Lemon Strawberry Yogurt Loaf

Lemons and Stawberries. Strawberries and Lemons. Doesn't that just scream summer to you?

A few good friends of ours all gave birth around the same time so we are surrounded by babies this summer. Look how precious she looks. Only 8 days old!

To celebrate, I decided to bake this delicious dense yogurt loaf filled with strawberries and lemons. Hope you're all having a wonderful summer so far!

Lemon Strawberry Yogurt Loaf
- 1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp of baking powder
- 1/2 tsp of salt
- 3/4 cup of plain low fat Greek style yogurt
- 3/4 cup of sugar
- 1 Tbsp honey
- 1/2 cup of fresh lemon juice
- 1 tsp of almond extract
- 3 large egg whites
- 2 tsp of lemon zest
- 1/4 cup of vegetable oil
- 2 cups of fresh strawberries, small slices

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 350F/175C.

2. In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt. In a separate bowl, cream together the yogurt and sugar. Slowly add the yogurt and sugar, egg whites, lemon juice, lemon zest, honey, and almond extract to the dry ingredients and whisk slowly. When the mixture is almost smooth, slowly add in the vegetable oil and continue to whisk slowly until perfectly smooth. Fold in the strawberries until evenly distributed.

3. Lightly grease a loaf pan (9x5x3 inches), and line it with parchment paper. Lightly grease and flour the pan lined with parchment paper. Pour the batter into the pan.

4. Bake for 40-45 minutes. Remove the loaf from the pan, let it cool on a cooling rack, and serve.

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Lemon Curd Bars

The awesome thing about these lemon curd bars are that they are a hit no matter when and what you make them for. I've made these a bunch of times and people love them every time! The fresh lemon flavor combined with the short bread crust is irresistible. Try it for yourself. You won't regret it....well, you may regret going for that second or third helping, but that's not a bad thing in my books ;)

Lemon Curd Bars
(Adapted from Taste and Tell)

Shortbread Crust
- 2 cups of sifted all-purpose flour
- 2 sticks of butter, room temperature
- 1/2 cup of granulated sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon of salt
- vegetable oil for greasing

Lemon Curd- 1 cup of fresh lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest, grated
- 4 large eggs, plus 2 egg yolks (at room temperature)
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup of sifted all-purpose flour

Method
1. Pre-heat the oven to 350F/175C. Line a 9x13 baking dish with tin foil. Grease the tin foil with vegetable oil.

2. In a bowl, combine the shortbread crust ingredients and mix well until a dough forms. Press the dough evenly and tightly into the baking dish, making sure there are no cracks. Bake for 25 minutes or until slightly golden.

3. While the crust is baking, make the lemon curd. Whisk together the eggs, 2 cups of sugar, and 1/3 cup of flour, adding the sugar and flour a little bit at a time. Once the lemon curd is smooth, whisk in the lemon zest and lemon juice.

4. When the crust is finished baking, remove from oven and pour the lemon curd mixture over top of the crust. Reduce the heat to 300F/150C, and bake the lemon curd for 30-35 minutes, or until it sets.

5. Remove from oven and let it cool in the pan. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours, overnight is best. Remove from pan, peel off the tin foil, and slice into even bars. Keep the bars refrigerated until ready to serve. Dust with confectioners' sugar before serving.

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Pomegranate & Jello

Let me start by telling you a little story about myself. I used to hate Jello. I've always found it a very annoying food to eat. You can't drink it, but chewing it is awkward. When eating Jello, I always felt as though I never chewed my food properly before swallowing.

But, for some reason, I never bothered telling anybody that I didn't like Jello when I was a kid. Beebs, my sister, loved it, so I pretended to love it too. As a result, we ate Jello ALL the time at home. As soon as I got old enough to refuse food without insulting my parents, I stopped eating Jello permanently...until recently that is.

I first had this awesome (and super easy) Jello dessert in Memphis at a dinner party. It is healthy and refreshing, and this is a really fun dessert to eat. I enjoy the different textures in this Jello and I love how the juices from the pomegranate burst in between my teeth each time I bite into the crunchy seeds.

Pomegranate & Jello is a Persian dessert. Traditionally, the Jello is made from scratch, but with the invention of instant Jello, there is no need to make it from scratch (unless you are making a flavor that is not available in instant form).

You can use any Jello flavor your taste buds desire. My favorite is the cherry flavor. For dinner parties, this is normally served in a big serving bowl, where the guests dig in and eat it buffet style. I decided to serve them in clear wine glasses, but you can use pretty much anything you wish.

Pomegranate & Jello
- 2 packages of instant Jello (any flavor)
- 2 cups of pomegranate seeds

Method
1. Make the Jello according to package instructions.

2. In your serving dish of choice, layer the Jello and pomegranate seeds. Sprinkle pomegranate seeds on top until most of the surface is covered. Chill for 30 minutes. Serve cold.

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Pumpkin Muffins with Cream Cheese Icing and Coconut

Happy early Halloween everyone!

I made these pumpkin muffins a few days early JUST in case you were looking for that last minute pumpkin recipe before Halloween.

I'm sure some of you are pumpkin and apple'd out, but October is not over yet friends.
These pumpkin muffins are good for you, very filling, and full of spice. They are good for any occasion, and the cream cheese icing and shredded coconut add a very nice touch. I brought some for my sister and her boyfriend, and they each ate two on the spot.

I was in a festive mood, so I decorated a few with a Halloween theme.

This recipe yields 16-18 muffins.

Pumpkin Muffins
- 1 cup of whole wheat pastry flour, sifted
- 1/2 cup of all purpose flour, sifted
- 1 cup of brown sugar
- 1 tsp of baking powder
- 1/2 tsp of baking soda
- 1 tsp of cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp of nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp of all spice
- 1/4 tsp of ground clove
- 1 cup of pumpkin puree
- 1/2 cup of milk
- 1 egg
- 1/3 cup of vegetable oil
- 1 tsp of vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp fresh ginger, grated
- sweetened shredded coconut to garnish

Cream Cheese Icing- 1 (8oz, 250g) package of light cream cheese at room temperature
- 1/4 cup of butter at room temperature
- 1 cup of icing sugar
- 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract
- 1 vanilla pod

Method for Pumpkin Muffins with Cream Cheese Icing and Coconut

Make the Pumpkin Muffins:1. Preheat the oven to 350F/175C.

2. In one bowl, mix the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and dry spices together. In another bowl, mix the pumpkin, milk, egg, vegetable oil, vanilla extract, and ginger together. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, and mix well with a fork.

3. Line a muffin tray with baking cups. Spoon the muffin mixture into the baking cups until they are 3/4 full. Repeat until all the muffin mixture is used up.

4. Bake the muffins for 18-22 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside until they are fully cool.

Make the Cream Cheese Icing:
1. With an electric mixer on high speed, mix the butter and cream cheese until smooth.

2. Slowly add in the icing sugar while mixing.

3. Add the vanilla extract. Cut a vanilla pod in half, and scrape the vanilla seeds into the icing. Mix until evenly distributed.

Assemble the Muffin:
1. Using a butter knife, smear a thin layer of icing over top of the muffins.

2. Place the muffin on top of a plate, and sprinkle shredded coconut over top of the muffin until completely covered. Tip the muffin upside down to allow any loose coconut pieces to fall off.

Using low fat cream cheese for the icing will result in a slightly thinner consistency. If you want a think and creamy icing, it is best to use full fat cream cheese.

Here are some of the Halloween muffins I made:

For the next little while, you will have to excuse my posts. I have such a large backlog of travel posts, I'm not sure where to start and finish! I just got back from a short trip to Boston, so stay tuned for a mish mash of posts from Ottawa, Sydney, New Zealand, and Boston.

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Cinnamon Apple Chips

Fall is a great time for apple picking. I love apples because they are antioxidant, full of fiber, and they keep me full longer than any other fruit.

An easy and healthy snack I love to make is cinnamon apple chips. I make a big pile of these, and snack on them constantly. They are a small life saver after work. I'm always famished after a hard day at work, and instead of going for junk, I grab a few of these to keep me going until dinner is ready.

If you want crunchier chips, it is best to use firm apples such as Braeburn or Granny Smith. If you want spongier chips, go for apples such as McIntosh, Red Delicious, or Pink Lady.

Cinnamon Apple Chips
- apples, washed and cored
- cinnamon
- lemon juice

Method
1. Pre-heat the oven to 150F/65C.

2. Slice the apples thinly (approx 1/8 inch thick) with a mandolin. Cover a baking tray with parchment paper. Lay the apples on the baking tray leaving a small space in between each apple slice. Sprinkle a small amount of lemon juice and a small amount of cinnamon over the apple slices.

3. Turn off the oven, and place the baking tray of apples into the oven. Leave overnight. Apples should dehydrate completely, but if not, repeat the process until apples are completely dehydrated.

My favorite types of apples for apple chips are Braeburn and Granny Smith. If I want to eat an apple raw, my favorite is the McIntosh hands down.

Apple Tree from Pinewood Orchards

Here are some apple orchards in the Ottawa & surrounding area:

Pinewood Orchards
101 Herzberg Road
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Telephone: 613-828-4412

AppleHill Fruit Farm
3699 ch. Jockvale Road
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Telephone: 613-786-1111 (in season)

Kilmarnock Orchard
1182 Kilmarnock Road
Jasper, Ontario, Canada
Telephone: 613-284-9843 (seasonal only)
Telephone: 613 283-8964 (off season)

Cannamore Orchard
1480 County Road 32
Crysler, Ontario, Canada
Telephone: 613-448-3633

Jasper Apple Farm and Organics
R.R. #2
Jasper, Ontario, Canada
Telephone: 613-283-8699

Smyth's Apple Orchard
R.R. #1
Iroquois, Ontario, Canada
Telephone: 613-652-2477

Here is a link to Apple Orchards Ontario.

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Date Cake

Five things that have gone obsolete:

1.) Cassette tapes and Walkmans (my favorite was my Color Me Badd tape)
2.) Black and white televisions
3.) Typewriters
4.) Poodle skirts
5.) Ready-made date cake mix

Number 5 is the reason for my post today. My aunt Mims loves date cake. She used to buy the ready-made date cake mix, and make it on a weekly basis. Our grocery stores stopped carrying it about 10 years ago, but she still reminisces about it from time to time. She never learned how to make it, so I decided to make it and bring her back to the good 'ol days.

This recipe yields 1 loaf.

Date Cake
Adapted from Sunshine Recipes
- 1 1/2 cups of chopped dates to which 1 cup of boiling water has been poured over
- 1 cup of brown sugar
- 1 1/3 cups of 7 grain flour (or a mixture of all purpose flour and 7 grain flour)
- 3/4 cup pecans, chopped
- 1 egg
- 1/4 cup of milk
- 1 Tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 350F/175C.

2. Cream together the sugar and oil. Add in the flour, baking powder, and baking soda. Add the dates with water, egg, and milk. Mix well. Stir in the pecans.

3. Grease a loaf pan (9x5x3 inches). Pour the batter into the loaf pan. Bake for 45-50 minutes. Remove the date cake from the pan, and let it cool on a cooling rack.

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Black Pepper Anise Cookies

If something seems out of the ordinary, it will appeal to me. It was one of those days where I was craving something sweet, but had no clue what to make. To get ideas, I decided to flip through my cookbook collection. Most of the cookbooks I own look great on my bookshelf, but rarely get used. When ideas are scarce, like today, my seldom used cookbooks really come in handy. While flipping through them, I saw the usual: chocolate cake, lemon tart, muffins....and then, what's this I see? Anise + cookies? The idea intrigued me and I instantly decided to try it out.

Anise is a spicy licoricy plant that is used in a lot of Mediterranean and South Asian cooking. In Chinese cooking, star anise is also popularly used. It is a star-shaped spice that closely resembles the flavor of regular anise. To enhance the spiciness of the anise seeds, I decided to add a bit of cracked black pepper to my cookies.

I got the recipe idea from Paris Sweets, a wonderful collection of authentic & traditional recipes from famous Parisian bakeries. Wedged in between the recipes are the author's, Dorie Greenspan's, recollection of her sweet life in Paris.

These cookies have a meringue-like texture on the outside, but resemble a dry cookie on the inside. The anise seeds and black pepper are used to infuse an aroma to the cookie.
This recipe makes approx 18 cookies.

Black Pepper Anise Cookies
(Adapted from Paris Sweets by Dorie Greenspan)- 1 cup of all purpose flour
- 1 cup of sugar
- 2 eggs, at room temperature
- 1 1/2 Tbsp of anise seeds
- 1/4 tsp of cracked black pepper
- small pinch of fleur de sel

Method
1. Pre-heat the oven to 350F/175C.

2. Combine the sugar, anise seeds, and cracked black pepper into a food processor and chop for one minute. Sift the sugar into a bowl, and discard the remaining anise seeds and black pepper.

3. In a large bowl, combine the sugar and eggs. With an electric mixer, mix for 3 minutes on the highest speed. With a spatula, fold in the flour slowly. Add in a small pinch of fleur de sel. Mix well. A smooth batter will form.

4. Spoon or pipe the cookies (approx 2 inch diameter) onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for 15 minutes or until cookies have a very faint burnt color around the edges.

TIP: If possible, spoon the entire batter onto baking sheets before baking. Your cookies will have a much smoother texture this way. Letting the batter sit for even 10 minutes, and then spooning it onto a baking sheet will create a bumpy texture. I made that mistake, and you can compare the picture below (bumpy texture) with the pictures above (smooth) to see the difference.

If you want an extra kick of spice, you can garnish these cookies with whole black peppercorns.

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Yuca with Coconut and Sugar

Yuca with coconut and sugar is a popular street dish in Southern Vietnam. You can find this pretty much anytime of the day, but most people prefer it in the morning as a breakfast dish. The yuca is first steamed, then split with a knife to create a crevasse, where the condiments are poured in. Condiments include confectioners' sugar, fresh coconut, coconut milk, and toasted sesame seeds. To serve, the yuca is wrapped in a banana leaf.

Yuca, also known as cassava, is a starchy root with a hard waxy exterior. It is a major source of carbohydrates, and in terms of taste, it doesn't have a lot of it. It is eaten more for the texture than for taste. Tapioca is made from the flour of this root.

When selecting yuca, be sure to avoid ones with bruises. Any tender spots on the yuca root is likely a sign of a bruise.

This recipe yields 6-8 servings.

Yuca with Coconut and Sugar- 2 yuca roots
- 3/4 cup of granulated sugar
- 2 cups of sweetened coconut, shredded
- 4 Tbsp of sesame seeds, toasted

Method
1. Peel the yuca roots, and soak them in cold water for 3 hours. Steam them for 20 minutes. While still hot, cut the yuca into small wedges.

2. While the yuca is still warm, mix in the sugar and coconut with your hands. The sugar will melt into the yuca, so make sure it is evenly distributed. Right before serving, mix in the toasted sesame seeds.

With this recipe, we normally toast the sesame seeds in a wok to create a more authentic flavor. If you wish, you can also pour coconut milk on top of this dessert.

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Persian Chickpea Cookies: Nan-e Nokhochi

After receiving a bunch of cute little Persian cookie cutters from my in-laws, I wanted to put them to use. I made Persian chickpea cookies called nan-e nokhochi.

Nan-e nokhochi is a delicate cookie that is made from very fine roasted chickpea flour. They crumble and melt as soon as they enter the mouth, and the cookies pair well with tea. I once tried using regular chickpea flour from my local bulk store, but it just didn't taste the same. The delicate flavor is lost, and a lot more butter/oil is needed.

You can find roasted chickpea pastry flour at any Persian grocery store. In Ottawa, I get mine at Arya Food Market.

This recipe makes approximately 60 mini cookies.

Persian Chickpea Cookies (Nan-e Nokhochi)
- 3 1/2 cups of fine roasted chickpea flour
- 3/4 cup of vegetable oil or clarified butter
- 1 cup of confectioners sugar
- 3 tsp of ground cardamom
- 1 Tbsp rose water
- crushed pistachios for garnish

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Combine the chickpea flour, confectioners sugar, and ground cardamom. Mix until evenly distributed.

2. Slowly add in the butter/oil and mix well. Add the rosewater, and continue to mix well.

3. Tightly pack the flour mixture into a small rectangular pan that is 3/4 inch high. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for one hour to harden the dough. Remove from the refrigerator. Cut the dough with a small cookie cutter that is 3/4 inch wide and 3/4 inch high. Place cookies on a baking sheet, spacing them one inch apart. Garnish with crushed pistachios. Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes, or until the base of the cookie is slightly golden. Allow the cookies to cool before transferring them. As mentioned, they crumble very easily.

4. To create more cookies, repack the dough and repeat step 3.

Be sure not to over bake your cookies. Doing so will create a bitter taste.

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Healthy Banana Bread

This is a super healthy banana bread recipe that my mom-in-law shared with me. As mentioned, she is the Queen of making healthy desserts that taste amazing. This is no exception. Every time I make this, my banana bread doesn't even last a day. It smells awesome when it first comes out of the oven, and tastes great when served warm. I love peeling off and eating the crunchy top of the loaf when it is still hot.

This recipe yields 1 loaf.

Healthy Banana Bread
- 1 cup of mashed ripe bananas
- 1 cup of sifted all purpose flour
- 1 cup of 9 grain flour (or whole wheat flour)
- 1/3 cup of milk
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts, toasted

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 350F/175C

2. Sift the all purpose flour, baking soda, and salt into a bowl. Add in the whole grain flour and sugar.

3. Add in the oil, bananas, and eggs. Mix well.

4. Combine the milk and lemon juice, and stir until a uniform batter is formed. Stir in the walnuts.

5. Grease a loaf pan (9x5x3 inches). Pour the batter into the loaf pan.

6. Bake for 60 - 70 minutes. Note that the top of your loaf will brown before it is fully cooked. Remove banana bread from pan, let it cool on a cooling rack, and serve.

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Bill Granger's Pastel De Nata Recipe

CK has been back in Sydney for less than a week, and already, we have a long list of new places to eat the next time I visit. Ever since I started my blog, he has been more aware of the food surrounding him, and he calls me up daily telling me of cool new restaurants/markets that he saw or passed by. I'm definitely looking forward to my next trip there.

One thing we recently talked about was the pastel de nata, a Portuguese custard tart. Ever since our first experience with pasteis de nata 2 months ago, CK has been noticing them everywhere, and most recently in Sydney.

A few Aussie blogs have posted Bill Granger's version of this sweet Portuguese pastry, and with Bill being one of my favorite Syndey chefs, I had to try out his recipe for myself. If you ever get a chance to visit Sydney, you must check out Bills for their creamy, delicate scrambled eggs for breakfast. They are to die for, and are totally worth the money. You'll know what I mean when you try them.

A pastel de nata made well will have burn spots on the surface of the custard. This is not easy to achieve at home, and these pastries are generally tricky to make because custard is best cooked at low temperatures while puff pastry is best cooked at high temperatures. The trick is to find the right balance, and you need to play around with your oven settings to find that perfect temperature.

There is one ultimate place in the world to go for these sweet delights, and that is at Antiga Confeitaria de Belem in Portugal. They even have their own name for the pastries: pasteis de belém. Everyone in Portugal will know of this Confeitaria, and apparently, their recipe is kept top secret.

The recipe below, however, is not a secret, and I invite you to try it for yourself.
This recipe makes 12 pastries.

Pastéis de Nata
Adapted from Bill Granger and Not Quite Nigella
- 3 egg yolks
- 115g caster sugar
- 230ml Cream (I used 35% whipping cream)
- 170ml milk
- 2 Tbsp cornflour
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- one sheet of puff pastry

Method
1. Whisk the egg yolks, sugar and cornflour together in a pot. Gradually whisk in the cream and milk until smooth.

2. Place the pot over medium heat and cook, stirring, until the mixture thickens and comes to a boil. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla extract. Transfer the custard to a bowl, and cover the bowl with saran wrap to prevent a skin from forming and leave to cool.

3. Preheat the oven to 200C/400F.

4. Cut the pastry dough sheet in half, put one half on top of the other and set aside for 5 minutes. Roll up the pastry tightly from the short end and cut the pastry log into 12 x 1cm rounds. Lay each pastry round on a lightly floured surface and use a rolling pin to roll out until each is about 3 inches in diameter.

5. Press the pastry rounds into the muffin tin. Spoon the cooled custard into the pastry cases and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the pastry and custard are golden. Leave the tarts in the tin for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Post Mortem:
- I know my pasteis de nata are not the prettiest, but the taste was excellent. I think the custard was a bit overcooked, and I'm now determined to keep trying until those burn marks appear on the surface. The custard was soft and gooey when it first came out of the oven, but as soon as it cooled, the custard hardened and wasn't as good as when they first came out of the oven. That, unfortunately, did not stop me from eating all of them.

- I baked the pastries for 25 minutes because I thought the pasteis de nata would naturally develop that torched creme brulee look if you baked it for long enough. Silly me. I should have probably baked them for only 20 minutes.

- The original recipe calls for a bit more puff pastry than one sheet, so if you like more tart in your pasteis de nata, use more puff pastry.

***[Updated April 8 '09] I finally was able to get a burn spot on the surface of the custard (see pic below). It's a small little spot, but hey, it's still a burn spot! I baked my pastries at 450F for 18 minutes and then grilled them for 2 minutes. The heat was just a tad too high because the edges of the puff pastry burned. I also did not whisk the custard too hard because I read somewhere that it causes the custard to rise high during baking, and then sink low when cooling. I think it did make a difference. I will keep trying and post my improvements.***

Small burn spot on pastel de nata - April 8 '09

Hungry for more sweets, check out these other delicious recipes:
Alfajores: shortbread with dulce de leche
Lazy lemon cookies
Healthy orange and nut date cups

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Alfajores, Attempt Numero Dos

My failed attempt at making alfajores last year has been haunting me. One, I hate failing at anything, and two, I really wanted to learn a dessert that incorporated the heavenly dulce de leche that I know and love. If you haven't tried dulce de leche yet, you need to! It is a wonderful Latin American milk-based creation that tastes very similar to caramel or toffee.

An alfajor is dulce de leche sandwiched in between two shortbread cookies. Although my cookies did not turn out perfectly, I have made big strides since last year, and am just happy that I did not have to discard all of my hard work this time around. My shortbread actually tasted like a cookie, and my dulce de leche was not runny (I need to thank Bri for pointing me to David Lebovitz' dulce de leche recipe).

This recipe involves three steps:
1. Make the dulce de leche
2. Make the shortbread cookies
3. Assemble the alfajor

This recipe makes about 20 cookies.

Alfajores
Dulce de Leche
(Adapted from David Lebovitz)
- 1 can (13 oz.) of sweetened condensed milk
- few flecks of sea salt

Shortbread Cookies
Makes approximately 40 cookies
- 3 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
- 1 1/2 sticks of butter at room temperature
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 cup of confectioner's sugar
- 1/4 cup milk (optional)

Method for Alfajores
Make the Dulce de Leche:
1. Preheat the oven to 425° F (220° C).

2. Pour one can of sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated milk) into a glass pie plate or shallow baking dish. Stir in a few flecks of sea salt.

3. Set the pie plate within a larger pan, such as a roasting pan, and add hot water until it reaches halfway up the side of the pie plate.

4. Cover the pie plate snugly with aluminum foil and bake for 1 to 1¼ hours. (Check a few times during baking and add more water to the roasting pan as necessary).

5. Once the Dulce de Leche is nicely browned and caramelized, remove from the oven and let cool. Once cool, whisk until smooth.

6. Store in the refrigerator until ready to serve. Warm gently in a warm water bath or microwave oven before using.

Make the Shortbread Cookies:
1. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the butter, sugar, and vanilla until smooth.

2. In a separate bowl, sift the flour and salt.

3. Slowly add the sifted flour and salt into the butter mixture, and mix on low speed.

4. If your mixture is too crumbly, add in the milk, and mix on low speed until a dough is formed.

5. Roll the dough into the shape of a flat disk, and cover it with plastic wrap. Refrigrate for 30-60 minutes.

6. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees F.

7. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough to 1/8 - 1/4 inch thick, and cut the dough with a round 2 inch diameter cookie cutter.

8. Place the cookies on a baking sheet and refrigerate for 15 minutes. This will ensure your cookies keep their shape while baking.

9. Bake 15 - 20 minutes, or until the edges start to brown. Cool the cookies on a rack.

Assemble the Alfajor:
1. With a butter knife, spread the dulce de leche on a shortbread cookie.

2. Sandwich the dulce de leche by placing another shortbread cookie on top.

3. To garnish, sift confectioners sugar on top of the cookie until it is fully covered.

The goal is to get as much dulce de leche in the sandwich without it spilling over the edges. I always get greedy and fail at this part (blush).

Because I tend to put too much dulce de leche in the middle, I store the alfajores in the fridge to avoid the dulce de leche from becoming too soft. If it does become too soft, the cookies start to slide, causing the sandwich to be lopsided.

Looking for some more dessert recipe ideas? Why not try these ones:

Easy to Make Palmiers

Orange and Nut Date Cups

Low Fat Tiramisu

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Lemon Cookies The Lazy Way

Before I delve into my lemon cookies, I'd first like to introduce you to my new kitchen (at least for the next few weeks). As you can see, it is a very tiny space, and more than one person hanging out here is a crowd.

I've been craving cookies, so when I saw a recipe for lemon cookies using cake mix, I got excited. Partly because of the size of my kitchen, but mainly because it is hard to justify buying too many groceries that require storage when I'm only here for two more weeks.

These cookies are refreshing because of the citrus, and you don't have to worry about measuring out the right amount of ingredients because most of it is done for you. I do have to warn you though, there will be a slight artificial lemon taste from the cake mix, but I think it adds character to the cookies ;-)

This recipe makes about 3 dozen small cookies.

Lemon Cookies the Lazy Way
(Adapted from My Baking Addiction)

- 1 (18.25 ounce) package lemon cake mix

- 2 eggs

- 1/3 cup vegetable oil

- juice of 1/2 lemon

- zest of 1/2 lemon

- 1 teaspoon almond extract

- confectioners' sugar for sprinkling

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).

2. Pour cake mix into a large bowl. Stir in eggs, oil, lemon juice, almond extract and lemon zest until well blended.

3.Drop teaspoonfuls of dough onto a greased baking sheet, and dust confectioners's sugar on top of each cookie.

4. Bake for 6 to 9 minutes in the preheated oven. The bottoms will be light brown, and the insides chewy.

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Easy To Make Palmiers

Palmier's are my aunt Mim's favourite cookie. I was really close to her growing up, and when my sister and I were young, we would be over at her place on the weekends for sleep overs. One thing I remember clearly was enjoying palmiers with her. She loved them and was always excited to share them with my sister and I.

During one of my Food Network marathons, I saw Ina Garten from Barefoot Contessa make palmiers. I kept thinking that I should make them for my aunt, and a year later, I finally did! Not only are they simple to make, but they really impress the guests as well.

Palmiers

(by Ina Garten from Barefoot Contessa)

- 2 cups granulated Sugar
- 1/8 teaspoon Kosher Salt
- 2 sheets Puff pastries defrosted

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

2. Combine the sugar and kosher salt.

3. Pour 1 cup of the sugar/salt mixture on a flat surface such as wooden board or marble. Unfold each sheet of puff pastry onto the sugar and pour 1/2 cup of the sugar mixture on top, spreading it evenly on the puff pastry. This is not about sprinkling, it's about an even covering of sugar. With a rolling pin, roll the dough until it's 13 by 13-inches square and the sugar is pressed into the puff pastry on top and bottom. Fold the sides of the square towards the center so they go halfway to the middle. Fold them again so the two folds meet exactly at the middle of the dough. Then fold 1 half over the other half as though closing a book. You will have 6 layers.

4. Slice the dough into 3/8-inch slices and place the slices, cut side up, on baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Place the second sheet of pastry on the sugared board, sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar mixture, and continue as above. (There will be quite a bit of sugar left over on the board.) Slice and arrange on baking sheets lined with parchment.

5. Bake the cookies for 6 minutes until caramelized and brown on the bottom, then turn with a spatula and bake another 3 to 5 minutes, until caramelized on the other side. Transfer to a baking rack to cool.

The above picture is half way through the process when the palmiers are flipped, and about to go back into the oven.

And voila...below is the final product!

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