6 Years

Is anyone else finding this year going by way too quickly? How are we into the last few weeks of August, with back-to-school looming over students and fall weather creeping in? Stores are displaying Halloween decorations and in just another few weeks, the winter holidays will be upon us. Does time go faster when you're older? It sure feels like it.

Well, our blog has reached six years today, not a pretty milestone like last year's five or the next four year's ten. But we celebrated by defrosting some puff pastry, brushing egg, sprinkling cinnamon sugar, and then folding the puff pastry in half to repeat the process again. Baked at 375°F (190°C) for thirty minutes. The result? Layers of flaky goodness that resembles another popular donut on the market.

Enjoy the rest of summer, which reminds us . . . we have some Las Vegas posts (from our trip in June/July!) to upload.

Canoe Paddle Doughnuts

I am so excited to share this with you! Have you ever tried BeaverTails pastries before? I remember trying my first one during a family ski trip. We were ready for a break after the slopes and went looking for a snack. Right beside the sky lodge was a little cabin selling cinnamon sugar beaver tails. Ever since, I've been on a lookout for these cabins. They're not easily accessible to the because they're usually found in attractions like the zoo, Canada's Wonderland, CNE, or in cottage country. So having one is an extra treat, but now . . . I can make them at home! These Canoe Paddle Doughnuts from Canadian Living are so comparable that I don't think I would be able to tell the difference.

Canoe Paddle Doughnuts
Shopping List: granulated sugar, milk, active dry yeast, all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, salt, eggs, vegetable oil, cinnamon, butter, and lemons.

I poured the milk into a small saucepan and warmed it up on medium heat. When I could start feeling heat radiating off the top, I added the 1 tablespoon of sugar and stirred to dissolve. At this point, turn the stove off. You do not want your milk to start simmer, boil, or burn! Just warm enough to dissolve the sugar and help the yeast activate.

Transfer the milk and sugar mixture to a large bowl.

Add in the active dry yeast. Let it stand for about 10 minutes. It'll start to get frothy and look like pancake batter that's almost ready to flip in your frying pan.

While you're waiting, in another bowl, whisk together 2-1/4 cups of the all-purpose flour, the whole wheat flour, and salt to remove any lumps.

Whisk eggs, oil, and remaining sugar into the yeast mixture.

Using wooden spoon or spatula, stir in the flour mixture until it's combined. Avoid any overly dry dough, it should be sticky all around.

Cover with plastic wrap and let the dough rise in a warm draft-free place until it doubles in bulk, about 2 hours. Look at the rise on this dough! I tagged the progress using hot pink post-it notes.

After this point, you can continue on or store the bowl in the fridge for later use. I made mine over two nights. If you did keep the dough in the fridge, let it sit in room temperature for half an hour before you start working on it.

Scrape the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Knead in remaining 1/4 cup of flour until dough comes together. You'll need to work on the feel of the dough here. It should still be sticky, so you might not need all of the remaining flour.

Divide the dough into 12 pieces and shape them into flat ovals with your hands. Place on a lightly floured surface, cover with tea towel, and let the dough rest for 30 minutes. Gently stretch out the dough to as thin as you can. The recommended thickness is 1/8-inch (3 mm). It's almost like making mini pizza dough!

If you're hesitant about deep frying or haven't done it before, I would recommend that you watch the how-to video. I don't have a lot of deep frying experience, but I went with a deep saucepan instead of a wok or deep fryer (don't own that appliance our of fear that all I would do is deep fry my food) and bought a deep fry thermometer (also a candy thermometer).

Pour enough oil to come about 2 inches (5 cm) up the sides and heat until deep-fryer thermometer registers at 375ºF (190ºC). Deep fry the canoe paddle doughnuts. Use tongs, they're super helpful here. I gently pressed down on the dough to make sure that it was frying evenly. And you'll need the tongs to help you turn the dough. Fry each side for 30 seconds.

When cooked, transfer the doughnuts to a paper towel-lined rimmed baking sheet to soak up the excess oil.

To make the cinnamon sugar topping, just whisk the sugar and cinnamon together on a large shallow dish or plate.

Brush one side of the doughnut with butter and place the buttered side down into the cinnamon sugar mixture. You'll need to turn it over and sprinkle cinnamon sugar to cover completely.

Serve with lemon wedges. Lemons are crucial. Yes, the canoe paddle doughnuts are good without them, but they're even better with a squeeze of lemon. This helps cut the sweetness and ensure that you can eat more than one. Because no one just has one doughnut!

Have some fun with your doughnuts! You're not limited to a cinnamon sugar topping. We spread Nutella and peanut butter on ours and topped them with bananas. You can add chocolate chips and your favourite bite-sized candies. And might we suggest savoury ones? Brie, nuts, honey, apples, and strawberries!

If you happen to have extra dough, store them with parchment paper separating each piece and keep refrigerated. I have a hunch they would freeze well, but I haven't tested it yet!

Share your Canoe Paddle Doughnut pics with @canadianliving on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram with the hashtag #CLIMadeIt.

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post by Canadian Living and I received compensation for it. There was no requirement to produce a positive review of this recipe. All opinions are our own.

Bake it Forward

Last year, Redpath Sugar Acts of Sweetness asked ten Canadian bloggers with a passion for baking to send them one of their favourite recipes. Now, after a year of baking, mailing, and secret keeping, we’re finally sharing the delicious results with you!

What's really neat about the Bake it Forward collection is that it travelled across Canada! The package went out west, and it's first stop was in Surrey, BC, after which it travelled east, stopping in each of our kitchens as it makes its way back to the Acts of Sweetness headquarters in Toronto. The package contained instructions, recipe cards, as well as pre-paid postage, and lots more fun stuff!

We each had a custom made recipe card to fill out and we would jazz it up with pictures and stickers. Once we filled out our recipe card, we would reseal the package and mail it on to the next baker in the chain.

I was the second last baker to receive the package, so I had the pleasure of reading through everyone's favourite recipes. It was a lovely way to spend the afternoon! That weekend, I got baking!

I made mini lemon doughnuts and you'll be able to find the recipe on the Redpath Sugar website now. You'll even get to see how we all filled out the recipe cards!

I would highly recommend that you use a piping bag to get the batter into the doughnut pan.

Above: Before!

Above: And after!

If you butter or oil the doughnut pan, they should pop right out. I like to let them cool off in a sieve.

After they're cooled, melt some chocolate and glaze the doughnuts. Add some sparkle with sprinkles!

Here are the links to the Bake it Forward recipes, you have got to check them out!

Ilan's Cinnamon Hot Chocolate

Stephanie's Sugar Cookie Stacks

Julie's Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

Valerie's Homemade Angel Food Cake

Candice and Kira's Vegan Raspberry Burst

Sylvia's Chocolate and Lemon Doughnuts

Rosie's Triple Chocolate Sprinkle Birthday Cookies

Renee's Raspberry Jam Jams

Melissa's Ann Chases Chocolate Cake

Marjorie's Strawberry Cake Roll
You'll probably recognize a lot of these bloggers and blogs, enjoy!

Winterlicious: Parts & Labour

Parts and Labour

1566 Queen Street West

Toronto, ON M6R 1A6

Tel: (416) 588-7750

It's 'licious time again in Toronto, a time when restaurants offer prix fixe menus at low prices to entice us to try their restaurant. We tried a few during the summer and we've lined up some more this winter. One of my favourite part is learning about which restaurants will be participating and what the menus will be. I spend a couple of happy hours going through the listing and then choosing my top picks. Next, I e-mail a bunch of friends to see if any are interested in joining us for a meal (or more). Then, I sit back and wait for the responses. It's quite easy because after that, Howard does the difficult part. Booking. It's the quick morning calls to the restaurants once reservations are open - fingers crossed that there are availabilities.

Our first Winterlicious restaurant was Parts and Labour. A really neat restaurant that we've been meaning to try and had heard great things about. We had two friends joining us for our 6:30 pm dinner. We walked in and hovered near the entrance. There was a hostess there, but she had her back to us and was on the phone. So we walked in to wait by the fireplace (which is a very neat idea - especially during a chilly night in Toronto). She later came in to greet us, asked for us to confirm our reservation, and took us to our table.

We walked by the long bar with the spring-looking seats, we walked by the rows and rows of large tables in the main dining room ... and that's when I saw them.

They have three tables beside the kitchen! I did a very discreet skip/hop as I didn't even know about this. What a treat! I love sitting by the kitchen and watching the chefs and staff go about their work.

We were given the menus and our glasses were topped with water. We also learned that they were only serving the Winterlicious menu at this time, but we asked to see the regular menu, too. We were already deciding on a return trip!

First up, Howard and our friend tried the seared mackerel with yuzu, cured cucumber, chili, and hoisin mayo. Thumbs up all around. The guys aren't ones to express many words, but I did hear, "wow," "delicious," "like the little bit of spice," and "love the citrus flavours."

I tried the pork belly with pickled shallot, tarragon cream, and oats. The pork belly was soft and tender. They give you a good portion and it worked well with the accompaniments. Might have been a little bit too sweet, but overall, very satisfying.

Most of us ordered the hanger steak and frites, served with a demi glace. The meat was cooked to the rarer side, but that was fine for us. The demi glace was quite good, I started mopping it up with the fries, but then it got a bit too salty. Stick to the ketchup my friends!

Howard, being the adventurous one, ordered the seared scallops with roasted squash, and corn polenta, served with salsa verde. I can't even remember if he gave me a bite, I think he did, but it wasn't a very big bite! From what I remembered, this was also very delicious.

Where we were seated, we got to see the deep-fryer in action and the dessert plating! See the shelf above? Those are beignet doughs in the plastic containers. All poofed and ready to be fried. And in the ramekins? Chocolate mousse!

Here we are, watching our desserts being prepared.

A swipe of caramel sauce. A dollop of fresh whipped cream. A spot of strawberry jam!

Hello! Here was my chocolate mousse with peanut butter and marshmallow "snow." The mousse was very smooth. Mixing in the peanuts and marshmallow gave it a nice crunch and texture. I would eat it again!

Our friend tried the panna cotta with roasted grapes and graham cracker. We didn't quite taste a difference in the grapes - roasted or not - but the panna cotta was a nice light way to end the meal.

The guys got the cinnamon-sugar beignet with strawberries, cream, and caramel. This was by far the best dessert of the night! We enjoyed it so much that we asked for another ... two more please. And then watched the beignets get fried and plated again. We ended up getting charged $8 for each additional doughnut if you're wondering how they add that on.

So far, this was our favourite 'licious meal to date! We had a great time, aside from the frosty hostess (she ignored us on the way out), the kitchen and wait staff were all friendly and attentive. And the food was well worth it!

Cinnabon Sprinkle Beignets

Highlighting the new Cinnabon Sprinkle Topping, we took the Cinnabon Creations Challenge today. This new topping is meant to taste and smell like Cinnabon cinnamon and frosting. You know that aroma when you walk by a Cinnabon in the mall or subway station? You can now add it to some of your favourite foods. I recommend trying it with French toast, pancakes, and beignets!

Cinnabon Sprinkle Beignets
(Makes about 16)

2 cups of cake flour
1/2 cup of sugar
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1/4 teaspoon of baking soda
3/4 teaspoon of salt
1/3 cup of buttermilk
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1 1/2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
Cinnabon Sprinkle Topping

1. In a medium bowl, whisk 1 cup of cake flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together.
2. Using your stand mixer, whisk the buttermilk, egg, egg yolk, and vegetable oil until combined.
3. Carefully add in the dry ingredients and whisk until combined. Remove the whisk attachment and take out a rubber spatula.
4. With the remaining cup of cake flour, add it into the mixture and combine with the spatula. The dough will get very sticky (which is why the whisk isn't a good option anymore).
5. Scrape the dough out and cover it tightly with plastic wrap. Refrigerate or freeze for at least an hour.
6. Remove the dough and dust your hands with all-purpose flour. Roll the dough into the size of a ping-pong ball. Set aside and repeat until all the dough has been transformed into small ball shapes.
7. Fill a saucepan with about 2-3 inches of peanut oil over medium-high heat. Fry the beignets and gently turn then over. They should be golden and ready in about 3 minutes.
8. Transfer the beignets to a paper towel to let the oil get soaked up. 
9. Toss in or sprinkle with Cinnabon Sprinkle Topping.

Ekks! This was my first time frying anything in my kitchen! I even asked to borrow a deep fryer, but found that it would use up too much oil. Luckily, this little saucepan did the trick.

Beignets on a stick!

Disclaimer: A press representative from ACH Food Companies, Inc. and Cinnabon, Inc. contacted us about their Cinnabon Sprinkle Topping and Cinnabon Syrup. They are holding a new product challenge, Cinnabon Creations Challenge, and offered to send us samples of their products. We agreed to receive the samples and participate in the challenge. However, we are not eligible to enter the Cinnabon Creations Blogger Sweepstakes. No incentives were used to produce a positive review of these food products. No monetary exchange took place. All opinions are our own.

Baked Mini Cake Doughnuts

I bought a new toy a couple of weeks ago. And by toy, I mean baking equipment. I needed to use my gift certificate, so it's shopping without really spending money. You know, the best kind of shopping. ;)

So here I was on a rainy Saturday afternoon looking at my new mini doughnut pan, wondering should I use it? Do I break off the packaging?

Yes, I think I will. There is also a recipe on the back of the packaging and look, I have all of the ingredients.

Baked Mini Cake Doughnuts

From Wilton.com

(Makes about 24 mini doughnuts)

1 1/4 cups of sifted cake flour

1/2 cup of granulated sugar

1 1/4 teaspoons of baking powder

1/8 teaspoon of ground nutmeg

3/4 teaspoon of salt

1/2 cup of buttermilk

1 egg

1 1/2 teaspoon of melted butter

1. Preheat your oven to 218°C (425°F). Spray mini doughnut pan with nonstick cooking spray.
2. In a large bowl, sift together cake flour, sugar, baking powder, nutmeg, and salt.
3. Add in buttermilk, egg, and butter. Stir until combined.
4. Fill each doughnut cup to half full (very important!).
5. Bake 4-6 minutes or until the top of the doughnuts spring back when touched. Don't worry if the top of the doughnuts are not as golden brown as the bottom ones. (Colour is not an indication of doneness.)
6. Let the doughnuts cool in the pan for 4-5 minutes before removing.
7. Glaze or sugar your doughnuts.

Vanilla Glaze

1 cup of confectioners' sugar

1 tablespoon of milk

1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract

1. In a small bowl, stir together the sugar, milk, and vanilla extract until the sugar is completely dissolved.
2. Use immediately to glaze doughnuts.

I dipped my doughnuts into the bowl, you can pipe or spoon the icing on. If you like, sprinkle your doughnuts right after you glaze them. I waited until the icing set a bit and then dipped it into a bowl of sprinkles.

So there you have it, my first experience in making baked doughnuts! The taste and texture of these were okay, but I would recommend seeking out other doughnut recipes. These didn't blow me away and were oddly chewy, but they are really cute and fun to make.