Tag Archives: fruit

In the absence of actual apple pie– Apple Pie Muffins

Posted in Autumn baking, Baking Recipes, Cupcakes & Muffins, My favourite things, The Breakfast Bin by

You ever have days when you get a hankering for apple pie but you’re too lazy to go through the motions of making the dough, chopping up the apples, and all that? I do. A lot of times actually. So then you might ask, ‘Why don’t you just run down to the store and buy one?’ To be honest, I haven’t found a store-bought apple pie in my neck of the woods that tastes half as good as a homemade one. So what’s a girl to do in such a situation? Well this is the part where I tell you about how this muffin would be a nice substitute for apple pie, but if there’s one thing I learned after all this time I’ve been baking, it’s that there really isn’t a substitute for good ‘ole apple pie. And yet I can’t resist the charm of other pastries that interpret this lovely classic. I made a cupcake-version of apple pie a while back, and while they were good, I have to say these muffins were oh so much more satisfying! Continue reading for the recipe

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Thinking of blogging’s role in my life over Cornmeal & Olive Oil Biscotti

Posted in Alice Medrich, Baking Recipes, Cookies, Experiments & experiences, From the books by

How has everyone been? Me, I’ve been tired. It’s the kind of tiredness that seems to flow from the soul outward to the eyes. My eyes sear in the way that a person who hasn’t slept for a week would experience. I would like nothing more than to close my eyes for a good 24 hours. Unfortunately, I have responsibilities to attend to.

The good news is, things have been getting better for me. I’ve begun to learn how to look at the difficult things I have been encountering lately through different perspectives. The bad news is, I’ve been thinking an awful lot; and all the thinking has been giving me a chronic headache. Recently there have been nights when my mind literally won’t shut down and I stare at the ceiling for hours on end, just willing myself to sleep. It’s probably one of the reasons why I’m so tired. Despite this, I couldn’t resist sitting in front of my computer tonight to write this post. Apparently I’m never too tired to blog.
Continue reading for the recipe

Some comfort in Avocado Ice Cream

Posted in Baking Recipes, David Lebovitz, From the books, Frozen treats, I scream for ice cream (I do) by

I know I haven’t written in a while, but I have a perfectly valid explanation. You see, it’s been a crazy, stressful couple of days for me. My parents took a week’s worth of holiday recently, leaving me to man our company by my lonesome. The amount of work is endless, and every time I so much as blink it’s like the pile of work I am yet to do has given birth to octuplets. Every task I cross out on my to-do list gets replaced with another two, or five. Apparently this is what it’s like to manage your own company: you’ve got to be on top of absolutely everything. To think my Father has been doing this for over 20 years, and I’ve never heard him once complain (or even flinch). So naturally, I strive to do a good job in his absence. I’ve a lot to learn yet, and it will be years before I become anything like him, but I’ll be damned if I do not admit this is one of the toughest weeks I’ve ever had in my life! When I go home at night, I am so tired all I want to do is lie down with a good book and sleep. (Or fall asleep with the book on my chest, which believe me doesn’t happen often!)

Continue reading for the recipe

{Dearly Dreaming Dorie} Discovering the Dimply Plum Cake

Posted in Baking Recipes, Dearly Dreaming Dorie, From the books, Simple cakes by

People always look for the familiar, especially in the things that are foreign to them; but there will be times when the unfamiliar works its way into our lives and become something we grow to love. Such is my story with plum cakes. Or this particular one, in fact. I don’t believe I have ever eaten plums in any other way than au naturel, quartered into half-moons; or dried, in the form of prunes. When I saw this recipe for plum cakes, I was skeptical. Do plums really play well in a cake? They have such a unique flavour on their own already. I was a bit nervous if we would actually like the results.

Plums are one of my grandmother’s favourite fruits, so as a child, she would always share a few slices with me whenever she had some. I’m guessing this has played a large part in why plums are one of my favourite fruits now that I’m all grown up. As I tried to come to a decision whether or not I should make this cake, I thought, ‘If plums make up majority of the cake, then it would still technically taste like plums wouldn’t it?’ So I figured, if I didn’t like the cake, at least I could still eat the plums. But really, how bad can something named Dimply Plum Cake be?

Continue reading for the recipe

Ye odd hot cross buns

Posted in Baking Recipes, Bread-making, Christmas & holidays, Experiments & experiences, Living traditions, Yeasted breads by

Lenten Season comes rather early this year. We don’t really make anything in particular for Lent, I just thought these were a good place to start. There is just something about Hot Cross Buns that are so fitting for the occasion. Aside from the cross on top of course, they look so unassuming. They remind me of the Christian teachings about learning how to appreciate simplicity in our lives, rather than the material, more ornamental things.

It is said that Hot Cross Buns baked on a Good Friday never became moldy, and so keeping one bun until next year’s batch for the Lenten Season would supposedly bring good luck. And while I have not, and most likely will never, attempt to find out if this is true, I did attempt to bake my own Hot Cross Buns at home.

Continue reading for the recipe

{Dearly Dreaming Dorie} The most amazing Mango Bread

Posted in Baking Recipes, Dearly Dreaming Dorie, From the books, Quickbreads & Loaves, The Breakfast Bin by

I’ve been waiting for mango season to roll around, and in my neck of the woods, it finally has! One of the best perks about living in a tropical country is that we’ve got mangoes all year round, however the best and sweetest of the crop are harvested around this time. The mangoes here in the Philippines are gorgeously shaped, yellow and very fragrant; with an addictive sweetness that makes them extremely hard to resist.

Mangoes are one of my favourite fruits in the whole universe; second only to Chinese Honey Oranges, or ponkan. As a child though, mangoes were my uncontested favourite. I would often have it with my bowl of rice, kind of like Japanese maki only in a big messy pile. Now that I think about it, maybe this was what paved the way to my intense love for Japanese cuisine, especially the sushi with bursts of mango within. Is my mango-adoring childhood one of the reasons why yellow is my favourite colour? Quite possibly.

But I digress.

I only hope you do not think I am biased when I say, this is one of the best quick breads I have ever had in my life! I want to point out, it is simply the truth.

Continue reading for the recipe