Recently Nate had a birthday, so naturally, I made a birthday cake. Last year I made him a lemon-tastic cake which didn’t quite turn out the way I wanted, so I gave it another go this year. I came across two amazing-sounding lemon cakes: one with black tea-flavoured Italian meringue frosting by Honey and Jam, and the Tartine lemon meringue cake (lemon butter, caramel, chiffon cake, and torched meringue) at The Way the Cookie Crumbles. I decided to use the cake and frosting recipe from the first, and the lemon cream and caramel fillings from the second. I also intended to torch the black tea meringue frosting, but I’ll get to that in a minute……
Daring Bakers: Armenian Treats
The Daring Bakers’ April 2012 challenge, hosted by Jason at Daily Candor, were two Armenian standards: nazook and nutmeg cake. Nazook is a layered yeasted dough pastry with a sweet filling, and nutmeg cake is a fragrant, nutty coffee-style cake.
Armenian baking is not something I had ever contemplated before this challenge, which may ring true to many (have you ever contemplated Armenian baking?). However, Nate’s paternal forebears came from Armenia several generations ago, and he has a very Armenian last name, so it does surprise me just a little bit that, me being me, I never looked into it. That’s totally something I would do….
Strawberry Shortcake Torte
Today is my last day of work before an (unfortunately unpaid) four month summer vacation; an occasion which, I think, merits a cake. This strawberry shortcake torte actually made its appearance as dessert after Easter dinner, and it disappeared pretty darn quickly. Really though, what’s not to like? Lemon-scented sponge cake topped with marshmallowy meringue, layered with whipped cream and fresh strawberries….
Rebar Chocolate Cake
I’ve been looking for an excuse to make the Rebar chocolate cake ever since Kate at Venison for Dinner posted about it a week or so ago. Valentine’s Day seems like a pretty dang good excuse, no?
Rebar is a local restaurant that specializes in highly delicious, mostly vegetarian cuisine, and in addition to food like this amazingly decadent chocolate layer cake, they are also known for their wheatgrass shots and other crunchy-granola-hippie specialties. Several years ago they came out with a cookbook and it is a favorite of mine. I’ve had this recipe bookmarked for a while and have heard rave reviews from anyone who’s made it, but I never got around to it – until now. And I am kicking myself for not having made it sooner, because I have three words for you: BEST. CAKE. EVER.
Like all of the good chocolate cake recipes I’ve ever made, this one contains cocoa powder, buttermilk, and coffee (which doesn’t flavour the cake, but instead makes it more chocolately). The only change I made to the recipe was to add some actual chocolate to the batter, because in my opinion, you should always add more chocolate. The chocolate cream cheese filling contains both dark and milk chocolate (I used the last of a giant milk chocolate Toblerone from Christmas so it has tiny bits of nougat and almond in it), and the whole thing is topped off with a dark chocolate ganache. 
Given all the chocolate, butter, and cream cheese, this is not an inexpensive dessert, but it’s so worth it, and it was actually quite easy to make. Next time I might jazz it up with some raspberry purée or something added between the layers, but it is pretty perfect as is.
Happy Valentine’s Day! Make this cake for someone you love – I guarantee they will love you back!
Rebar Chocolate Cake
This recipe is supposed to make one 3-layer, 8-inch cake, but because only Nate and I are around to eat it, I baked half the batter into two 6-inch layers (which still ended up making a cake that could easily feed 8 people!) and the rest into tiny cupcakes to take to work (I ended up with 20). I baked it at a lower temperature (325˚F instead of 350˚F) and wrapped the pans in wet strips of towel to get perfectly baked, even layers. From Rebar Modern Food Cookbook.
The Cake
Preheat the oven to 325˚F. Prepare three 8-inch round cake pans by lining the bottoms with parchment paper, greasing them, and dusting them with cocoa powder. Set aside.
In a small bowl or measuring cup, combine:
2 oz dark chocolate, chopped
3/4 cup hot, strong coffee
Stir to melt the chocolate and set aside to cool.
In a mixer bowl, combine:
1 1/2 cups light brown sugar (or 1 cup dark brown sugar + 1/2 cup white sugar)
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup Dutch process cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
With the whisk attachment, mix the dry ingredients on low speed to combine so there are no lumps. 
Add:
2 eggs
3/4 cup buttermilk (or 3/4 tbsp white vinegar + enough milk to make 3/4 cup)
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla
the cooled coffee/chocolate mixture
Mix on medium low for a few minutes, scraping down the sides as necessary. The batter should be thick but pourable. 
Divide the batter between the prepared pans and wrap the outside of each pan with a strip of wet towel. 
Bake at 325˚F for 35-45 minutes (this was the time range for a 6-inch cake, but should be similar for an 8-inch cake), until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. 
Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then run a knife around the edge and invert onto a cooling rack. Peel off the parchment paper and let the cake layers cool completely. Chill them in the fridge to make them easier to handle when assembling the cake.
The Filling
Over a double boiler, melt:
5 oz dark chocolate, chopped
5 oz milk chocolate, chopped
Set aside to cool for about 10 minutes.
In a mixer bowl with the whisk attachment, cream together:
1/2 lb unsalted butter, softened
1/4 lb cream cheese, softened
Add the cooled chocolate and 1 tsp vanilla. 
Beat until fluffy, scraping the bowl as necessary.
To assemble, place one layer of the cake on a cooling rack, which will help keep things neat when you pour the ganache over top. Fill the cake layers with 2/3 of the chocolate cream cheese filling, and spread the remaining 1/3 over the top and sides of the cake (it doesn’t have to be perfect as it will be covered in chocolate ganache!). Chill the cake in the fridge while you make the ganache.
The Ganache
In a saucepan, heat until just below scalding:
1/2 cup whipping cream
1 tbsp unsalted butter
When it is hot, pour it over:
5 oz dark chocolate, chopped
Let it sit for a few minutes, then stir until smooth. 
Let it cool slightly, then pour it over the chilled, frosted cake. 
With a long spatula, spread it smoothly over the top and sides. 
Chill again until the ganache is firm, then carefully lift the cake off the cooling rack onto a serving platter. For decoration, I piped hearts out of melted chocolate onto waxed paper, chilled them until they set, then transferred them to the cake using a thin spatula so my fingers didn’t melt them. 
Chill the cake again before serving.
Comfort in Pastry Form
After almost two weeks of time off over the holidays, it was really hard to contemplate going back to work, so on my last day off, to make myself feel better about it, I made the most comforting thing I could think of: apple pie. My mum had given me a bag of apples from her friend’s tree when I visited my parents over Christmas, and while some of them were past their prime and some of them were slightly splotchy, the majority of them were just right for a pie.
This recipe is the one that introduced me to my no-fail, super-easy pie crust, so it has a special place in my heart. It’s from Canadian Living, and I always feel “extra Canadian” when I use one of their recipes – I know, weird, but it’s a good feeling and that’s what I was going for. While there is really nothing exciting or different about apple pie in general nor this one in particular, this iteration happens to be my favorite. In fact, it might be my favorite because it’s not exciting or different – it’s familiar and homey, which is why I wanted to share it. I like the methodical nature of making this pie: stirring together the pie crust, peeling the apples, fluting the edge, and knowing exactly what comes next. There is comfort in that routine. And using apples grown by a friend of my mother rather than anonymous grocery store fruit made me feel even better. 
This was a feel good pie, and I hope makes you feel good, too. Now before I get any sappier, here’s how you make it!
My Favorite Apple Pie
Adapted from Canadian Living
Flaky Pastry
In a large bowl, cream together:
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup less 1 tbsp shortening
(or any combination of the above (or all butter), totaling 1 cup less 1 tbsp)
Add:
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
3/4 tsp salt
Stir into the butter mixture until ragged. The idea is to smear the flour into the butter – this will help make it flaky – but don’t over-mix.
Pour in:
1/2 cup ice cold water
Stir until a loose dough forms. Turn the dough into a floured surface, divide in half, and form each half into a flat circle. Wrap in plastic and chill for at least 1 hour or until firm.
Preheat the oven to 425˚F. On a floured surface, roll out one of the chilled pastry discs to fit a 9″ pie plate. Press the pastry into the pie plate.
Filling
Peel and slice enough apples to make 8 cups (I used about 17 smallish apples). 
In a bowl, combine the apples with:
2 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 cup brown sugar
3 tbsp all purpose flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp allspice (optional)
Pour the apple mixture into the pastry-lined pie plate, then moisten the edge of the pastry. Roll out the second piece of pastry, drape it over the apples, and press it around the edges to seal.
Trim the pastry, leaving about 3/4 inch overhang, then fold the overhang underneath itself and flute the edge. Brush the pastry with egg wash (1 egg yolk mixed with 1 tbsp water), sprinkle it with coarse sugar, and cut a few steam vents. 
Bake in the bottom third of the 425˚F oven for 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to 350˚F and bake for 40 minutes longer, or until the pastry is deep golden and the filling is bubbling. Cool on a rack. 
If you want the pie to slice cleanly, wait until it is completely cool before cutting. If you’re not afraid of a little pie juice, cut yourself a slice while it’s still a bit warm and eat it with vanilla ice cream. So comforting!
Chocolate Hazelnut & Almond Yule Log
What does your family eat for dessert at Christmas dinner? In my family, our Christmas dessert for years and years was the traditional steamed Christmas pudding, served a-flame; however a few Christmases ago, we all admitted to ourselves that the only thing we really liked about Christmas pudding (other than setting it on fire) was the hard sauce that came with it. So, it was time for a new Christmas dessert. And dessert, in my family, is generally my department.
I cast about the internet and searched through my cookbook and magazine collection for a replacement dessert, and over the past few years I’ve made a few different things. On year it was poached pears with gingerbread (it had potential, but the pears were undercooked), and for two years now I’ve made a Yule Log (sometimes called a Bûche de Noël) – a sponge cake rolled around some kind of filling and decorated to look like a chunk of wood. I like it because it’s traditional in the same way a Christmas pudding is traditional, but not stodgy and infinitely variable. I also like the acknowledgment, however slight, of a winter festival that doesn’t include a fat man dressed in red or a baby born in a manger.
I made this Yule Log to take to Nate’s parents for Christmas dinner this year. When I read the words “chocolate hazelnut spread” in the recipe, I was sold. I am a big fan of Nutella. BIG. And I’m a pretty big fan of this cake, as it turns out (we all were, actually!). It was light, creamy, and a great way to end a big turkey dinner. The almond sponge cake is subtly flavoured and nice and moist, and the whipped cream-Nutella filling is airy and creamy. And damn, are those marzipan mushrooms ever cute! (And totally optional if you don’t like cute food or marzipan ;).) 
The only change I would make is to sprinkle on the sliced almonds just before serving, as they lost most of their crunch overnight in the fridge. Otherwise, it was really really good and I can think of a ton of ways to vary the flavours: chocolate sponge with whipped cream and cherries for a Black Forest Yule Log? Dulche de Leche instead of Nutella? Perhaps some citrus in the sponge cake?…
Too bad Christmas dessert only happens once a year! 😉
Chocolate Hazelnut & Almond Yule Log
Adapted ever-so-slightly from my trusted friend Martha. Serves 8-10.
Almond Sponge Cake
Preheat the oven to 350˚F and prepare a 10″ x 15″ jellyroll pan by spraying it with cooking spray, lining the bottom with parchment paper, and spraying the paper with more cooking spray. Set aside.
In a large bowl, combine:
4 egg yolks (keep the whites – you’ll use them in a minute)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
Whisk until pale and thickened. 
Whisk in:
1/4 tsp almond extract
1/4 tsp vanilla
Add:
1/2 cup all purpose flour
Whisk until just combined – don’t over-mix. Set aside.
In a mixer bowl with the whisk attachment, combine:
4 egg whites
1/4 tsp salt
Beat until soft peaks form. Gradually add:
1/4 cup granulated sugar
Continue beating until stiff, glossy peaks form.
Whisk 1/3 of the egg whites into the egg yolk mixture to lighten it, then with a rubber spatula, carefully fold the rest of the egg whites into the batter – you want to combine it without completely deflating it.
Pour the batter onto the prepared pan and spread it out evenly.
Bake at 350˚F for 15-17 minutes, until lightly golden brown and the center of the cakes springs back when lightly pressed (I swear I took a picture of this stage, but my camera must have eaten it!). Immediately run a knife around the edge of the cake to loosen it from the pan, dust the cake with icing sugar, and invert it onto a sheet of parchment. Peel off the lining paper that is now on the top of the cake, and starting from the short end, roll the cake with the clean parchment paper into a cylinder. Let it cool completely, seam side down.
Meanwhile, prepare the filling and frosting.
Chocolate Hazelnut Filling & Whipped Cream Frosting
The whipped cream filling and frosting are stabilized with gelatin, which does not turn them into Jell-o, but rather prevents them from getting runny and also gives them a fluffy, mousse-like texture.
In a small saucepan, combine:
2 tbsp water
1 tsp unflavoured gelatin
Set aside to soften for a few minutes.
Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, mix together:
1/4 cup chocolate hazelnut spread, such as Nutella
1/4 cup whipping cream
Set aside.
Over low heat, warm up the gelatin mixture until it dissolves, then set aside to cool.
In a mixer bowl with the whisk attachment, combine:
2 cups whipping cream
1/4 cup granulated sugar
Beat until soft peaks form, then beat in the gelatin mixture all at once.
Fold a little more than half the whipped cream into the chocolate hazelnut mixture to make the filling. 
The remaining plain whipped cream is the frosting.
To Assemble
Unroll the cooled sponge cake and spread it with the chocolate hazelnut filling, leaving a 1/2 inch border at the edges. Roll it up again from the short end, this time without the parchment paper. 
Transfer the cake roll carefully to a serving platter. I found it easiest to lift it onto the plate using the parchment paper, then carefully slide it off the parchment onto the platter. Protect the platter with strips of waxed paper tucked under the cake, then spread the outside of the cake with the plain whipped cream. Cover it lightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight. Just before serving, sprinkle with 1 cup toasted sliced almonds. 
Martha suggests slicing off the ends of the cake to reveal a cleaner cross-section of the inside of the roll, but I left it rustic. Decorate with marzipan mushrooms and rosemary foliage. Sprinkle with a light dusting of icing sugar “snow” and cut into slices to serve.
Marzipan Mushrooms
Roll a chunk of marzipan into a 3/4 inch ball. Cut about 1/3 off of the ball. Shape the large bit into a mushroom cap, and roll the smaller bit into a mushroom stem with a tapered point at one end. With the tip of a knife, bore a little hole in the underside of the mushroom cap; squish the tapered end of the mushroom stem into the hole to attach it (use a bit of water to make it sticky if necessary). 
Place on a plate, dust very lightly with cocoa powder, and leave uncovered to harden a bit.
Store in an airtight container at room temperature. I used a little less than 100 grams (~3 oz) of marzipan to make about a dozen mushrooms.
Daring Bakers: Filipino Sans Rival Cake
Catherine of Munchie Musings was our November Daring Bakers’ host and she challenged us to make a traditional Filipino dessert – the delicious Sans Rival cake! And for those of us who wanted to try an additional Filipino dessert, Catherine also gave us a bonus recipe for Bibingka which comes from her friend Jun of Jun-blog.
At first glance, it seems odd that Sans Rival is a traditional Filipino dessert, being that all of its components are decidedly French! This is a cake made of dacquoise discs – meringue mixed with nuts and baked until crisp – layered with French buttercream frosting and decorated with more nuts (traditionally cashews). Apparently, in the 1920s and 30s, many Filipinos went abroad to study and those who ended up in France brought home the French language and pastry chef techniques that originated the Sans Rival. Sans Rival means “without rival”, and it’s a pretty appropriate name: this is a delicious, rich dessert.
…
Apple Struesel Cake with Creme Anglaise
Last weekend my friend Katheryn had me and some friends over for a calamari feast – which actually meant that we had to disembowel and clean 5 lbs of raw squid! But really I loved every tentacle-y, slimy minute of it ;). I offered to bring dessert – which actually meant that I phoned Katheryn and announced, “I’M BRINGING DESSERT! … oh, you need lemons and parsley? Yeah, I guess I can bring those too…”.
Anyway, we all know that dessert is the most important part of any meal, so let’s focus on that: I made an apple cake using my favorite one-bowl butter cake recipe, topped it with brown sugar struesel, and served it with creme anglaise, which is pretty much the best sauce ever – it tastes just like melted vanilla ice cream only better. It was all super delicious, and the cake actually tasted even better the next day – I guess the apple and cinnamon flavours had more time to develop or something. It was also a nice cozy thing to eat in the fall – very comforting and homey. 
So without any further ado, here’s how to make it!
Apple Struesel Cake
Adapted from the “Melt-and-Mix Butter Cake” in Modern Classics Book 2 by Donna Hay (I love her!)
Preheat oven to 325˚F. In a medium bowl, stir together:
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 3/4 tsp baking powder
2/3 cup granulated sugar
a pinch of salt
a few dashes cinnamon
1 apple, peeled and chopped
Add:
1/4 cup milk
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup melted butter
1 tsp vanilla
Stir everything together until there are no dry patches. The batter will be quite thick – almost more like cookie dough than cake batter. 
Spread the batter into a 9″ greased cake pan, lined with parchment paper. Arrange 1 peeled and sliced apple over the top. 
To make the struesel topping, mix together:
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup brown sugar
a few good dashes of cinnamon (about 1/2 tsp)
1 tbsp melted butter
Stir until crumbly. 
Sprinkle over the cake (you probably won’t need all of it). 
Bake the cake at 325˚F for 40-45 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out with only a few moist crumbs sticking to it. 
Allow to cool in the pan for a few minutes, then invert the cake onto a plate, remove the pan and parchment paper, and revert (re-invert? un-invert?) onto a cooling rack. 
Slice into wedges and serve warm or at room temperature in a puddle of creme anglaise (recipe follows).
Creme Anglaise
This is a rich, delicious vanilla-scented pouring custard that is a great alternative for anything that you might want to serve with vanilla ice cream. I have no idea where I got this recipe from.
In a heat-proof bowl, whisk together:
3 egg yolks
2 tbsp granulated sugar
Beat with the whisk until very pale and thick, about 5 minutes (a good arm workout).
This should be MUCH paler and thicker – I somehow managed to delete ALL of the dozen photos I took of this stage!
Meanwhile, in a small pot, scald:
1 cup whipping cream
1/4 cup milk
(or you can use all milk – whole or 2% probably for best results)
When the cream/milk is scalded (ie, almost-but-not-quite boiling), whisk a very small amount into the egg yolk mixture to temper it (ie, so it doesn’t make scrambled eggs), then slowly add the rest of the milk/cream mixture, whisking constantly. 
Pour everything back into the pot and heat over medium-low heat, stirring constantly in a figure-8 motion, until the mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon (ie, you can drag you finger through it and it leaves a clean trail without the sides running into it). Don’t let it boil! 
While all this is happening, place a sieve over a small bowl that is sitting in an ice bath (ie, in a larger bowl of water and ice cubes). When the mixture has thickened, pour it through the sieve into the small bowl. This will make sure the creme anglaise is smooth and the ice bath will stop the cooking process. 
Stir in 1/2 tsp vanilla extract, then cover the creme anglaise with plastic wrap, pressing it right onto the surface so it doesn’t form a skin. 
Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Pear-Filled Vanilla Birthday Cake with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
One of my co-workers recently had a birthday and a cake was requested, so I obliged with a vanilla cake filled with pears and frosted with chocolate buttercream. It went over really well at work (someone actually said, “This is the best cake I’ve ever had!” 🙂 ) so I have a feeling I’ll be making more. This will continue the trend of me having made more cakes in the past six months than I have in the past six years, but that is totally fine with me ;).
The slightly battered piece I brought home for Nate
This vanilla cake (aka yellow cake, because it contains egg yolks) is super easy to make and comes out fluffy, moist, and delicious. It’s my favorite plain cake recipe because it doesn’t require any fancy ingredients and it could easily be jazzed-up-up with lemon or orange zest or something. I baked it at a slightly lower temperature than the recipe stated and wrapped the pan in strips of damp towel to insulate it against getting a big domed top, and the cake came out perfectly baked and perfectly level. I wanted to fill it with something fruity, and over Thanksgiving my mum gave me a big bag of gorgeous pears from her pear trees, so I sautéed some in butter and brown sugar and spread it between the cake layers. I also wanted to try proper Swiss meringue buttercream frosting after the cream cheese frosting fiasco, and it came out awesome! Fluffy, buttery, and not too sweet. I can’t wait for an excuse to make it again in another flavour. Plus it was really fun to decorate with :).
Pear-Filled Vanilla Cake with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
Because of all the butter in the frosting, this cake should be stored in the fridge, but let it come to room temperature before serving – the texture of the filling will be much better, and cake tastes best when it’s not cold anyway!
Yellow Vanilla Cake
Modified slightly from A Passion for Baking by Mary Goldman.
Can be baked as a sheet cake in a 9″x13″ pan, as a circular layer cake in two 9″ round pans, or as 24 cupcakes. The original recipe says to bake at 350˚F, but I had success with 325˚F.
Preheat oven to 325˚F. Spray/grease your pan(s) and line the bottoms with parchment paper.
In a mixer bowl, cream together:
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
Mix until light and fluffy, then add:
3 eggs (one at a time, mixing after each)
1 tsp vanilla
Mix until well blended.
In a bowl, combine:
3 cups all purpose flour
4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix on low speed while slowly pouring in:
1 1/2 cups warm milk
Blend until the batter is smooth. 
Pour into prepared cake pan(s) and spread the batter evenly. Wrap the pans in a strip of wet towel to insulate the edges of the cake from cooking faster than the middle and creating a domed top. 
Bake at 325˚F for 35-45 minutes, until lightly golden brown on top, slightly springy when touched, and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out with no crumbs (check after 35 minutes). Cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then invert onto a wire rack, peel off the parchment paper, and cool completely. 
Split, fill, and frost as desired (it’s easier if the cake has been chilled before splitting it).
Pear Filling
In a large skillet over medium heat, melt:
3 tbsp butter
Add:
3 cups finely diced pears
Sauté until softened. Add:
3 tbsp brown sugar
a dash each of nutmeg and salt
Cook until the pears are very soft and the juice is syrupy. Stir in:
a squeeze of lemon juice
Remove from the heat and let cool before filling the cake. The butter in the filling will solidify if kept in the fridge, so serve the filled cake at room temperature (it’s fine to store it in the fridge though).
Chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream Frosting
From Sweetapolita. For a detailed tutorial on making Swiss meringue buttercream, click here.
Makes about 5 cups of frosting, enough to frost the outside of a 9″x13″ cake, to frost and fill a 9″ round 2-layer cake, or to frost 24 cupcakes. Best made in a stand mixer because it requires a lot of beating!
Cut 1 pound (2 cups) of butter into cubes and leave at room temperature to soften slightly.
Pour a splash of vinegar or lemon juice in a mixer bowl and wipe out with a paper towel to remove any traces of oil. Also wipe down the whisk attachment with vinegar/lemon juice. This ensures that there is no oily residue that will prevent the egg whites from whipping up.
In the perfectly clean mixer bowl (not attached to the mixer), combine:
5 egg whites
1 cup + 2 tbsp granulated sugar
Make a bain marie/double boiler by placing the mixer bowl over a small pan of simmering water (make sure the bottom of the bowl is no touching the water). With the whisk attachment, stir the egg white-sugar mixture until it comes to 140˚F, or use your (clean) fingers to feel that the sugar is totally dissolved in the egg whites and the mixture is hot. Note that you are stirring to keep the mixture from turning into scrambled egg whites, not to incorporate air. 
Attach the mixer bowl and whisk to the mixer and beat the egg whites at medium high speed until stiff peaks form. Continue stirring on low speed until the egg whites are COMPLETELY cool – the side of the bowl should be cool to the touch.
When the egg whites are cool, it’s time to add the butter. Switch the whisk for the paddle attachment, and mixing on low speed, add in the cubes of butter, one at a time, allowing the butter to incorporate before adding the next cube. 
The egg white meringue will fall and go through various stages of looking weird and curdled as you add the butter – this is all okay. When all the butter is added, the mixture will probably look quite clumpy, curdled, and thick. 
Keep stirring on low and after a few minutes it will emulsify and smooth out into a thick, creamy, fluffy frosting.
Add:
2 tsp vanilla
dash salt
3/4 cup chocolate chips, melted and cooled
Stir well to incorporate the chocolate.
Keep the frosting at a cool room temperature to frost the cake.
To Assemble the Cake:
Split the cooled cake in half horizontally and place the bottom layer on a cake board, protected by 4 strips of waxed paper. Pipe a wall of frosting around the edge of the layer, and spread the cake with the pear filling. 
Place the second layer on top, and coat the cake with a thin “crumb coat” of frosting. 
Refrigerate for about 15 minutes, until the frosting is set, then frost with a thicker layer. Decorate as desired – this frosting is great for piping.
Maple Coconut Pumpkin Pie with Spelt Shortbread Crust
Happy Canadian Thanksgiving! I still can’t believe it’s October and, according to all the store displays and lifestyle/cooking magazines, the beginning of the holiday season. Where the heck did summer go so quickly?
I’m enjoying fall though – I love the cooler weather, the coloured leaves, and the abundance of delicious, harvest food – and maybe I’m okay with the holiday season starting. Heck, I’ve bought my first holiday cooking magazine and I’m already thinking about Christmas baking. Yeah, I’m totally okay with it ;). For me it’s mostly about the food anyway, and a Thanksgiving meal is a great way to kick it all off.
I’ve been in charge of holiday desserts in my family ever since I can remember, so this is the pumpkin pie I took to my parents’ house for Thanksgiving dinner. By the way, my mum is a turkey super-star – it is always juicy and awesome. And it has bacon on it. That’s all you really need to know.
The real turkey bacon
Anyway, back to pie. This recipe comes from my trusted friend Martha, and this is the second year I’ve made it. What sets it apart from other pumpkin pie recipes is the crust, which comes out tasting more like a shortbread cookie than regular pie pastry. Rather than rolling out the pastry, you just press the crust right into the pie plate and then blind bake it. 
This is definitely the easiest and best recipe/method I have come across for blind-baked pastry, because it doesn’t shrink or bubble up like other pastry often does.
The pumpkin filling, while quite tasty and nicely spiced, was not particularly special or unique as far as I could tell the last time I made it, so I cut out the regular white sugar and used maple syrup and brown sugar instead. 
I also added a splash of maple syrup to the whipped cream – because what’s pumpkin pie without whipped cream?
Because my mum can’t eat wheat or dairy, I used whole spelt flour in the crust and coconut milk instead of cream in the pumpkin custard filling (she missed out on the maple whipped cream though – next year I might try this coconut whipped cream recipe). The spelt flour gives the crust a slightly toasted flavour, and the coconut milk (which might sound weird) actually pairs really well with the pumpkin, maple, and spices. You can substitute heavy cream if you want, but I would recommend trying it with coconut milk even if you don’t have a dairy allergy!
Maple Coconut Pumpkin Pie with Spelt Shortbread Crust
Modified from Martha Stewart; makes one 9-inch pie
Spelt Shortbread Crust
A note on baking with spelt: spelt flour is a cousin of wheat flour, but is lower in gluten so it behaves a little differently in baking – basically, it absorbs less liquid and often turns out a bit crumblier. I usually think of it as similar to cake and pastry flour, but I’m not sure how accurate that actually is. In most cases, to substitute spelt for wheat flour, just increase the amount of flour by 25% (or, you can decrease the amount of liquid by 25%, but this sometimes also decreases the volume of whatever you’re making, so I usually go with the other method). However in this recipe, because there is no liquid added to the crust, a straight one-to-one substitution works.
Preheat oven to 375˚F.
In a bowl, cream together:
4 tbsp unsalted butter or margarine, softened (I used dairy-free margarine to accommodate a dairy allergy)
3 tbsp white granulated sugar
Stir in:
1 large egg yolk
Add:
1 cup whole spelt flour (or all purpose wheat flour, or 1/2 cup each all purpose and whole wheat flours)
1 tsp coarse salt
Stir until the mixture is uniformly crumbly – it should clump together easily when squeezed between your fingers. Press it evenly into the bottom and just over an inch up the sides of a 9-inch pie plate. Freeze until firm (20 minutes – I forgot to do this and it turned out fine), then bake in a 375˚F oven for 15-20 minutes, rotating half-way through, until golden brown. Let cool while you prepare the pumpkin filling.
Maple Coconut Pumpkin Filling
Preheat oven to 325˚F.
In a medium bowl, whisk together until smooth:
1 14-0z/398 ml can pure pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
3/4 cup coconut milk with a high fat content (ie, not light – the one I used had 14 grams of fat per 1/3 cup – and make sure you shake the can well)
1/3 cup pure maple syrup (the darker the better – darker = more flavour)
2 eggs, beaten slightly
2 tbsp dark brown sugar (demerrara if you can find it)
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 tsp coarse salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground allspice
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp ground cloves
Pour the filling into the prepared pie crust. Bake the pie at 325˚F for 65-70 minutes, until the filling is slightly puffy and just set (it should still jiggle a bit). Cool completely on a wire rack, then refrigerate, uncovered, for at least 6 hours. Serve with maple whipped cream (1 cup whipping cream + 1 tbsp maple syrup).