When In Doubt, Just Add Sprinkles

Chocolate Almond Butter Balls with nonpareils

My eldest is my picky eater. There is nary a food in the world she will eat unless it resembles a sweetie of some kind. This is genetic, I am certain of it. A chip off the ol' block, really.  She rarely gets sugary things, except those with naturally occurring sugars like fruit. So when we do make treats (a.k.a incentives to eat the veg on her plate) I try to make them healthy-ish but still appear to be sweet-ish. Hence the chocolate almond butter ball rolled in sprinkles.

This recipe first appeared in my uber healthy mother-in-law's arsenal. I'm trying to find the original source, so if you recognize it, do let me know! They are packed with good things like sunflower seeds, nuts and flax but there is enough cocoa and almond butter to hide the good-for-you bits...so my daughter does not know, or readily acknowledge, that they are not sweeties. My mother-in-law rolls them in coconut flakes at the end, but this did not go over well with my kiddos. Colourful nonpareils, however...now that's a party on a plate. Yes it adds to the sweet factor, but by so little - and it is the kicker that eliminates 10 rounds of will she/won't she eat her carrots.

Here is the recipe I adapted from my mother-in-law's version.  Easy peasy:

1/2 cup cocoa powder (I use raw cocoa powder but any will do)
1/2 almond butter (or any nut butter)
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 cup quinoa flakes (or rolled oats if you're not sensitive to them)
1/2 cup sesame seeds
1/2 cup ground flax (or wheat germ)
1/2 cup flax seeds
1/2 cup toasted almonds (or hazelnuts or any nut)
nonpareils (optional)

Mix everything together. Spoon into hand and roll into balls. Roll each ball in a dish of nonpareils or sprinkles. Voila. Enjoy!

 

Chocolate almond butter balls covered in sprinkles...I ran out of nonpareils.

Not Without My Biscotti!

Chocolate walnut biscotti

half baked: take it out to cool a bit before slicing

reduce heat and bake until middles are firm

best dipped in whatever espresso concoction your heart desires

This was the title of the first screenplay I ever wrote. It was for a screenwriting class in film school that I had begged to take. It was a very popular class and those in the writing track had first dibs. I was in the production management track... an outsider...writers and producers weren't meant to mix it seemed. I don't know how I managed to get a spot, but I did and loved every minute of it.

Not Without My Biscotti was a cheeky take on the cafe culture that had sprung up on every street corner. Starbucks, though not new, had only begun it's world conquest and people everywhere were trading in their percolated grocery store grinds  for double-grande-non-fat-two-pump-vanilla-light-whip-white-mocha-lattes.  And with such diversity in drink offerings came unusual European pastries. How cultured and traveled I felt eating my biscotti with my frothy beverage. A cafe: it was the perfect setting for a budding love story, and biscotti: the perfect nemesis.

It was no Oscar contender, but it was good enough to catch the eye of a student in the directing class and it was chosen (as were many others) as a class project. I couldn't believe it! My first script - filmed! Well, videoed, really, but that didn't deter my excitement. I was thrilled that someone else got it...they got the absurdity but also the lure and delight of such a momentous turn in culture. Coffee was becoming an event the world over. But to my chagrin, it had not yet infiltrated my university town rooted in the almost south, where sweet tea was the order of the day.

The student producer found me and flashed me a big sparkly producer smile (remember I was in the producing track, I know that smile) and sat me down and said "Great story! We have a great cast... we're almost ready to shoot, we're just getting props sorted out. Can you tell me, what exactly is biscotti?"

My mouth opened but nothing came out except a weird breathy squeak. How could one choose a story to tell without knowing the very thing on which the story hinges. I did a very poor job describing what biscotti was because the crew ended up using an English muffin. Very different results.

So, nearly 13 years and billions of Starubucks later, it's likely that producer knows what a biscotti is now, but in the event there are still people out there who have yet to experience the biscotti I leave you with this: it is nothing like an English muffin.


Chocolate Pistachio Biscotti
(I substituted walnuts for the pistachios and olive oil for the butter in the above, but the rest is based on this recipe)

Let them eat cake!

Strawberry Basil Shortcake

When I moved (returned) to my little town I knew I'd be giving up all the delights a big city offered in the way of bakeries, cafes... entire shops devoted solely to cupcakes. *sigh* But if these things were readily available, I don't think my passion for baking, which lay dormant amid the plethora of choice, would have risen (even to my surprise) to the challenge before me. I needed an oasis in this desert town. If I wanted cake I had to figure out how to make it. If I wanted a pretty little cupcake, I had to figure out how to make a cupcake pretty...and delicious.

Plenty of dried out, crumbly mistakes later I think I'm finding my stride. Though I'm still in search of the ultimate moist but not greasy carrot cake...so far it eludes me! But here are a few that, if I could, I'd attack with a fork and a cup of tea:

1. White chocolate cake, white chocolate buttercream with raspberries and lime zest filling and white chocolate buttercream frosting
2. Chocolate hazelnut cake and chocolate hazelnut buttercream filling and frosting
3. Maple cake with maple buttercream filling and frosting, garnished with loads of toasted walnuts
4. Sweet potato cake with cream cheese buttercream filling and vanilla buttercream frosting
5. Dark chocolate and espresso cake with dark chocolate ganache filling and frosting
6. Lemon chiffon cake with lemon curd filling and lemon buttercream frosting
7. Chocolate caramel cake with salted caramel filling and whipped chocolate caramel ganache frosting
8. Strawberry basil shortcake