Spoon Worthy

I love pumpkins in every shape and form. Pumpkin patches, jack-o-lanterns, pumpkin spice lattes, pumpkin pie, Cinderella's carriage, and pretty much pumpkin anything. But when I eat pumpkin treats, I really love when said treats are sprinkled with cinnamon.

Today's recipe are Pumpkin Spiced Cupcakes frosted with plenty of Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting. This frosting is so yummy that I coined a new phrase, spooky worthy. It's definately tasty enough to dig into a bowl of it with a spoon.

Saturday Morning Muffins

My favourite meal is breakfast. I know you are probably thinking it's dessert. But if I had to choose one meal to live on for the rest of my life, it really would be breakfast.

I mean, you can have cake for breakfast, right?

This recipe is not only a cake recipe, but it also celebrate how amazing summer fruit is right now. I love throwing in peaches, pears, or whatever fruit is ripe and plentiful in my fruit bowl. I also toss in coconut and speckle each muffin with lots of raisins. I guess that's why I call them Goody Muffins, because they're chock full of goodies.

Crazy Ingredient Challenge - Beets and Eggs!

Beets and eggs are two of my favourite foods so hearing that they were chosen for August's Crazy Ingredient Challenge's ingredients made me very happy. And even more than two of my favourite foods, this month's ingredients allow me to do one of my favourite things - bake!

I dabbled with ideas of what to make this month, coming up with recipes I thought were unique like Gnocchi with Beet Greens and Fried Shallots or Tie Dye Devilled Eggs, but I was craving to bake and I really wanted to eat chocolate cake.

So, in the end, I decided to revamp one of my favourite recipes and make it beet-friendly. I think it turned out earthy and amazing. Read on for my Beet-iful Chocolate Brownies and check out everyone else's recipe too!

Flavour Explosion

Whenever I bite into a tart dessert, I feel happy. Lemon, lime and rhubarb are pretty much heaven to me. I just love the feeling of wanting more and light, bright, tart, fresh flavours always seem to make me want more.

This summer I've made a lot of rhubarb desserts, but this time I wanted something a little extra rhubarby. I wanted a rhubarb cake with a rhubarb sauce. I wanted it all. And since I had plenty of rhubarb, I could it all to myself as a little treat.

Ready for flavour explosion? Read on and discover a cake and sauce recipe that unlocks my heart.

Carrot Cupcakes for Easter

I love baking up a storm for Easter but usually choose a carrot cake because it's seems fitting to serve carrots on a day filled with bunny love. This year I wanted to do something different and decided to make something cute for Easter that resembles a carrot cake, but tastes more like what the bunny might hide instead of what he want to nibble on after hiding all of the Easter eggs.

I headed off to my local candy store, came back with a few bags full of fun, and got really excited about my idea. These Chocolate Carrot Cupcakes are inspired by a photo I saw on Pinterest, but I made them my own by using decorations that were easier to find and a tried and true chocolate cake recipe from my recipe box!

Dulce de Leche Apple Cake

Dulce de Leche Apple Cake. How have these words never left my lips before?

I'm not ashamed to admit that those words actually only left my lips because of Duncan Hines Apple Caramel Decadent Cake Mix, but I'm happy to say that my homemade version was much better than the surprisingly delicious boxed version.

That's right. Today's recipe is homemade version of a Duncan Hines mix. It's full of apples, almost as many as a pie in fact. It's full of dulce de leche, almost too full if that could be possible. And it's a cake that I am proud to serve for breakfast or dessert. Or for a midnight snack. Or lunch. Or pretty much whenever.

Read on for my Dulce de Leche Apple Cake recipe!

Shamrock Cake for St. Patrick's Day

I don't know what it is about holidays, but I love to create something special for each and every special occasion. Every couple of weeks I think about what occasion is coming up and start planning what I can make for it.

St. Patrick's Day is coming up soon and of course I've been planning for it. My mind wanted to follow the rainbow to the pot of gold last weekend and I ran with the crazy idea I came up with. I am really excited to share this recipe with you because it's really cool and tastes great too.

Read on for my new recipe, Shamrock Cake with Irish Cream Buttercream!

Birthday Wishes

I love birthday cakes. It doesn't matter who's birthday cake it is, as long as I get a taste of it, I love it. Chocolate, vanilla, ice cream, angel food, chiffon, boxed or home made - it doesn't matter. Birthday cakes are made with loving thoughts of that one special person and I know that I taste those thoughts when I am eating each and every bite.

Today is my sister's birthday and while we celebrated each other's birthdays (mine was just a few days ago) together last month, it sure would be great if I got to bake her a cake today. Instead I hope that this post containing a yummy little lemon cake will do. I know that whoever bakes her a cake will thinking all the loving thoughts I would have thought so it will be fantastic.

Happy birthday, Mary. I hope your day is great today!

Chocolate Decadence

I know how people say that diamonds are a girl's best friend, but I think that chocolate is the real way to my heart. Chocolate is something that always makes me smile, always makes me feel loved, and always tastes delicious.

The first time I had dinner with my step dad, he baked a delicious chocolate torte made from ground almonds. It was a great treat, so rich and decadent, and I'd love to taste it again. But since he's yet to bake it a second time, I decided to bake my own version. 

My version wasn't quite the same as his, probably because I had to bake it myself, but I'll still bake it again. It was easy and delicious, so it can't be beat. 

Boo Cakes

I'm not going to pretend that these are the most beautiful cupcakes I've ever made. I know I should have piled the frosting higher so they looks more like ghosts, but I am more a cake girl than a frosting girl, so they stayed short. But looks aside, these Boo Cakes are really fun for Halloween and tasted great. 

If you want to put extra frosting on your cakes to make them more ghost-like, just double up the frosting recipe and do it! I'd love to see a picture of them looking almost too delicious to eat! 

Read on for my delicious Seven Minute Frosting recipe to top delicious Boo Cakes!

Mysterious Tomato Soup Cake

I have finally tried the infamous and mysterious tomato soup cake and it's all thanks to this month's Crazy Ingredient Challenge! I can't imagine that any of you envy me when I say that the challenge was to cook something delicious with tomatoes and coconut, but I bet that you would envy me if you knew how delicious my dessert came out. 

I don't know what it is about a can of tomato soup that made my cupcakes so delicious, but I know that it somehow worked. And maybe the success wasn't all due to chance. I did make a couple of conscious choices when building my recipe. I chose a can of soup without herbs and spices, I added lots of cinnamon to the batter, and I made a delicious frosting for the top. 

Curious yet? Read on for my delicious recipe. 

Harry Potter Butter Beer Cupcakes

I remember when my Nana and Papa first brought me the original Harry Potter book. They knew I loved to read and they had heard that the book was really popular so thought I'd love it. Well, they were right. I remember quickly devouring it in my bedroom and eagerly looking for the next instalment.

So when I heard that a Harry Potter cookbook was coming out, the Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook, I got extremely excited. I knew there would be recipes for all my favourite magical goodies. I knew everything from Pumpkin Patsies to Butter Beer to Pumpkin Juice to Hagrid's Rock Cakes would be represented and I couldn't wait to read it.

I picked it up from my library and I was really glad not to have bought it because the recipes were not what I had been expecting. No recipes were exciting or thought provoking. No recipes were magical. There weren't even photos! No recipes at all for my favourite Butter Beer.

But there was a "recipe" for Crispy Bacon as Ron had eaten it a few times in the books. I hope I'm spoiling the cookbook when I say they instructed us to crisp bacon on a frying pan and eat it. There were lots of recipes for standard things like bacon, roast chicken, and roast beef - with small stories of remember the time that Hermione once ate chicken or remember when Harry had roast beef?

No, this is one cookbook I won't be buying. One of my recipes from last Christmas would have made a better recipe for Hagrid's Rock Cakes than what appeared in the book. And this delicious recipe for Butter Beer Cupcakes that I've adapted from Amy Bites should have been a cover shot.

A Whole Mott of Happiness

I have a love / hate relationship with people at work who have a bowl of delicious sweet little candies on their desks, just begging me to indulge. It's hard to stop myself when I walk by their desks, but I try to say no to be healthy.

Now imagine being a child and seeing all the yummy snacks that the other kids are bringing to school and you're stuck with carrots and celery sticks because mom wants you to be healthy. I feel those kid's pain. Luckily this school year will be different because of Mott's Fruitsations and Veggie fruit snacks!

These fruit snacks are naturally flavoured, made with pear, apple, and carrot juice, gluten free, and have only 80 calories in each package. These fruit snacks are going to make kids and moms happy. And I know I'm going to be bringing a few packages to work to eat when I want one to be digging into the candy bowls.

And Mott's and Life Made Delicious are going to help us out in another way too. We can enter Mott's Fruitsations and Veggie Fruit snacks' contest from the Life Made Delicious Facebook page that could make back to school shopping a lot easier because there are three $500 gift cards up for grabs! And while you're on Life Made Delicious' Facebook page, pick up a $0.50 off coupon (while supplies last) to use when you buy your first (or second) box!

I also couldn't resist baking up some Mini Raspberry Filled Chocolate Cupcakes from the Life Made Delicious website. I topped my cupcakes with some of the berry flavoured Mott's Fruitsations and Veggie fruit snacks and they were gobbled up faster than ever!

Speedy Desserts Guest Post on Hungry Little Girl

Yesterday I guest posted on Hungry Little Girl and I just had to share the recipe with all of you today. It's super quick to make, plus it tastes amazing. And when I say quick, I mean quick - it's a microwaveable chocolate cake that cooks in the microwave for 90 short seconds! 

I'll let you head over to Hungry Little Girl to read my whole guest post, or you can just read on for the recipe now, make it, and read my post on Hungry Little Girl while you're eating it! 

Pimm's Cup on a Plate

Today is my dad's birthday and as George and my mom introduced me to a Pimm's Cup, it's only fitting that my dessert for George be based on Pimm's Cup. 

If you've had a Pimm's Cup before, you'll know that Pimm's No. 1 Cup is a gin based drink with a lemony or gingery carbonated beverage as well as fresh fruit, cucumbers, and herbs. But before I scare you off, you won't find any cucumber in this dessert - just cake, peaches, and fresh herbs! 

I know you'll love this dessert. I think it's so delicious and creative that I'm submitting it as part of my MasterChef Canada audition! 

So happy birthday George, here's what I'd make for you today. Lots of love sent all the way from Victoria, BC! I wish I was there. 

Nutella German Chocolate Fusion

Is it fusion when I use Nutella in a German Chocolate Cake? I like to think so. 

Nutella is Italian and the popular German Chocolate Cake is surprisingly not German, but American. It's named after the American chocolate maker, Sam German, who developed the dark baking chocolate used in the delicious cake.  None the less, the two come from entirely different areas of the world and I think that this makes it fusion. 

I also like to think that this version of a German Chocolate Cake is so yummy that it could become as famous as the original.  

Carrot Cake in a Cup

When I serve dessert, I love to serve individual portions. Individual portions always look prettier and we eat with our eyes first, so looking good counts for a lot. 

Today's dessert recipe is a new version of one of my old faithful desserts, my favourite recipe for Carrot Cake and I added in a fruity banana frosting to make it extra special. I think my dessert looks yummy and I know you'll agree after just one bite! 

In a Jam

The other night I was baking cupcakes for a friend and realized I had very little icing sugar. I wasn't going to serve my cupcakes bare, so I had to figure something out.

I looked through my cupboards and saw that I had some jam and decided I would try to make something work. While I mixed up my new recipe I envisioned myself stopping at the grocery store the next morning to pick up some pre made icing, but I still crossed my fingers that my recipe might turn out. 

Amazingly, it worked. I was out of my jam by using jam. :) And you know what, it tasted great!

Delight or Fright?

Alright friends, I'm not going to ask you to guess what's in the foil wrapped package below because that's too easy. It's a little too obvious given the title of my post and the shape of my gift. The package contains a moist, dried fruit and nut filled fruitcake - completely drenched in brandy. 

So instead of what's in the package, I'm asking you to guess what making a loaf pan sized fruitcake would cost. I was certainly surprised by the cost, but since I know a few fruitcake fans and I love baking, I'd whip up a dozen more of them!

The person to who guesses closest to the dollar amount will get a New Year's treat named especially after them! Just include your guesses in the comments below or on my Facebook page and thanks for playing!

And don't be scared, there are no gross red and green cherries in this cake. It's just chock full of delicious-ness!

What Came First, The Egg or the Nog?

I am not eggnog's biggest fan, but even the smell of eggnog makes me feel warm and Christmasy. My favourite eggnog recipe has got to be Eggnog Sponge because I love the way this easy to make cake separates into a creamy, eggy pudding on the bottom and a light, fluffy sponge on the top while it bakes. 

Also, the cake goes really well with a brandy laced whipped cream. But trying this comes with a warning - this Eggnog Sponge may make you really love eggnog!