Pommes Anna (or Potato Anna) is a classic French dish of buttery sliced potatoes stacked into a cake-like form that is baked until tender on the inside and crisp on the edges. The signature presentation of a Pommes Anna is flipped over onto a serving dish where the golden brown bottom becomes the top. You must have a really good non-stick pan or a really well-seasoned cast iron pan to pull it off. Do practice this dish before serving it to guests at a dinner party. Once you can comfortably pull this off, it is a rather satisfying culinary triumph!
Read moreCrispy Potato Stacks with Garlic Herb Butter
These Crispy Potato Stacks with Garlic Herb Butter come out of the oven with ruffle-y, crispy edges around a tender and creamy centre. They are the perfect side dish for the holidays or for hosting dinner guests you really want to impress.
Read moreHomemade Maraschino Cherries
Homemade MARASCHINO CHERRIES are nothing like the florescent-red orbs you think of garnishing Shirley Temples, or the one offensive fruit you have to pick out of canned fruit cocktail. These delicious, syrupy MARASCHINO CHERRIES are the perfect cocktail garnish (obviously) but think beyond cocktails because they are sublime on desserts like cheesecake, panna cotta, Eton mess or on a scoop of vanilla ice cream which I highly, highly recommend.
Read moreStrawberries and Cream Pavlova
This swoon-worthy STRAWBERRIES & CREAM PAVLOVA is the perfect dessert of the season. Strawberries are lightly macerated with sugar to release its juices, their sweet-tartness forming a sublime trifecta with billowy whipped cream and crisp meringue billowy whipped cream and crisp meringue. Read my 10 tips for pavlova success!
Read moreGreen Beans with Miso Butter Onions
This GREEN BEANS WITH MISO BUTTER BRAISED ONIONS is side dish perfection. Onions are cooked until nearly melt-in-your-mouth in a simple but flavourful 3-ingredient braising liquid of butter, miso paste and water. To serve, the tender onions are served over green beans, under a blanket of the umami-rich, unctuous sauce.
Read moreSheet Pan Strawberry Shortcake
With Spring well and truly here (yes, I hold my breath until the month of May), I knew I had to make this STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE recipe. This was definitely my first time baking a cake in a sheet pan and as you can clearly see, it worked out wonderfully. I love the fact that this single layer situation makes it fuss-free to feed a crowd. This cake serves 16 or more. The cake itself is rich and spongy, and super easy to make. My girls made the cake on their own and I added the toppings after the cake cooled. Everyone LOVED IT.
Read moreMouclade mussels in saffron cream sauce
MOUCLADE is a divine dish of steamed mussels in a mild saffron curry cream sauce kissed with cognac. It originated from La Rochelle in south western France and is my favourite way to enjoy fresh mussels! In my version, it is a bit lighter (and almost dairy-free) by using oat milk instead of the traditional heavy cream. Lighter, but ever so luscious and flavourful. A fresh, crusty baguette is a must for sopping up all the saucy goodness.
Read moreShanghai Spring Rolls
These SHANGHAI SPRING ROLLS are exactly the kind I grew up eating so they are, hands down, my favourite type of spring rolls! My paternal Shanghainese grandmother used to make it and my dad makes it. We usually make a big pot of simple meatless congee to go with it for a weekend lunch everybody looks forward to!
Read moreApple and Tahini Frangipane Tart
Considering how much this Apple and Tahini Frangipane Tart blew my socks off, it has taken me too long to post the recipe here! Imagine the flavors and textures of these layers: shatteringly flaky puff pastry, creamy decadent frangipane, sweet apple slices and crunchy almonds. Altogether, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
Read moreWhole Roasted Duck with Plum Butter Glaze + Slaw
May I interest you in an epic recipe perfect for the holidays? Actually, it is ideal for any dinner party at any time of the year, for that matter. Yes? I’m so glad! Because today I’m sharing this recipe — the second of my six-recipe collaboration with All-Clad Canada — a succulent Whole Roasted Duck with Plum Butter Glaze + Slaw made with All-Clad Canada’s Large Roaster with Rack. This was such a fabulous meal that everyone loved. I highly recommend this recipe if you’re into impressive, delicious, and NOT the same-old-same-old!
Read moreCrab Cakes with Peach Salsa and Tarragon Aioli
Is it just me or are people pretty divisive when it comes to crab versus lobster? I feel like they’re usually in one camp or the other, with few who like them equally. It may be the more pedestrian choice but I’ve always been team lobster since I was a child. My husband, on the other hand, is all about the crab. My lobster bias is due in no small part to sheer laziness and my desire to get large juicy morsels of seafood into my mouth with a minimal amount of work. Large lobster tails = chunks of seafood in my mouth with minimal work. There is no equivalent body part on a crab! Eating crab requires patience and finesse to extract the meat from the claws, legs and body. But ahhhhh…enter: LUMP CRAP MEAT. Fresh picked and already cooked, juicy crab meat can be purchased from any seafood monger or the seafood counter of a well-stocked grocery store. This magical food item is ready to be tossed with a shortlist of simple ingredients to create this decadent yet totally approachable recipe, Crab Cakes with Peach Salsa and Tarragon Aioli. Imagine the warm and juicy crab cakes together with the cool creaminess of tarragon aioli and zippy freshness of the peach salsa! This meal will awaken your taste buds, guaranteed.
Read moreSpanish Tapas Party! { gluten-free, dairy-free, paleo + Whole30 options }
Last week I threw a little tapas dinner party and it was sooo much fun. Not to mention, utterly delicious! I made some of the greatest hits and you know what, they are all surprisingly easy to prepare, as you'll see in the recipes below. Are you ready for this epic, six-recipe blog post featuring some of the most popular and best loved tapas? I promise the deliciousness you're about to encounter will make your tastebuds extremely happy!
Read morePeppermint Chocolate Mousse with Meringue Kisses
SPOILER ALERT: This dairy-free and vegan chocolate mousse involves NO tofu, NO avocado, NO aquafaba and NO praying that the coconut cream will whip up properly. It is luxuriously rich with that dreamy fluffiness of traditional mousse. It is SUBLIME.
When I set out to make a dairy-free and vegan chocolate mousse, I deep-dived Google and Pinterest and came across a multitude of recipes using one of the four aforementioned ingredients: avocado, silken tofu, aquafaba (brine from canned chickpeas) and whipped up coconut cream. But I really, really wanted to create a version that steered clear of all of them. I wanted a recipe that uses more conventional dessert ingredients AND a fool-proof method, while still achieving a mousse that delivers the same intense chocolate flavor with a billowy texture that slightly melts on the tongue. No compromise.
Read moreBlueberry Swirl Meringue Cookies from Oh Sweet Day! Cookbook { gluten-free, Grain-Free, dairy-free }
When talented baker, mama, and fellow Canadian blogger Fanny sent me a copy of her new debut cookbook Oh Sweet Day! A Celebration Cookbook of Edible Gifts, Party Treats and Festive Desserts to review, I could not have been more delighted! Fanny and I have been following each other on Instagram for a few years. Her IG posts torture me (in the best way hehe) with elegantly executed desserts that inevitably awaken the dessert monster inside me! So much so, I have already made two of Fanny’s recipes, not including this delectable meringue treat (which we will get to in a beat, I promise). One such recipe was her Pecan Lemon Cream Cheese Cookies which was published in the 2017 Holiday issue of the Bake From Scratch Cookie Magazine, an issue full of featured recipes from a handful of the most elite baking bloggers. I made the Pecan Lemon Cream Cheese Cookies to include in my annual holiday cookie boxes for giving away, and hers turned out to be my personal favorite (by far) of the season. I was tempted to keep them all for myself.
Read moreSpiced Apple Almond Cake { gluten-free }
This cake is studded throughout with bits of soft apples and flavored with cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom and allspice - aka all the distinctive notes of Fall. Moreover, it has such a wonderfully light and tender crumb! As someone who bakes gluten-free regularly, texture is a major measure of success. And everyone who had a piece of this cake said it didn’t taste like a gluten-free cake at all. Woot! It always feels like a bit of wizardry to get results as good as, or even better, than conventional cakes made with all-purpose flour. Even for people who are not gluten-sensitive, this cake is a win-win because it is lower in carbs and higher in nutrition (especially protein) than cakes made with all-purpose flour. I think everyone will enjoy it. Let me know if you agree!
Read morePeach + Passionfruit Pavlova { gluten-free }
A pavlova always makes a grand impression. This PEACH + PASSIONFRUIT PAVLOVA is probably my all time favourite version of the dessert! The sublime combination of juicy peaches and tart-sweet passionfruit, billowy whipped cream and chewy-crisp meringue, is certain to make you swoon.
Read morePlum Torte { grain-free, gluten-free, refined sugar free / Paleo Option }
Whenever stone fruit season rolls around, Marian Burro's infamous plum torte seems to pop up everywhere on my Instagram feed. You may have missed it ... if you live under a rock ;) She wrote this iconic recipe for the New York Times in the 80s and they claim it is one of their most requested recipes. I never did get around to making her original recipe but this grain-free adaptation of her plum torte is so dang good I don't think I ever actually will!?
Read moreGF Profiteroles with Lilac-Vanilla Lemon Curd Ripple Ice Cream { gluten-free, refined sugar free, dairy-free ice cream }
Hot on the heels of my last post for Perfect Gluten-Free Choux Puffs, I now give you this most essential follow-up recipe: Profiteroles with Lilac-Vanilla Lemon Curd Ripple Ice Cream. Basically, the most refreshing, tart and creamy dessert perfect for the summer months ahead.
Read morePerfect Gluten-Free Choux Puffs { gluten-free, refined sugar free }
I'll just come right out and say it. These gluten-free choux puffs are legit. Very legit. The kind of legit when someone may not even notice they are gluten-free! And with a few tips and loads of images for visual cues I share in this post, they're quite easy to make.
Read moreRooibos Chai Panna Cotta Tart + Honeyed Strawberry Rhubarb Compote { dairy-free, gluten-free, refined sugar free } + GIVEAWAY
Years ago, a friend gave me a jar of Rooibos loose leaf tea to try. She told me it is an non-caffeinated tea with health benefits aplenty. I later read that Rooibos is high in antioxidants, helps lower high blood pressure, aids in cancer-prevention and digestion health, bone health and more. Seems like I should be drinking this stuff like water! Instead, it sat in my pantry untouched for months, or closer to a year. When it comes to hot beveraging, I can't help but choose an Americano, a matcha latte or for so many years, my top choice was English Breakfast tea with a splash of milk (a reflection of my British-influenced Hong Kong ties).
Tea in desserts, on the other hand, I dig! A LOT. Like these earl grey cookies or the earl grey ice cream I made for pear frangipane tart. Heaven. So it is no surprise this Rooibos Chai Panna Cotta Tart with Honeyed Strawberry Rhubarb Compote is totally my jam. The only surprise is why I didn't think of it sooner. Everyone I served it to thoroughly enjoyed it too! Weeell if I'm being honest, everyone except my 4 year old who ate only the tart crust and "saved" the panna cotta part for her mama. But I can't blame her for loving the crust - it's so dope.
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