Sponge Toffee

Back on the internet again.

During the isolation for Covid-19, a lot of recipes are popping up on Facebook.  I can remember one evening when my father would have made this.  I was AMAZED that my father could cook this.

Ingredients

2 cups granulated sugar

½ cup corn syrup (or golden syrup)

½ cup water

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)

Pinch of salt

Instructions

Prepare your pan

Line a 9x13-inch pan or baking sheet with parchment paper.

Lightly grease the parchment.

Cook the sugar

In a large heavy saucepan, combine:

sugar

corn syrup

water

salt

Stir over medium heat until the sugar dissolves.

Bring to temperature

Stop stirring once it starts boiling.

Cook until it reaches 300°F (hard crack stage) on a candy thermometer.

This usually takes about 10–15 minutes.

Add the magic

Remove from heat.

Quickly stir in vanilla if using.

Add the baking soda all at once.

Stir gently but quickly — it will foam up like crazy!

Set

Immediately pour into the prepared pan.

Do not spread it down or press it — you want those air pockets.

Let cool completely (about 1 hour)

Break and enjoy

Lift out and break into pieces.

Optional: dip pieces in melted chocolate for a homemade Crunchie-style treat.

A few tricks:

Use a large pot because the mixture can expand 3–4 times when the baking soda goes in.

Humidity is the enemy — sponge toffee absorbs moisture and can become sticky. Store airtight.

Don't double this recipe unless you have a very large pot.

Comments and suggestions are ALWAYS welcome.

Dutch Oven Bread (Recipe #2)

OK, so were all stuck inside due to the Covid-19 virus and everyone seems to be baking and cooking up a storm.

I really do like sourdough bread, but who has the time (no pun intended) to make the starter and keep that going?

The other recipe I have, takes about 12 to 18 hours.  Yea, I can do that, BUT, why not have some bread while it's still breadfast?

Ingredients

1/2 cup warm milk
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1 pack dry active yeast, about 2 1/4 teaspoons
4 cups flour + some for dusting
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup Lukewarm water add a splash extra if needed
1 egg
1 tablespoon Olive Oil + for greasing

Stuff you will need

Kitchenaid stand mix with dough hook, or strong arms
Large mixing bowl

Directions

In a mixing bowl, stir yeast packet into a warm to touch milk and sugar, and allow yeast to bloom for about 5 minutes. When it starts to bubble and foam it means the yeast is active and ready to be used.

In your stand mixer, mix together flour and salt, then create a small well in the middle and pour in the milk and yeast mixture.

Mix one egg with warm water to warm up cold egg, and add to the flour.

Using your stand mixer, (or wooden spoon or spatula) start combining everything. Once combined, knead the dough, when it starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl it is ready to rest. 

Knead for about 5 minutes. If the dough is too sticky, add more flour, a couple of tablespoons at a time and vice versa, add a splash more water if it’s too dry. Drizzle olive oil and tap/glaze all over the dough.

Cover the bowl with a large kitchen towel and let it rise until it doubles in size. It takes about 2 hours, sometimes less if the house is warmer.

Uncover the dough and give it a few pokes with your finger. If the dough has risen properly it should indent under the pressure of your fingers and slowly deflate.

Using your hand fold the dough. Light pressure-kneading. Add more flour until it comes together. Cover and let it rise for one more hour. You may leave it for up to 3 hours.

Preheat the oven to 450 F

Once the dough has doubled in size one more time, knead it again just to shape it.

Line the dutch oven with wet parchment paper and place your dough in the middle. Sprinkle the top with a bit of flour and score lines on top. It’s not necessary but it looks better. 

As the bread bakes, it will expand and those scored lines will become more visible.

Bake for about 45 minutes, removing the lid completely for the last 10 minutes. This will allow the bread to get a deeper color and crispier.

Remove bread from a dutch oven, wrap it in the kitchen towel and let it cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing. Trust me on this one. If you cut it when the bread is hot it will become sticky inside so better wait for just a bit.

Pro Tips

You may skip the egg. 

You may use water instead of milk. 

The outcome of the bread depends on the water temperature, oven, flour, yeast even air. 

You may preheat your dutch oven or you can actually make it in the regular baking pan. You do not have to use parchment paper, substitute pam cooking spray. 

If you going to make a larger bread, add 6 cups of flour, 1 tablespoon Salt and enough liquid to make it wet enough. I would say about 2 1/2 cups. Everything else is the same.

Thin, or softer dough, in a warm kitchen, will rise in about 45 minutes, or less.

A firmer dough, with less moisture, will take longer to rise.

Comments and suggestions are ALWAYS welcome!

Taco Spaghetti - Tex Mex meets Italiano

OK, so were back on Facebook again and someone posts a recipe.  I found the posted recipe was bit overwhelming and had ingredients that may be hard to find.  So I "took it down" a notch.

If you make one recipe this year, this has got to be it.  When Tonya says that I can make the recipe again, that's her seal of approval.

It is really easy to make too.

Ingredients

1 pound ground beef
1 package taco seasoning
1 10 ounce can diced tomatoes
1 tablespoon tomato paste
8 ounces spaghetti
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Stuff you will need

Dutch oven
Colander
Large Spoon
Cheese shredder if you didn't buy shredded cheese

Directions

Put water to boil in the dutch oven.

Once the water was boiling, I took a hand full of spaghetti and broke it into 1/4 the length.  I cooked the spaghetti till it was done to my liking.

Drain the cooked spaghetti in the colander.  Leave the spaghetti in the colander for now.

Add ground beef to the dutch oven and cook until beef has browned, about 10 minutes, making sure to crumble the beef as it cooks.  

Lower the heat to low and add the taco seasoning.  Continue to cook the ground beef.

Add the diced tomatoes and the tomato paste.  PRO TIP, if you don't have tomato paste, you can substitute ketchup.  Stir that all together.

Add the cheeses and stir that around.

Add the spaghetti.  Turn the heat off.  Cover until the cheese is melted, about 2 minutes.

Serve right away.

This recipe can easily be doubled if you have a larger family.  The picture above, the recipe is doubled.  I always cook to have left overs.  We used to have 4 kids at home and I always cook to feed a small army.

Be prepared to receive a lot of compliments.  There will be a ton of "nom nom nom" sounds coming from everyone's mouth.

Comments and suggestions are ALWAYS welcome!

Carrot Cake w/Cream Cheese Icing

Well I was back on Facebook and I seen this recipe.

This reminds me of a story.  We were bringing in baked goods to work for everyone to try.  Someone suggested that I bake a carrot cake.  I thought, yea, why not.  Now, Tonya was telling me, it wasn't for work.  I said it was.  Anyways, I make the carrot cake and brought it to work.  The person thanked me for making the cake and said her father will love it.

I was like: What?  What are you talking about?  

Them: Oh yea, you made this for my father's birthday, not for work.  And then, they laughed and laughed as they knew they got me to do something for them, without me knowing.

Ingredients

2 cups (500 mL) all-purpose flour
2 tsp (10 mL) baking powder
2 tsp (10 mL) cinnamon
1 tsp (5 mL) baking soda
3/4 tsp (4 mL) salt
1/2 tsp (2 mL) nutmeg
3/4 cup (175 mL) granulated sugar
3/4 cup (175 mL) packed brown sugar
3 eggs
3/4 cup (175 mL) vegetable oil
1 tsp (5 mL) vanilla
2 cups (500 mL) grated carrots
1 cup (250 mL) drained crushed canned pineapple
1/2 cup (125 mL) chopped pecans

Icing

1 8 oz (250g) package cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup (60 mL) butter, softened
1/2 tsp (2 mL) vanilla
1 cup (250 mL) icing sugar (aka confectioners sugar and powdered sugar)

Stuff you will need

Stand mixer with paddle and wire whisk attachment
Cake Pan
Food processor with grater attachment

Directions

Grease and flour 13- x 9-inch (3.5 L) metal cake pan; (or 2 round pans) set aside.

In large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, salt and nutmeg. In separate bowl, beat together granulated and brown sugars, eggs, oil and vanilla until smooth; pour over flour mixture and stir just until moistened. Stir in carrots, pineapple and pecans. Spread in prepared pan.

Bake in centre of 350°F (180°C) oven for 40 minutes or until cake tester inserted in centre comes out clean. Let cool in pan on rack. 

Icing: In bowl, beat cream cheese with butter until smooth. Beat in vanilla. Beat in icing sugar, one-third at a time, until smooth. Spread over top of cake.

Comments and suggestions are ALWAYS welcome!

Lemon Curd Thumbprint Cookies

These homemade lemon curd thumbprint cookies have the "WOW" factor your looking for in a cookie. A combination of sweet buttery cookies and a citrus topping, oh my...

This is what MY first attempt looks like.

Not quite like in the picture.  But they are tasty.

Ingredients

1 Egg

1/4 cup Butter

1 3/4 cups Flour

1/4 cup Icing Sugar 

Pinch of salt

1/4 teaspoon Almond Flavoring (optional)

5 tablespoon Icing Sugar for Coating (optional)

15-20 teaspoons Lemon Curd

Stuff you will need

Stand mixer with wire whisk attachment

Spatula

Small wire colander

Cookie sheets

Parchment paper

Wire rack

Directions

Beat the sugar and butter until creamy. Add egg and mix until well combined. Add pinch of salt and almond flavoring.

Lastly, use a spatula to add the flour .

Form dough using your hand. It will feel soft at the beginning but will come together while kneading.

Wrap in in a cling film and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.

When the dough is chilled, take it out and form into small balls. You should get about 20 balls. Cover each one in icing sugar (using the small wire colander) and place them onto a baking tray lined with parchment paper.

Use a measuring spoon (or your thumb) to press each ball down to make dents for the lemon curd.  For my lemon curd recipe, click << HERE >>

Fill each one with lemon curd (1/2 – 1 teaspoon).

Bake in a preheated oven at 350°F for 12 minutes or until the bottom of the cookies are nice golden brown.

Once baked, transfer onto a wire rack and let them cool down.

Keep in an airtight container.  Serve and reap the accolades.

Comments and suggestions are ALWAYS welcome!