Waffle Birthday Cake

Here’s a different twist on a traditional layered birthday cake, I made it using 4 round Belgian waffles. It’s kid-friendly to assemble! For this one, I chose a special Belgian Waffle recipe that is tasty just on its own. I added maple syrup in-between layers to keep the waffles moist. To finish off I iced the “cake” with chocolate ganache and decorated with mini candy-coated chocolate bits.

Here’s all the layers of waffles after brushing  maple syrup in between layers and adding ganache on the cake sides.

Here’s a picture of the waffle cake of what was left from a birthday party.

Tips

1. The trick to making light waffles is to add whipped egg whites to incorporate air into the batter.
2. Freeze the waffles ahead to save time. Adding the maple syrup to a thawed waffle will help keep the moistness of the waffles.
3. Use a serrated knife or bread knife to slice the cake.

Ganache Recipe

• ½ cups heavy cream
• 12 oz semi-sweet chopped chocolate (or 50-60% cocoa)

1. Scald the cream.
2. Take off heat.
3. Add chocolate. Let it sit for 2 minutes.
4. Mix. until well blended.

For frosting cake: Leave at room temperature overnight

For truffle: Leave in refrigerator overnight.

Ice cake: Use in liquid form.

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Spaghetti Squash Quick Meal

Another savoury dish that is quick, easy, and healthy based on this recipe. I changed it according to what freshest ingredients I had on hand and to taste. It is almost like a salad best served at room temperature. You can keep the leftovers in the fridge and heat up later but I find that it was not as well-received in the family as when it was first served.

Ingredients:

• Spaghetti squash – roasted cut side down with a bit of oil (bake at approx. 30 minutes of until done)
• bacon bits (to add some crunch and savoury taste)
• sliced olives
• tomato wedges – cherry or grape tomatoes
• grated cheese (I used French Gruyère)
• olive oil – the good kind you would use in salads

1. Roast the spaghetti squash in the oven, cut side down.
2. Scoop out the spaghetti squash flesh using a big spoon but keeping the long strands to resemble “spaghetti noodles”.
3. Add the bacon bits, sliced black olive, fresh tomatoes and grated cheese.
4. Drizzle with olive oil.

Best served at room temperature.

 

Blueberry Tart on Puff Pastry

What to do with bucketful of blueberries after picking fresh from the farm? A quick and easy dessert with puff pastry and fresh blueberries. This dessert was inspired from this Blueberry Tart recipe. Mine turned out smaller but the taste is wonderfully light and sweet with a bit of tanginess from the cream cheese and lemon.

I suggest you follow the recipe from the source. With the smaller puff pastry, I adjusted the cream filling proportionately.

 

Quick Easy and Healthy Blueberry Muffins

It’s blueberry season! No matter what time of year, this quick and easy blueberry muffins are a great snack or breakfast on-the-go alternative. You can make these blurry muffins using fresh or frozen blueberries. Super simple to make with only one bowl and a 2-cup measuring cup to use and no electric mixer required! What could be simpler?

Blueberry Muffin Recipe

Mix together in one bowl all the dry ingredients

• 1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/4 cup oat flour
• 2 tablespoons ground flax seed
• 1/2 cup brown sugar (you can use white sugar if you don’t have any brown sugar)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt (prefer Himalayan pink salt for added minerals)
• 2 teaspoon baking powder

Mix together in a 2-cup glass measuring cup:

• 1 egg, beaten (crack the egg into the cup and beat with a fork)
• 1/3 cup olive oil (grape seed oil)
• 1 tablespoon molasses (Tip: coat the measuring spoon with oil before measuring molasses and the molasses will easily slide off)
• Milk – pour enough milk to the 1 1/2 cup mark on the measuring cup

1.  Pour the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Mix until just blended (do not over mix).
2. Fold in 1 1/4 cup frozen or fresh blueberries.
3. Use an ice cream scooper to spoon into silicon muffin cups or liners.

Yield: Approximately 16 regular size muffins

 Substitutions for a healthier muffin:

• white flour = whole wheat, oat flour, flax seed
• white sugar = molasses for added nutrition, reduce sugar by 1/4 cup
• Himalayan salt = for adding more minerals

Moist muffin with plump blueberries. These muffins have a great texture with minimal mixing of the batter. It can easily be frozen after baking. It’s great with a little dab of butter while still hot or pair it with a slice of cheddar cheese for a satisfying snack.