TOP 5 GUILTY PLEASURES

Now of course my guilty pleasures are generally sweets and with an abundance of chocolate with the exception of In Touch Magazine (that will be my 6th guilty pleasure). I have had the pleasure of enjoying the items below more than once. I couldn’t pass them up even if my trainer was with me and giving me the “evil stare”. Because trust me as a guilty pleasure I have no desire in learning the fat and calorie content.

1) Garrett’s Chicago Mix Popcorn - It is the cheesiest most caramel popcorn I have had in my life. My first time in Chicago I didn’t need directions to the shop I just followed my nose. The whole day you could see people with orange stained hands from the cheese and you just smiled at them as they were part of the Chicago Mix Club. If you can’t get to one of their shops you can order it online. GARRETT POPCORN



2) Soma’s Chocolate Covered Salted Corn Nuts, Toronto – The Soma Chocolate shop is located in The Distillery in Toronto. It is my favourite chocolate shop. I love treats with a twist and they have no short supply of them. When I first came across these I thought … odd but awesome. It’s a great chocolate shop complete with spicy thick rich mayan hot chocolate churning on the counter! SOMA CHOCOLATE

3) Thorntons Chocolate Covered Toffee, England – I have an obsession with British chocolate. I always need to make lots of room in my suitcase to fill it up with some sweet treats and I make lots of room for Thorntons! My absolute fav is the chocolate covered toffee I could replace my meals with this and be a happy woman although my jeans would beg to differ. THORNTONS

4) Pierre Hermes Macaroons, Paris- The first time your going to have a macaroon it should be in Paris. I went on hunt to find this shop and it did not disappoint. I was quite surprised that one of my fav macaroons was a passion fruit one (weird for me) of course the chocolate one was way up there too. Macaroons are fabulous and finish off a Parisienne experience! PIERRE HERME

5) Milsean Demerara Butter Crunch Bars, Aldergrove British Columbia – I first had this bar at the One Of A Kind Show in Toronto. Wowza! It’s so buttery and rich one bite and it takes me back to the motherland. My favourite is the milk chocolate with hazelnuts! MILSEAN

Mmmmmm I hope you enjoy my list everyone!!


PASSION FRUIT MACAROON

Spring has finally sprung (I think). Not only are the colours getting brighter outside but also in our baking! The pink lemonade glaze on this cake is so pretty … almost too pretty to eat. This recipe was inspired by the Redpath baking video I did with Heather Habgood of Creative Bug . She won a contest and received a fabulous gift basket and a chance to share her recipe via YouTube. We baked her Pink Lemonade Cake.

I thought if you can put pink lemonade in a cake then you can put it in a cheesecake as well. This mini cheesecake has a sour cream layer and a fabulous pink lemonade glaze. Not only is a great recipe for Mother’s Day but why not for prom!? The title of my cheesecake recipe is obviously inspired by one of my fav 80’s movie “Pretty in Pink”. Any chance I can to talk about a John Hughes Movie I will. Molly Ringwald this recipe is for you. Thank you for wearing pink even though you were a ginger. You helped break down barriers and made it acceptable for me to wear one of my favourite colours!



PRETTY IN PINK LEMONADE CHEESECAKES

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 cupcake tins. Makes 24 mini cheesecakes.

BASE:
1/3 cup butter
2 tbsp. brown sugar
app. 2 cups graham crumbs

In a microwave safe dish add the butter and brown sugar. Melt in the microwave app. 20 seconds; stir to combine. Gradually add the graham crumbs until the texture is crumble yet sticky enough to pack down. Place 1 heaping tbsp in the bottom of each liner; pack down. Bake for 5 minutes in the preheated oven. Remove and set aside.

CHEESECAKE:

3 packages cream cheese, softened
3/4 sugar
1/3 cup pink lemonade concentrate, thawed
3 eggs
1 tbsp. cornstarch
1 tsp. vanilla
pinch of salt

In a mixing bowl cream the cream cheese with the back of a wooden spoon or on the low speed of your mixer. Add the sugar, cornstarch, pink lemonade, salt and vanilla; mix until smooth on low speed (couple of minutes). Add the eggs stir or mix on low speed until combined (fine lumps are ok). DO not over mix.

Spoon overtop of the base. Fill cupcake liners about 2/3’s full. Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes or until just set.



SOUR CREAM LAYER:

1 ½ cups sour cream, full fat
1/8 cup pink lemonade concentrate
1 tbsp. instant dissolving sugar
zest of 1 lemon

In a small bowl combine all the ingredients. When the cheesecakes are set remove from the oven and spoon the sour cream mixture on top. About 1 heaping tbsp. Place back in the oven and continue to bake for another 10 minutes. Remove and let cool for about an hour. Place in an airtight container in the fridge. Let set in the fridge at least 2 hours before serving.



PINK LEMONADE GLAZE:
In a small saucepan add 4 tsp. of cornstarch the remaining pink lemonade concentrate and the juice of 1 lemon; whisk together until smooth. Bring to a gentle boil stirring constantly until the mixture thickens. Remove from the heat let sit for 2 minutes; stir. Let cool cover and store in the fridge until ready to serve.

I made these cheesecakes for Easter and they got rave reviews most of my fam damily came back for seconds (that’s always a good sign). They keep for 4 days in the fridge.
Happy Spring & Happy Mother’s Day!

Preheat oven to 275 degrees

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups of flour
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup of icing sugar

1 cup butter, softened
pinch of salt

1 200g bag Mini Eggs (or Hershey Eggies), crushed into small and medium pieces

Method:
Sift together the flour, cornstarch and icing sugar.
Add the butter and salt; cream together with the dry ingredients until a stiff dough is formed.
Stir in the glorious Mini Eggs.
Roll dough into 1-Inch balls and flatten with your fingers on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.

Bake in the preheated oven for 22-24 minutes.

Let cool and enjoy!!!

This shortbread recipe was passed on by my friend's Grandma. You can find it in my book Chapter Two "They Break It You Bake It" "Short on Love not on Shortbread"!

Hi everyone the videos are being uploaded for my new web series on Food Network.ca. Please visit here for a rundown of my series, baking videos and a chance to enter a new contest!!
FOOD NETWORK.CA

Maybe you have found your soulmate maybe you are still searching and maybe you are just to darn happy being single to care. Whatever your situation this recipe is for you. It's a great yummy brownie recipe. Perfect for freezing perfect for sharing and perfect for taste testing!

INGREDIENTS:
5 1oz. squares of unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1 cup butter
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
15 graham crackers
1 cup peanut butter chipits
3 cups mini marshmallows

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Grease a 9x13-Inch baking dish

METHOD:
In a medium heavy bottom saucepan melt the chocolate and butter over low heat or using a double boiler method; stir often. Once melted and combined remove from heat and set aside to cool slightly.
In a mixing bowl mix together the sugar and eggs until combined. Mix in the vanilla.
Gradually add the melted chocolate while constantly mixing as to not cook the egg.
Stir in the flour and baking powder; mix thoroughly.
Pour half of the brownie mixture into the prepared dish.
Place one layer of the graham crackers evenly on top.
With the remaining brownie mixture stir in the peanut butter chipits. Spread gently and evenly on top of graham crackers.
Sprinkle with mini marshmallows

Bake in the preheated oven for app 30-40 minutes. If the marshmallows are getting too brown you can cover the top with a piece of foil until brownies are set but still moist. When a toothpick is inserted there should be a little bit of the batter and a few crumbs.

Let cool and enjoy!

INGREDIENTS:
3/4 cup heavy whipping cream

3 tbsp. butter, softened

300g. dark chocolate, finely chopped (the better the chocolate the better the truffle)

1/4 cup rose champagne

cocoa for rolling

METHOD:
Heat cream in a small heavy saucepan over medium heat until tiny bubbles form around edges. Add butter, stir until melted
Place chopped chocolate in a bowl, pour heated cream over top. Stir until melted. Stir in champagne
Pour chocolate in a shallow dish. Cover with plastic wrap. Place dish in fridge for about 30 minutes to set. Using a melon baller make small balls of chocolate. Place on a lined cookie sheet and set in fridge for another 30 minutes
Dip your hands in cocoa. Roll truffles to smooth out texture and then roll in cocoa
Store in an airtight container in the fridge for a couple of weeks

Hi Everyone to help celebrate the launch of my web series The Happy Baker on Food Network.ca Feb 10th I'm having a fabulous giveaway.

Sugar Baby Aprons has graciously sent me one of their Domestic Darling aprons a fabulous design with a cupcake print. Please click the link above to check out all their amazing sassy aprons.There will also be an autographed copy of my cookbook as well as cupcake sprinkles, Wilton cupcake liners, a tea towel, a heart shaped dish and heart shaped cookie cutters!

The Contest is open to resident's of Canada & the U.S. 18 yrs & older. You have until February 14th to enter! One winner will be picked from a hat :)

How To Enter:
You can receive one entry for following myself @thehappybaker and also one entry for following Sugar Baby Aprons @sugarbabyaprons on Twitter.

You can receive one entry for joining My Facebook Page and for also joining Sugar Baby's Facebook Fan Page.

You can receive another entry for tweeting about the contest and for posting the contest on your Facebook page.

Simply leave a comment here or on my Facebook page with how many entries you have!

Good Luck Everyone!

I am thrilled to let y'all know that The New York Times has just named The Happy Baker cookbook as one of the best of 2010. I'm like a proud momma and my child just won an Olympic Gold Medal.

If you had told me a couple years ago that I would write a cookbook, self- publish the book (in Canada), sell the US rights to a huge publishing company (Harlequin) and then The New York TImes would name it as one of the best of 2010 ... I would have told you to stop smokin' the funny stuff.

This has been quite the ride and I am glad I took the plunge changed my careers and just hoped this would all work out. So many doors are opening up now and I can't wait to share many other exciting news from Happy Baker headquarters.

You can read the whole article here. The New York Times.

Congrats to all the books that made the cut.

Grocery alerts is a fabulous Canadian website that has printable coupons and is your source for all the great grocery deals in Canada! They have just done a feature on my cookbook and 1 lucky winner will walk away with my book. You can learn more about the contest and enter here: GROCERY ALERTS WEBSITE. The contest closes on December 16th!

HI everyone, I'm super excited to let you know I have been chosen as a guest for the National Press Club's Annual Book Fair & Author's night in Washington D.C. The event is Tuesday November 9th from 5:30-8:30. You can learn more about the event here - Book Fair
You can also catch me live on Let's Talk Live in Washington Tuesday between 11am-Noon.

1 cup butter, softened
¾ cup brown sugar, packed
¾ cup white sugar
1 ¼ cups fresh roasted pumpkin, pureed

3 eggs

2 ½ cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. cinnamon
¼ tsp. cloves
pinch of nutmeg

½ cup warm milk

Preheat oven to 350*
Line 2 cupcake tins with cupcake liners. Makes 24 cupcakes.
In a large bowl mix together the sugars and butter; mix until light and fluffy. Mix in pumpkin puree until thoroughly combined.
Add the eggs one at a time on low speed of hand mixer; mix until combined.
In a medium sized bowl sift or whisk together the remaining dry ingredients.
Add dry ingredients to the wet mixture. Stir until just combined. Gradually stir in the warm milk.
Spoon into prepared cupcake tins. Bake for 20-22 minutes.
Let cool.

Caramel Cream Cheese Icing & Filling

½ cup butter, softened
1 8oz. package cream cheese, softened
3 cups Icing/Confectioners Sugar
3 tbsp. Caramilk Liqueur or any caramel liqueur
Halloween Candy Corn for decorating

Using a hand mixer; mix the cream cheese and butter together until light & fluffy. Add ½ cup of icing sugar; mix. Add 1 Tbsp. Caramilk Liqueur; mix. Alternate until you get a smooth and creamy icing.

Fill an icing decorating bag. Using a long round decorating tip insert into the middle of the cupcake and squeeze in icing. Continue filling all the cupcakes. Then ice cupcakes with remaining icing. Decorate with sprinkled cinnamon, candy corn, walnuts or caramel sauce! Get crafty people ☺

Woo Hoo Radio Interviews for the US book Launch of The Happy Baker Cookbook!! September 29th, 2010. All times are in Eastern Standard Time. Hope you all get a chance to listen!

7:40-7:49 The Bill and Joel Morning Show on WDUN-AM Listen Live in Atlanta, Georgia

7:50-7:59 Mark Wayne on WICH-1310 AM Listen Live in Hartford, Connecticut

8:20-8:29 Pete Braley in the Morning on WBSM-1420 AM Listen Live in New Bedford, Massachusetts

8:30-8:39 Dan Johnston on KWDQ-FM Listen Live in Oklahoma City

8:40-8:49 Rob Hakala with The South Shore’s Morning News on WATD 95.9FM Listen Live in Boston, Massachusetts

8:50-8:59 KKCK-99.7FM Listen Live in St. Paul, Minnesota

9:10-9:19 Matt & The Rise Guys on WTPT 93.3 Listen Live in Greenville, South Carolina

9:20-9:29 Barnaby & Friends on WLHT 95.7FM Listen Live in Grand Rapids, Michigan

9:30-9:39 WKLS FM96 Listen Live in Atlanta, Georgia

9:50-9:59 Chet Walker & Beth Adams on WHAM-AM 1180 Listen Live in Rochester , NY

10:00-10:09 Karen & The Morning Crew on WMIL FM 106 Listen Live in Milwaukee, Wisconsin

10:20-10:29 Cathie Martin on WGRT-FM 102.3 Listen Live in Port Huron, Michigan

10:30-10:39 Tron Simpson on KCMN-AM 1530 Listen Live in Colorado Springs, Colorado

10:40-10:49 Kyle Martin on KFJB-AM 1230 Listen Live in Des Moines, Iowa

11:15-11:35 2 Moms & a Mic on KKZZ-AM 1400 Listen Live in Los Angeles, California

Hey all I have some very exciting news! I will be baking up a storm on Steven & Chris for the 4th season of their show! Check your local listings for airtime & channel. In Canada you can watch the show 2pm weekdays on CBC.
looking forward to some fun sassy times with the boys! Steven & Chris website
Check out my first segment this Thursday October 30th we will be making some biscotti from my cookbook The Happy Baker.

I had a fabulous time at the 2nd annual Taste of Huron Event in Huron County, Ontario. I was asked to be a guest judge for the Recipe Challenge competition where chefs had to use Turkey products and were given only 20 bucks to shop at the local Farmers Market for fresh ingredients. Judging was based on ease of preparation for at home cooks, use of Farmers Market ingredients, tastiness and presentation. The winner was Terry head chef from .Thyme on 21 in Goderich Ontario.
I also taught a baking class. We had a blast making cupcakes and mini cheesecakes. Thanks to everyone for supporting this award winning event. There are still a couple events left! Tonight is the Plowing Match and this week-end is the Zurich Bean Festival. For more details visit Taste Of Huron Website.

Hey Everyone here is the link to my trailer for my new web series The Happy Baker on Food Network.ca ... coming this fall!!

Food Network Canada Trailer