Claudia's Cookbook

Desserts

Pumpkin Caramel Dream Cake

Our Skor Cake is probably one of the most popular recipes our website. And of course, it should be – it’s delicious and so simple to make. In keeping with my autumn theme and total pumpkin obsession, I thought it would be fun to experiment with it a little. I was pretty darn happy I did too. I deemed this recipe “Pumpkin Caramel Dream Cake” for good reason. It’s simple like our Skor Cake recipe, rich and full of caramel and pumpkin flavor. Perfect for the season!

I wanted to point out an adaption to this recipe – I decided to mix the caramel in with the condensed milk and soak it into the cake. However, if you want more of an intense pumpkin cake flavor, you can soak the cake in condensed milk by itself and leave the caramel for the topping only.

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Healthy, Soups

Fiery Roasted Tomato and Garlic Soup

First off, Happy Thanksgiving to all my fellow Canadians! Today definitely feels like autumn. All the leaves are changed and have fallen on the lawn. We even had our very first snowfall of the season here in Winnipeg a couple days ago. It didn’t stay long – thankfully. Today is windy and rainy and it really made me want to stay inside, keep warm and make a nice hearty soup. Not to mention after all the turkey, cabbage rolls, stuffing and potatoes I ingested this weekend, I needed something light to start off the short work week.

I can confidently say that this soup that I’m featuring is by far the best soup I have ever made. It’s absolutely AMAZING. Rich and packed with so much flavour. The roasted tomatoes and garlic really do make a huge difference. Not to mention, it leaves your house smelling delectable for hours. The side of smoked gruyere cheese toast is also a great compliment to the roasted flavour. I was so happy I made this soup today that I raced to the computer to share it with you tonight. Delicious!

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Desserts

Pumpkin Pie Ice Cream

A couple weeks ago I had my first taste of Pumpkin Pie Ice Cream. I was hooked. I needed to find a recipe that I could make at home so I could enjoy it at my leisure. Probably not the best move if you’re watching your waistline, but everything is okay in moderation, right?

As I’ve mentioned before, pumpkin pie is best served with vanilla ice cream. Well, in my humble opinion anyway. So this dessert was clearly a no-brainer for me to feature. This ice cream is creamy, rich and decadent! It literally tastes like pumpkin pie. Absolutely delicious and perfect for holding onto the last bits of summer but embracing autumn flavours.

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Desserts

Pumpkin Snickerdoodles with Vanilla Icing

Oh how I love pumpkin! One of the only reasons why I look forward to autumn is the emergence of all things pumpkin in my baking repertoire and Starbucks menus. I’ve posted my fair share of pumpkin-filled recipes on this blog during the past 2 years. Pumpkin Scones, Cupcakes, and Creme Pies – heck even Claudia’s amazing Pumpkin Pie still could not fulfill my desire to bake with pumpkin! I wanted something easy. Something lighter but full of that rich flavour that reminds me of autumn so much. Enter these delicious Pumpkin Snickerdoodle cookies! They are like soft cookie pillows of cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg with a sweet pumpkin-vanilla finish. Absolutely perfect for any autumn day.

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Desserts

Imperial Cookies (AKA: Empire Cookies)

The first time I had an Imperial Cookie (or Empire Cookie as they are also called) was when I worked for Starbucks while I was in university. We had an amazing local bakery supply all our pastries and it didn’t take much for me to fall in love with their Imperial Cookies. It has been a number of years since I worked for Starbucks, so I figured I would try to replicate one of my favourite cookies for the blog. This recipe is a hybrid between Canadian Living’s Classic Empire Cookie recipe and the amazing Anna Olson’s Empire Cookie recipe. I could not have been happier with the results. The cookies were soft, delicate and delicious. I also had the opportunity to use some of our newly made Raspberry Jam, which made these cookies even more delectable. Feel free to use homemade or your favourite store bought jam.

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Dinner, Events

Happy Anniversary Half Pints!

This past weekend I had the pleasure of attending an event which celebrated the 6th anniversary of a fantastic local business. Half Pints Brewing Co. is a Winnipeg-based, independently-owned craft brewery. Its motto: Quality, not quantity.

In true style, the anniversary party was held at yet another terrific local business, Elements Restaurant. Each course in the 5-course meal was paired with a delicious Half Pints brew. We even had the opportunity to taste the rare Humulus Ludicrous, which is an intensely hoppy ale, and the brand new Noche De Los Alebrijes, a malty, chocolaty Oaxacan dark lager, which I surprisingly adored (I’m more of a wheat beer fan). Below are some of the food and beer pairings from the event:

Course #3 – Duck breast with Half Pints glaze, green beans, carrots, wild rice and a poached egg. It was paired with the delicious Humulus Ludicrous.

Course #4 – Lamb chop with grilled veggies, tomato and white beans. It was paired perfectly with the Noche De Los Alebrijes.

Course #5 – Almond Joy. It was made with a salted almond crust with decadent dark chocolate, topped with toasted coconut. It was paired with the robust Stir Stick Stout.

A huge congratulations to Half Pints on a successful event, and even more important, a successful 6 years!

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Desserts

Rolo Brownie Trifles

I love TV night. I celebrate my favourite guilty pleasure shows with 3 lovely ladies practically every week. It’s a fun time where we laugh, catch up on the week’s drama and, of course, eat. This week I volunteered to do the dessert because baking is clearly what I am most comfortable with. I scoured the Internet to find something a little more special than the average brownie recipe. That’s when I came across Bakingdom’s adorable website with this gem. My pictures do not do this dessert justice. This individual trifle recipe is decadent and rich – a perfect guilty pleasure treat. You simply can’t go wrong with Rolo candies, brownie, gooey salted caramel, and chocolate whipped cream! Everything in this recipe is made from scratch. You could easily make this with a box brownie recipe, store bought whipped cream and caramel sauce. It would probably taste pretty good, but not as good as this.

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Side Dish

Raspberry Jam

I had the opportunity to spend some time at our family house in Saskatchewan this past long weekend. Since Claudia is newly retired, she has been out there for almost a month and has left me fending for myself when it comes to blog recipes. When she greeted me at the door with a pail of freshly picked raspberries I knew we could easily make up for lost blog time.

Although I prefer Claudia’s Strawberry Freezer Jam, I still have a craving every now and then for raspberry jam. Again, this recipe is from the Certo box! Besides being raspberry, the main difference is that this jam is cooked. But don’t let that intimidate you. It’s actually very easy. Plus, the great thing about cooked jam is that it can be stored up to a year on the shelf unopened.

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Desserts

Maple Syrup and Walnut Ice Cream

I recently returned from a trip to Montreal, Quebec. It’s a gorgeous city full of culture, history and delicious food. One of my favourite cities in the entire world. I had been to Montreal before but decided to make this latest adventure to the city a culinary experience. We dined at many amazing restaurants recommended by those who have either lived there or have visited and had unbelievable food experiences. Although all the places I dined in were mouthwatering, the one that stood out the most is Au Pied de Cochon. This now is my favourite restaurant of all time. Hands down. The menu is a little intimidating and features plenty of duck, pig and fois gras. Very rich. Very decadent. Very French Canadian. Every dish I had was divine.

I returned and after a few weeks I still couldn’t stop thinking about Au Pied de Cochon and how I wanted to recreate some of the food I devoured. I decided to purchase their cookbook. I haven’t looked back. I figured I’d start with a simpler recipe…something I was more familiar with making. That’s when I selected this decadent Maple Syrup Ice Cream. Not to mention, maple syrup is also a Quebec staple. I adapted this recipe by adding walnuts to create Claudia’s favourite ice cream flavour! I couldn’t be happier with it. It’s sweet, syrupy, creamy and has great texture.

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