Better than Timmy's Iced Coffee

As a stay-at-home-mom to 2 young children my trips out of the house have to well planned, prepared for, and necessary cause it's a lot of work wrangling my kiddos out the door. Because of these factors I rarely get to go out and buy myself a morning coffee, which used to be a daily luxury back in my former life as a career gal. I now make due with Starbuck's blend in my home coffee maker, which is a fairly reasonable facsimile.

So what makes this iced coffee better than Tim Horton's? The price! It's actually quite comparable in flavour but you can't beat the convenience and the fact that it's pennies a glass. This is great on those mornings you wake up and the thermometer is already reading 25˚C.

So pour yourself a glass and sit back and enjoy the last few days of summer.

Better than Timmy's Iced Coffee

4 c. brewed coffee (I do 1 standard scoop coffee grinds to 2 cups of water)
1/3 c. sugar
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
5% light cream
ice
garnishes of your choice

Instructions:

1. Brew your favourite blend of coffee to your desired strength
2. Pour hot coffee into a measuring cup and add sugar. Stir to dissolve.
3. Add vanilla and refrigerate until cold.
4. Pour desired amount of cream (or milk) into a glass filled with ice. Add coffee and stir to mix.
5. Top with whipped cream, chocolate covered espresso beans, cocoa powder, cinnamon or whatever else you like. (I used President's Choice Chocolate, Cinnamon and Sugar Blend grinder)

Good News and Bad News

So the bad news is our first winner failed to claim her prize. The good news is someone else got the chance to win!

Our new winner is comment #3

Jennifer said...

I can remember helping Nanny sugar the homemade doughnuts, the ones she fried in lard. I must have been close to 3 or 4 years old. She still makes those every Christmas and waits until me or my sister get there to help. She also makes a point of making doughnut holes and calls them Jennifer's doughnuts.

Thanks for making me remember that cherished moment. Makes me want to get Jake to help me back something tonight.

Congratulations Jennifer! And by the way, my grandma makes those same donuts at Christmas and we all get a dozen as part of our present. :)

Homemade Caesar Dressing and the Giveaway Winner

First things first, the giveaway winner:

drumroll please.........


The winner of the silicone bakeware prize is:

Comment 1

Ohhhh I want to win!

The first thing I remember baking was a cookie when I was 4 at christmas. My gave me the leftover dough to make into cookies and I made it into one GIANT mess of a cookie. I covered it in obscene amounts of sprinkles etc. I actually still have a photo of this ridiculous cookie.
-Shawna
August 4, 2009 12:50 PM


Congratulations Shawna, I'll be contacting you via email.

And now the recipe.


I haven't bought Salad Dressing in a store in years... mostly cause it was a big ol' waste of money. I'd buy it with the best of intentions of having salads more often and I'd have 1 or 2 and then the bottle would languish in the fridge until the salad bug hit me again and I'd go to grab the bottle and it was waaaaaaaay past expiration, and then the cycle would start all over again. After about 10 bottle of basically full dressing went down the kitchen sink I gave up.

And then one weekend our friends Phil and PJ were visiting and my hubby asked Phil to make his famous Caesar dressing (famous to everyone but me I guess cause I had no idea Phil was a master dressing maker). So I watched intently (PJ actually made the dressing as she had been entrusted with the recipe) as I've never seen Caesar dressing made from scratch before, I thought it was just an urban legend! When we sat down for dinner I found salad nirvana. I had no idea dressing could be that fresh, that tasty, or that simple! I recently had a Caesar salad in a restaurant where they obviously used a bottled dressing and I could tell the difference with my eyes closed and my taste buds burnt off. There really is no comparison between bottled and homemade when it comes to dressing.

So thank you Phil. Thank you for sharing your fabulous recipe with me! Goodbye wasted bottles of chemically engineered dressing, and hello simple, natural ingredients.

Phil's Famous Caesar Dressing

1 egg
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1-2 cloves of garlic, minced I use 2 cause I loves the garlic
1/2 c. oil, vegetable or canola olive oil really changes the taste
1 tbsp. red wine vinegar
1/4 c. freshly grated parmesan please please please do NOT use that pre-grated stuff in the container, it's mostly flour and will not do this dressing justice
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Instructions:

1. In a food processor or blender pulse egg and lemon juice until combined.
2. Lightly mince your garlic and add to the egg and lemon.
3. With blade spinning, slowly stream in the oil and allow to continue blending for 1-2 minutes.
4. While the mixture is blending add the vinegar and cheese and salt and pepper.
5. Transfer to a bowl or pitcher and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes (1-2 hours is better) so the dressing has a chance to set and thicken.
6. Serve over crisp romaine lettuce, real bacon bits (trust me people), and croutons.

Giveaway and Some Useful Information

I'm away on a little vacation for a friend's wedding which has put a little hold on the cooking and baking (being pampered by my mom!) but I wanted to remind everyone to enter the silicone bakeware giveaway before it's too late!

I was skimming my twitter account today and saw a post tequila cupcake made with a link to a great blog called Culinary School Confidential that has a list of every culinary term you can think of with their explanations. What a great find for the beginner (or untrained) at home chef. Check it out!

Triple Vanilla Party Cupcakes with Smartie Frosting AND...My First Giveaway!

My 3 year old is OBSESSED with smarties. Well, all candy really, but chocolate holds a special place in her heart (that's my girl!). She's also been chattering for days about cupcakes so I thought I'd try to find a way to combine the two. I decided the easiest thing to do is crush some up and throw them into some Buttercream Frosting. I've been dying to try Dorie Greenspan's Perfect Party Cake, but with so little opportunity to bake actual cakes I thought it would make great cupcakes (Jamie did it too!). But to make it for a 3 year old I made some minor changes. For the original recipe head on over to mix, mix, stir, stir.



Perfect Triple Vanilla Party Cupcakes with Smartie Buttercream Frosting

For the cake:

2 ¼ cups cake flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 ¼ cups buttermilk
4 large egg whites
1 ½ cups vanilla sugar*
1 vanilla bean, seeded
1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For the Frosting:

2 sticks softened unsalted butter
1 lb powdered sugar
pinch of salt
1/4 c. heavy cream
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup smarties

Instructions:

1. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.

2. Beat together the milk and egg whites in a bowl.

3. Put the sugar into your mixer and add the butter, and beat at medium speed for a full 3 minutes, until the butter and sugar are fluffy.

4. Beat in the extract, then add one third of the flour mixture, still beating on medium speed.

5. Beat in half of the milk-egg mixture, then beat in half of the remaining dry ingredients until incorporated.

6. Add the rest of the milk and eggs, beating until the batter is homogeneous, then add the last of the dry ingredients.

7. Scrape the seeds from a vanilla bean and add to the bowl and give the batter a good 2-minute beating to ensure that it is thoroughly mixed and will aerated.

8. Spoon the batter into greased cupcake liners and bake at 350˚F until golden and cooked through.

9. Cool.

10. For the frosting, cream together the butter and sugar until thoroughly combined.

11. Add in the salt, vanilla and cream and whip until light and fluffy.

12. Place smarties in a plastic zipper bag and pound with a mallet (or rolling pin, or wine bottle, whatever is handy) until crushed.

13. Add to frosting and mix to distribute.

14. Pipe onto cupcakes and serve.

*How to make Vanilla Sugar: You know that vanilla pod you scraped the seeds out of? Don't throw those empty pods away! Place in a mason jar and add a few cups of sugar and seal. The longer it sits the more vanilla flavour will impart onto the sugar.

And now for the free stuff!

My First Giveaway!

I was out to pick up a bundt pan the other day as mine vanished into thin air and I spied these adorable silicone baking pans (you can click on the picture for a more detailed view). I grabbed a set for myself and then noticed they were 50% off so I grabbed another set for some lucky winner to snag. There's a heart, a star, a crescent moon and a teddy bear. They are all around 4" at their longest/widest part, perfect for single servings. I have already used my star and moon ones and they work great. The cakes cooked evenly and popped out so easily.


How do you win you ask?

Leave a comment on this post by midnight on Wednesday, August 12 2009 telling me about the first thing you can remember baking or cooking. If you Twitter, tweet about this contest using @caffeinated_mom adding a link to this post and you can enter a second time by submitting another comment here about the tweet!

Rules
1.) Open to continental USA & Canadian residents only.
2.) One winner will be chosen on 8/12/09 by using random.org.
3.) Make sure you tell me how to contact you when you leave a comment; either on your blog or an email.
4.) One comment per person, please. Plus one *tweet entry; totaling 2 possible entries per person.
5.) I will contact the winners via email or commenting on the winner's blog.
6.) You have until 8/14/09 to claim your prize, or I will choose another winner.

Good luck!

Amanda

Tomato Pesto Grilled Cheese Sandwich

There's a little café where I live that is only open for lunch. I rarely get to get out for lunch, especially to a place that doesn't have golden arches, so when the opportunity arises I jump at the chance. On one fine afternoon I had the opportunity to step out for this little indulgence of "going out for lunch" and I decided I had to try out this little bistro that was so exclusive with their hours of operation. Mostly sandwiches and salads were on the menu and as soon as I read the description of their Grilled Cheese sandwich I knew I was in love.

Thick cut slices of sourdough stuffed with 3 kinds of cheese, fresh tomato and pesto and brushed with garlic butter and grilled to a crispy golden brown. It was more than a sandwich, it was a food experience of epic proportions. I've since re-created this little masterpiece in my own kitchen on numerous occasions and every time I bite into it I can pretend I'm sitting in that cute little bistro watching the world go by, it's a nice break in the day from the routine of a stay-at-home mom.


Tomato Pesto Grilled Cheese Sandwich

2 slices thick cut bread (I used regular old white here)
2 oz. shredded cheddar
1 oz. shredded mozzarella, you can use any light cheese you like, fontina is excellent
1 oz. shredded parmesan (not the grated stuff from the store, it's just not the same people)
4 slices tomato (I use heirloom)
1 tbsp. basil pesto
2 tbsp. garlic butter

Instructions:

1. Put a skillet on the stove over medium-low heat.
2. Spread one side of each of the pieces of bread with the garlic butter. Place 1 piece into the skillet butter side down.
3. Top the bread with the shredded cheddar and mozzarella.
4. Arrange tomato slices over the cheese and spread the pesto over top.
5. Sprinkle the tomato and pesto with shredded parmesan and top with the remaining slice of bread butter side up.
6. Grill until golden brown.

enjoy,
Amanda

Monkey Bread

I have NO idea why this is called Monkey Bread, maybe some mom somewhere invented and named it that cause her little monkeys loved it. It's also known as Pull-Apart Bread (loaf). Whatever you call it it's delish!


It tastes like a cinnamon bun without the guilt of having a big ol' honking bun on your plate. You can pick off a little bit and pop it into your mouth, and then repeat as often as your pants will allow you to.

I snagged the recipe from allrecipes.com and made a few adjustments.

Monkey Bread adapted from allrecipes.com

3 (12 ounce) packages refrigerated biscuit dough
1 c. white sugar
2 tbsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 c. butter
1 c. packed brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 c. powdered sugar
1 tbsp. cream

Instructions:

1. Preheat over to 350˚F and grease a 9 or 10" Bundt pan.
2. Remove the biscuit dough from the packages and cut each biscuit into quarters.
3. Put white sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves into a large plastic bag and shake to combine.
4. Drop biscuit pieces into bag a few at a time and shake to coat.
5. Remove from bag and drop coated pieces into the Bundt pan arranging as you go.
6. Repeat the coating and arranging until all the pieces are in the pan.
7. In a small sauce pan over medium heat melt the butter and add the brown sugar and bring to a boil. Allow to bubble for 1 minute and then remove from heat and add vanilla. Stir and pour mixture all over the biscuits.
8. Bake for 35 minutes. When done remove from the oven and then allow to cool for 10 minutes. Invert the pan onto a plate to remove the bread.
9. Sift the powdered sugar into a bowl and add the cream a bit at a time until mixed and spread over the top of the warm bread.
10. Serve and watch your little monkeys (or big ones!) pick this yummy bread apart.





enjoy,

Amanda

Rustic Jam Tart

My grandma made the BEST pie dough. It was light, flaky, buttery, everything pie crust should be. And as good as her pies were, it was what she did with the scraps that I loved most.

She'd take all the little leftovers bits from trimming the edges and re-roll them into little shapes (she wasn't fussy enough to make sure they were round) and then she'd spoon on some butter, cinnamon and sugar, or some homemade jam, and pop them into the oven. In only a few minutes and we'd be eating warm jam filled tarts right from the oven.

I made strawberry freezer jam this week and remembered how good those little tarts were and so as an homage to my late grandma I threw together some pie crust dough (sadly, no where near as good as hers, but I have time to perfect it!) and loaded it up with jam and in no time I was tasting my childhood.

Now that's love from the oven.




Rustic Jam Tarts

Pie crust leftovers (however much you have will do), or store-bought dough sheets
1 cup Jam, any flavour
1 egg white
powdered sugar

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350˚F
2. Roll out your dough. Cut into portion sizes and place 1-2tbps of jam in the centre depending on the size of your tarts.
3. Crimp edges up so that the jam is contained.
4. Brush pastry with egg white.
5. Place on cookie sheet in oven for 1o-20 minutes (again, depending o the size of your tarts) or until your crust is golden brown and cooked through.
6. Remove from oven and sprinkle with powdered sugar.

enjoy!

Amanda

Hostess Inspired Cupcakes & a Great Cupcake Find!

In Canada, Hostess isn't as popular as Vachon and their deliciously addictive Jos. Louis cakes, but if you've ever had a Hostess Cupcake you'll know they're pretty much the same thing, minus the chocolate glaze.

After gobbling up all the S'mores Cookie Bars in less than 12 hours my nephew requested some cupcakes. It's a good thing the kid practically lives in the gym or else he'd be well on his way to needing to be cut out of the side of the house! I saw these Hostess inspired cupcakes on the My Baking Addiction blog and figured since he inhaled a box of Ah Caramel's last week (ooo, I'm gonna have to try to figure out how to make those from scratch sometime soon!) he would appreciate these.



I changed the recipe slightly using my Grandma's recipe for One Bowl Chocolate Cake as it's my favourite cake recipe although I'm sure any cake recipe would be fabulous including a box cake mix.

The cupcakes with the white frosting aren't filled, I was pressed for time so I filled half and then just piled on the frosting for the other half, equally tasty if you ask me!


Hostess Inspired Cupcakes adapted from mybakingaddiction

Gran's One Bowl Chocolate Cake
1 1/3 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 c. cocoa powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 c. shortening (or butter)
1 1/4 c. milk
1 1/2 c. sugar
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. salt
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla

Filling (Seven Minute Frosting):
2 large egg whites
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup light corn syrup
2 tablespoons water
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Ganache
1/4 cup cream
4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened

Instructions:

1. Combine ingredients for cake in the order they're written one ingredient at a time with a hand or stand mixer.
2. Fill cupcake liners 2/3 full and bake at 350˚ for 22 to 25 minutes. Cool completely.
3. While the cupcakes are cooling, combine filling ingredients in a bowl set over a pot of simmering water and beat with a hand mixer at high speed until frosting is thick and fluffy, 6 to 7 minutes. Remove the bowl from the heat and continue to beat until slightly cooled. Reserve 1/2 cup of the filling to use for piping the swirls on top of the cupcakes at the end.
4. Once the cupcakes are cool, use the cone method to fill them with frosting. (click here for a description on this technique)
5. Once they are filled, make the ganache. In a small pot, heat cream until steaming. Remove from the heat, add chocolate and let stand for 5 minutes. Add the butter and stir until smooth. (This can also be done in the microwave by heating up the cream and then adding the chopped chocolate and butter and stirring until melted.) Transfer the frosting to a small bowl and dip the top of each cupcake to thoroughly coat. Spoon the reserved filling into a pastry bag fitted with a very small plain tip and pipe swirls across the center of each cupcake. Refrigerate the cupcakes for 10 minutes to set the frosting.

Now for the great Cupcake Find!

I was at my local Home Hardware picking out paint colours for my kitchen and family room and I happened to wander over to the kitchenware department on my way out and immediately spied these little gems.


Cupcake travelers called Cupcake-on-the-go containers. Made by FoxRun Craftsmen they have a lid that screws off and they securely hold a standard size cupcake or muffin without squishing it. The dome is high enough to accommodate even the most liberal application of frosting. I found them online at Golda's Kitchen for $4 a piece (couldn't find them on FoxRun's website) which is what I paid and seems pretty reasonable to me. I can't wait for my girls to go to school so I can send them in their lunches!

S'mores Cookie Bars

I have already professed my love for all things S'mores in my very first blog post so it should come as no surprise that I'm at it again. My mom, aunt and cousin were visiting last week and we had some chocolate fondue one night that turned into traditional S'mores (well, as traditional as they get out of the microwave). My nephew saw pictures and was quite peeved he missed out so I went on the hunt for a treat for him that would deliver all that s'mores deliciousness.

A quick google search led me to Baked Perfection and an amazing baked version of a S'more. Warm and chocolately and incredibly gooey, these are everything a S'more should be... minus the campfire songs and spooky stories.

Please excuse the poor presentation, I literally had to shoot these hot out of the oven as they were disappearing pretty fast, only 3 lasted the night and those were gone in the wee light of morning!

the pan about 10 minutes out of the oven!

S'more Cookie Bars taken from Baked Perfection

1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs (approximately 7 full graham crackers)
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 super-sized (5 oz.) dark chocolate bars (e.g. Hershey’s)
1 1/2 cups Kraft marshmallow creme/fluff (not melted marshmallows)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease an 8-inch square baking pan.

In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light. Beat in egg and vanilla.
In a small bowl, whisk together flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder and salt. Add to butter mixture and mix at a low speed until combined. Divide dough in half and press half of dough into an even layer on the bottom of the prepared pan. Place chocolate bars over dough. Two 5 oz. Hershey’s bars (or 4 regular sized ones) should fit perfectly side by side, but break the chocolate (if necessary) to get it to fit in a single layer no more than 1/4 inch thick. Spread marshmallow fluff evenly over the chocolate layer.

Place remaining dough in a single layer on top of the fluff. This is most easily done by putting the second half of the dough in a gallon size freezer bag. Use your palms to flatten it out, and then use scissors to cut down both long sides of the bag, so it will open up book-style. Open it up carefully, and the dough will stick on one side of the bag. Then place the bag, dough side down, on the other three layers. From there peel the bag up ad spread the dough where it is uneven.

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until lightly browned. Cool completely before cutting into bars

Makes 16 cookie bars.