Slow Cooked Apple Butter

This post could have been called Sloooooow Cooked Apple Butter. It bubbles away for over 24 hours in the slow cooker making the house smell amazing.

This was my first time making apple butter and it turned out absolutely delicious. Like apple pie in a jar. Without the fattening pastry. Unless of course you make spread it on buttery toast, which I highly recommend. Or bake it into crescent rolls. Or stuff it into puff pastry to make apple turnovers. Okay.... there's lots of sinful ways to un-healthify apple butter.

You're going to end up with tons of the stuff. I made 9 jars. You'll definitely want to gift some. How to use the remaining jars? Let me count the ways:

• On toast, pancakes, waffles, crepes, etc.
• Apple Pie Smoothie
• Apple Turnovers
• Apple Pie Crescent Rolls (pictured above - spread apple butter on Pilsbury Crescent Rolls before rolling up. Bake as directed on package.)
• Condiment with pork or potato latkes
• Stir into oatmeal
• Swap apple butter for pumpkin puree as a pie filling? I'll let y'all know if I try this out of course
• Use in place of applesauce in baked goods
• Eat it out of the jar with a spoon standing in front of the fridge while deciding what to eat for lunch. Not that I've done that. Much.

One Year Ago: Thai Feast

Two Years Ago: Leek, Chicken and Feta Stuffed Pitas + Slow Cooker Pulled Beef +  Roasted Root Vegetable Puree

Three Years Ago: Chicken Pot Pie + Crown Loaf + The Best Lasagna

Four Years Ago: Spicy Cheese Dip + Spanakopita + Spaghetti with Spaghetti Squash + Egg Nog Panna Cotta

 SLOW COOKED APPLE BUTTER

Adapted from Eating Richly

Makes 8 or 9 pint jars

You may want to set the slow cooker on a wooden board or something that will absorb heat in case it gets too hot- apparently they've been known to warp counter tops and it's going to be on for a long time.

• 8 lbs apples, washed (I used Gala apples)
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp allspice
• 1 tsp ground ginger

Core and roughly chop apples (do not peel) and add to slow cooker as you go until full. You will not fit in all the apples at first. Set the remaining apples aside. Mix together sugar and spices in a bowl. Add to apples and stir to combine. Turn slow cooker to low for 8 to 10 hours. Stir once in a while if you are walking by.

Apples will have really cooked down at this point. Chop remaining apples and add to slow cooker.  Stir and cook on low for another 10 to 12 hours, stirring occasionally. Puree (an immersion blender is the easiest as you can put it right in the crock pot) and return apple butter to crock. Continue to cook on low with the lid off until apple butter reaches the desired consistency. It will thicken slightly when cool. Taste and add more sugar or spices to taste (I didn't need to add anything else to mine). Keep apple butter refrigerated or can it using the waterbath method following the instructions at the bottom of the recipe HERE.

30th Birthday Barbecue

I've been 30 for five days now. I survived! I did so by drinking heavily (just kidding... kind of). But seriously, we had a great pool party and barbecue on Saturday. It was the perfect day. Friends, old and new, and family came, kiddos swam like fishes in the pool and Parker got to show off all his toys and play with some new friends. It was a great day, the weather co-operated, and we had great food to boot.

If you are thinking of hosting a party for 20 to 30 people, here's the game plan I followed:

1. Go out for dinner on the night of your birthday and eat a bunch of tacos and have a couple of drinks. Go grocery shopping at a store that you've never been to where you can't find anything and spend too much money cause you've had a couple of drinks. Get home and make some raspberry ice cream for the party two days from now.

2.  The next day go to your parents place for dinner after work and accidentally drink a bottle of wine. Get home at 11:30pm, rub your meat (the pork shoulder people, the pork shoulder) and make bbq sauce. Decide you're not tired yet and start on cupcakes. Go to bed close to 2am once three batches of cupcakes are finally baked.

3. Get up the day of the party, pop some Tylenol, and start on salads and appetizers. Which you will making for the next 6 hours. Realize a close to the party start time that you haven't showered, gotten ice, that you forgot to get about five things from the grocery store, and haven't been to the LCBO to get your beverage of choice for the party.

4. Panic. Drive faster than you should. Somehow get lost in a small town with basically two main streets. Swear. Miraculously get home within an hour, finish cooking by the time guests arrive, and proceed have a great time since you did everything ahead of time. Yay you!

On second thought, don't follow that schedule. You may want to plan things better. But ever'ting work out in the end mon. No worries.

Tyler made pulled pork. We are still working on the perfect barbecued pulled pork but it wasn't the perfect pulled pork. It was very good, but it didn't pull easily. I've only gotten pork to shred really easily cooked in the slow cooker, but that kind of negates the purpose of having a barbecue, right?

I made two salads to go with the pork sandwiches. They were my favorite part of the whole meal. I was going to make wild rice salad but I couldn't get wild rice at store I was at. They had about twelve other rices I'd never made before, but of course not the rice I needed. I improvised and made an orzo pasta salad instead that turned out so great. I could eat, and have been eating, it as a meal. Along with the other salad, a beautiful grilled corn coleslaw, these were the perfect sides for a summer barbecue.

What about the cake, you say? I had big plans for my 30th birthday cake. I had visions of layer cakes decorated beautifully that everyone would swoon over. Then a week before the big day I came to my senses and remembered that a) I suck at decorating cakes. b) last time I made a layer cake was for Tyler's 30th and I had a cake induced melt down that resulted in a 30th birthday marital spat. c) I'm just not that kind of girl. I'd rather have a rustic rhubarb crumble pie (I seriously considered this as my birthday dessert actually). So I met myself half way. The cupcakes I made turned out beautifully but were not too fussy. And there's cream cheese icing involved. Sold.

Here's the full menu:

*Fruit with Orange Creamsicle Dip
*Caprese Skewers (boccocini cheese, a small basil leaf, half a grape tomato on a toothpick. Drizzle with balsamic vinegar)

*Pulled Pork
*Greek Orzo Salad (recipe below)
*Grilled Corn Slaw (recipe below)

*Hummingbird Cupcakes
*Raspberry Ice Cream

GREEK ORZO SALAD

 Serves 10 as a side dish

I was trying to get everything done and not thinking about blogging the recipe, so I wasn't diligent in measuring, so measurements here are approximate. This is a simple recipe anyway- taste it, if it needs more of something just stir it in. It will work out. 

• 450g orzo pasta
• 1 English cucumber, chopped
• 3 tomatoes, seeded and chopped
• 3 green onions, finely chopped
• 1 cup crumbled feta cheese
• 1/4 cup chopped flat leaf parsley

Vinaigrette:

• 1/3 cup olive oil
• zest and juice of two lemons
• two garlic cloves, very finely chopped, or grated on a Microplane
• salt and pepper
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp dried dill

Cook orzo in salted water according to package directions- do not over cook- cook to al dente. Drain and rinse with cold water. Whisk ingredients for vinaigrette in the bottom of your serving bowl. Add drained pasta and remaining ingredients and toss to combine. Refrigerate for at least two hours before serving.

GRILLED CORN SLAW

Adapted from My Invisible Crown

Serves 10 as a side dish

• 5 ears corn, shucked and cleaned of silks
• 1 small red cabbage, shredded - a food processor makes quick work of this
• 2 red peppers, thinly sliced
• 340g bag carrot slaw (like this one from PC brand)
• 1/2 cup roasted, salted sunflower seeds
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro or flat-leaf parsley

Dressing:

• zest and juice of 3 limes
• 1/4 cup vegetable or olive oil
• 1/4 cup rice vinegar
• 3 tbsp honey
• salt and pepper

Grill corn on high direct heat, turning often, until charred- about 12 minutes total. Set aside to cool. Once cooled, cut kernels off cobs and add to a large bowl. Add remaining salad ingredients except sunflower seeds. Mix salad dressing ingredients in a blender or with an immersion blender. Toss salad with seeds and dressing just before serving.

Strawberries with Lemon Sugar

This may be the one of the easiest and best desserts you will ever make.

I know, that is a lofty claim. I pulled this together in about 3 minutes, and it took about the same time for it to disappear. I'd say that backs it up, no?

I finished work Saturday and hit the grocery store, thinking that I'd get home, get the groceries put away, and head over to Tyler's cousin's place for a BBQ. It tuns out the party had been moved to our place. Okay... Now what?

Luckily the boys had dinner already planned out and ready to go so I didn't have to do any cooking. Cleaning up was another story, but that's what happens when there is a ratio of 2 women to 6 men I suppose, despite this being 2013 and not 1952.

The last thing I wanted to do was come home and make a dessert (especially since it was a toss up between popping a drink or jumping in the pool for the first thing I wanted to do). So I zested a couple of lemons, added some sugar, washed the berries and headed out to the pool. With a drink.

One Year Ago: Battenburg Cake

Two Years Ago: DIY Tex-Mex Shredded Cheese

Three Years Ago: Bran Flax Muffins

STRAWBERRIES WITH LEMON SUGAR

• 2 pounds strawberries
• 2 lemons
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup sour cream or Greek yogurt

Wash and dry strawberries. Zest lemons into a bowl using a Microplane* or other fine zester. Add sugar, rub sugar and zest together to with your fingertips to combine. To serve, dip strawberries in sour cream (or yogurt) and then in lemon sugar.

*If you don't have a Microplane, use the side of a cheese grater with the small holes and then pulse the zest together with the sugar in a food processor.

My Grandma's Pancakes

Swedish pancakes, crepes, Grandpa's pancakes. It doesn't matter what you call them so long as you call them breakfast sometime very soon. It's a long weekend coming up. Perfect for spending a little extra time making something special for breakfast.

As kids we would go up to my Grandparents house on the lake almost every weekend. Us kids- my brother, cousins, and I- would get up early on Saturday and go with Grandpa on his morning walk to the "treat store" (when the grand kids weren't there I'm pretty sure he just called it the store where he got the newspaper). If you weren't up by the time Grandpa left for his walk you were left behind. We would get home and have some "crepes" that Grandma had started making at the butt-crack of dawn in order to feed the hordes.

I use quotations on "crepes" because these are not your dainty French crepes that are not to brown when cooking. These are big, spotty Swedish pancakes. Only Grandma is Estonian. They're not pancakes- those are fluffy and you put maple syrup on them- so we just called them crepes. We would get home from the treat store with our candy that we were not to eat until after breakfast and sit down to stuff our faces with crepes.

In hindsight, I'm not sure why we had to wait to eat our candy. Now that I think about it, the crepes probably weren't much better on the healthy scale. We always ate them with strawberries and whipped cream or applesauce with cinnamon sugar. When I was a bit older I also started to eat them with lemon juice (from a bottle but now I'm a snob and use fresh) and sugar. The crunch of the sugar with the tartness of the lemon is my favourite. Jam is good too. Or you could eat them like Grandma- standing at the counter after everyone had finished eating, holding a crepe smeared with lingonberry jam in one hand and a cigarette in the other.

I wish I could say that this is Grandma's recipe, but she doesn't have a recipe. She's been making crepes so long that she just mixes stuff together, tastes the result, and tweaks it if needed. Perhaps one day I'll get there, but even recipes I know off by heart I still look up just to be sure. So I cobbled together a recipe from a bunch of different recipes for Swedish pancakes online. These are very close to Grandma's. If you're really good you can work two pans at once in order to crank them out faster like Grandma used to.

PS I wish I had taken made the crepe in the lead photo look nicer, like the one below. Or used a smaller plate at least. But I am digging the breakfast table setting so I went with that one. I guess I don't do my best food styling at 7:30 am. My apologies. 

One Year Ago: Mystery Box Dinner and The Reveal

Two Years Ago: Bulgar Salad + Three Corn Cornbread

Three Years Ago: n/a

GRANDMA'S CREPES

Serves 8 (2 crepes per person, although members of my family have been known to eat 5 in one sitting)

• 4 eggs
• 2 cups milk
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup butter, divided (to grease the pan)

Toppings:

• Applesauce and cinnamon
• Jam
• Berries- thawed from frozen are good, then you get some nice berry juice
• Lemon and sugar

Heat an 8 to 10 inch skillet over medium high heat. Whisk together milk and eggs in a large bowl. Add flour, sugar, salt and whisk until mostly smooth.

Once pan is heated add a small pat of butter and spread around the pan to coat. Add a soup ladle of batter while turning pan so that batter coats it evenly. You'll get a feel for how much batter to add for the next one on this first crepe- you don't want your crepe too thin or too thick. Even if they're not perfect, they'll be rolled up so don't sweat it. Flip once the crepe is golden on the bottom, about 45 seconds to a minute. Cook until browned on second side.

Transfer to a plate, stacking subsequent crepes on top. If crepes cool before eaten, warm one at a time (i.e. the one you're about to eat) in the microwave for 15 seconds. Spread desired filling all over the crepe or just down the middle- everyone has their preference- and roll up.

Superbowl Food

It's Superbowl Sunday. If I was a good blogger, I would have whipped up these recipes, photographed, and posted a week ago. But I just can't bring myself to make recipes in advance of the actual event. That would mean making all this food and then the three of having to eat it, only to make it all over again for the Big Day. Not happening.

And really, do you really need a special occasion to make Soft Pretzel Bites with Buffalo Cheese Sauce? That is a negative. Any random Sunday will do, thank you.

I have been trying to make great soft pretzels forever and the never turned out the way I wanted. I wish I had stolen the recipe from the movie theatre where I had my first job. I worked at Wetzel's Pretzels kiosk. We made the dough on premises (whereas at Pizza Hut the dough came in frozen) but it never occurred to me to make them at home. I've even looked for a copy-cat recipe online, but to no avail. What made these different is usually pretzels are boiled in a baking powder solution, but Wetzel's just baked them. I'd never tried the boiling method until today because it just sounded like too much work. But it was a success, and honestly not much more difficult that straight baking them. 

One tip though- don't boil the pretzel bites for more than 30 seconds. The first batch I made I boiled them too long, more like a minute and a half probably, and they are kinda ugly. Yummy, but ugly, as you can see below. The one on the right is the one that boiled too long, the one on the left was boiled for just 30 seconds.

You can thank Pinterest for the Cookie Brownies. I didn't even repin this, but they were stuck in my head. Brownie Cookies? Crookies? Brookies? Whatever you choose to call them, they are over the top and delicious. Definitely for sharing though. I wouldn't trust myself make these if I were home by myself one night. It's bad enough that whenever I make chocolate chip cookies I save a container of raw dough in the fridge for snaking on. Cookie dough dipped in brownie batter? Game over.

One Year Ago: Crunchy Sesame Cookies

Two Years Ago: Chocolate Beet Cupcakes

Three Years Ago: nada, Feb 2010 was a slow year at Four Seasons Kitchen

SOFT PRETZEL BITES WITH BUFFALO CHEESE SAUCE

• Ballpark Pretzel recipe from Chuck Hughes
• Buffalo Cheese Sauce recipe from Half Baked Harvest

Pretzel Bites:
Follow the recipe for Chuck's pretzels up to and including step 3. Rather than making large pretzels in step 4, rip a handful of dough and roll it out into a rope. Cut (a pizza roller works well) into 1/2-inch pieces and roll each into a ball. Continue with the rest of the recipe, however I omitted brushing the pretzel bites with egg wash.

When boiling the pretzel bites, work in small batches. I gather up and many as I can hold (gently!) in one hand and drop them quickly in one at a time, timing once the last one goes in.

Serve pretzels same day as they are made. If not serving immediately after baking, put them on a plate or in a container but don't cover or else they will get soft on the outside instead of staying crisp.

Cheese Sauce:
Make the buffalo cheese sauce following Half Baked Harvest's recipe. Keep warm in a small Crockpot if serving as a snack at a party. Or just eat it really fast, which shouldn't be too hard to do.

BROWNIE COOKIES

Method from Pin Cookie

You can use my favourite recipes that are linked below, or your go-to brownie and chocolate chip cookie recipes.

• Lentil Brownies
• Chocolate Chip Cookies

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Mix up a batch of cookie batter and brownie batter. Tyler helped me and made the brownie batter for me, but if you are making both yourself I would suggest making the brownie batter first as it doesn't contain any leavener.

Butter a muffin min, either a standard sized tin or a mini muffin tin (I prefer how the cookies made in the standard tin turned out). Drop a tablespoon of brownie batter in each muffin well and spread to cover the bottom. Take about a tablespoon of cookie dough and press it flat in your palm to about the size of the muffin tin and put that on top of the brownie batter. Bake 20 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean.

Chocolate Pudding

There's this funny story my aunt tells about when my cousin was little and had a just started school. My aunt was being all good-mom and making cookies to put in her lunch. But my cousin kept asking for cookies like the other kids. My aunt couldn't figure out what type of cookies the other kid's moms were making that were so good. Until one day at the grocery store my cousin pointed out the cookies she wanted. Chips Ahoy. Like the other kids. Annnnnd.... *face palm*

Kids don't get it. Homemade cookies are better. As is homemade pudding. Yes! You can make it! In under 10 minutes, no less. This is a dairy-free version as Tyler is still off dairy for another week. I actually think it is better with almond milk. Nuttier, if you will. However. If you needs you some puddin' right now and all you have is regular milk, have at 'er.

Note:  The photo has Skor bits sprinkled on top. Toasted almonds would have made more sense for a garnish. But I didn't have any. Go for the Skor bits if you don't need to eat dairy-free. They delightful. 

One Year Ago (I am really behind on this... bear with me here)

My Father's Daughter Book Recipes

Parker's Birthday Cake

Fried Udon Noodles

Thanksgiving + Post-Thanksgiving Review

Lentils with Chorizo, Brussels Sprouts, Balsamic

Apple Cheddar Soup

Two Years Ago:

 Broccoli Salad

Moroccan Chicken and Eggplant

Fresh Pea Pesto (Labour Pasta)
Squash, Roasted Garlic, Canellini Bean Spread
Oven Baked Breaded Shrimp
Kale Chips
Death Boats to Hades (Jalepeno Poppers)

CHOCOLATE PUDDING

Serves 4

Adapted from The Kitchn

If using sweetened almond milk (it will probably be called "Original"), half the sugar in the recipe. 

• 2 cups almond milk or cow's milk
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 3 tbsp cornstarch
• pinch salt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Heat milk in a saucepan over medium heat until steaming and bubbles form around the outside of the pot. Whisk together cocoa, sugar, cornstarch in a medium bowl.

Add 1 cup heated milk to the bowl with the dry ingredients and whisk until smooth. Pour back into pot with remaining milk and add vanilla. Cook until thickened, whisking constantly. This will only take a couple of minutes.

Pour pudding into the same bowl you were already using and cover with plastic wrap directly on the surface of the pudding to avoid pudding skin*. Refrigerate until cooled enough to eat, or a few hours until cold, depending on your preference and need for pudding gratification.

Wasn't there a Seinfeld episode where Kramer was going to sell pudding skin? Maybe I'm making this up. Either way... ew.

Cream Puff Baby Duckies

"Shampoo is better. I go on first and clean the hair,"
"Conditioner is better. I leave the hair silky and smooth,"
"Oh really fool?"
"Really,"
"Stop looking at me swan."

I cannot see a swan without quoting Billy Madison. Yeah, it's a problem.


(blog checking lines) Kat of the Bobwhites was our August 2012 hostess who inspired us to have fun in creating pate a choux shapes, filled with patisserie or Chantilly cream. We were encouraged to create swans or any shape we wanted and go crazy with filling flavors allowing our creativity to go wild!

Pate a Choux Swans. One of the Daring Bakers members says in the forum, "I was probably only 12 or 13 when I oogled a recipe of choux swans in a very 70's style cookbook. These gorgeous swans sat on a mirror and I always thought they were the height of elegance!" The height of elegance indeed. Somebody call the Beejees.

I was going to make swans, but I decided to make them for my brother and (almost) sister-in-law's baby shower, so I made little baby ducks. I think they kinda look like Peeps. Only better. Cause they are cream filled. Yum.

Nobody believes me, but I swear these are easy to make. Please try it. The piping takes a few practice ducks (I meant to take a photo of mine but I was trying to get them in the oven, get showered, and get the toddler dressed in under an hour). Even if they don't look perfect when baked just put little eyes and they'll be cute any way.

No eyes = boring blob

Eyes = cute baby duckie!

To pipe the little ducks, use a piping bag with a large round tip. Or use a Ziploc bag like I did- snip a little off the corner to fit the piping tip into. Use a freezer bag though- sandwich bags burst at the seams. I know from experience. Not pretty. Moving on.

Pipe a two inch oval, making one end a bit higher and pull up the piping bag at the end leaving a peak standing up. When the duckies bake the dough really pulls up and leaves you with a hollow middle to fill with delicious, delicious cream.

To fill the duckies put the cream in a piping bag or Ziploc (see above). Insert the tip into the bottom or side of the duck. Fill with cream, slowly pulling out the piping tip as you fill so that the duck doesn't explode. To make the eyes, dip the end of a toothpick in food colouring, then poke a little hole where you want the eye.

Get the recipe from Daring Bakers HERE

"Special" Brownies

Apologies for the photo. Brownies are hard to photograph.

What does it say about your family when you bring a pan of brownies to a BBQ and they ask if they are "special brownies"? It says that your family is awesome? That's what I thought.

The funny thing is, these are special brownies. Special in that there are lentils in them. And you wouldn't even know it. These are honestly the best brownies I've ever had. They are dense and supremely chocolaty, with a crunchy top layer. I made them twice in two days. Yep. Twice. In two days. Hey, I shared, ok?

I'm telling you, this is the perfect brownie. Who says you need a cup of butter to make a pan of brownies (and why are there so many question marks in this post)? You do, however, need two cups of sugar. Oh well. You win some, you lose some. Lentil brownies are a win in my book.

One Year Ago: nothing

Two Years Ago: Slow Cooker Brisket 

+ 

 Best Chocolate Chip Cookies 

+ 

Greek Shrimp and Tomatoes with Feta and Crostini

LENTIL BROWNIES

Adapted from Lentils.ca via Yummy Mummy Club

The original recipe says this makes 20+ servings. Elf servings, maybe. I'd say 10 servings. Tops.

1/2 cup butter, melted

1/2 cup lentil puree

3/4 cup cocoa

2 cups sugar

3/4 tsp salt

3 eggs

1 tsp vanila

1 cup flour

1 cup chocolate chips (optional, I didn't use any)

1 cup walnuts (also optional, didn't use these either myself)

Mix together butter, lentil purée, cocoa, sugar and salt. Add eggs, one at a time. Mix in vanilla, flour, chocolate chips, and walnuts, if using.

Bake in a greased 8 x 8 pan at 350° F (175° C) for 40 to 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.


*Lentil Purée: Place cooked lentils (drained and rinsed if using canned) into a food processor. For every 1 cup lentils, add ¼ cup water. Blend to make a smooth purée with a consistency like canned pumpkin. If needed, add additional water 1 tbsp at a time.

Vanilla Cupcakes with Chocolate Butterflies

Honestly, sometimes I don't know why I bother. Tonight I didn't have all the ingredients to make the pasta dish I wanted to try, and I had a bunch of odds and ends in the fridge that were soon destined for the garbage. So I threw them all together into a dish with some pasta. Tyler declared it one of my best pasta creations.

This is everything that went in: roasted vegetable sauce, crushed tomatoes, slow cooker tex-mex chicken, a half a grilled sausage, a handful of cheddar cheese, 2 spoonfuls cottage cheese, thawed frozen spinach, and a third of a brick of cream cheese. Oh, and a splash of milk. So random, but it was actually really good.

The rando-pasta is not the recipe I am sharing with you today (plus, that's pretty much it above). I am sharing the cupcakes I made for my manager's birthday, which are far more impressive. You gotta put in a little extra effort for your boss, right? I spotted a tutorial on how to make chocolate butterflies on a blog. Those would look really pretty on Martha Stewart's multi-coloured cupcakes. Yes, it was all coming together, I just had to find the right cupcake recipe.

Joy the Baker had posted a recipe for a dozen cupcakes- with frosting- made with just one stick of butter. I know, amazing right!?! Usually there is double that in just the batter alone. And of course, they taste great too. You wouldn't expect any less from me and Joy the Baker (my blog idol), right?

TWELVE FROSTED CUPCAKES WITH ONE STICK OF BUTTER 

from Joy the Baker 

Or 24 mini cupcakes; bake for 5-10 minutes less if making them mini like I did

CHOCOLATE BUTTERFLY CAKE DECORATIONS

from Everything Old

Her butterflies look way better than mine. Make sure to cut the TINIEST hole in the bag so you get more delicate butterflies. My butterflies obviously at too many cupcakes. Or bacon.

HOW TO MAKE MULTI-HUED ICING

• Divide your icing into two bowls. Starting with one bowl, add 4-5 drops of food colouring- I started with blue. Stir well with a rubber spatula. Frost some cupcakes. 
• Add a few drops of red food colouring to the blue icing, stirring well. Frost some more cupcakes.
• Add some more blue and some more red to make a really vibrant purple. Frost a few more cupcakes.
• Repeat process with 2nd bowl of icing. I used red and yellow for mine to make pink, peach, and orange.

Daring Bakers: Battenburg Cake

This is why I wanted to join the Daring Bakers baking challenges. I would have normally looked at this cake and passed it by, figuring it would be too complicated or time consuming to make. I mean, look at it. There's two colours all in one cake! And rolled icing! Yikes. But you know what, the recipe was actually pretty straight forward. And yummy.

Not everybody "gets it". I made two different versions of this cake for family dinners- one on my side and one on Tyler's side. I was explaining the Daring Bakers challenges, and my dad said, "Wait, so why did you make this?". My brother asked what the prize is for winning the challenge. All were perplexed when I said it was just for fun.

For June's challenge, Mandy of What The Fruitcake?! came to our rescue last minute to present us with the Battenberg Cake challenge! She highlighted Mary Berry’s techniques and recipes to allow us to create this unique little cake with ease. With this challenge, not only did I try a new recipe (for a cake I'd never even heard of), but I got a history lesson in the process too. And now so will you. Battenburg cake is a traditional English cake that was first made to celebrate the marriage of Queen Victoria's granddaughter to Prince Lois of Battenburg. Read more on Wikipedia if you are so inclined. The traditional markings and colours of the cake are significant too. 

So, as I mentioned, I made two versions of this cake. The first was coconut-lime, which I made up following the basic recipe provided from the challenge, and the second coffee-walnut. They were both good, but the coffee-walnut looked nicer. I think I used too much food colouring in the lime curd for the first cake and it ended up looking Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle ooze. Also, traditionally Battenburg is covered with marzipan but I went to two stores and neither had marzipan so I had to go with fondant which I don't love. All in all, this was a fun challenge and I can't wait for the next one!

COCONUT AND LIME BATTENBURG CAKE

Adapted from The Daring Kitchen

Serves 8

• 3/4 cup butter, softened and cut into cubes
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 1/4 cups flour
• 3 large eggs, room temperature
• 1/2 cup ground almonds
• 1 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• green food colouring
• zest of 1 lime
• 1/4 cup shredded, unsweetened coconut 

To Finish:

• cooled lime curd (recipe below)
• 1 cup marzipan or fondant
• icing sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 loaf pans with parchment paper. Whisk together dry ingredients then add butter, eggs, and vanilla. Mix with electric beaters or stand mixer on medium-low.

Spoon half of batter into a seperate bowl. Add a few drops of food colouring and lime zest to one bowl and fold in to combine. To other bowl add coconut and fold to combine. Spread batter evenly in each pan. Bake 25-30 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool in pan a few minutes then turn out and cool completely on rack.

Once cooled, cut cakes in half and trim edges of cakes with bread knife so that you have 4 rectangles of cake the same size. Spread a thin line of lime curd on the side of one of the pieces of green cake. Stick a piece of coconut cake to it, aligning them side by side. Repeat with other two pieces, but reversing the order so that when they are stacked they make a checkered pattern. Thinly spread the tops of the cakes that are going to be on the bottom with lime curd. Top with top pieces. Set aside.

Sprinkle work surface with icing sugar. Roll out marzipan or fondant to 1/4 inch thickness, ensuring it will cover all sides of the cake. Spread top of cake with curd and place in middle of marzipan. Spread curd on remaining three sides and carefully roll cake to over all sides with marzipan. Trim marzipan, and cut a thin slice from each end to neaten.

LIME CURD

Adapted from Martha Stewart

 Makes 1 1/2 cups

Any citrus juice can be substituted to make this curd.

• 3 large egg yolks
• zest of 2 limes
• 1/4 cup lime juice
• 6 tbsp sugar
• 4 tbsp cold cutter, cut into pieces

Combine yolks, zest, lime juice, sugar in a small sauce pan. Set over medium heat and stir constantly with a wooden spoon, making sure to get the sides and bottom corners of the pan. Cook until mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, 7-10 minutes.

Remove pan from heat. Strain through a fine sieve into a bowl. Add butter, one piece at a time, stirring with the wooden spoon until smooth. Lay a sheet of plastic wrap directly on the surface of the curd to avoid a skin forming. Refrigerate until cold.

COFFEE AND WALNUT BATTENBURG CAKE

From The Daring Kitchen

Serves 8

• 3/4 cup butter, softened and cut into cubes
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 1/4 cups flour
• 3 large eggs, room temperature
• 1/2 cup ground almonds
• 1 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 tbsp milk
• 1 1/2 tsp instant coffee
• 1/4 cup chopped walnuts

Coffee Buttercream To Finish:

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 2 cups icing sugar
• 1/2 tsp instant coffee
• 1 1/2 tsp milk
• 1 cup marzipan or fondant

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 loaf pans with parchment paper. Whisk together dry ingredients then add butter, eggs, and vanilla. Mix with electric beaters or stand mixer on medium-low.


Spoon half of batter into a seperate bowl. Mix milk and instant coffee in a small bowl and add to one of the bowls of batter, folding to combine. To other bowl add walnuts and fold to combine. Spread batter evenly in each pan. Bake 25-30 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool in pan a few minutes then turn out and cool completely on rack.

With a stand mixer or electric beaters on high, mix together ingredients for buttercream. Refridgerate until ready to use.


Once cooled, cut cakes in half and trim edges of cakes with bread knife so that you have 4 rectangles of cake the same size. Spread a thin line of buttercream on the side of one of the pieces of walnut cake. Stick a piece of coffee cake to it, aligning them side by side. Repeat with other two pieces, but reversing the order so that when they are stacked they make a checkered pattern. Thinly spread the tops of the cakes that are going to be on the bottom with buttercream. Top with top pieces. Set aside.



Sprinkle work surface with icing sugar. Roll out marzipan or fondant to 1/4 inch thickness, ensuring it will cover all sides of the cake. Spread top of cake with buttercream and place in middle of marzipan. Spread buttercream on remaining three sides and carefully roll cake to over all sides with marzipan. Trim marzipan, and cut a thin slice from each end to neaten.

Easter Cupcakes or Google Saved My Buttercream

This was starting to feel like a diet blog. Ugh. Yes, I am still on cleanse train. I made these cupcakes last week, or what I now refer to as "the good old days". These might be the perfect cupcakes for spring. The cake has fresh strawberries, and the buttercream icing, is well, buttercream icing. Leftovers were almost the undoing of the cleanse. If you have never made buttercream icing before, brace yourself. The first word is "butter" for a reason.

This was the first time I made buttercream. Because you are making an emulsion of butter (like whipping cream or making mayo), it can be finnicky. As I found out the hard way. Everything was going smoothly; the sugar dissolved, the egg whites whipped up nicely, and then I started adding the butter. It is very important that your butter is room temperature. I always forget to take my butter out of the fridge when I'm baking, so I softened it in the microwave. I guess it was still too cold, cause my buttercream looked like cottage cheese. Martha Stewart said this would happen partway through, but no amount of mixing on high speed would make my buttercream smooth. Thank God for Google. And one of my favorite blogs The Kitchn. I soaked a tea towel in hot water, wrapped it around the bowl, and whipped at high speed. A buttercream Easter miracle!

Funnily enough, the blog, Wee Eats, that I am linking to for the cupcake recipe, tells the same tale of breaking and then fixing the frosting for the exact same cupcakes. The recipe is from Martha Stewart Cupcakes and rather than writing it out for you here somebody else has already done that for me. Excellent.

Strawberry Cupcake Recipe from Martha Stewart Cupcakes via Wee Eats  

The strawberry buttercream recipe there is what I wanted to top my cupcakes with but I underestimated the amount of strawberries I would need so I ended up making a plain buttercream.

To decorate the cupcakes with the nest, sprinkle chocolate shavings, or chocolate sprinkles, on top of the icing and press in three Cadbury Mini Eggs each. If not serving right away, refrigerate until 30 minutes before serving.

Chocolate Lollipops

A few days before Christmas I was watching Ina Garten- the Barefoot Contessa- and she made chocolate lollipops with white chocolate, nuts, and dried fruit. As if I didn't have enough to do, I decided to make some for stocking stuffers. They are really easy, and people are impressed. I'd almost rather not share how to make them and continue to bask in the glory of oohs and aahs, but I suppose that wouldn't be fair.

You can make these any flavour you like. If you are giving them as gifts, think of what the person likes; my stepmom loves Asian food, so I did ones with Asian flavours for her. My brother and his girlfriend love bacon (hello, who doesn't) and bacon + chocolate being so trendy, I thought I'd try that out. I went a little crazy with the flavor combinations, but I figured I might as well make something that you can't get at the store. The method is below and then a couple of photos pointing out the flavor combinations. 

One Year Ago: A Tale of Two Banana Bread

Two Years Ago: Tex-Mex Lasagna, Egg Nog Panna Cotta, Homemade Gifts, The Big Salad    

CHOCOLATE LOLLIPOPS

Makes 10-12 lollipops

A serrated bread knife makes quick work of chopping chocolate

• 1 500 g bar dark chocolate, chopped
• lollipop sticks (you can get these at Bulk Barn or another cooking supply store)
• toppings

Arrange toppings at your work station in little bowls so that they are ready to use. Melt 3/4 of the chocolate chocolate in a microwave safe bowl, heating for 30 seconds at at time on high and stirring each time- heat until just melted. Stir in remaining chocolate until completely smooth (heat for another 10 seconds if needed).

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Working one lollipop at a time, drop chocolate from a soup spoon onto parchment paper- it should naturally form a circle and even out on top. Place a lollipop stick at the bottom of the circle and turn it to coat in chocolate so that it stays when the chocolate hardens. Sprinkle on toppings. Continue until all chocolate is used up. Place tray in fridge (or in my case, the garage- winter in Canada is good for something I guess) until chocolate is hardened.

 

Thanksgiving

Image Bon Appetit

We are hosting Thanksgiving at our house this year for my family on Saturday. This should be interesting, considering Parker doesn't like anybody but Mommy or Daddy to hold him. Despite inquiries from everybody as to whether they can bring anything, I am doing it all myself. Otherwise I'd be sending out an email such as this - The Thanksgiving Letter. Type A personality over here much?

Usually I end up writing a post after the holidays, but then nobody can use the recipes until next year (who's going to make another turkey between Thanksgiving and Christmas? Not I). And the reason I write this blog is to share recipes and ideas that people can use. So, here is what I will be cooking this weekend, along with a secret dish as long as I can find the ingredients for it. More on that later if it comes to fruition.

Anybody else hosting Thanksgiving? What are you cooking?

Images: Foodland Ontario, Bon Appetit, Cityline, Martha Stewart

Pre-Dinner Nibbles:
Cheese, Chorizo, Crostini, White Bean Hummus, Rosemary Fried Almonds

Soup:
Parsnip, Apple and Brie Soup - I tested this recipe last week and it is delicious.



Dinner:
Sage Butter-Roasted Turkey with Cider Gravy - I made this for Christmas a few years ago and it was amazing!
Whole Wheat Stuffing with Bacon, Chestnuts and Parmesan
Italian Roasted Vegetables
Polenta in place of mashed potatoes cause I love it

Dessert:
Chocolate Pumpkin Tart - Tyler wants straight pumpkin pie, but being me I have to jazz it up of course
Lemon Tart

The Plan:
Thursday: Defrost turkey (I bought turkey parts rather than a whole turkey so that I can cook the white and dark meat seperately to ensure it's all cooked perfectly)



Friday: Dry brine turkey, start stuffing, make desserts, cut up vegetables, make secret dish, make soup (all this after grocery shopping and while Tyler is golfing, go figure)

Saturday morning: Cook vegetables, clean house, make almonds and hummus, assemble app platter

Saturday afternoon: Everyone arrives 3-4 pm, put in dark meat at 4:00, white meat at 5:00, 5:30 put in stuffing and secret dish, 6:00 take out turkey and rest, make gravy, polenta, put in vegetables to warm, warm up soup and eat soup

So we'll see how this all goes down, but I feel better having a plan. Wish me luck!

Summer Party

Tyler and I had our dads over for a barbeque on Father's Day and this is what we made. Everything turned out great! This is such an easy menu for a summer BBQ. Everything can be done before hand so the only thing to do is throw the meat on the grill. And get your drink on.

SALAD ON A STICK

Any kind of salad would work here. Just cut everything into bite sized pieces and stack on a toothpick. I got the tray and appetizer spoons for Christmas and I love them, but shot glasses would work just as well. Also feel free to come up with a more elegant name for this recipe.

Greek Salad on a Stick: cucumber, red onion, olive, feta. Dressing = olive oil, lemon zest, lemon juice, dried oregano, garlic, salt, pepper

Caprese Salad on a Stick:  halved cherry tomatoes, bocconcini cheese, fresh basil. Dressing = olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper

FLANK STEAK TACOS

• 1/4 to 1/2 lb flank steak per person
• small tortillas

Marinade:

• juice and zest 2 limes
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tsp chili powder
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• 4 tbsp oil
• 3 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro

 Toppings:

• hot sauce
• sour cream
• pickled hot pepper rings
• salsa

Mix marinade in a large Ziploc bag. Marinade steak 3 hours, turning and massaging meat a few times during this time.

Grill over high direct heat 4 minutes per side for medium rare. Remove onto a platter, cover with foil, and let meat rest for at least 10 minutes. While meat is resting, wrap tortillas in foil, about 10 per package to ensure they will all get heated through. Place on grill on indirect heat until ready to serve.

GRILLED CORN SALSA

• 3 ears corn
• cherry tomatoes, quartered
• juice and zest of 2 limes
• 1/2 can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 3 tbsp chopped cilantro or Italian parsley
• salt and pepper to season

Grill corn over direct heat until softened and charred in spots, about 15 minutes. Remove from grill and set aside to cool a bit. Cut corn off cobs, mix with remaining ingredients. Refrigerate until serving.

LEMON STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKES

• pound cake, store bought or I use this recipe from Serious Eats
• lemon curd, I used this recipe
• strawberries, halved or quartered and tossed with a little sugar
• whipped cream

For each serving, cut a slice of cake in half. Place one half on a plate, spread with some lemon curd, top with strawberries, other half of cake, and whipped cream.

Heavenly Cheesecake

I am pretty impressed with myself. I mean, check out how gorgeous this cake turned out. Usually I make things that taste good, but look decidedly homemade. I think this cake almost looks like something you'd pay money for! It tastes as good as it looks too. The recipe is from a woman at work, Masuma, who is a fantastic baker. I hadn't tried her cheesecake, but everybody said it was the best they've ever had, so I got the recipe to make for our friend Jack's birthday this weekend.

The chocolate topping was part of original recipe, which gave me the idea for the chocolate dipped strawberries on top. Next time I make this I think I'll double the cheesecake filling to make for more cheese-cakey goodness, but use a chocolate ganache rather than just melted chocolate on top as the chocolate gets hard and makes the filling squish out when you cut it. I have included these changes in the recipe below. Other variations would be to use pie filling on top (apparently sour cherry is out of this world), or just some fresh fruit.

CHEESECAKE WITH CHOCOLATE DIPPED STRAWBERRIES

Serves about 8

I haven't actually tried the ganache topping, but I feel like I have enough baking experience at this point to know that it should work out well. I'll post an update when I make this again and let you know how it turns out. The recipe looks like it has a lot of components, but each is really easy and quick.

Crust

• 1 cup chocolate cookie or graham cracker crumbs
• 3 tbsp butter, melted

Filling

• 2 bricks cream cheese, room temperature
• 2 cans condensed milk (Masuma says PC brand works best- I trust her)
• 1/2 tub Cool Whip, thawed
• 1/2 cup lemon juice

Chocolate Ganache Topping

• 5 oz dark chocolate, finely chopped (or use chocolate chips)
• 1 1/4 cups whipping cream

Chocolate Dipped Strawberries

• 1 pint strawberries
• 1/2 cup dark chocolate, chopped and melted (I haven't listed this as a weight measurement as it normally would be because the amount really doesn't matter- you just need enough to coat the strawberries)

Crust:  Prepare a round springform pan by lining sides with foil before putting in bottom of pan (this will make it easier to remove the cake later). Mix crumbs and butter, press into the bottom of pan.

Filling: Beat cream cheese with a stand mixer or electric hand mixer on medium speed until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Do not over beat. With mixer on medium, add condensed milk a little at a time- if you add too much at once the mixture will get runny. Mix in Cool Whip at medium speed. Add 1/4 cup of lemon juice, mix well. Add remaining 1/4 cup lemon juice, mix well. Pour onto crust and refrigerate at least 4-5 hours.

Chocolate Ganache Topping: Once cake has had it's time in the fridge, bring cream just to a boil in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. Immediately pour over chopped chocolate. Stir until chocolate is melted. Allow to cool to room temperature. Remove cake from pan, peel off foil, and spread ganache over top- it will spill over the sides and look pretty. Refrigerate cake for another hour to set the ganache.

Chocolate-Dipped Strawberries: Wash strawberries and dry them really well- I spread them on some paper towels after washing and then dry them again with another paper towel just before dipping in chocolate. Holding strawberries by green hats, dip strawberries in melted chocolate halfway up the strawberry. Immediately place on cake. Keep cake refrigerated until serving.

Easy Entertaining

We had people over for dinner every night this weekend- Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Thinking about what to make when we are having guests stresses me out a bit. I bookmark lots of recipes in magazines, etc that I think would be a good meal to make when we have people over, but when it comes down to it I worry that they may not like an ingredient or that it won't turn out right (following the old principle of never make a recipe for the first time for guests). I think I hit the jackpot with this menu though- nothing difficult, not fancy but not boring, things that everybody likes with a bit of a twist. Trust me on these recipes- even if you have company coming and don't have time to test the dishes before hand!

Gougeres with drinks*

Tomato, Fresh Mozzarella, and Basil Pizza

Buffalo Chicken and Blue Cheese Pizza

Best -Ever Chocolate Cake with Berry Coulis

GOUGERES

Makes about 24, depending how big you make them

Instructions below use an electric hand mixer. If you don't have one, beat with a wooden spoon instead but your arm will get tired. I didn't take a photo of these, but there's a good photo here

• 6 tablespoons butter
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp white pepper
• 1 cup flour
• 3 large eggs
• 2 cups finely grated cheese - Gruyere is traditional, I used a mixture of Parmesan and sharp white cheddar

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Put the butter and water in a saucepan with salt and pepper, bring to a boil. Remove from heat, dump in flour all at once and beat with an electric mixer on low until mixture is smooth and forms a ball. If dough is a bit wet, put the pan back over low heat and beat for a minute until mixture dries out a bit. Remove from heat and cool for 5 minutes.

Add the eggs one at a time, beating with mixer on low until combined between each addition. Stir in the cheese. Fill a small glass with warm water. Using a soup spoon (I think those are what the big ones are called that come with your cutlery set), scoop a heaping spoonful of dough. Dip another spoon in the warm water, then use this spoon to drop the dough onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Repeat, dipping spoon in water each time. Alternatively, dough can be piped onto baking sheet. Dough doesn't have to be spaced too far apart- gougeres will puff up, not so much out.

Bake 25-30 minutes- until puffed up and golden brown. Pierce the side of each puff with a paring knife after removing pan from oven- this will let the steam out so that they don't get soggy and/or deflate.

*the French drink these with champagne, but apparently they are also great with beer (I don't even drink beer when I'm not pregnant, so I wouldn't know)

TOMATO, FRESH MOZZARELLA, AND BASIL PIZZA

• 1 pizza dough
• 1/4 cup tomato sauce
• 1/2 cup diced tomatoes- either fresh or from a can (I use PC Blue Menu Diced Tomatoes for everything)
• 1 ball fresh mozzarella, sliced
• 1 large clove garlic, finely minced or pressed through a garlic press
• 6 or so large leaves basil, thinly sliced (julienned, if you will)

Heat oven to 425 degrees F with an oven rack on the bottom setting. Roll pizza dough really thin. Transfer to pizza pan or baking sheet. Spread with tomato sauce. Scatter tomatoes over dough and top with slices of mozzarella. Scatter garlic all over top of pizza, making sure there are no big clumps of garlic (the garlic kind of roasts in the oven and gets delicious). Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until edges are browned and crisp, and cheese is melted melted and dry (I don't know how else to describe that- if the cheese isn't cooked enough there will be little puddles of water on top of the pizza). Top with basil after removing from oven. Cool 5 minutes before slicing.

BUFFALO CHICKEN AND BLUE CHEESE PIZZA

• 1 pizza dough (I used a whole wheat dough- the ingredients will stand up to this more full flavored dough)
• 2 small or 1 large boneless, skinless chicken breast
• salt and pepper, to season chicken
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 3-4 tbsp Franks Red Hot Sauce
• 1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese 
• 2 green onions, sliced
• 1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella (not fresh mozzarella)

Heat oven to 425 degrees F with rack on bottom setting. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Cook in frying pan with oil over med-high heat until golden brown on both sides and cooked through. Remove chicken to a cutting board and cool slightly. Roll dough as thin as you can and transfer to a pizza pan or baking sheet. Spread with hot sauce. Slice chicken thinly across the grain, spread evenly on pizza. Scatter blue cheese and green onions. Top with mozzarella cheese. Bake 15-20 minutes or until edges are browned and crisp. Cool 5 minutes before slicing.

BEST-EVER CHOCOLATE CAKE

Go to Molly Wizenburg's blog Orangette for the recipe. I originally found the recipe in her book A Homemade Life. It was her wedding cake. Yum.

 For the chocolate component, I use 2 oz unsweetened chocolate + 5 oz Hershey's dark chocolate chips

This cake will keep 3 days at room temperature, or up to 5 days in the fridge. It won't last that long though. I suggest making this when you have people coming over that can help you eat it so that you and your husband don't polish it off yourselves within 3 days (not like that happened the first time I made this or anything)

BERRY COULIS

• 1/2 cup frozen mixed berries (fresh works too- I just always have frozen berries on hand)
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 1 tbsp sugar

Blend all ingredients until smooth. Strain through fine-meshed sieve.

This last bite of cake did not go to waste. Trust me.

Egg Nog Panna Cotta

Here's another recipe for y'all, since I haven't shared many recipes lately. Two posts in one day! Can't say I don't love you.

This is another recipe I made up, and it turned out great on the first try. I usually follow a recipe for almost everything I make, but I came up with this idea for Egg Nog panna cotta for dessert at Christmas while watching Chef at Home. Michael Smith made a Pina Colada panna cotta, so I figured if he can make panna cotta with coconut milk, why not with egg nog? The only thing is, I couldn't think of what to serve this with- the only fruit I could come up with was banana, and even that doesn't seem right.

Although this dessert hasn't made the cut for Christmas dinner (the judges are very strict, and I think the Russian judge was paid off), I will keep this method in mind for other panna cotta flavors. Candied Bacon panna cotta anyone?

EGG NOG PANNA COTTA
Makes 4-6 servings, depending on the size of ramekins

• 2 cups egg nog
• pinch of salt
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tbsp white sugar
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 envelope gelatin powder
• maple syrup, to serve
  

Heat egg nog, salt, sugars, spices, and vanilla in a saucepan over medium heat until mixture simmers. Meanwhile, dissolve gelatin in water. Once egg nog mixture simmers, remove from heat and whisk in gelatin. Pour into ramekins and refrigerate until set- about 4 hours. To serve, run a knife around the edge of the panna cotta and turn out onto the center of a plate and drizzle with maple syrup.