During my extensive editing period on Dragon Kin, I discovered that I needed an outlet for my creativity. Although some of this was quelled by writing new pieces for contests and publications, about a year ago I discovered a new creative format that felt productive and satisfying. Baking.
Here are a few recipes that I’ve tried so far this year and loved!
Key Lime Pie
My key lime pie tasted even better with a dollop of whipped cream!
The key lime pie recipe was stunningly easy and cheap to make. Just five ingredients and half an hour, and I had a beautiful pie ready to be eaten. I didn’t even have to bake it!
Although this short-cut recipe is wonderfully simple, it did lack a bit of the depth of flavour of a more traditional key lime pie. If you have time to make a regular pie I recommend it, but if time is tight, this is an easy and delicious alternative!
Chocolate Raspberry Mousse Cake
A perfect birthday cake for my sister-in-law
This one was definitely a weekend project!
The brownie base had to be cooked and completely cooled (I let it sit overnight). Then each mousse layer was made and poured individually, and left to set in the fridge.
The bottom layer mousse is chocolate, then white chocolate raspberry, and white chocolate vanilla. Real raspberries were used, and just a touch of food colouring gave it that more vibrant pink colour. Then the decadent ganache on top.
Three layers of mousse
A heads up, it was quite expensive to make with all the premium dark/white chocolate, and a lot of whipped cream. However, it was by far one of the best cakes I ever made! And that was a family consensus!
Tip: If you let the cake sit over night once complete, it will taste much fuller the next day.
Savoury Cheesecake
For an experiment, it turned out surprisingly well
This savoury cheesecake was one of my more improvised creations. The cheesecake itself is made of cream cheese, sour cream, goat cheese, spinach and mushrooms. The base is a cracker/Panko crumb mixture and it is topped with candied pecans. I may still write the full recipe if I make a Part 2. Considering I already have a white chocolate lavender cake and homemade Oreos to discuss, there is a good chance there will be a second part!
It paired the best with the nacho chips
I would perhaps avoid using the word cheesecake here, but that might be me struggling with that mental block of cheesecake being a dessert. I think this a little more like a cheese ball- perfect for dipping crackers, chips and vegetables, and a wonderful item to bring to that potluck at work.
Fresh Strawberry Cupcakes
Perfect summer cupcake
I made these for Mother’s day and what a treat! A light and fluffy little snack with that burst of summer berry. Relatively straight forward to make, I used fresh strawberries for the puree and it was such a hit they didn’t even last two days.
Note: I used this recipe for the icing, because it was simpler.
kaelra 