrape the batter into a lightly greased 9 x 5 –inch (2.5 L) glass loaf pan and smooth evenly to fill to the edges of the pan. Sprinkle with ginger sugar, if using. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes on the centre rack of the oven until the loaf springs back when lightly touched on top. Cool in the pan on a rack for 10 minutes. Turn loaf out and cool completely before slicing. Makes 10 servings.

What other recipes do you make using canned pumpkin?

Although we had the coolest, wettest July on record this summer, I’ve still managed to over-tan. Truthfully, I blame the economy for my sun-damaged forehead. Most summers I’m so busy whipping up bright ideas in the test kitchen for magazines and food companies that I find very little time to spend outdoors. But, this year has been different. Business has been down, so I’ve had time to play tennis regularly and to ride my bike to work. It seems that just these little changes in routine have helped me to get a very nice tan.

Despite the ugly age spots on my forehead, the rest of me is thankful for the pigment change. As you may know, dark things look smaller and, even though I’ve been exercising, I’ve been eating enough that I’m bursting out of my fat clothes. I can only hope the tan is creating an optical illusion that hides that fact.

The hope that dark objects look smaller is a blessing when it comes to my body but not so great when applied to brownies. If a brownie looks small, why not eat two? (Hence the problem with the fat clothes.)

After that segue you likely will think twice about making brownies but I hope you decide to go ahead. I’ve been making this recipe for years. It’s super easy and so chocolaty and satisfying that you really only need to eat one small square to get your chocolate fix:

Dana’s Saucepan Brownies

4 oz (125 g) chopped unsweetened chocolate
1/2 cup (125 mL) butter
1 1/2 cups (375 mL) granulated sugar
1 tsp (5 mL) vanilla
1/4 tsp (1 mL) salt
3 eggs
1 cup (250 mL) all-purpose flour

Place chocolate and butter in a saucepan set over low heat. Heat, stirring often, until chocolate is almost melted. Remove from heat and stir until smooth. Cool slightly. Preheat oven to 350oF (180oC).

Stir sugar, vanilla and salt into chocolate mixture. Stir in eggs, adding one at a time. Blend in flour until well combined. Scrape mixture into a greased 9-inch (23 cm) square pan or 7 x 11-inch (1.5 L) baking dish. Bake for 30 minutes for fudgy brownies (my fav) or for 35 minutes for cakey brownies. Cool in the pan on a rack. Slice into bars. Makes 24 bars.

Photo credit: Food In Houston

Although no pastry chef I know ever learned how to make profiteroles, macarons, tarte tatin, waffles, milkshakes or doughnuts with foie gras at culinary school, many of them are doing it now in high-end eateries in cities such as Montreal, Chicago, Portland and New York.

I haven’t tried a foie gras-laced dessert yet myself but I did have a foie gras and pear empanada at my husband Martin’s restaurant recently and it was pretty damn good.

Have any of you seen foie gras used as a dessert ingredient in your area? If so, did you try it? And, if you did, what did you think? Hit or miss?

Regular readers of this blog will know that since last summer, I’ve been on a quest to unlock the secrets of the perfect butter tart. It’s been a winding road.

After presenting my preferred recipe for butter tarts I heard mostly accolades but a rebuff, too. One enraged woman recently wrote me an email claiming that my butter tarts were the very worst she had ever tried. Needless to say, she and I are not destined to be friends.

While butter tarts have always been a Canadian favourite, I’ve noticed them being debated and discussed more often during the last few months. Was it the proximity of Canada Day on the calendar that led food sleuth Marion Kane and CBC personality Jian Ghomeshi to discuss butter tart origins and lore on June 29th?  Regardless, their informative chat  can be enjoyed as a podcast.

Likewise, a new Toronto-based blog called Beer & Butter Tarts recently launched. Although it’s a bit shy on butter tart news so far, I’m holding out hope for full-on butter tart coverage on their cyber pages.

Another result of devoting so much time to the discussion of butter tarts is that many people have reached out to share their butter tart love with me. One of these people is Jules Kay, a retired mathematics teacher and the owner of Aftermath Pies. He visited our test kitchen a couple of weeks ago and brought us his very delicious butter tarts. Unlike my tarts, which have a very rich, flaky, lard-based crust, Jules’ perfectly gooey tarts have a firmer, compact crust that features vegetable shortening.

Jules was kind enough to share his pastry recipe with me so you can try it if you prefer a leaner, less fragile crust.

Jules “The Pieman”’s Original Dough Recipe

Ingredients – flour, salt, sugar, shortening, vinegar, and water.
Utensils – large mixing bowl, measuring cups for dry and liquid ingredients, measuring spoons, fork, plastic wrap, and a pastry blender (ONLY FOR THE UNADVENTUROUS).

Ingredients
Flour – white, all purpose - 5 1/2 cups
Salt - 1 teaspoon
White Sugar - 1 tablespoon
Shortening - 1 package (454 grams)
Vinegar (plus water) - 1 tablespoon
Cold Tap Water 1 1/3 cups when added to vinegar

• In a large mixing bowl, blend flour, salt, and sugar.
• In a measuring cup, add the vinegar and enough water to make 1 1/3 cups of liquid.
• Cut the shortening into the flour mixture with your fingertips until it resembles small peas. For those afraid to get dirty hands, use a pastry blender.
• Make a well in the centre of the flour/shortening and add all the water.
• Stir (DO NOT MASH) with a fork until the flour has absorbed all the water and the ball of dough sticks together.
• If the dough is still crumbly, keep stirring with the fork.
• Gather up the dough in a ball and cover it with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 20 minutes. If the dough is too sticky, do not add more flour. Let it rest in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours or overnight. You will discover that the amount of water needed varies depending on the temperature and the humidity.
• Your dough is now ready for great tasting pies and tarts. If you intend to use the large (3-pound) tub then multiply the above quantities by 3. You might need a larger bowl.

Since we made perfect patties yesterday, why not make buns to go with them today? It may seem like a lot of fuss but it’s not difficult to make hamburger buns. Plus, the homemade version is so much yummier than the bagged buns sold at the grocery store.

When I made the buns pictured above, I used this Epicurious recipe. Although it’s a very good recipe that made delicious, light hamburger buns, I did learn a few things that might help you avoid the few, small problems I encountered:

1. This dough is very soft, so lightly flour your hands when handling it to avoid sticking.
2. To avoid messing up a saucepan, heat the milk in the microwave in the cup you used to measure it.
3. Although the recipe says to roll the buns out to 1/4-inch (.5 cm), I found that the buns I baked when I rolled the dough a little thicker were better.
4. When cutting out the dough, use a 4-inch (10 cm) metal cutter (the same one you used to make your perfect patties!) but don’t turn it in the dough. Simply press down to cut the dough and then pull the cutter up to remove (when I twisted the cutter, the dough stretched and the buns baked in a football shape).
5. Before you cut the circles, let the rolled dough sit for a minute or two so that the gluten relaxes into the shape you’ve just rolled. Otherwise, the dough tends to shrink as soon as you cut out your rolls and you end up with undersized holders for your burgers.

Have you ever made hamburger buns? If so, did you leave them plain on top or dress them with sesame or poppy seeds?