The crepes are chocolate but they do not have any sugar in them. Before you say I am mad consider that the crepes are going to be filled with bananas which are naturally very sweet. Along with bananas there is a rich, bitter-sweet, chocolate mascarpone filling, and once plated the crepes are dusted with powdered sugar. With all that sweetness the crepes themselves needed to be bitter to provide a nice contrast in flavor.

If you love chocolate and bananas then you need to make this recipe. Click here to read more…

I love apple cake and I love carrot cake.  While looking at some apples in the market I noticed carrots on sale also, and inspiration struck!  Why not combine the two?  Tart apples, sweet carrots, warm spices, moist cake … how can that be anything but good?   To increase the yum factor I added a bit of some fabulous dark maple syrup that was sent to me by a friend in Canada.  Honestly, it was crying out to be added to the cake.

The result is a moist and tender cake with a hint of maple flavor.  I topped the cakes with a light oating of maple cream cheese frosting for extra tang, and an extra punch of maple goodness.  These would make a great breakfast, but are also lovely for snacking and dessert!

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Today I am busy recovering from the last month of cooking, baking, and entertaining.  While I spend the day with family and friends, and take down the Christmas Decorations, I will leave you with some of my favorite recipes from 2009 Click here for more…

Stove Top Macaroni and Cheese

Cream Filling for Cupcakes

Bananas Foster Cream Pie

Butter Croissants

Jalapeno Bacon Stuffed Mushrooms

Lime Bars

Tex-Mex Potato Cheese Soup

Onion, Apple and Bacon Tart

These are my Pancetta Risotto Cakes and they are among my favorite appetizers to prepare, and consume. They are hearty enough to be a main meal (or so the folks at Bertolli told me) but I prefer them piled on a platter as finger food!  I mean, who doesn’t love deep fried carbs?  Anyone?? They are really easy to make, and you can make them as far as two days ahead to the point of chilling the risotto.  They fry up in no time and are crunchy on the outside while remaining creamy on the inside.  They are, in short, perfect!

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Chocolate Lovin' Cake

Recipe by Culinary Cara:
Fall In Love with Chocolate All Over Again with Cara’s Lovin’ Cake. Chocolate is perhaps the most ancient indulgence in human existence. The Aztecs regarded chocolate as a food of the royals because of it’s rich and velvety texture. Simply uttering te word “chocolate” will put a smile on any face, old or young. This recipe will make you fall in love with chocolate as if you took your first bite of the sweet goodness. I call it “Lovin’ Cake” and it’s an old recipe I developed since I was a teenager. I also infuse the flavors of Mexican style chocolate with the combination of cocoa and cinnamon. The buttermilk adds a great richness to the cake as well.

Cake Ingredients:
2 sticks Butter
5 tablespoons Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
1 cup Water
2 cups Granulated Sugar
2 cups Flour
1 ¼ teaspoons Cinnamon
2 teaspoons Baking Soda
2 Eggs, beaten
½ cup Buttermilk
1 ½ teaspoons Vanilla Extract

Glaze Ingredients:
½ cup Butter
4 tablespoons Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
6 tablespoons Milk (whole is best)
2 cups Powdered Sugar
1 ½ teaspoons Vanilla Extract

Garnish Ingredients:
1 cup Chopped Pecans or Walnuts (optional)

Instructions:
To make a sheet cake (13×9), prepare baking pan with non-stick spray or butter & flour method, and preheat oven to 375ºF. Bake for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick test comes out clean. I recommend using a pyrex baking pan for this.

To make a bundt cake (9 inch), prepare pan the same as before, and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Bake for about 50 minutes on middle rack, or until a toothpick test comes out clean.

Cake: In a double boiler, melt the butter and blend in the cocoa and water until smooth. Sift the flour, sugar, cinnamon and baking soda in a large mixing bowl and add the butter/cocoa mixture and blend thoroughly. Add beaten eggs and buttermilk until well incorporated. Stir in vanilla and pour batter into prepared baking vessel. Bake for designated time and temperature listed above.

Glaze: In a small saucepan, melt butter over low heat. Add cocoa and whisk until completely smooth. Add milk and bring just to a boil. Remove from heat and whisk in sifted powdered sugar until completely smooth. Return saucepan to heat and allow sugar to dissolve, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Allow glaze to cool partially before applying to cake. Sprinkle top of cake with chopped pecans or walnuts after applying the glaze. This glaze is a bit thin, however you can thicken it a bit with cornstarch if you’d like.

Cara’s Thoughts:
Every time I make this cake, I even win over those who aren’t even chocolate fans, if you can imagine that! I enjoy making this cake for the holidays, but it’s great any time of year, especially when you want to indulge in true chocolatey goodness. Fall in love and feel like a royal at the same time!

Fudgy Peanut Butter M&M Cookies

Recipe by Sneh Roy:
I made this batch of low-fat, low-sugar cookies as part of my mid-week leisure baking sessions in an attempt to keep replenishing my dwindling supply of homemade cookies every other week. These are surprisingly delicious and chewy, considering there is very little in terms of sinful fat in them. The recipe has been adapted from Bill Granger’s “Everyday” cookbook. Go ahead, try it guilt free!

Details:
Preparation Time: 15 minutes
Baking Time: 15 minutes
Makes: 22 cookies

Ingredients
1 ¼ cup plain flour
⅔ cup firmly packed soft brown sugar
2 tbsp unsalted butter
4 tbsp light chunky peanut butter
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
100g M&M’s

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 375ºF. Grease and line two cookie sheets with baking paper.

In a large bowl combine the sugar with vanilla extract, unsalted and peanut butter. Beat with a hand mixer until light and creamy. Add an egg and continue beating for another minute. In a separate bowl sieve the flour and baking powder. Add this to the egg mixture and mix well. Add the M&M’s and mix by hand using a wooden spoon.

Take 1 tbsp of cookie dough, roughly form a round in your palms and place on the prepared tray. Place the cookie dough at least 3cm apart to allow for expansion on baking. Bake in the pre-heated oven for 15 minutes until golden and cooked through. The cookies will still be soft at this stage. Remove from oven and cool completely on wire racks.

Sneh’s Tips:
Store in an air-tight container for upto 3 days. These cookies tend to go soggy quickly, but you don’t have to worry about storing them for a long time because they will be gone in a jiffy.

Stuffed Green Bell Peppers

Recipe by Sneh Roy:
Green bell peppers or capsicums are delightfully sweet and crunchy in season. Even their seeds are very mild flavored and not at all spicy. That makes these little green beauties absolutely perfect for stuffing and cooking whole. The recipe that I share with you today can be as fancy as you want it to be or really simple, drawing on the natural flavors of the vegetables. I am doing a simple potato stuffed version today which I usually just bake with salt and pepper for the kids. Since this was for a barbecue lunch for us adults, I have spiked the recipe with some ground cumin and some beautiful smoky paprika. It is a fantastic recipe for a barbecue or picnic as it packs really well. I have baked it in the oven, but go ahead and grill it on the barbecue. The smoky charred aroma of the pepper being roasted is out of this world.

Details:
Preparation Time: 30 minutes
Baking Time: 30 minutes
Serves: 4

Ingredients
4 large green bell peppers, tops sliced, seeds removed
8 large potatoes, peeled, boiled and mashed
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp salt
½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp smoky paprika
¼ cup fresh cilantro [coriander] leaves, chopped
olive oil spray

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 400ºF. In a large bowl, combine the mashed potato with cumin, black pepper, paprika, salt and cilantro. Mix well.

Stuff the potato mixture in the peppers, flattening the top. Place the stuffed peppers in a large oven-proof pan. Gently place the sliced tops of the peppers on them. Spray the peppers lightly with the olive oil spray. Bake in the oven for approximately 30 minutes till the peppers turn olive in color and lightly browned in places.

Serve hot as a side topped with sour cream or fresh tomato salsa.

Sneh’s Tips:
I try to use salt sparingly. Have a taste of the mixture before stuffing the peppers. Adjust seasonings according to your taste.