Terrific Crumb Topping

I haven't baked a lot of crumb toppings, though I have made a few, and of them this one is the first and best I've made. Sometimes it breaks into big chunks, sometimes little ones; but it's always crisp, crunchy, and crumbly. It's not too sweet and hits you with just a hint of cinnamon goodness. This crumb topping is almost like having a nice oatmeal cookie baked on top of your pie. What more could you want?

Before

All Lard Pastry Crust

I have spent an obscene amount of time trying to make a good pie crust. I exhausted any resources I could find. Reading and watching as many instructions as Google would give me. Nothing worked. Nothing helped. Each time I tried, I would produce tough, chewy, terrible pie crusts. I resolved myself to not try again until I had someone show me how to do it it. That person was my aunt. My aunt's butter tarts are pretty legendary in my family (passed down from her mother) and if there was anyone that could teach me how to make a proper pastry crust it was her.

We had planned the lesson during my vacation, the Tuesday to be exact. I showed up at my aunt's place a little later than I had expected. Mostly because people in her area have no idea how to drive but also because I accidentally went to the wrong house. Disturbing an old man obviously not prepared for company as he answered the door in his bathrobe and underwear. After a quick call I walked into my aunt's house more than slightly embarrassed. This was the second time in a week I had given her reason to laugh at me (I mentioned previously how her son stole my clothes). After the laughter subsided and some pleasant conversation, my aunt treated me to a quick lunch and then made the mistake of mentioning she had taken cake decorating classes from Bronwen Webber. During the resulting geek out session my aunt passed along some advice that Bronwen (I can call her that now) had given her about cake: “If something goes wrong, hey it's just cake.” My aunt happily re-appropriated the advice for the task ahead “hey, it's just pastry.” Now to say this is all well and good (I've heard similar things many times before) but to witness it first hand was something different.

Granola Not Bars

Vacation over and my apologies, this isn't what I wanted to post but it is the only thing I had prepared :). With that said, when I was a kid I really enjoyed granola bars and like most things it wasn't the ones with the chocolate or marshmallows that were my favourite. I liked the ones that were “healthier,” the ones that didn't add extra sugar on top of the extra sugar :).

Classic Tiramisu

I love tiramisu. The creamy coolness of the sweet mascarpone custard, the slight bitterness of the espresso, the softness of the ladyfinger cookies, it's just sooo good. I can't get enough of it. I love it so much that I'm willing to ignore the fact that it includes uncooked alcohol. I dislike the taste of alcohol but when added to tiramisu it serves only to enhance flavours not overpower them.

My aunt's tiramisu is fantastic. I look forward to any time that she might make it. I was talking her tiramisu up with big time excitement this past Christmas and it was a no show. Apparently I frightened my aunt from bringing anymore desserts because I have a tendency to go a little overboard :). In reality it was a good call, there was so much dessert already, but I was still a tad disappointed. All my sad faces and mournful sighs made my aunt take pity on me and she promised she would make it for my birthday. Things were looking up.

Chocolate Pudding

It's Saturday afternoon two weekends ago, I woke up pretty late, it's just my brother and myself and I want chocolate. Apparently my Easter chocolate hangover finally wore off, because not only did I want chocolate, I REALLY wanted chocolate. I determined earlier in the week that I would be making a chocolate cake with perhaps a peanut butter frosting. Which, even at this moment, the mere thought is making me salivate. So what happened?

Classic Cinnamon Rolls

Truly, if there is anything better New Years morning (or any morning) than fresh, warm, homemade cinnamon rolls, I don't know what it is.

Bread Pudding

Until this past Boxing Day I had never had Bread Pudding. I planned on making it for Boxing Day morning last year but at the last moment decided against it. I wasn't as adventurous back then and was scared off by not having the “correct” ingredients.

This year was different. I bought the bread, cut it up Christmas night, and let it go stale. There was no way I was backing down this time. Besides, being Italian I'm well aware at what happens to those that waste a good loaf of bread :).

Oat Waffles aka. My Favourite Waffles

A few weekends ago was the one year anniversary of my weekly baking insanity. It was this time last year that I suddenly decided to bake every Saturday. I haven't looked back since. My Saturday baking is something I look forward to at the start of every week, and I am always trying to figure out “what's next?” To celebrate this "milestone" I decided to make breakfast for my family, which included these waffles and a new “durable” bran muffin recipe (which I will post a little later).