Potato Yeast Doughnuts

Doughnuts:

2 1/4 t. yeast

1/4 c. warm water

1 c. milk

1/2 c. sugar

1/4 c/ shortening

1 t. salt

3/4 c. mashed potatoes

2 eggs

5 c. all-purpose flour

oil for deep frying

In a small bowl dissolve yeast in warm water. In a medium saucepan heat milk until almost boiling. Stir in sugar, shortening and salt. Stir in mashed potatoes, eggs and yeast mixture. Gradually stir in 4 cups of the flour. Turn out onto a floured surface and knead in the remaining 1 cup flour for about 8 minutes. (or you can just mix it in a Bosch mixture) Knead until elastically and smooth. Place in a greased bowl; turn to grease the surface of the dough. Cover and let rise in a warm place until double in size about an hour. On a floured surface, roll out the dough about 1/2 an inch think. Cut with a doughnut cutter, place onto greased cookie sheets to rise. Let rise for about 25-30 minutes, until they look fluffy. 

Meanwhile, in a large heavy skillet or deep-fryer, heat enough oil to provide 1 1/2 inches of frying depth to 375*. Fry several doughnuts for about 30 seconds each side until a little darker than golden brown, then flip and fry the other side. Remove from deep fryer and place onto a cooling rack with paper towel to drain oil. Then dip one side into the glaze and set on cooling rack *Do this while they are still very warm. 

Eat lots and enjoy them! I ate probably way to many :P but they were SO good I just couldn't help it. 

Glaze:

2 1/2 c. icing sugar (sifted)

1 t. vanilla

1 T. butter

5 T milk approx. 

mix altogether until creamy and smooth. 

Makes approximately 2 1/2 dozen doughnuts with holes

Enjoy!!!!!! :D 

Pasta Making Day

   Today I got a snow day at work! I always love it when I don't have to go to work when I was expecting to. It is a great feeling to be able to just go back to bed and wake up at a normal hour like the rest of my family instead of at 3:30 am. Since I didn't have to work today I decided that I would make a couple different types of ravioli to put in the freezer for a later date. I love to make ravioli, it is so fun and quite simple, a little bit time consuming but it is well worth it. They taste simply amazing.

   I made some round ones and some square ones so that I could tell them apart, as they have different fillings. One (the round ones) are a creamy chicken filling and the square ones are a garlic and mushroom filling. Both sound fantastic, but of course I don't know what they taste like as they are in the freezer! But I am sure that they will be wonderful. The last ones I made were beef and vegetable, they were amazing. I made up the recipe though and I have no idea what I put in them now. That was about 3 months ago. I should have wrote it down, but it is to late now. Here are the recipes for these ones, as I don't want to forget these ones too. :)

Garlic Mushroom Ravioli:

Serves 4

5 1/2 T. butter

1/2 c. finely chopped shallots

3 garlic cloves, crushed

1/2 c. finely chopped mushrooms

1/2 celery stalk, finely chopped

1/2 c. finely grated romano cheese, plus extra for garnish

Heat 2 T. butter in a skillet. Add the shallots, garlic, mushrooms, and celery. Cook for 4-5 minutes. Remove from heat, stir in the cheese, and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Creamy Chicken Ravioli:

Serves 4

1- 4 oz cooked chicken breast, coarsely chopped

1/8 c. cooked spinach

1 shallot, coarsely chopped

6 T. freshly grated romano cheese

pinch of freshly grated nutmeg

1 egg, lightly beaten

Place chicken, spinach, and shallot in food processor and process until chopped and blended. Transfer to a bowl, stir in cheese, nutmeg and egg. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Basic Pasta Dough: ( I also use this for vereniky dough, also know as perogies but the mennonite version.)

Serves about 6

1 c. milk

3/4 c. butter

4 c. flour

1 t. salt

2 eggs beaten

Heat milk and butter in a saucepan stirring until the butter is melted. Allow to cool to room temperature. Put 4 cups flour and salt into a Bosch mixer or you can use a kitchen aid as well. Mix beaten eggs with milk mixture. Add liquid to flour mixture. Beat on slow with dough hook for 2 minutes. Cover dough. Chill for about 4-6 hours. Last time I made them I only let it chill for about 30 minutes and they still worked very well. The dough will just be easier to make if it has been chilled for the proper time.

A great filling for vereniky (which is a cottage cheese filled perogy) is 2 tubs dry cottage cheese, 1 wet tub cottage cheese, 2 egg yolks and salt and pepper to taste. Very easy and VERY good. But this is for a totally different recipe. Not for the ravioli, just to let you know, but if you want to try it, it is excellent.

How to make square ravioli:


Divide the pasta dough in half and wrap 1 piece in plastic wrap. Roll out the other piece to a rectangle 2-3 mm thick. Cover with a damp dish towel and roll out the other piece of dough the same size.

Place 1 teaspoon of the prepared filling in neat rows spaced about 1 1/2 inches apart on a sheet of pasta dough. Brush the spaces between the mounds with a little water or beaten egg.

Using a rolling pin, place the second sheet of dough on top and press down firmly between the pockets of filling, pushing out the air bubbles. Using a pasta wheel or a sharp knife cut into squares.

Place on a floured dish towel and let stand for 30-60 minutes to dry out slightly before cooking.


ENJOY!

Recipe # 8 ~ Apple-Cranberry Crisp with Apple Custard Sauce

I made these for dessert last night, I decided to make individual ones in ramekins. I bought some orange ones the other day and really wanted to use them. I also wanted to make something that my sister could eat as she cannot eat sugar. And this recipe doesn't have a lot so it was easily substituted with coconut sugar. She said that it was the best dessert she has had in about 3 months! So I think that was a pretty good compliment. I also added pears to this recipe, so it is about half pear, half apple. 

I didn't have time to make the apple custard sauce so I just used vanilla ice cream to accompany my dessert, but I really want to try the custard so I think I will make it one day as is sounds really good. I really enjoy any kind of crisps and they are always great to make all year long. You can use any type of fruit that is in season and just cut it up and make a topping for it. Such an easy, fast and delicious dessert anytime.

Topping:

1 c. all purpose flour

1/2 c. old fashioned oats

1/2 c. (packed) golden brown sugar

1/2 t. ground cinnamon

1/4 t. salt

1/2 c. chilled butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubes

Whisk flour, oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt in large bowl. Add butter and rub in with fingertips until moist clumps form.

Filling:

2 1/2 pounds large granny smith apples, peeled, cored and cut into 1/3 inch thick wedges

1 c. fresh or frozen cranberries (unthawed)

1/3 c. sugar

2 T. fresh lemon juice

2 t. finely grated lemon peel

1 t. ground cinnamon

1/4 t. ground nutmeg

Preheat oven to 375*. Butter 10-inch-diameter glass pie dish. Place apples in large bowl. Mix in cranberries, sugar, lemon juice, lemon peel, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Transfer fruit mixture to prepared dish, mounding slightly in center.

Sprinkle topping over fruit. Bake until apples are tender, about 45 minutes. Cool on rack until lukewarm, about 20 minutes. Serve with apple custard sauce.

Enjoy!

Apple Custard Sauce:

makes about 2 cups

6 large egg yolks

1/3 c. sugar

1 1/2 c. whole milk (do not use low fat or nonfat)

3 T. frozen concentrated apple juice, thawed

1/2 t. vanilla extract

Whisk egg yolks and sugar in medium bowl to blend. Bring milk to simmer in medium saucepan. Gradually whisk hot milk into yolk mixture. Return mixture to saucepan. Stir over medium-low heat (do not exceed) until custard thickens and leaves path on back of spoon when finger is drawn across, about 5 minutes (do not let boil). Strain into bowl. Whisk in apple juice concentrate and vanilla. Chill until cold, about 3 hours. 

Can be made a day ahead. Cover and keep chilled.

Prepping Pictures from YOSHIcatering

I only got to take a few pictures as I was prepping for YOSHIcatering. Here are some of the ones that I took, there are not many but I thought that some of them looked cool and I wanted to share them with you. So enjoy them :)

ALL of my lemons for my lemon curd... turned out to be about 35 of them in total. This is only part the the pile that I did have. My arm definitely got a work out that night from juicing them all.

All of my ingredients in one BIG pot for my lemon curd :)

My tart shells that I baked blind in the oven, I thought that they looked kinda cool just sitting on my stove waiting to go in the oven. I put dry rice in them as I didn't have any dried beans. 

Strawberry Meringues! 

Lemon zest that was chopped finely for my lemon whipped cream. 

The final product! I think it looks very pretty... don't you?

Recipe # 7 ~ Banana-Oatmeal Bars with Chocolate Chunks

   These bars remind me of banana chocolate chip muffins, except for the pecans and oatmeal. They are really good, and if you wanted more of a dessert bar then I would suggest putting some cream cheese icing on top! That would be absolutely delicious.


2 c. all purpose flour
1 c. quick cooking oats
1 t. baking powder
3/4 t. salt
1 c. butter, room temperature
1 1/4 c. sugar
1 1/4 c. brown sugar (packed)
2 large eggs
2/3 c. mashed bananas (about 2 large)
2 t. vanilla extract
10 oz. semisweet chocolate, cut into chunks (or 1 1/4 c. chocolate chips)

Preheat oven to 350*F. Butter and flour 15x10x1-inch baking sheet. Blend flour, oats, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Beat butter in large bowl until fluffy. Add both sugars and beat until well blended. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in bananas, then vanilla. Stir in flour mixture, then chocolate and pecans.

Spread batter into prepared pan. Bake until tester inserted into center comes out clean and top is golden, about 45 minutes. Cool in pan on rack. Cut into bars.

Enjoy!

Catering Day...

Today is the day! ...

   I got up this morning quite early as I couldn't sleep (the problem of being a baker is that you can NEVER sleep in). I started off my morning with baking my tart shells. I was feeling really good at this point as I had a lot of time to prep everything. As it was only like 6:30 am and I had to be at my destination at 2:30 pm. So I thought that I had a lot of time... Well it turns out that tart shells take about 25 minutes to bake and I only was using 3 tart tins. So if you add that up it equals 3 hours and 48 minutes. Which took a lot longer than I expected. The only problem was that I also needed my oven to bake my strawberry meringues, which equals 3 hours. So that is already 7 hours, and that wasn't even with the walnut streusel that I also had to bake off. So my day consisted of stressing out cause my oven wouldn't bake fast enough as everything had to be at different temperatures, some had to have high heat and other cool. So I ending up pulling the last tart shells out of the oven right as I was headed out the door.

  So as I was stressing out all morning wanting my oven to bake faster, I was also making lots of the other components for the dessert. Which included:

~Lemon Curd
~Tart Shells
~Strawberry Puree
~Lemon Whipped Cream
~Walnut Streusel
~Sweet Lemon Salad
~Balsamic Reduction Strawberry Salad
~Baked Strawberry Meringues


After I started with the tart shells I decided it would be a good idea to make the meringues as they took quite a long time and they needed to get done. So I made the meringue and pipped them onto a cookie sheet with parchment paper into small circles. Baked those off in about 3 hours and then started baking the walnut streusel. During that time I thought I should make the whipped cream, so I made that and got everything ready for the walnut streusel so I could bake that off as soon as the meringues were done. After that was done I started peeling my lemons! If you have ever peeled a lemon, you will know that it takes a long time and you don't get very much lemon. Good thing I didn't need that much. I decided that it was taking far to long, so I thought I would save it for the Falk's house as I had some time there to do prepping as well. It was really nice to have that thought in the back of my head as I was prepping. If I didn't have time... I could always do it there. That took a lot of stress off me, which was nice. Then I started the strawberry puree, this was an easy component to make... strawberries, sugar blend it up really nice and smooth, then heat it up again and add a little bit of cornstarch mixed with some water to thicken it up a bit.

   So once everything was done, which was from 6:30 till I had to be there... I was like 10 minutes late! But that was fine, cause Hiro (Yoshi, the chef) originally wanted my there at 3. So it was okay.

   Once I got there I unloaded all my stuff, put on my chef's jacket and started transferring all my baked goods into deli containers. Which are very handy by the way. Once the other chef got there and all the servers and dish washers we got the run down of things, and it turned out that I was going to be cooking with Jill (the other chef). I did not know this. So it was a bit surprising but I was excited for this challenge. We were to make the risotto and heat up the vegetables and get the Turducken ready as well. Well also helping plate and clean up at the same time. Jill and I had everything down to perfect timing! Everything ran so smoothly it was simply amazing! It couldn't have gone any better, I was sure that something was going to go wrong. But nothing did! It was a fantastic night. Full of good times, wonderful people, AMAZING food and a great atmosphere. It couldn't have gone any better! And once the dessert rolled around it got even better! The plating was absolutely perfect, there was attention to detail and it was simply perfection. The one thing I love about food is that it can be so plan... but once you add a chef, the whole dynamic changes. It goes from being a simple dish into an extravagant masterpiece. I was so proud. This is definitely something that brings joy into my life. Besides the stressfulness of everything, it is just amazing to see how everyone can work together so well to make something so amazing. When everything works out, that is what brings me joy! It is simply amazing what we can do when we set out mind to it. So now that the day is done, and everything was amazing. I am off to bed. For a wonderful sleep. There will be pictures to come soon... hopefully. If I can get them from the photographer. Also check out all the recipes as well.

Here is the menu:

Yarrow Alliance Church Leadership Dinner

October 29^th, 2011

23 guests

Cheese Reception:

Bleubry, Le Saint-Raymond, Le Cendrillon,

Le Triple Creme DuVillage, Sir Laurier D’Arthabaska, Cantonnier

Cobs Fruit Bread Crisps,

Walnuts, Grapes, Cranberry

~

Frisee and Chive Salad

Egg, Bacon, 

Pickled Shallot, Radish,

Burnt Lemon Vinaigrette

~

“Turducken”

Braised Turkey, Chicken, and Duck Leg

Orzo “Risotto,” Cauliflower Puree,

Roasted Baby Vegetables,

Natural Jus

~

“Lemon and Strawberry”

Lemon Curd Tart, Strawberry Meringue,

Walnut Streusel, Mint

Chef: Hiro “Yoshi” Takeda

Sous Chef: Jill Teerink

Pastry Chef: Tessa Isaak

*please check out my blog: yoshifood.wordpress.com

RECIPES:

Sweet Lemon Salad

Lemon segments, cut up

Simple Syrup

Black Pepper

Mix altogether, should taste a little bit acidic but not to over powering. :)

Walnut Streusel 

1/2 c. flour

1/3 c. brown sugar

1 pinch salt

1/4 c. butter, cubed

1/2 c. walnuts, coarsely chopped

Stir flour, sugar, and salt to blend. Cut in butter with a pastry blender and stir in walnuts. Bake in oven until a bit crispy, about 8 minutes at 350*F. 

Baked Strawberry Meringues 

2 pkg. Strawberry koolaid

12 egg whites

3 c. sugar

3/4 t. cream of tartar

2 fresh strawberries, almost minced 

Beat the egg whites and the cream of tartar together until white and foamy. Slowly add the sugar and the koolaid, beat until stiff. Fold in the strawberries and pipe small circles onto a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper. Bake at 225*F until crispy. About an hour. Maybe and hour and a half. 

Tart Pastry

I box tender-flake lard

5 1/2 c. all-purpose flour

2 t. salt

1 T. vinegar

1 egg, lightly beaten

Ice cold water

Mix together flour and salt. Cut tender-flake lard with knife into small chunks, and cut into flour mixture with a pastry blender, until it resembles coarse oatmeal.  

In a one cup measuring cup, combine egg and vinegar. Add water until it reaches the 1 cup line. Add only enough water to make dough cling together* 

Gather into ball and divided into 6 portions. If desired you can wrap it and refrigerate or freeze it at this point. Otherwise use it for what you would like. If it is really sticky then refrigerate  for an hour or two. 

Lemon Whipped Cream

1/2 c. whipping cream

1 T. icing sugar

1/2 t. lemon zest (finely chopped)

1 t lemon juice

Place all ingredients into a bowl and whip until medium peaks form. 

Lemon Curd

Zest of 2 lemons, in wide stripes

Juice of 2 lemons, strained

2 eggs, 3 egg yolks

6 T. sugar

1/4 c. butter

Whisk together lemon zest, juice, eggs, sugar and butter into a pot over a pot with lightly simmering water. Stirring consistently until the sugar dissolves and the butter melts. Once this happens keep stirring for about 3 minutes until the curd coats the back of a spoon. Do not let the curd boil* 

Remove from heat. With a rubber saptula, push the curd through a medium-mesh sieve, into a clean dry bowl. Cover with plastic wrap, pressing directly onto the curd so taht is doesn’t form a skin. Poke a few holes in teh plastic wrap with the tip of a knife so that steam can escape. Refrigerate until well chilled. About 3 hours, or up to 5 days. 

Makes about 1 cup. 

enjoy! 

Recipe # 6 ~ Pumpkin Cheesecake with Marshmallow-Sour Cream Topping and Pecans and Caramel

So I really Like anything pumpkin, and Thanksgiving is a fantastic time to make many things out of pumpkin! It is a great holiday! 

So this year for my Mom's side of the family, I made a pumpkin cheesecake! and it was seriously the best pumpkin cheesecake I had EVER made. It was delicious! I am definitely making this one again. So to start off with this recipe I needed ginger snaps for my crust. And guess what? I didn't have any... So I just made some day of and dried them out, put them in the oven and processed them in my food processor. I just love food processors! They are fantastic. 

So this cheesecake is definitely home made! At least the way I made it :) Most people will probably just buy the ginger snaps. Well here is the recipe, enjoy this one! it is a keeper! Just make sure you make it the day before you are going to eat it as it has to set over night. 

Serves 12

CRUST:

2 c. gingersnap cookie crumbs

1 c. pecans

1/4 c. (packed) golden brown sugar

1/4 c. butter (melted)

INSTRUCTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350* F. Spray 9-inch-diameter springform pan with non-stick spray. Blend cookie crumbs, pecans, brown sugar in processor until nuts are finely ground. (Unless you like some little chunks of nuts, then not as long) Add melted butter; using on/off turns, process until crumbs stick together. Press crumb mixture into bottom and 2 inches up sides of prepared pan. Bake crust until set and lightly browned, about 10 minutes. Cool completely. 

FILLING:

4- 8 oz. pkg. philadelphia brand cream cheese (room temp.)

2 c. sugar

1- 15 oz. can pure pumpkin 

5 large eggs

3 T. flour

1 t. cinnamon

1/2 t. ginger

1/4 t. nutmeg

1/4 t. all-spice

1/4 t. salt

2 T. vanilla extract

INSTRUCTIONS:

Preheat oven to 325*F. Using electric mixer, beat cream cheese and sugar in large bowl until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in pumpkin. Add eggs one at a time, beating on low speed to blend after each addition and occasionally scraping down sides of bowl. Add flour, spices and salt; beat just until blended. Beat in vanilla. Transfer filling to cooled crust. 

Bake cake until edges  begin to crack and filling is just set in center (filling will move only slightly in center when pan is shaken gently), about 1 hour and 20 minutes. Cool 1 hour. Cut around pan sides to loosen cake; chill uncovered in cake pan overnight. 

TOPPING:

2 c. mini marshmallows

1/4 c. whole milk

1 t. vanilla extract

1/8 t. salt

1 c. sour cream

INSTRUCTIONS:

Stir marshmallows in large saucepan over low heat until marshmallows are melted. Remove from heat; stir in vanilla and salt. Cool mixture to room temperature, stirring occasionally. Fold in sour cream. Pour topping over cheesecake and spread evenly, leaving 1/2 inch plain boarder around edges. Chill to set topping, at least an hour. 

Cut around pan sides again. Remove pan sides. Cut cheesecake into wedges and serve. 

ENJOY! 

YOSHIcatering

   Over the summer I worked at Camp Squeah which is in Hope, BC. I was the Pastry Chef for the summer, it was very fun and I got to make many things that I have always wanted to make and I also got to experiment with quite a few recipes. The head chef there is a Red Seal Chef and has worked at many well know restaurants. In the fall/winter he usually has a couple catering jobs for his friends or people that have heard of him. He is a very talented chef. For this catering job he asked me to be his pastry chef and make a dessert for 25 people. So I came up with about 15 different desserts and sent them to him. He gave me a budget and his 3 top options. The dessert that I am doing for them is a lemon curd tart, with strawberries and strawberry puree. This is what it will look like on the menu:

“Lemon and Strawberry”

Lemon Tart, Strawberry Meringue,

Walnut Streusel, Mint

   There is also lemon whipped cream, the strawberry puree, strawberries, and a sweet lemon salad. So the dessert has 8 components altogether. I have never made a dessert with 8 components before. I am very excited for this opportunity to learn and to make desserts that I have never made before. I have made my grocery list already and have everything set to go. I will hopefully get pictures of my assembled creations on the day of. I will post how things are going as the date of the catering gig gets closer. It is only 11 days away now, on the 29th of October! I also got a chefs jacket as well. Which is kinda exciting as I have always wanted one and never had a good enough excuse to get one. So I am excited about that too! 

   There are just so many exciting things that are happening and I am very excited about the many exciting things that are also going to happen. You never know which way your career is going to go in the food industry! :) 

Here is YOSHIcatering's blog if you want to see the type of food he makes and what he all does. 

http://yoshifood.wordpress.com/category/yoshicatering/

Owl Cake

    It was my Auntie's Birthday last Friday and she really likes owls! So my Mum wanted to make an owl cake for her, she phoned me at work one day and told me everything that I needed for the cake that she was going to make. So I went to Save-On-Foods and got some candy corns, black jelly beans, shortbread swirl cookies and slivered almonds.


   I got home and my Mum unfortunately didn't have enough time to make it, so she decided that I would have some time to make it for her :) So when I got home from work I started on it. And it is SO cute, and really easy. You just need a small square cake and some chocolate and vanilla butter cream icing.

Here it is!

Enjoy!

Recipe # 3 - Lemon Blueberry Cheesecake with Gingersnap Crust and Blueberry Sauce

   My sister's 20th Birthday was just last week and she requested a lemon dessert. So I decided to make a cheesecake as she LOVES baked cheesecakes. So I thought that it would be fun to take this recipe and add a type of berry. We just got a lot of blueberries so I decided to swirl some blueberry sauce into the cheesecake as well as have a blueberry sauce to garnish. Since the cheesecake in quite plain I thought it a great idea.

   One thing that I have never figured out is how to have a cheesecake that does not crack. Well one that is in a springform pan. I know that is is easier to make them thin and then they won't crack as easily, I have also heard that if you over-whip them they crack. And if you put them in a water bath it is less likely to happen. I haven't tried to many of these... maybe thats my problem :) I was going to put mine in a water bath yesterday as it suggests in the recipe but I was using a flower shaped pan with a removable bottom, so I didn't want the water to come through to the cake as it wasn't sealed properly. Well it still worked out, just a few cracks :)

Here is the recipe:

Serves 16


2 c. ground gingersnap cookies
6 T. butter, melted
5-8 oz. pkg. cream cheese, room temperature
2 c. sugar
1/4 t. salt
7 large eggs
3 c. sour cream
2 T. finely grated lemon peel
2 T. fresh lemon juice
lemon leaves (optional)


Blueberry Sauce:

About 2 cups fresh blueberries
1 cup frozen
about 3ish T. sugar (to taste)
2 T. cornstarch
3/4 c. water

To make the blueberry sauce, put all the blueberries into a medium sized pot on med-low heat. Stir every once in a while to make sure it is not burning on. Once the blueberries start to get warm and release juices, squish some of the berries with either a potato masher or pastry blender. Stir some more until they get warmer with more liquid. Add sugar and stir. Once the sugar has melted mix the cornstarch with the water in a separate bowl, get all the clumps out. Pour into the blueberry mixture and stir until it starts to thicken. Let boil and take off heat. Take about 2/3's of the mixture and blend it so there are no chunks left. Set aside to cool. Place the blueberry sauce with the blueberries in it, in the fridge. Once the cheesecake is made and in the pan, use the smooth blueberry sauce and scoop about 6 tablespoons (or how much you prefer) on to different places on the cheesecake. Then take a knife and swirl it into the cheesecake, then follow the baking directions.

Preheat oven to 350*. Stir cookie crumbs and melted butter in medium bowl until evenly moistened. Press crumb mixture onto bottom (not sides) of 9 inch-diameter springform pan with 3-inch-high sides. Bake crust until deep golden, about 12 minutes. Cool completely. Reduce oven temperature to 325*.

Using electric mixer, beat cream cheese in large bowl until smooth and fluffy. Gradually mix in the sugar, then salt. Beat in eggs 1 at a time. Beat in sour cream, lemon peel, and lemon juice. Pour filling into crust. Place cake pan in large roasting pan. Pour enough water into the roasting pan to come halfway up the sides of the cake pan.

Bake cake until filling is slightly puffed and moves only slightly when the pan is shaken gently, about 1 hour 25 minutes. Remove cake pan from water bath. Cool cake in pan on rack for 2 hours. Chill uncovered until cold; cover and keep chilled at least 1 day up to 2 days.

Cut around pan sides to loosen cake; remove pan sides. Place cake on platter. Garnish with lemon leaves if desired. Cut cake into slices and pour some blueberry sauce over each person portion.

Enjoy!

Recipe # 1 ~ Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies

    Well today I am going to start on going through bon appetit Desserts! The first recipe is a classic chocolate chip cookie recipe. A very easy and normal one, but thats okay. I am still very excited to make all these different kinds of recipes that I have never made before :)
This is probably my favourite chocolate chip cookie recipe, It is really good and I think that you will enjoy it as much as I have!


Makes about 2 dozen.

The recipe for the cookies is:

2 1/2 c. all purpose flour
1 t. baking soda
1 t. salt
1 c. butter, room temperature
1 c. golden brown sugar (packed)
3/4 c. sugar
2 large eggs
2 t. vanilla extract
2 c. semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips
1 c. pecans, toasted and chopped 


Butter 2 large baking sheets or spray with non-stick cooking spray. Whisk flour, baking soda, and salt in medium bowl. Using an electric mixer, beat butter in large bowl until smooth. Add both sugars, beat to blend. Add eggs and vanilla; beat to blend. Add flour mixture and beat at low speed just to blend. Stir in chocolate and nuts, if using. Cover and chill dough for at least 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 375* F. Drop dough by 2 level Tablespoonfuls unto prepared sheets, mounding one on top of the other, spacing 2 inches apart. Bake until edges are browned and tops are golden brown, 11-12 minutes. Transfer cookies to racks to cool completely. Repeat with remaining dough.

These cookies can be made one day ahead and kept in the fridge, then bake the next day :)

enjoy!