We made Chocolate Cake Pops in prep for Valentine’s Day!
How romantic and delicious, cake on a stick 
And for your viewing pleasure, the elusive double cake pop!
Want some? We at Sprinkles still have some spots open for Valentine’s Day orders! We’re offering a special Valentine’s Day Cake Pop Set (pictured above) of 6 for $10. What a nice gift idea, even if you choose to treat yourself! Send me an email or contact me via the blog’s contact form if you’re interested.
Answer: Me
We made this cupcake, and twenty three of its brothers and sisters, exist.
Chocolate Cupcake with Chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream Icing
It was delicious. All who ate them can attest to this!
I brought some to work and a customer tried to buy one. It was at that exact point I started to think of taking this cupcake thing seriously…
A few months ago I was in the mood for a quick easy meal. Having nothing on hand except for my trusty pantry, I thought of making a quiche… but the idea of making a crust was too much effort.
Thankfully I discovered a method of quiche-making that doesn’t involve creating a separate crust. You simply mix the flour in with the eggs and veggies, layer items in a pie plate, and leave it in the oven till toasty done, around 40 minutes. Just long enough to do dishes and take a shower. Now that’s multitasking.
It makes four portions. You will want to leave some to cool for a snack later on… the delicious creamy insides contrast the popover-like crispy outsides perfectly.
Add whatever veggies you like or have on hand: carrot, green beans, mushrooms, onion, broccoli, cauliflower, peppers, etc. Precooking makes them very soft in the final quiche, using uncooked makes them crunchy, do what you enjoy!
Add whatever cheese you want, provided it is a melting cheese.
Add whatever meat you desire. Bacon is the obvious choice. I bet it would be great with pepperoni!
A simple, easy, versatile pantry recipe… that’s my style of cooking! I’m sure you’re dying to go make it, so go on my friends, enjoy a quiche!
Misc Vegetable Quick Quiche
Adapted from Allrecipes
1/2 lb of meat. I really enjoyed kolbasa sausage, in a half inch dice. Ground beef works surprisingly well, as does the obvious bacon.
1-2 cups of vegetables, as described above. I always use a small/medium onion in addition to other veggies.
1/8 cup butter for cooking vegetables and meat
1/8 cup butter, melted for egg mix
4 eggs
1 1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup flour
1/3 cup cheese
salt and pepper to taste
Preheat oven to 375F.
1. Precook any vegetables in the butter. Precook the meat as well. Set aside to cool.
2. In a small mixing bowl, mix flour and milk. To prevent lumps, to all the flour mix in half of the milk and mash it vigorously to break up any lump. Add in a small bit more milk, mix vigorously, and continue doing so until all the milk is incorporated smoothly.
3. Break up and mix eggs and seasoning. Add flour/milk mix and melted butter, mix to combine. Add in cooked vegetables.
4. Butter a pie plate. Layer the bottom with the meat, followed by the cheese, then pour the egg/veggie mix gently overtop.
5. Bake for 35-45 minutes. You want a deep crunchy crust. Do not open the oven while it is cooking or it will deflate!
Sometimes you want a little light something to go with tea. Consider this recipe! The poppy seeds add a wonderful deep taste, a perfect foil to the tart lemon. It’s not quite as dense as a loaf, but not quite as light as a cake, hence cakeloaf.
Lemon Poppyseed Cakeloaf
Adapted from Allrecipes
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 cups white sugar
3 eggs
juice and zest of two lemons
1 cup plain yogurt
Anywhere from 1/4 to 1/2 cup poppy seeds, to your taste
Preheat oven to 350F and grease two loaf pans.
Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in a large mixing bowl.
In a smaller mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar, then add in the eggs and give it a whip.
In an even smaller mixing bowl, combine the yogurt and lemon juice, then add to the sugar mix.
Finally, in the smallest vessel you have, roughly mix the lemon zest and poppy seeds.
Combine it all together by pushing the flour to one side in its bowl, add the liquid ingredients, and mix in the flour bit by bit, giving it a quick final hard beating at the end.
Divide into the loaf pans and bake in the oven until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 45 minutes or so. I turn down the oven to 325 for the last fifteen minutes. Let it cool in the pan for 10 minutes before turning out on a wire rack.
Quinoa. What an interesting ingredient! It’s one of the few non-meat foodstuffs that contains all the essential amino acids needed for us to be healthy. It’s also not a foodstuff that I cook with often due to unfamiliarity.
I decided to change that.
Turns out it is a dead simple food to cook – simply boil then simmer on medium for 10 minutes or so. So pretty much the standard cooking method for all grains.
As with grains, the challenge becomes taking the ingredient and dressing it up so it enters the realm of deliciousness.
This Lemony Quinoa Salad is a great way to do so. All the ingredients work together in perfect harmony – the lemon and parsley give the salad a lovely bright taste, the cumin and paprika add layers more flavour in the background – but it is really the toasted pine nuts that make this salad amazing, so do not skip that step or omit the ingredient out of laziness, or you will miss everything this salad has to offer.
Left to sit in the fridge overnight, it becomes even more delicious! This makes it desirable to whip up a double batch and keep it as a quick healthy snack.
Lemony Quinoa Salad
adapted from Allrecipes
Cook the quinoa by bringing it and the water to a boil, then simmer on medium for 10 minutes or so, until the water is absorbed. Transfer to a bowl and let cool.
Toast the pine nuts in a dry pan over medium heat while chopping the other ingredients, but stir the nuts constantly as they burn fast.
Chop up the celery, green onion, and parsley and add it to the cooled quinoa. Juice and zest the lemon and add it as well. Add the pine nuts and spices, and mix to combine. Serve!
Makes a great side dish or nice light lunch!
Best of all, you can go wild with what veggies are in it, as long as they are small and preferably with some amount of crunch.