Butter Tarts

Gooey and delightful, butter tarts are a staple treat at any Canadian holiday—usually Christmas, but I’ve seen them at Thanksgiving and Easter as well. I actually had no idea that they were a Canadian specialty until I move to Australia and my tart-loving family-to-be (hehe, I had to!) had no idea what they were. Check out these other Canadian recipes too: Nanaimo bars, pumpkin pie, tourtière, and maple syrup pie!

There are two main varieties of butter tarts—those with “impurities” such as raisins or pecans, and those without. I guess I’m a purist because I prefer them without the added bits, but I’ll let you decide for yourself! I did cheat a bit for these ones and used pre-made pastry, which made making these an absolute cinch. But man pre-made pastries come with a lot of packaging. Blech—you sure pay for that convenience.

And I’m so sorry for not posting recently! There are happy reasons for this. One, I just started a new job doing online marketing for Good Return, a non-profit that does microfinance in the Asia Pacific. The transition from working at home to being in an office full time has made me a bit shy of time to do my normal photos & recipes… but never fear, a new balance will soon be reached! I was also back in Canada for three weeks visiting with friends and family, and doing lots and lots of wedding planning. (I’m sure you’ll hear plenty about that as time wears on!) Anyway, without further ado, let’s get this show back on the road!

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Edited: September 23rd, 2011

Devilishly Good Cinnamon Buns

I was a pretty lucky kid. My mom loves cooking and was always in the kitchen making lots of goodies—truffles, pies, fresh bread, jam, and oodles of oatmeal coconut cookies. Now that mum is on the other side of the planet though (the Canada – Australia issue), I have to recreate these homey feelings all by myself… and while it’s not quite the same, it is ever so satisfying to recreate a beloved childhood recipe and have it taste exactly the way you remember.

There are a few very specific recipes that remind me of my mother’s kitchen: blueberry pie, almond bread, granola, and these cinnamon buns. While definitely a treat, I remember quite a few pack lunches at school containing one of these cinnamon buns… and nothing quite satisfies like a fresh cinnamon bun, does it? As I said, I was a lucky kid to get treats like these so often!

These cinnamon buns do take a few steps to get them just right, but pulling apart a fresh batch will be so worth it, trust me. Enjoy!

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Edited: August 3rd, 2011

Traditional Tourtière & All Butter Pastry

Ahh, this thing was a masterpiece! I was inspired to make tourtière (pronounced tort-ee-AIR) for the first time this year in honour of Canada Day. My family on my paternal grandmother’s side is French Canadian, having arrived in Quebec in the 1690s. French Canadian cooking is the ultimate comfort food, I think—Quebec winters are bloody cold and it seems that even summer doesn’t last very long. Traditional dishes like split pea soup, maple syrup pie, tourtière, sugar pie, butter tarts, and all manner of other pastries and stick-to-your-bones baked goods and meats are actually pretty easy to cook, and I have plans on attempting a few other newer French Canadian treats too—croissants and bagels. Mm.

At its heart though, tourtière is a simple mince meat (usually pork) pie with some unique spicing; cinnamon and cloves. I grew up thinking this combination was absolutely normal, since that’s how dad always made hamburgers—turns out it’s a throwback to his Montreal upbringing.

The Australians to whom I served this thought it was fantastic, so I guess it goes to show that a delicious meat pie is going to be appreciated in any culture.

Also take note that I’ve used a new recipe for pastry—an all-butter one from Smitten Kitchen. I do quite love my basic pastry recipe, but it requires a few more ingredients and requires a careful hand. This all-butter pastry is very quick, ever-so-flaky, and hard to screw up! (And got compliments from boys who could care less about these things. Just sayin’.)

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Edited: July 10th, 2011

100th Recipe: Chocolate Stout Cake

Isn’t it funny how things happen sometimes? A couple of weeks ago I simultaneously noticed that I was approaching my 100th recipe on the blog and that I was preparing to yet again make this cake for my roommate’s birthday. This is my go-to chocolate cake recipe, and once you have it in your repertoire, you will never need another chocolate cake recipe ever again. I promise. Anyway, I was flipping through my cookbook and came across the “real” recipe that I had originally torn out of an Elle Canada magazine, and it was like a classic glass-shattering moment in How I Met Your Mother: something clicked. The credit for the recipe was from Smitten Kitchen, one of my all-time favourite food blogs, and certainly one of the most well-known ones, too. But previous to Smitten Kitchen, I don’t think I knew of or cared about any food blogs, and definitely hadn’t ever thought of writing for my own! So somehow, this little recipe and my curiosity as to who could create such a masterpiece of a cake were the beginning of and the inspiration for all of the food blogging I’ve done to date. Um, and yeah, that’s just how freaking good this cake is.

It’s so good that, if you are a devout Three Cheeses reader, you may already be aware of the fact that I’ve blogged about this cake here. I’ve been meaning to make this cake and take “proper” photos of it to give it the justice it deserves. So, thanks to my roommate’s patience for allowing me to spend an extra half hour fussing over photos and lighting and details before letting him dig into his own birthday cake (welcome to the food blogger’s curse), I give you: chocolate stout cake, recipe 100!

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Edited: May 12th, 2011