Category Archives: Canadian food

Dubai Butter Tarts

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Makes 12

Ingredients 

Pastry

  • 1 1/4 cups All purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup cocoa
  • 1 Tablespoon sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup butter, cold and cubed
  • 6-7 Tablespoons ice-cold water (dependant on humidity)

Kataifi Filling

  • 2 1/2oz Kataifi pastry, cut to 1/2inch pieces (if not already)
  • 2 Tablespoons butter
  • 200g pistachio cream
  • 3 Tablespoons tahini
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

Butter Tart Filling

  • 1 cup brown sugar, packed
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/4 cup butter, softened
  • 1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar
  • 3 Tablespoons light corn syrup
  • Pinch salt

Method

Pastry

  1. Whisk together the flour, cocoa, sugar and salt in a large bowl
  2. Add the chopped butter. Using a pastry blender, or two butter knives, cut in the butter until it resembles coarse crumbs (with a few pea-sized pieces)
  3. Add the water, one spoonful at a time, until the dough starts to come together in a single ball
  4. Gather dough into a ball and knead a couple of times to bring together. Flatten into a disc, wrap in cling wrap and chill for at least 30 minutes
  5. On a smooth surface lightly dusted with cocoa, roll pie dough to a ¼-inch thickness. Cut 12 rounds using a 4½-inch round cookie cutter, re-rolling scraps if needed. Gently press rounds into a 12-cup muffin pan. Refrigerate while you make the fillings

Kataifi filling

  1. In a large frying pan set over a medium heat, melt the butter 
  2. Add the kataifi pastry and stir to coat in butter 
  3. Continue to stir the pastry, moving it around the pan continuously, until deep golden brown
  4. Remove from the heat and transfer to a large bowl to cool
  5. When cooled completely, add the pistachio cream, tahini and salt
  6. Stir all the ingredients together to combine well
  7. Fill the bottom of each pastry tart cup with between 1 – 2 Tablespoons of kataifi filling, tamping it down loosely to 1/3 to 1/2 depth of each tart cup
  8. Return to fridge to chill while you prepare the butter tart filling

Butter Tart Filling

  1. Preheat your oven to 400°F
  2. Combine all the butter tart ingredients in a medium bowl and using electric whisk, beat until smooth and fully combined
  3. Using a jug or piping bag, pour the filling into each tart cup until just below the top
  4. Transfer to the heated oven and bake for 5 minutes at 400°F
  5. After 5 minutes, reduce heat to 375°F and continue to bake for 20 minutes until the filling turns slightly opaque and appears to dome
  6. Remove from oven and allow to cool in tin for 5 minutes then gently loosen and rotate in the tin using a knife or palette knife 
  7. Allow to cool fully in the tin, before removing
  8. Serve and enjoy  

Irish Cream Nanaimo Bars

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Makes 18

Ingredients

Base layer

  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 1/3 cup cocoa powder
  • 1/4 cup fine sugar
  • 1 large egg, beaten
  • 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
  • 1 cup brown (wholewheat) bread crumbs
  • 3/4 cup sweetened shredded coconut

Middle layer

  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 1/2 cup butter, softened to room temperature
  • 2 Tbsp custard powder
  • Pinch salt
  • 2-3 Tbsp Irish Cream (Baileys), to taste
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract

Top layer

  • 6 oz semi-sweet chocolate, broken/ chopped into pieces
  • 2 Tbsp butter
  • 2oz white chocolate, broke/ chopped in to pieces
  • 1 tsp butter

Method

Base layer

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9 inch square baking pan with parchment paper 
  2. In small saucepan over medium heat, combine butter, cocoa and sugar, stirring occasionally until butter has melted and mixture is smooth. Set aside to cool
  3. In a separate medium bowl combine the egg, graham cracker crumbs, brown bread crumbs and shredded coconut. Add in the cooled cocoa/ butter mixture and stir to fully combine
  4. Transfer to your prepared pan. Press firmly and level as much as possible
  5. Bake for 10 mins, then remove from oven and leave to cool completely

Middle layer

  1. In bowl of a stand mixer with paddle attachment, cream together powdered sugar, butter, custard powder, salt, Irish cream and vanilla extract. Spread the mixture evenly over the cooled bottom layer; smooth and chill for at least an hour

Top layer

  1. In a bowl set over barely simmering water, melt semi-sweet chocolate, and butter together, stirring occasionally, until smooth and shiny.
  2. In a microwave, heat the white chocolate and butter together in a small bowl until melted. Transfer to a small piping bag.
  3. Pour over the melted semi-sweet chocolate over the Irish cream layer and smooth. Pipe on the white chocolate and feather to a design of your liking
  4. Chill in the refrigerator overnight, or 2 hours minimum. Cut into bars (I usually get 18, cutting into 3 x 6)
  5. Keep the cut bars in a covered container either in the refrigerator (3 days) or frozen (3 months)

Saskatoon Berry Pie

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Makes 1x 9inch double crust pie

Ingredients

Pie Crust

  • 2 ½ cup all-purpose flour
  • 4 teaspoon granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup cold unsalted butter, diced
  • 1/2 cup ice water

Filling

  • 4 cups fresh, or frozen, Saskatoon berries (if using frozen berries, thaw and drain)
  • ½ cup granulated sugar
  • 3 ½ tablespoon corn-starch
  • 1 teaspoon almond extract
  • ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1 tsp. fresh lemon juice
  • 2 tablespoons chilled butter, cut in small pieces

Filling

  1. Add all sauce ingredients to a medium bowl and stir well to ensure the berries are well coated. Set aside until needed. See note * in step 6 below

Pie Crust

  1. Combine the flour, sugar and salt in a large mixing bowl or a food processor.  Whisk or pulse briefly until combined
  2. Sprinkle the diced butter evenly over the dry ingredient mixture until the butter is evenly dispersed into pea-sized (or smaller) bits.  If using a food processor, briefly pulse the butter and dry ingredients together 5 to 7 times until the butter is evenly dispersed into pea-sized (or smaller) bits, then transfer the mixture to a large mixing bowl
  3. Sprinkle the dough evenly with the ice water. Use a spatula to quickly mix the water into the dough until it is evenly combined, and the dough begins to form moist clumps.  (If the dough is not sticking together, you can add 1 or 2 more tablespoons of water to help it clump.)
  4. Using your hands, quickly pack the dough into a ball. Divide into 2, then flatten the dough balls into 3/4-inchthick disks
  5. Wrap the dough disks tightly in plastic wrap, then refrigerate for at least 1 hour, or up to 3 days, until ready to roll out and use
  6. When ready to bake the pie, preheat your oven to 425 F, remove one disk from the refrigerator and let rest for 10-15 minutes. (*I usually prepare the filling at this point)
  7. Roll on a lightly floured counter until least 12 inches in diameter and about 1/8 inch thick
  8. Gently fold the rolled-out dough into quarters and carefully transfer dough to the pie dish, and gently press the dough into the sides of the plate without stretching it
  9. Using a knife to trim off any excess pastry, leaving about a 1-inch border of crust around the top of the pie plate. Carefully lift and fold the outer 1/2-inch edges of the crust back under itself, pinching the crust gently to sculpt an upstanding ridge
  10. Chill this pie crust in the refrigerator while you make the lid using the second disk of dough
  11. When ready, fill your pastry lined pie dish with the filling and dab the chilled butter pieces on top
  12. Cover with the second (top) pastry disk and pinch the edges together to seal. Use a small knife of scissors to make slits/ vents in the top crust
  13. Transfer your pie to the preheated oven and bake for 15 minutes, then reduce temperature to 350 F and bake for a further 45-50 minutes, until the filling is bubbling through the slits and the top is golden brown. (If the edges start to brown too quickly, cover with foil)
  14. Once baked remove the pie from the oven and leave to cool on a wire rack before serving

Pouding Chomeur

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Placeholder image

Makes 4 individual portions, or one 8″ x 8″ large portion

Ingredients

Cake

  • 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
  • ½ cup granulated sugar
  • 1 ½ tsp baking powder
  • 1 pinch salt
  • ½ cup cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
  • ½ cup milk

Sauce

  • 1 cup maple syrup
  • 1 cup packed light brown sugar
  • ½ cup water
  • ¼ cup unsalted butter
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract

Method

Cake

  1. Preheat the oven to 350º. Lightly grease 4 individual (0.25L) mini-cocottes, ramekins or other ovenproof dishes and place them onto a baking tray
  2. Sift the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt into a large mixing bowl. Add the butter and use a pastry cutter or your fingertips to work the butter into the flour until a rough, crumbly mixture – similar to thick breadcrumbs, or damp sand, is achieved
  3. Add the milk, and stir just until the mixture comes together
  4. Spoon this into the prepared smaller baking dishes. Set aside while you prepare the sauce

Sauce

  1. Combine the maple syrup, brown sugar, water, butter, and vanilla in a pan and bring to a boil over high heat, stirring occasionally
  2. Once it reaches a rolling boil, remove it from the heat and ladle this over the cake in the ramekins
  3. Bake the puddings for about 30 minutes, until a tester inserted into the centre of a pudding comes out almost clean
  4. Remove from the oven and let the puddings cool for about 15 minutes before serving (be careful syrup is hot!)
  5. Serve and enjoy

Pubnico Molasses Cookies

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Makes 32

Ingredients

  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 cup butter, room temperature
  • 1 cup fancy molasses
  • 1 large egg
  • 5 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½ cup milk

Method

  1. Cream sugar and butter, until pale and fluffy
  2. Add the fancy molasses, egg, and beat until well combined
  3. In a separate bowl whisk together the dry ingredients
  4. Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture in 3 stages, alternately with milk
  5. Bring dough together into a ball. Transfer to a bowl, cover with cling wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes. After this divide the dough into 2, flatten into disk shapes, 1 inch thickness, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for at least 3 hours, or overnight
  6. When ready to bake, pre-heat oven to 350F
  7. Remove 1 disk of dough from the fridge and let rest for 10 minutes while you lightly flour a counter and line 2 cookie trays with baking parchment
  8.  Roll the cookie dough to 1/4 inch thick (these cookies are not thin)
  9. Using a round cookie cutter (2-2 ½ inch), cut into individual cookies and transfer to your prepared cookie trays, spacing 1 ½ inches apart
  10. Bake at 350F for 12 minutes, once baked remove from oven and allow to cool on a rack