Category Archives: Recipe

Lemon Meringue Sheet Cake

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Serves 16-20

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Lemon meringue pie is one of my favourite desserts and my recipe for this Lemon Meringue Sheet Cake takes the wonderfully fresh flavours of Spring, delivers them in a fun sheet cake, taking into consideration possible allergies so that everyone can have a slice of the fun!

I’ve partnered with Enjoy Life for this delicious gluten-free, egg-free, dairy-free, allergen-friendly dessert, as the brand offers a wide range of delicious baking chocolate, perfect for Spring entertaining, as well as school-friendly snacks. All of their products are free-from the top 14 common food allergens and are also certified gluten-free; School-Friendly; verified Non-GMO; and made in a dedicated nut-free and gluten-free facility. 

The standout feature of this cake is a decadent lemon white chocolate ganache layer made using Enjoy Life White Baking Mini Chips. Smooth, zesty and utterly delicious, it can be enjoyed by anyone around the table!

Ingredients

Lemon Ganache layer

  • 680g Enjoy Life white baking mini chips
  • 1 cup whipping cream alternative
  •  2 tablespoons lemon zest (2 large lemons)
  • ¼ cup fresh lemon juice (2 large lemons)
  • 1-2 drops yellow food colouring gel

Vanilla Cake layer

  • 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
  • 2 cups all-purpose gluten-free flour*
  • 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
  • ¾ teaspoon salt
  • 1 ½ cups water
  • ¾ cup canola oil
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 2 teaspoons white vinegar

Meringue layer**

  • 1/2 cup aquafaba (canned chickpea liquid)
  • ⅛ teaspoon cream of tartar
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method

Lemon Ganache layer

  1. Place the Enjoy Life white baking mini chips into a large bowl
  2. Microwave for 15 second bursts, stirring in between, until the chips are starting to melt. Set aside until needed
  3. In a small pan, heat your whipping cream alternative until just boiling – you’ll see small bubbles forming at the edge of the liquid. DO NOT allow the liquid to fully boil
  4. Remove from the heat and pour over the semi-melted white baking mini chips, ensuring all the chips are submerged. Allow to rest for 5 minutes
  5. After this time add in the lemon zest and lemon juice, stirring to incorporate. Continue stirring until the mixture is completely emulsified, smooth and uniform in color. Don’t worry if along the way the mixture looks like it has separated- just continue stirring and it will come back together. Using an immersion (stick) blender here really helps with the process, speeding it up
  6. Once your ganache mixture has fully emulsified, add in 1-2 drops yellow food colouring gel and stir until uniform in colour. Cover the surface of the ganache with cling wrap, and set aside for minimum 4 hours to thicken at room temperature

Vanilla Cake layer

  1. Preheat your oven to 350°F
  2. Prepare a 9” x 12” baking pan by greasing and lining with baking parchment
  3. In a large bowl combine all the cake ingredients- the sugar, flour, baking soda, salt, water, canola oil, vanilla extract, and vinegar
  4. Whisk until fully combined, making sure to scrape the bottom of the bowl to avoid any dry ingredient residue. Continue mixing until fully blended and smooth
  5. Pour into your prepared pan. If needed gently tilt the pan to allow the cake batter to flow into the corners
  6. Bake in your preheated oven for between 20-25 minutes or until a cake tester, or skewer, comes out clean when inserted into the centre of the cake. Remove the cake from the oven allow to cool in tin for 5 minutes in a rack
  7. After allowing to cool for 5 minutes, invert the cake onto a cooling rack lined with baking parchment
  8. Remove the tin and lining baking parchment paper and allow the cake to cool fully before covering with the ganache layer

Meringue layer**

  1. In a large bowl combine the chilled chickpea liquid and cream of tartar, whisk until soft peaks form using an electric whisk
  2. With the whisk still running, gradually add in the powdered sugar in stages, being sure to fully whisk in the current amount before adding more (the mixture should not feel grainy at all). Once all your sugar has been added increase the whisk speed and continue to beat until stiff peaks have formed. (If using a handheld electric whisk this part of the process will take longer than making typical egg-based meringue)
  3. Once stiff peaks have been achieved, add in the vanilla extract and whisk to incorporate

To Finish

  1. With your vanilla cake layer fully cooled, spread or pipe the ganache onto the surface. Use a spatula or palette knife to smooth it out
  2. Spoon the aquafaba meringue over the ganache layer and spread to cover the surface. Use a fork or the back of a spoon to create ruffles/ peaks
  3. Gently torch the surface of the aquafaba meringue with a hand-torch or place until the broiler for a few minutes until browned
  4. Slice, serve and enjoy! This sheet cake is best enjoyed straight away

*I use gluten-free flour that incorporates xanthan gum. If yours doesn’t add in 1 ½ teaspoons xanthan gum with your dry ingredients. Regular all-purpose flour can also be substituted 1:1, without the addition of xanthan gum.

**If chickpea aquafaba in the meringue topping isn’t an option, the cake can be enjoyed with your favourite allergen-friendly whipped topping as an alternative

Cherry & Ginger Amaranth Oat Cookies

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Yields 30

Ingredients

  • 1 cup butter, cubed and softened
  • 1 cup packed dark brown sugar
  • ½ cup granulated sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 Tablespoon dark molasses
  • 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 3 cups whole rolled oats
  • 1 cup puffed amaranth grains
  • 1 cup dried sour cherries
  • ½ cup crystallised ginger, roughly chopped

Method

  1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium-high speed until smooth. Add both the sugars and beat on medium-high speed until creamed
  2. Add the eggs, molasses, and vanilla and beat on high speed until combined, about 1 minute. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl and beat again as needed to combine
  3. While the butter and sugars are creaming, Whisk the flour, ground cinnamon, ground ginger, baking soda, and salt together in a separate medium bowl. Set aside until needed
  4. Once the butter and sugars have been creamed, add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix on low until combined.
  5. Once fully combined, fold in the oats, dried cherries and crystalised ginger. Your dough should be quite thick and sticky. Cover and chill the dough for at least 45 minutes in the refrigerator
  6. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats
  7. Use a large cookie scoop to scoop the cookie dough, about 3 Tablespoons of dough per cookie, and place well apart on the baking sheets. Bake for 13-14 minutes or golden brown. The edges will appear slightly darker than the centre of the cookie
  8. Remove from the oven and allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely

Pumpkin Pie Milkshake

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Serves 1

Ingredients

  • 1 standard serving slice leftover pumpkin pie (homemade or store-bought)
  • 1 cup vanilla ice cream
  • 3/4 cup full-fat milk

Optional to finish

  • Whipped cream
  • Additional pie crust crumbs
  • Sprinkles

Method

  1. In a blender combine the pie slice, ice cream and milk
  2. Blend at high speed until just combined. I prefer a slightly smooth shake with some pieces of pie crust left for texture. If you prefer a smoother shake texture, blend together for a longer period of time
  3. Decant into a milkshake glass and top with whipped cream and, if using, additional pie crust crumbs and sprinkles
  4. Sip and enjoy!

Pumpkin Spice Cookie Shake

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Yields 1 shake

Ingredients

Spiced pumpkin puree

  • 3 teaspoon pumpkin spice
  • 1 cup canned pumpkin puree

Milkshake

  • 10 oz quality vanilla ice cream
  • 3/4 cup whole milk
  • 1/4 cup spiced pumpkin puree (see recipe above)
  • 1/3 cup cookies, broken to pieces, eg Oreos
  • Whipped cream to finish
  • Additional crushed cookie pieces, to finish

Method

For the spiced pumpkin puree

  1. Stir together the pumpkin spice and pumpkin puree until well blended. Set aside

For the milkshake

  1. Combine ice cream, milk, spiced pumpkin puree in blender container. Blend until smooth. Add the chocolate chip cookie pieces. Pulse to blend
  2. Pour milkshake mixture into tall milkshake/ sundae glass. Garnish with whipped cream and crushed cookie pieces
  3. Serve and enjoy!

*Makes enough spiced pumpkin puree for 4 shakes. Store any surplus in an air-tight container and refrigerate.

Pumpkin Dutch Baby Babies

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Yields 12

Ingredients

Dutch Babies

  • 2 Tablespoons butter
  • 3 large eggs
  • ¾ cup milk, whole or 2% milk recommended
  • 5 Tablespoons pure pumpkin puree, not pie filling
  • ¾ cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 Tablespoon white granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
  • Generous pinch of cinnamon
  • Small pinch of allspice and nutmeg
  • Additional 2 Tablespoons butter, melted (for coating muffin tins)

Maple Mascarpone

  • 8oz mascarpone cheese
  • ¼ cup milk
  • 2 tablespoon maple syrup
  • ½ teaspoons pumpkin spice

Method

Maple Mascarpone

  1. Stir together the mascarpone, milk, maple syrup and pumpkin spice in a bowl until smooth. Refrigerate until needed at serving

Dutch Babies

  1. Place a 12-cup or two 6-cup muffin tins in oven and preheat oven to 425° F
  2. Melt the butter needed for the pancake batter and set aside to cool slightly. Meanwhile, combine pancake ingredients in a blender (or a medium bowl with an immersion blender), adding the cooled, melted butter last. Mix well, until frothy. Leave to stand in blender (or bowl) while oven finishes preheating
  3. When oven is pre-heated, carefully remove hot muffin tin(s) from oven and quickly pour a bit of melted butter into each muffin cup. Turn blender on for a few seconds to re-mix the batter, then quickly pour the mixture into the hot muffin cups, dividing equally between 12 cups, filling about ½ way full
  4. Place in oven and bake for 22-24 minutes, or until puffy and deep golden colour. Remove from oven. Remove from pan to a cooling rack to cool slightly before serving*. (If you find the pancakes sticking in your pan, run a knife around the edges, then use a fork to lift them out)
  5. Garnish with icing/confectioners sugar
  6. Drizzle or spoon on some of the maple mascarpone and some additional chopped walnuts or pecans, to taste

* Note: The Dutch babies will quickly deflate when you remove them from the oven. Don’t worry –  that’s what they do naturally.