Butter Pecan Cake

Butter pecan is one of our all-time favourite cakes. It’s buttery, rich and perfect with a cup of tea.  

Cake

¼ cup butter
2 cups chopped pecans
1 cup butter
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
2 tsp baking powder
1 cup milk
2 ½ cups BCF Partially Sifted Flour

In a frying pan, melt the 1/4 cup butter on medium-low heat. Add the pecans and toast just until fragrant (about 3 minutes). Set aside to cool. Beat the 1 cup of butter until fluffy. Add in the sugar and beat again. Add in the eggs one at a time, beating between each addition. Add in the vanilla, baking powder and milk and beat once again. Finally, add the flour and mix just until combined. Fold in the pecans. Pour the batter into two 9 inch cake pans that have been greased and floured. Bake at 350°F for 30 minutes.

Brown Sugar Buttercream

1 cup butter
¼ cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups icing sugar

Beat the butter until fluffy. Add in the brown sugar and vanilla and beat again. Slowly add in the icing sugar and beat until you have a spreadable consistency. Frost the cake once is has cooled

No-Knead Rye Bread

This recipe is an adaptation of the whole grain rye bread from the book Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day. The authors use a no-knead method with a fairly wet dough. I highly recommend reading this book if you’re interested in trying out different artisan breads. 

4 cups lukewarm water
2 tbsp yeast
1 tbsp salt
1 tsp sugar
3 cups BCF Dark Rye Flour
2 ½ cups BCF Partially Sifted Flour
2 ½ cups BCF Whole Wheat Flour

In a large bowl mix together the water, yeast, salt and sugar. Let the mixture sit for about 15 minutes or until the yeast becomes bubbly. Add in the flours and mix well. The dough will be quite wet. Allow the dough to rise in a warm spot for about 2 hours. Preheat the oven to 425°F. Split the dough in half and form each piece into a ball on a lightly floured surface. Allow the dough to sit for 20 minutes. Bake the bread for about 35 minutes. Allow to cool before slicing.

Cookie Dough Cupcakes

Today is Jeff’s champagne birthday so I made him a chocolate cupcake (made with our cupcake mix of course) stuffed with cookie dough and a cookie dough icing. It’s just a slightly more grown up way to eat cookie dough. 

Cookie Dough Cupcakes

BCF Chocolate Cupcake Mix (1/2 cup milk, 1/4 cup oil, 1 egg, 1/2 cup boiling water)
½ cup butter
¼ cup sugar
½ cup brown sugar
3 tbsp milk or cream
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/3 cup Partially Sifted Flour
2/3 cup mini chocolate chips

Beat butter, sugars, milk and vanilla together until fluffy. Add in the flour and mix well. Finally, add the chocolate chips. Roll the dough into about 18 balls and FREEZE them. You want them to thaw in the cupcakes, not cook.

Prepare the BCF Chocolate Cupcake Mix as directed except spread the batter into 18 cups rather than 12. Add a frozen cookie dough ball into each cup and bake for 15 minutes at 350°F.

Cookie Dough Frosting

¾ cup butter
1/3 cup brown sugar
½ cup Partially Sifted Flour
1 tsp vanilla
1 tbsp milk or cream
2 cups icing sugar
mini chocolate chips to decorate

Beat the butter until fluffy. Add in the brown sugar, flour, vanilla and milk and beat well. Slowly add in the icing sugar until you get the consistency you want. After icing your cooled cupcakes, sprinkle with some mini chocolate chips. 

Chocolate Banana Bread

Give old, brown bananas new life by baking them into a chocolaty bread. This is one of our favourite breakfast treats. 

2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup oil
4 bananas, mashed
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups BCF Partially Sifted Flour
1 cup add ins (chocolate chips, nuts, coconut, caramel chunks, etc)

Beat together eggs, sugar and oil. Add in bananas, vanilla, cocoa, baking powder and salt and mix well. Add in flour and mix just until moist. Add in your extra goodies (I used half a cup of chocolate chunks and half a cup of coconut in the loaf pictured) and mix just until combined. Pour batter into a greased loaf pan and bake at 350°F for an hour or until a toothpick comes out clean. If you're worried that the outside is getting too dark before the middle is completely cooked, just turn off the oven and leave the door closed for 15 minutes.

Whole Wheat Vanilla Cupcakes with Blueberry Buttercream

I wanted to make cupcakes for Levi's 2nd birthday so I tried out a few whole wheat recipes and finally found one that I really like (http://www.ninerbakes.com/2013/05/31/healthy-absolutely-yummy-tasting-vanilla-cupcakes/). I topped them off with a Blueberry Buttercream. He's going to be one happy toddler.

Cupcakes

1/2 teaspoon vinegar
1/2 cup milk
1 1/4 cups BCF Whole Wheat Flour
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
3 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup oil

Blueberry Buttercream

1 cup butter
1 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup blueberry jam
2 cups icing sugar

Mix together the vinegar and milk and set aside. In a separate bowl sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In a large bowl, whip the eggs. Add in the sugar, vanilla and oil and mix for a minute. Add in the milk mixture and dry ingredients in small batches. Pour batter evenly into a lined muffin tin and bake at 350°F for 18 minutes. Let cool before icing.

To make the icing, whip the butter until soft and fluffy. Add in the vanilla and jam and whip again. Slowly add in the icing sugar and mix on high for 2 minutes.