Virginia Drader

I used to think that Italian desserts were nothing special and only consisted of tiramisu and biscotti. Boy was I wrong! While in Tuscany we had many delicious treats from amaretto cookies in mascarpone cream to molten chocolate cakes, and even a fresh fig tart. Since I have been home I have been baking up a storm with all of the recipes I brought back from the trip. The first recipe I tried was for a “Spicy Chocolate Tart”. I made a few modifications to it though by adding chopped hazelnuts, milk chocolate instead of dark, vanilla instead of sweet wine, and I omitted the red pepper because I wasn’t sure if my family would like their chocolate spicy. The modifications resulted in a decedent and utterly delicious tart that had just the right amount of crunch from the hazelnuts and still enough flavour from the vanilla. I served each slice with a dollop of cinnamon scented whipped cream and fresh raspberries.

The next dessert I made was an “Apple Cake with Crackly Meringue”. It turned out amazing! This is a layer cake that starts with a butter crust bottom, followed by an apple cake batter, and finally it is all topped off with crunchy meringue. I also made a few changes to this recipe by using buttermilk instead of regular milk, and omitting the lemon zest. Lastly, I added some cinnamon to the cake because I think apples and cinnamon go together perfectly.

While we were in Italy we tried to have gelato everyday. We weren’t able to do it though because we were too full from all of the other food that we were eating. When I got home I was still craving gelato so I made “Strawberry Vanilla Mascarpone Ice Cream” and added fresh strawberries to give it extra flavour and a nice colour. I don’t know what it is about making ice cream but I always get so excited to see it turn from a liquid to a solid. If you are not really into baking but love to have home made desserts I would recommend you buy an ice cream maker. You can find them for a reasonable price and making your own ice cream is really so simple and fun!

Last night I decided to try out a recipe for an “Italian Strawberry Tart”. This recipe again was very simple and the only change I made was to use vanilla instead of amaretto liqueur. My mom is not a big fan of almonds so I always try to omit them and anything with their flavour from my baking. The best part of this tart in my opinion was the mascarpone whipped cream. The addition of mascarpone took this whipped cream right over the edge and even helped it to hold its shape better. I am going to be putting mascarpone into my whipped cream from now on. If you don’t know what mascarpone cheese is think of it as the Italians version of cream cheese. It is a lot denser than cream cheese though and less sour in taste. You can find it at all Italian grocery stores and most regular stores.

Making all of these desserts really brought me back to Tuscany. If you can’t take a trip to Italy, making one of these delicious desserts is the next best thing!

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My friend Jacqueline asked me to bring a treat to her son’s second birthday party; I decided cupcakes would be perfect. They were a huge hit! I don’t make cupcakes very often; I find most recipes turn out with a cake that is way too dry, and a very heavy overly sweet frosting. I wanted to give this recipe a try when I saw that it called for vanilla bean paste and cream cheese in the icing. The frosting on these cupcakes is delicious with just enough sweetness and a great flavour from the cream cheese. The thing I love most though is the little flecks of vanilla throughout the cake as well as the icing, so pretty! One of my favorite kitchen ingredients is vanilla. I put it into almost all my baking. Vanilla intensifies all of the other flavours, just like salt does in savory dishes. A neat thing most people don’t know about vanilla is that there is more than one kind. In fact, I like to experiment with 4 different types of vanilla:

Mexican Vanilla- creamy spicy flavour, goes well with warmflavours such as chocolate and cinnamon

Tahitian Vanilla- fruity cherry like flavour, goes well with fruit based baking

Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla- creamy, sweet and velvety flavour, all purpose vanilla, good in baked goods as well as salad dressings and barbeque sauces

Madagascar Bourbon Pure Vanilla Bean Paste- pure vanilla and vanilla bean seeds in a convenient paste

(You will not be able to find all the different types of vanilla in your grocery store. Look for them in specialty stores and if you live in Calgary “Williams – Sonoma” and “The Cookbook Company” carry them.)

If you feel like you have been in a baking rut try experimenting with all the different types of vanilla and see how much they can change your current recipes.

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This is such an amazing recipe for Lemon Meringue Cheesecake Tarts. It is the perfect combination of rich lemony cheesecake with a sweet graham crust and a light and chewy meringue topping. These would be a great dessert to serve after a summer meal and could even be used for entertaining since they are so pretty! This recipe comes from Anna Olson’s latest cookbook. I have told you over and over how much I love her style of cooking. It is always simple yet elegant and really focuses on using fresh and in season produce. One of my best tips for cooking is to always use fresh high quality ingredients. Your recipe can really only taste as good as what you put into it.

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