Blueberry Almond Pancakes

Happy Sunday! Today's recipe is all about these incredible, blueberry and almond pancakes from the Super Fresh cookbook. Fresh (four locations in Toronto) is my favourite restaurant. It serves up the most delicious vegetarian and vegan foods, even all of my meat-eating friends love it! When I saw this cookbook at work I knew I had to pick it up and I'm so glad I did. It's full of two hundred or so recipes, a few of which I have already tried and they went over very well. 

While these blueberry almond pancakes are on the menu at Fresh, I have yet to try them there. I thought I'd try my hand at making them on my own. Usually, I like my pancakes piled high with maple syrup and whipped cream or maybe even some Nutella but these pancakes are already so flavourful from the fresh, juicy blueberries and the fragrant and toasted almonds. The recipe is super fast to put together as well, so these make an impressive, yet quick weekend breakfast where you are not fussing around the kitchen for too long.

Yield - about 10 six-inch pancakes

Ingredients -

2 cups of flour, the original recipe calls for gluten-free all-purpose flour, I used quinoa flour
1 and 1/4 teaspoons of baking powder
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1/4 of a teaspoon of sea salt
1 and 1/2 cups of almond milk, or whatever milk you have on hand
1/4 of a cup of maple syrup, original recipe calls for agave nectar
Coconut oil, for frying
2/3 of a cup of sliced almonds
1 cup of fresh blueberries, rinsed and dried

Method -

1 - Mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Set aside. In a smaller bowl, combine your milk and maple syrup. Make a well in the bowl of your dry ingredients and add a little of your liquid ingredients. Mix together. Keep on gradually adding in your liquid, stirring after each addition. Mix until everything comes together and makes a batter.
2 - Heat your coconut oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Using a small ladle, drop your batter onto the hot pan. I use the back of the ladle to spread the batter out into perfect circles. Once you drop the batter, press some blueberries and almonds into the batter.
3 - Cook pancakes until the bottoms have browned and the tops are bubbling. Flip and cook until the other side is browned and cooked through. Repeat with leftover batter.
4 - Serve warm, with maple syrup.

Thank you for reading! Have a lovely day! x

Vegan Pear Muffins

We had a few pears laying around that were just days from going off so I thought I'd put together a little something with them. I really love this recipe for banana muffins so I used it as a guideline and changed things up quite a bit. Firstly, I omitted the banana and added in my overly ripe pears. Since pears are quite sweet, I cut the amount of sugar in half. If you want something sweeter go ahead and add in all the sugar, or even some maple syrup. I am not vegan (maybe one day!), but I really enjoy trying out vegan alternatives in my baking. Instead of using eggs, I made an egg substitute using just chia seeds and water. Instead of melted butter, I melted some coconut oil in both the muffins themselves as well as for the streusel topping. There really is no difference with the texture or the density of the muffins, so you don't have to worry about that. 

The end result leaves you with incredibly moist muffins that are packed with flavour and topped with a sweet and crumbly brown sugar streusel.

Yield - 12 muffins

Ingredients -

Muffins
1 tablespoon of chia seeds
3 tablespoons of water
5 small, overly ripe pears
1/2 of a cup of coconut oil, melted
1 and a 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
1/4 of a cup of organic sugar
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1/2 of a teaspoon of salt
1 heaping teaspoon of ground cinnamon
1/8 of a teaspoon of ground ginger

Streusel Topping
2 tablespoons of coconut oil, melted
1/4 of a cup of organic brown sugar
1 tablespoon of all-purpose flour
1/3 of a cup of oats

Method -

1 - Preheat your oven to 400F and line a muffin tray with paper liners. In a small bowl, combine your chia seeds and water. Mix and let sit for about five minutes. It will turn sort of gooey and act as a substitute for eggs in this recipe.
2 - Mash up your pears. The pears you use should be overly ripe and very soft. Once mashed be sure to drain any excess liquid. In a large bowl whisk your pears together with your chia seed mixture and melted coconut oil until combined. Set aside.
3 - In a small bowl mix together your flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices. Combine with your pear mixture and mix just until everything is moistened. 
4 - Spoon your batter into your paper liners. Be sure not to fill them up too much, you will need a bit of room for your streusel topping.
5 - Make your streusel topping by combining all your ingredients in a small bowl and top muffins generously.
6 - Bake for 17-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Be sure not to overbake. You want your muffins to be moist.

I hope you enjoy these! They are absolutely delicious and just so simple to put together. Have a great weekend! x

Hot Cross Buns

Because they are so indulgent, hot cross buns were banned from being sold in Elizabethan England on any day except Good Friday. Today is Good Friday, so go ahead and treat yourselves! The recipe I used came from the April edition of Chatelaine magazine. I have made a few minor changes, but I believe you will find these to be so incredibly tasty, especially if enjoyed right from the oven. They're sticky and sweet from the icing sugar glaze, but the buns themselves are so chewy and delectable, packed with plenty of spices and raisins. Slather them with some butter and enjoy with a hot cup of tea, these make a wonderfully scrumptious breakfast.

They are quite simple to make, although quite time consuming. You need to allow the dough to rise twice, for about an hour each time. So if you haven't got much else to do today, then why not? This recipe leaves you with twelve sinfully delcious hot cross buns.

Ingredients -

Dough

1 cup of raisins

3 and 1/4 cups of all-purpose flour, divided

1/4 of a cup of white sugar

1 tablespoon of lemon zest

2 and 1/4 teaspoons of quick-rise yeast

1 teaspoon of cinnamon

1 teaspoon of salt

1/4 of a teaspoon of nutmeg

1/4 of a teaspoon of ground ginger

1/3 of a cup of warm water*

1/2 of a cup of warm milk*

2 tablespoons of butter, melted

1 egg, at room temperature

* The water and the milk must be warm enough to activate your yeast. Make sure both liquids are around 120F - 130F

Crosses

1/4 of a cup of all-purpose flour

1/4 of a cup of water

Glaze

1 cup of icing sugar

2 tablespoons of water

Method -

1 - In a small bowl, cover your raisins with boiling water for about ten minutes. This allows the raisins to plump up. Drain well and pat dry. Set aside.

2 - In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, mix together 1 cup of flour with your sugar, lemon zest, yeast, salt and spices. Gradually add in the warmed up water and milk, as well as your egg. Incorporate the remaining 2 1/4 cups of flour and continue mixing until the dough looks smooth and is cleanly pulling away from the sides of your bowl. This should take between five and seven minutes.

3 - Add in your raisins. You can continue using your mixer but I prefer to knead the raisins in by hand, on a lightly floured surface. Once the raisins have been fully combined, lightly oil a large bowl and pop your dough in it. Cover with a warm, damp tea towel and allow the dough to rise until it’s doubled in size, roughly one hour.

4 - Transfer your dough to a lightly floured surface and divide into twelve equal portions. Roll each portion into a ball, trying to keep the dough as smooth as possible. This can be quite tricky, I ended up with a few bumpy looking buns but it really makes no difference in taste. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and transfer your balls of dough to the sheet, arranging them in four rows of three so they are just touching. Cover with your tea towel once again (if your towel has gone cold, warm it up a bit) and let rise for about an hour.

5 - Preheat your oven to 350F. To make the crosses for on top of your buns, mix together 1/4 of a cup of flour and 1/4 of a cup of water until smooth. I just pour this into a small Ziploc-bag and snip a small hole in one corner. Pipe crosses onto your buns. Pop into your oven to bake until golden brown, about 20-25 minutes.

6 - Stir together your icing sugar and two tablespoons of water until smooth. Brush over the tops of the buns fresh from the oven. Transfer to a rack and allow for them to cool and tuck in!

Thank you for reading! Happy Easter weekend!

Raspberry Almond Blondies

Happy Valentine's Day! 

Just a quick post today, but to celebrate this wonderful occasion, I baked up a delicious batch of raspberry almond blondies. I'm one of those people who much prefer blondies to brownies, something about the sickly-sweetness I guess or the simple fact that blondies are essentially just baked brown sugar and butter - my favourite combination. The addition of the raspberries gives a much needed tartness to the bars and the aromatic roasted almonds elevate the texture and provide a nice, toasted flavour. 

The recipe I used (which can be found here, from Tutti-Dolci) is a simple and quick one. Melted butter, rather than room temperature is used so you don't have to wait for it to soften. Making these perfect to prepare right now as a last minute Valentine's Day treat for someone special. Or just for yourself.

Have a lovely Valentine's day! Thank you for reading!

Raspberry Pistachio Brownies

Hi, everyone! Valentine's day is just a few days away so I come bearing a simple, yet tasty recipe for you to whip up for yourself (or I guess for your loved ones, as well). I have previously posted about these brownies over here, but they were made with salted caramel. If you stick with the basic recipe, you can add whatever you have on hand - nuts, any other fresh fruits, pieces of chocolate bars, basically whatever your little heart desires! The base is totally versatile and so thick, dense and wonderful, so I'm sure that anything that you add will go over extremely well. 

Ingredients -

1 cup of butter, melted
1 1/4 cups of white sugar

4 eggs

2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

2/3 of a cup of cocoa powder

1 cup of all-purpose flour

1/2 of a teaspoon of salt

1/2 of a teaspoon of baking powder
1 shot of espresso, optional

1 cup of shelled salted pistachios

1/2 pint of fresh raspberries

Method -

Preheat your convection oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease a 9x9 pan and set aside. Melt your butter and pour into a large mixing bowl. Continue to add the rest of your ingredients in the order that they are listed. Mix well and pour into your prepared pan.

Top the brownies with your raspberries, gently press them into the batter. Bake for 40-50 minutes and when a toothpick inserted comes out clean, your brownies are ready. 

Enjoy! And stay tuned for another super simple and delicious treat that's perfect for Valentine's Day! Thank you for reading!

Lush Haul

My favourite time to shop at Lush is whenever there is a Holiday coming up (I am already excited for their Easter stuff!). I'm such a fan of their collections and with Valentine's Day just around the corner, it was imperative that I do some shopping.

While browsing the Lush website, the first thing that landed in my shopping cart was the Prince Charming shower cream. I believe Lush first released Prince Charming in last year's Valentine's collection but as a shower gel rather than a shower cream. I guess the main difference between the gels and creams is that the creams are made using moisturising ingredients, in this case, Prince Charming is made with cocoa butter. I really like the scent, it is fresh and fruity with pomegranate and vanilla, without being too sweet. The colour is gorgeous as well, an opaque pink that looks an awful lot like paint. It lathers up really well, left my skin feeling moisturised and the scent lingers (very subtly) throughout the day. I definitely think I will be repurchasing before it goes out of stock after Valentine's Day! 

After using up my Montalbano shampoo bar (you can read about it in one of my previous blog posts here) I decided to try something different. I just found that Montalbano, while perfect for my oily hair, was just too drying to use during the already dry Winter months. So, I did some research and decided to pick up Jason and the Argan Oil shampoo bar. To be quite honest I only purchased this because of its scent - it has the same smell as the Lush Rose Jam shower gel, which is only sold during the Holiday season. I was a little bit concerned that the argan oil would make my hair even more greasy but I'm happy to say that it hasn't. It leaves my hair looking super shiny and I've been able to go four days between washes until my hair starts looking oily. You can also buy Shampoo Bar Tin to store your bar as well as for travel. 

American Cream conditioner is my favourite Lush scent of all time. I know, that's a very bold statement but seriously, it is just so lovely! Lush describes it as a strawberry vanilla cream scent but I don't really smell the strawberries, definitely some sort of creamy vanilla dessert, though. It can be days after I wash my hair but the scent lingers! It is fantastic and whenever I swish my hair around I can smell it. Despite my greasy roots my ends can get quite dry but American Cream has been very good about keeping my hair looking soft, moisturised and shiny. If you're in the market for a new hair conditioner I strongly suggest you to try this out!! I am sure the scent alone will win you over.

The Unicorn Horn bubble bar is a returning favourite from Lush. This too is a part of their Valentines Day collection so it's only available for a limited time. I did not manage to get a hold of one last year since they sold out so quickly but I immediately grabbed one when they first went on sale this year. Aesthetically speaking, this bubble bar is far too cute. It's shimmery and a swirl of bright colours and full of Lavender and Neroli essential oils which make this the perfect treat to use before tucking into bed for the night. It is a decent size so I think it would be good for up to three baths. 

Silky Underwear dusting powder can be used in many ways, I've seen reviews on the Lush website about people using it as a dry shampoo, to prevent chafing, sprinkled on their bedsheets and even in their shoes. The main way that I use it is under my arms. I use one of those crystal deodorants (which I one hundred percent recommend) but since it is unscented I like to sprinkle some Silky Underwear on under my arms. It smells great, and it's made with cocoa butter so it melts right into your skin and leaves me feeling nice and soft. I'm sure once Summer rolls back around and the days are hot and sticky this stuff will be put to good use. 

And that's everything! Do let me know in the comments what your favourite Lush products are. And as usual, thank you for taking the time to read! 

Gingerbread Layer Cake w/ Eggnog Frosting

There are only five days left until Christmas and I cannot believe how quickly it has come. I don't know if it's the lack of snow or the fact that time feels like it's flying by but it doesn't really feel like Christmas yet to me. Luckily, I have this gorgeous cake to get me into the holiday spirit!

I first found this recipe last Christmas in House & Home magazine and it went over so well that I knew I had to make it again this year. It all comes together very easily but once it's all put together it's a real showstopper. The cake is so spicy, moist and delicious and goes along so wonderfully with the eggnog frosting. The original recipe (which you can find online over here) uses two 8-inch cake pans but I decided to use three 6-inch pans and cut each cake in half to make 6 layers (I only used five for my cake though). I find that a layered 6-inch cake is the perfect size and it looks really cute as well!

Ingredients -

Cake Batter -
1 cup of beer (I used Molson Canadian)
2/3 of a cup of fancy grade molasses
1 teaspoon of baking soda
2 cups of all purpose flour
2 teaspoons of baking powder
1 tablespoon of ground ginger
1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
1/2 of a teaspoon of ground nutmeg
1/8 of a teaspoon of ground cloves
1/2 of a teaspoon of salt
3 large eggs, room temperature
1/2 of a cup of granulated sugar
1/2 of a cup of packed brown sugar
3/4 of a cup of vegetable oil, plus more for cake pans

Eggnog Frosting -
2 250g bars of cream cheese, softened
1/2 of a cup of unsalted butter, room temperature 
2 teaspoons of eggnog
1/8 of a teaspoon of nutmeg
1 and a 1/2 cups of icing sugar, sifted
Sugared cranberries, for garnish (roll wet cranberries around in granulated sugar)
Sprig of rosemary, for garnish

Method -

In a large saucepan over high heat, whisk your beer and molasses together and bring to a boil. Remove from heat, add in your baking soda and whisk in. The mixture will foam up quite a bit and let cool to room temperature. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and lightly grease your cake pans with vegetable oil and line the bottoms of the pans with parchment paper. 

In a large bowl whisk together your flour, baking powder, spices and salt until well mixed. Set aside. In a smaller bowl combine the eggs, both sugars and vegetable oil until smooth. Whisk in the beer molasses mixture. Gradually add the wet ingredients into the dry and whisk until the batter is smooth and divide evenly amongst your prepared cake pans. Bake for 25-35 minutes or until a wooden skewer inserted comes out clean. Remove from cake pans and let cool on cooling rack.

For the frosting use your stand mixer to beat together your cream cheese, butter, eggnog and nutmeg on medium speed until smooth. Gradually add in your icing sugar and combine. 

To put your cake together, use a serrated knife to cut each cake in half. I had three 6-inch cakes which gave me six cake layers, though I only used five. Place your bottom layer on your cake stand and smooth a generous amount of icing over the top. Repeat this process with the rest of your layers and garnish the top with sugared cranberries and a sprig of rosemary. Keep in your refrigerator until at least a half hour before you're ready to serve. 

I really hope you guys try this recipe out, it's perfect! So simple and tasty but it looks so lovely once it's all been put together. Everyone will be so impressed with you! Thank you for reading and have a very merry Christmas and a happy holiday season!

Pistachio + Cherry Cornmeal Biscotti

It is hard to believe just how quickly Christmas is approaching. It feels like most of my spare time has been spent in the kitchen baking all kinds of things for the holiday season. I think these Biscotti have been the biggest hit so far. Three batches have already been made, everyone loves them! It's a really wonderful recipe that is simple enough to follow and can be made ahead of time. This makes them perfect to keep on hand for when guests stop by or even give them as hostess' gifts.

The cornmeal gives a whole new texture to your typical biscotti. The saltiness of the pistachios and the tartness of the dried cherries work so well together. Not to mention the colours are super appropriate for the season, but you can add whatever you like to these - almonds, chocolate chips, citrus zest, dried cranberries. I'm sure whatever combination you come up with would be delicious.

I followed this recipe but made a few changes.

Ingredients -

1 and a 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
1 and 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder
a pinch of salt
1/2 of a cup of yellow cornmeal
5 tablespoons of butter, room temperature
just over 3/4 of a cup of white sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 cup of salted and shelled pistachios
3/4 of a cup of dried cherries

Method -

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a baking tray with parchment paper. In a medium bowl whisk together your flour,  baking powder, salt and cornmeal.

With a stand mixer, beat your butter and sugar together until light and fluffy (about three minutes) on medium speed. Add in your eggs and continue to beat for two more minutes, making sure to scrape down the sides of your bowl. Add in your vanilla extract. Reduce the speed of you mixer to low and add in your dry ingredients in two additions and mix until just combined. Add in your pistachios and cherries and mix until everything seems evenly dispersed.

Sprinkle your worktop with flour, roll your dough into a ball and cut in half. Taking one half of dough, form a long and narrow log on your parchment and gently flatten with your fingers. Do this with your second lump of dough. Bake your logs for twenty-five minutes of until just golden brown and still soft. Place on a rack and let cool for thirty minutes.

Bring your oven back up to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Move your logs onto a cutting board and with a serrated knife cut into 3/4 inch slices on a diagonal and place back on your baking tray standing upright. Bake for twenty-five minutes or until golden and firm and dry.

Enjoy these dunked into your tea - it makes them nice and soft! Thank you for reading and have a happy holiday season!

Rosemary + Sea Salt Shortbread

I cannot possibly be the only person who thinks November has just flown by. With only 32 days left until Christmas the countdown is officially on. I know these next few weeks are going to go by pretty quickly so here I am with an easy (and delicious) Christmas cookie recipe that can be made weeks in advanced as shortbread only gets better with age. The beauty with these cookies is that they're both sweet and savoury, thanks to the inclusion of finely chopped rosemary and sea salt. You can also bake them for five or so minutes longer to get a crisper, almost cracker-like cookie. These are the perfect addition to either a cookie tray or a cheese platter.

I closely followed this recipe, but doubled the ingredients. The end result is fantastic and the best part? There are no eggs in this recipe so you can help yourself to as much cookie dough as you fancy (it's so unbelievably tasty).

Ingredients -

1 cup of unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
1/2 of a cup of white sugar
1 and 1/2 teaspoons of finely chopped fresh rosemary
1/2 of a teaspoon of sea salt
2 cups of flour 

Method -

In the bowl of your stand mixer cream together your butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add in your rosemary and sea salt. Gradually add in your flour, scraping down the sides of your bowl after every addition. Once combined, divide your dough into four equal balls and loosely wrap with plastic wrap. Shape the dough into four logs, trying to get them as even as possible. Put the dough in the fridge for at least one hour. 

When you're ready to slice and bake your dough, preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit an line your baking trays with parchment paper. Slice your dough, I like a nice and thin cookie so I cut mine 1/8th of an inch thick. Place your rounds on your cookie tray and bake for about twelve minutes, or if your cookies were cut a little bit thicker they made need an extra minute or so. Keep your eye on them whilst they're baking to ensure you don't overdo it. If you would like a crisper cookie bake for a total of fifteen minutes (once again this depends on how thick you cut your cookies). This will result in the colour of your shortbread getting darker but will give you an almost cracker-like result. Shortbread only gets better with time so if you can try to store them for a while before enjoying. These can also be frozen and thawed when you're ready to devour. 

I hope that you are all as excited for the holiday season as I am. Be sure to check back frequently as I'll be posting more delicious Christmas recipes. As always, thank you for reading!

Pretty in Pink

I am a sucker for a pretty package, I'll admit it. If it is pretty, shiny and pink - I want need it. This very often times leaves my drawers filled with quite a few beautiful, yet incredibly disappointing products. However sometimes I will find something that is just gorgeous and it works wonderfully and I feel like I've hit the jackpot. You know the feeling. So, I've put together some of the most lovely bits that I've been reaching for a lot lately to share with you all.

Benefit High Beam Liquid Face Highlighter - I have had this for a while now but it only just recently made it's way back into my most reached for products. High Beam is a pearly pink liquid highlighter and it gives me a beautifully ethereal glow. When I first started using this, I would just dot it along my cheekbones and blend it in but now I prefer mixing it with my Nars Pure Radiant Tinted Moisturizer and applying it with my Real Techniques buffing brush to give myself an overall dewy complexion.

Buxom Full-On Lip Polish in Leah - This is my new favourite lip gloss of all time. It is so long lasting, it's crazy. I can put this on before I leave for work, work a seven hour shift and come home and I've still got it on my lips and it doesn't get all gross and white in the corners of your mouth. Insane! This is also a plumping lip gloss and while I don't really notice any plumping actually going on, it does give you an almost cooling and tingly sensation. I got this in the shade Leah which is a gorgeous pink champagne colour. Another huge bonus is that this stuff comes in 99 (YES, 99!!!) shades and all of them have girls names. You can bet my next purchase will be in the shade Emily (because who doesn't want a lipgloss that shares your name?!) I will say that it is a bit sticky, I'm not too bothered by that but if you really despise a sticky lipgloss this wont be the one for you I'm afraid. 

Clinique Almost Lipstick in Pink Honey - I have been a fan of Cliniques Black Honey lipstick for a few years now and when I saw they released a new shade I just had to have it. I am always very fussy with lip products, my lips can get incredibly dry and some products will settle into lines and just look like a mess. This lipstick is so moisturizing that I don't have to worry about any of that. The colour is very pretty as well, it is a soft nudey-pink kind of like my natural lip colour but better. Perfect for days when you prefer a softer and minimal makeup look.

Dior Crème de Rose Smoothing Plumping Lip Balm - I am absolutely obsessed with this. Not only does it come in the sweetest little white plastic pot that would look great displayed on your dressing table, but it smells gorgeous. Just a faint rose smell that may not be for everybody but I am definitely a fan. It isn't too overpowering, just quite pleasant. Appearance and scent aside, I really love this stuff. My lips can get so dry and when I apply some of this before bed I wake up and immediately notice a difference in the appearance of my lips. They are smooth and look much plumper and healthier. It also gives a very subtle wash of colour and shine. I definitely want to buy another to keep in my handbag (and maybe a few more for Christmas gifts!).

Yves Saint Laurent Touche Eclat Blur Perfector - And finally, onto the prettiest product of them all. I have seen a lot of mixed reviews on this but I thought what the hell, I'll give it a try. The Sephora website describes it as a blur perfector compact that perfects the skin while retaining its luminous glow. I use this as a primer and I really have noticed it reduces the visibility of my pores and it makes my skin feel so smooth, it's wonderful. It starts off as a balm but once you apply it to your skin it becomes sort of powdery. This can be also used to set makeup or reduce shine, I haven't used this to set my foundation but I can say that it does help minimize shine (and coming from someone with such oily skin, this is amazing!) While it is beautiful and it feels so luxurious to apply, I don't think I would repurchase this again simply because the steep cost at $55. Even though it does work exceptionally well for me, I'm sure I could find something just as nice for less money. Until then I am happy to use this and even happier to display it on my dressing table. 

So that's everything I have to share. What are some of your favourite pretty products? Thank you for reading! x

Cannoli Tart

I've had this recipe pinned on Pinterest (follow me *here*!) for ages now and after much deliberation I decided that today was the day! I was finally going to attempt to bake this glorious cannoli tart. If you don't know what a cannoli is then please let me offer you my most sincere condolences, because they are wonderful and you need to try one. A cannoli is a dreamy, little Italian pastry that is made with a pastry dough shell filled with a creamy ricotta filling. Absolutely lovely!

What I really like about this tart is that it isn't too sickly sweet. The light and fluffy ricotta filling adds a rich creaminess that pairs quite well with the crispy cinnamon crust. The recipe is simple to follow and it doesn't take too long to put together.

I followed this recipe but made a few minor changes.

Ingredients -

Crust:

1 cups of sifted all purpose flour

1/2 of a cup plus 1 tablespoon of white sugar

1/2 of a teaspoon of salt

1 heaping teaspoon of cinnamon

1/3 of a cup of cold butter, cut into cubes

1 egg

1 tablespoon of milk

Filling:

2 and 1/4 cups of ricotta

1 egg

3 teaspoons of sugar

2 teaspoons of almond extract (recipe originally called for Amaretto, but I didn't have any)

1/2 of a cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips

Garnish:

1/2 of a cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted

icing sugar

Method - 

In a large bowl add your sifted flour, sugar, salt and cinnamon and whisk to combine. Using a pastry cutter, cut in your butter until the mixture is nice and crumbly. Add in your egg and milk and use your hands to knead it all together until the dough forms a ball. Between two sheets of parchment paper roll out your dough to fit your pie pan, I used a 9 inch pie plate. Carefully lift your dough and press into your pan. Refrigerate your crust whilst you make your filling and the oven heats up.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. In the bowl of your stand mixer add your ricotta, egg and sugar. Blend until smooth and creamy. Fold in chocolate chips and pour into your crust, smoothing over the top with a rubber spatula. 

The original recipe calls for 25-35 minutes in the oven. I baked mine for about 40, so keep your eye on it as it may need to bake for a while longer. When it's done the crust should be golden brown and the filling should be pale yellow in colour. Once out of the oven allow to cool completely, you can pop it in your fridge to quicken the process. Before serving melt some chocolate chips and drizzle over your entire tart and sprinkle generously with icing sugar. Cut into nice large slices and enjoy!

I do hope you give this one a try, it truly is so tasty! As always, thank you for reading! x

Candy Corn Rice Krispie Treats

It's nearly Halloween and to pick up where I left off with my last post, I have another seasonable treat to share with you today. I have seen these candy corn Rice Krispie treats all over Pinterest for years now and I finally decided to try my hand at them. You need very few ingredients (marshmallows, Rice Krispie cereal, butter and food colouring) and a round cake pan (I used a ten inch springform pan) and you are good to go.

I used this recipe here as a point of reference and sort of played around with my measurements in order to fill up my pan. The directions are simple to follow it just takes a bit of time and as easy as this is to just throw together, it is very messy. Be sure to have loads of butter nearby to rub on your hands to keep the marshmallow from sticking all over you. From my experience I found it to be a lot easier to let the marshmallow and cereal sit for a few minutes after mixing together before starting to mould into the pan. If you act quickly it will be far too sticky to deal with. Let it firm up a bit and it wont be quite as messy.

So I hope you have enjoyed this quick little post. I'm so excited for Halloween to come and these would be just perfect for a quick and cute Halloween snack. As always, thank you for reading!

Bye x

Apple Cinnamon Muffins

I love baking during the Autumn months, it is my second most favourite time of the year to be in the kitchen. Everything is so much warmer, spicier and heartier in the Autumn compared to Summertime meals. Not to mention all the fun baking I get to do for Thanksgiving and Halloween! Last night I had some friends over for a small yet seasonal party. We watched some gory movies and more importantly, we feasted. The evening called for some festive treats which I was more than happy to bake. I've been so busy with work lately that I just haven't had any time to really appreciate my beloved Autumn season. I firmly planted my feet in my kitchen and stayed there baking for several hours. Seriously.

I prepared quite a few treats for my cozy Autumn night in, but what I personally found to be most fitting for the weather are these apple cinnamon muffins. Wonderfully spicy from the cinnamon, moist and tart from the chunks of apple. The recipe (which can be found *here*) originally uses rhubarb instead of apple. When rhubarb is in season come back to this recipe. Trust me!

Ingredients -

2 cups of all purpose flour

2/4 of a cup of granulated sugar (plus extra)

2 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder

1 tablespoon of cinnamon (plus extra)

1/2 of a teaspoon of baking soda

1/2 of a teaspoon of salt

1 cup of plain greek yogurt

1/2 of a cup of butter, melted and cooled slightly

2 eggs

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups of apple, peeled, cored and diced

Method -

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit and line a muffin tray with baking cups.

Use a large bowl to whisk and combine your flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda and salt. Set aside. In a smaller bowl whisk together the melted butter and greek yogurt until smooth. Add your eggs and vanilla. Whisk until combined.

Pour your wet ingredients into your dry ingredients and use a rubber spatula until the batter just comes together. Stir your apple chunks in gently. The batter will be very thick.

Once everything is mixed together, fill your baking cups enough that the mound of batter is slightly higher than the height of your baking cups. 

Mix together some white sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl and sprinkle generously over the muffin tops.

Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Transfer to cooling rack and allow to cool for ten or so minutes. Enjoy with a piping hot cup of apple cider and you're all set.

Thank you for reading! 

Lush Haul

If there is one store that I could spend hours in just browsing, it would be Lush. I went into my local store just to buy myself one tiny thing and guess what? I came home with a nice large bag of treats. My favourite time of the year to shop with Lush is during the Autumn and Winter. Not only do I make the most use of my bathtub during the colder months but it's also when Lush brings out their limited edition Halloween and Holiday items. My favourite time of year.

The reason I even went into Lush was to buy one of their solid shampoo bars. I've never tried on of these but I've heard nothing but great things. I've got super oily hair so the wonderful lady in the shop recommended I buy Montalbano.  It's got the most lovely lemony scent that is so fresh and nice, it would be perfect to wake you up on an early morning. After just one use I'm already in love. I was a little bit skeptical on whether or not it would give a good enough lather but I'm so impressed. It's left my hair feeling amazing, shiny and not at all weighed down. Just perfect!

To go with my new shampoo I obviously had to get a new conditioner. Like the shampoo bar, I have only used Veganese conditioner once so far and I have nothing but positive things to say about it. It's filled with seaweed gel to soften hair and lemon oil (perfectly paired with the Montalbano shampoo) to keep your hair nice and glossy, I really think it works wonders. This stuff left my hair feeling so soft, I can't stop touching it. I wasn't sure how I'd feel about this so I only bought the 100ml bottle but I know once I'm through with it I'll be going back to grab the largest size available. 

Since I knew I was stopping by Lush I brought along five empty Lush pots to get my free face mask. I normally go for Cupcake but more often that not it's sold out, so I opted for something new and picked up Cosmetic Warrior. This mask is great for breakout-prone skin, my skin isn't too bad it's just very oily and I get quite a few blackheads. Cosmetic Warrior promises to fight against breakouts while giving you soft, clear and soothed skin. After using this, my skin felt so clean and any redness was immediately gone. The only downside to this stuff is the smell. It's made with garlic which is not exactly mouthwatering, but if you can handle the smell I think it's quite worth it.

Now onto the real fun stuff. First we've got the Sparkly Pumpkin bubble bar, which is so incredibly glittery that I've left gold glitter fingerprints all around my bedroom. I haven't tried this one before but I am quite enthusiastic about putting it to use. It smells quite bright and citrusy which is nice, but I would have preferred something a little bit more fitting to the season. 

The three bath bombs pictured above all came in the Firecracker gift set (which for some reason isn't on the Lush website - sorry!). The bath bombs are Cinders, which usually comes out with the Lush Christmas products. It has a sort of cinnamon scent, perfect to warm you up on cold wintery nights. This is one of my favourites from the Christmas collection so I'm quite glad to have one in my possession as early as September! Next there is Lord of Misrule, which is available on it's own (for a limited time, it's a Halloween product). I got this one last year and I really enjoyed it! It starts off green and turns your bath water the prettiest wine colour. It has a sort of herbal yet spicy scent and it really softens your skin. I think Lush is coming out with a shower gel of this scent, which is neat because I really do love the lingering smell of this one. And finally what I'm most excited about - the Experimenter! Currently, this bath bomb is only available in the Lush Oxford Street store, but if you can find a Firecracker gift set you can try it out. It's huge, colourful and glittery - my favourite characteristics of a bath bomb. The scent is quite sweet, you can definitely smell some vanilla in there which is nice. I've read so many positive reviews on this guy and I've seen some videos of it being put to use and all I can say is that I am real eager to try this one out!

Well that's everything that I bought! Let me know what your favourite Lush products are!

Thanks for reading!

Lemon Bars

Today's recipe comes from Ree Drummond (the Pioneer Woman). These lemon bars are not only wonderfully tasty, but they're the perfect dessert to make as summer comes to it's close. The recipe (which you can find over here) is easy to follow and I didn't need to make any adjustments, they're great just as they are - incredibly refreshing and deliciously tart. And pair well with a hot cup of tea.

I really like these bars because the base to filling ratio is superb. I don't like a thin and flimsy crust to my lemon bars, so I'm very pleased with these substantially bottomed-bars and how well they hold the lemony filling. I honestly can't think of a single fault with these lemon squares. I can ramble on for several more paragraphs about just how deliciously tangy and sweet-tooth pleasing these are but I wont. Just take my word for it and get into your kitchen and start zesting and squeezing your lemons. I demand it.

Thank you for reading! 

Salted Caramel Mocha Brownies

I woke up this morning both inspired and craving something sweet. So, I took to my kitchen where wonderful things began to happen. I have a large jar of caramel sauce that I've been itching to put to use and what goes well with caramel? I say nearly everything, but settled on the classic combination of caramel, sea salt, chocolate and coffee. And voila! The salted caramel mocha brownies were born. Inspired by Starbucks' Salted Caramel Mocha, these brownies are dense and chocolatey and the perfect combination of salty and sweet.

My go-to, basic brownie recipe can be found online here. You end up with your perfect, run-of-the-mill brownie that is even better than the boxed kind. But sometimes your perfect, run-of-the-mill brownie is just not enough. So I took this recipe and kicked it up a notch. 

First off, you're going to need some kind of caramel sauce. If you're an over achiever you can make it from scratch (I like this recipe) or if you're a bit lazy you can buy it already made. Whatever works for you. 

My recipe includes two shots of espresso which gives the brownies a nice, strong coffee taste that I'm sure would be approved of by Lorelai Gilmore. If you don't have an espresso machine, use a few tablespoons of brewed coffee or leave the coffee out all together. Either way these are turning out super tasty. Promise. 

Ingredients -

1 cup of butter, melted
1 1/2 cups of white sugar

4 eggs

2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

2/3 of a cup of cocoa powder

1 cup of all-purpose flour

1/2 of a teaspoon of salt

1/2 of a teaspoon of baking powder
2 shots of espresso, optional

Caramel sauce (recipe here)

Method -

Preheat your convection oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease a 9x9 pan and set aside. Melt your butter and pour into a large mixing bowl. Continue to add the rest of your ingredients in the order that they are listed. Mix well and pour into your prepared pan.

Spoon large spoonfuls of caramel on top of the brownie batter and swirl gently with a skewer or a knife. Bake for 40-50 minutes and when a toothpick inserted comes out clean, your brownies are ready. Drizzle with even more caramel (!!!), sprinkle with some sea salt and maybe even a scoop of ice cream (especially if the brownies are still warm)

Enjoy!