Sweets

Caramelized Prune Plum Frangipane Galette

Prune Plums are tasty blue and purple plums with a green flesh. These flavourful plums are in season right now in the Okanagan and there are so many ways to use them. In this post, I am sharing a Caramelized Prune Plum Frangipane Galette recipe that has a unique caramelized plum filling that you will enjoy trying. Roasting the plums transforms the flesh into a pretty rose colour and a distinct fragrant flavour. I have developed this recipe to include almonds, caramel and vanilla bean extract, all of which pair extremely well with plums.

Plums are also noted for their health benefits: they are low calorie and contain over 15 vitamins and minerals, in addition to dietary fibre and antioxidants, which are helpful in reducing inflammation and controlling blood sugar. Examples of sweet dishes plums can be used in are a plum paste (delicious with cheese) or as a filling in pastry; in a confiture, tart or cake or plum kuchen, to name a few. Examples of savoury dishes are perogies with plum filling, pork tenderloin with plum sauce, and plum chutney.

Caramelized Prune Plum Frangipane Galette

Galettes are a great way to start experimenting with pastry because they do not require the precise care that is taken with a tart or pie shell. They are free-form pies, rustic in nature and delicious. Give it a try!

Caramelized Prune Plum Frangipane Galette

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How to Make Raspberry Mini Cheesecakes

By Denise Pare-Watson

Have you ever noticed that most restaurants offer cheesecake on their dessert menu? It is definitely a favourite choice for many people and also for the restaurants as cheesecake stores and freezes well. I prefer making cheesecake in individualized portions, served simply with a raspberry coulis or a few fresh berries. In this post, I will share a recipe for Raspberry Mini Cheesecakes. This featured cheesecake recipe has a pink hue created by the raspberry puree which is combined with a delicious coconut crust infused with lime zest. For Valentine’s Day, I dress the cheesecakes up by creating a heart swirl decoration before it is baked. The decoration stays attractively suspended on top of the thick cheesecake batter.

Skip to Cheesecake Recipe

Raspberry Mini Cheesecake

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White Chocolate and Lemon Curd Tart

By Denise Pare-Watson

White Chocolate and citrus is something most people have not considered when looking for something a little different using chocolate as an ingredient. Presenting White Chocolate and Lemon Curd Tart – the combination of sweet white chocolate and lemon is a combination that pairs so beautifully together in perfect harmony. This is a decadent and impressive dessert. The curd is so silky and smooth and can be used on its own in a parfait or swirled lightly into Greek yogurt. The tart shells are pre-baked, so it really is a convenient make-ahead dessert.

White Chocolate and Lemon Curd Tart | urbnspice.com

White Chocolate Lemon Curd Tart

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Vinarterta – A Vintage Recipe

By Denise Pare-Watson

Vínarterta: what is it? It is a very flavourful, seven-layered Icelandic cake – a vintage recipe from the 1800s. The cake consists of thin layers cookie-like dough, rolled out, docked and baked just until it starts to take on a bit of colour on the edges. The traditional filling is made from prunes. For many folks, using dried prunes is a surprising filling, but you have to trust me – this stuff is good! The prunes are infused with what is known as the warming spices cardamom, cinnamon and cloves. These spices elevate the taste of the filling to something that you just know will be wonderful. The colour of the pureed prune is such a rich hue of black-brown that it makes a spectacular show in between the layers of the Vinarterta cake.

Many other fillings can be used, including seasonal apricot filling and raspberry filling. My daughter and I were discussing making a version with all three fillings in one cake. I think that this could be my next cake challenge. I would be tempted to make the layers even thinner so that I could experiment with the different coloured fillings.

Vinarterta with Apricot Filling

In culinary training, we were introduced to many cultural desserts in Baking and Pastry Arts, and this cake was one of the classic cakes we discussed during our lessons. It is delicious! I had forgotten all about this cake until my neighbour mentioned to me that she had in her possession her grandma’s vintage recipe for Vínarterta and that she had always wanted to try making it.

We spent a lovely morning making the cake together using the vintage recipe. As far as she knew, her grandmother’s recipe had sadly not been made by anyone in the family since her passing in 1978. She told me that her grandmother’s parents came to Canada in the 1800s and her grandmother was born in Canada. I am sure that there are great stories about baking this Icelandic recipe and many more dishes in their kitchen – I would have loved to be a part of that. I felt that making this cake using her recipe was a great way of honouring her grandmother. And besides, I love baking using vintage recipes.

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The Reflection of a VIP Dessert Menu

By Denise Pare-Watson

(From a pastry chef’s point of view)

Today, I am sharing a Reflection of a VIP Dessert Menu. In my career as a pastry chef in a private golf and country club, VIP Dessert Menus was one of the interesting and intriguing items that frequently became an add-on to my task list at the last minute. When the Executive Chef came up to my pastry station and informed me that there was a VIP event and he needed ideas following a particular theme to pull together a special menu, I had to be quick on my feet.

: White Chocolate Crème Brûlée with a nutmeg tuile nest & lace cookie garnish

There was often not a great deal of time to reflect or ponder this menu and the pride I felt when presented and trusted with this task was very important to me. VIP events often meant a celebrity was arriving in town and it was all quite ‘hush-hush’ until the very last moment before announcing that they would be dinner guests at the club that very evening or the next. After a couple of these events, I strived to be pro-active and have a ready source of special dessert components ready in what I called my “Recipe Bible.” In that way, I could pull together a spectacular dessert with minimal time allowances.

The Reflection of a VIP Dessert Menu

Here is an example of a Canadian Themed VIP Dessert that I created at one of these VIP events. It is a flashback to 2007 and the event was for some very high profile chefs that were members of an exclusive culinary group from Texas. I called the menu “A Canadian Reflection.”

VIP LUNCHEON DESSERT MENU

25 people

“A Canadian Reflection”

*****

A Duo of Mousse:

Swirled Blueberry Mousse and Maple Mousse

Featuring Ontario Wild Blueberries and Maple Syrup from Quebec

*****

Caramelized Macedoine of Okanagan Apple,

A Wine Poached Crabapple or disk of Quince

nestled in a Tuile Leaf Boat

On a Compote of Prairie Saskatoon Berries

*****

Sauces:

Canadian Brandy Crème Anglaise

And a 24-carat Gold Syrup Reduction featuring Alberta Organic Honey

: Beautiful lacy tuile dessert garnish

______________________________________

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32 Classic Homemade Candy Recipes by Food Bloggers of Canada

By Denise Pare-Watson

RECIPE ROUNDUPS

Time to play in the kitchen with 32 Candy Recipes from Food Bloggers of Canada, including a recipe from UrbnSpice, called Dark Chocolate Truffles. Have fun!

Here is the link to making your own candy today!

32 Classic Homemade Candy Recipes by Food Bloggers of Canada

If you would like to try your hand at making some of my easy Dark Chocolate Truffles, here is your link:

Dark Chocolate Truffles by UrbnSpice

Vanilla Bean Poppers

By Denise Pare-Watson

The Inspiration of Urb’n’Spice Series

This is a recipe that I had so much fun creating. My challenge was first, to come up with a cookie using cream cheese, and second, a cookie that could also be made gluten-free, if necessary, without any difference in appearance or quality. Cream cheese makes any baked item very tender and rich tasting, so I knew that this was going to be a good cookie. I also liked the idea of making cookies so tiny that they could be mistaken for candy drops. Eureka! Success! Everything I wanted to achieve in my little cookie challenge became a reality – my little cookies became so popular that I was confident entering my recipe into a competition for edible gifts. I call the cookies Vanilla Bean Poppers because they are delightful delicate little cookies that are so irresistible you will keep popping them in your mouth – literally!

These cookies are lots of fun to make with children. Even very young children will love helping you roll the dough into long rope-like snakes before you cut them into small pillows or balls. The little ones will love giving these cookies to their teachers. I also make tons of these teeny, tiny cookies during the holiday season and put them in pretty jars or beribboned cellophane bags to give away as hostess gifts. And, for further food fun, I made variations of the same cookies: Urb’n’Spice Rainbow Poppers and Vanilla Bean Poppers – Holiday Food Fun Version.

Urbnspice Vanilla Bean Poppers

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Chocolate Desserts Cookbook Series by UrbnSpice

By Denise Pare-Watson

Hello, there! Did you know that Urb’n’Spice has written four books called the Chocolate Desserts Cookbook Series? The books are all about Chocolate Desserts and have just about every dessert imaginable.

Book One – Cakes

Book Two – Cookies, Brownies and Squares

Book Three – Pies and Tarts

Book Four – Gluten Free Chocolate Desserts

Here is a more detailed information about the series, “Chocolate Desserts Made Easy and Delicious.” I am quite proud of these books – it was a bucket list goal to write a cookbook after slowing down a bit from an amazing career as a pastry chef and chef.

Chocolate Desserts from the Cookbook Series | urbnspice.com

A few photos from Chocolate Desserts Made Easy and Delicious Cookbook Series | urbnspice.com

These recipes have been created, collected and treasured from my career. They have been lovingly tested and retested until they were perfect – for you, my reader. I have a group of special folks that I call my taste testers – they enjoyed their ‘work’ throughout my cookbook process of baking, testing, tasting and writing these books.

Here is how you can get more information about my Chocolate Desserts Cookbook Series cookbooks:

Click on the links provided below to get detailed information (affiliate link). The books link to my Amazon (Canada) page.

If you purchase a copy – well, I thank you! This will enable me to continue to share recipes and information with you on this blog. I appreciate your support very much. I am hoping to self-publish my books one day when funds will allow. At this time, my books are available as e-books on Amazon.ca. All four books have received very good reviews, which you can read when you click on the links provided.

Thanks for visiting – I am so glad that you did. If you have made one of the recipes from my books, kindly leave me a comment. Even better, please leave a review on Amazon.ca. You can read the reviews on Amazon.com – they do not carry over to Amazon.ca. I would love to hear what you think of my books.

Book One:

Chocolate Desserts Made Easy and Delicious – Cakes

Chocolate Desserts Made Easy and Delicious – Cakes!

Book Two:

Chocolate Desserts Made Easy and Delicious – Cookies, Brownies and Squares

Book Three:

Chocolate Desserts Made Easy and Delicious – Pies and Tarts

Book Four:

Chocolate Desserts Made Easy and Delicious – Gluten-Free Chocolate Desserts

Or just CLICK on any of the book covers on my blog page www.urbnspice.com (to the right side of this post). This will take you directly to the Amazon site where you can read the reviews from folks who have purchased my book as well as introductions of my books from my colleagues.

That is all about my Chocolate Desserts Cookbook Series. Thanks for visiting – I am really glad you did! The photo below shows one of the most popular recipes in the series – Quadruple Chocolate Brownies. They are so popular that I re-engineered the recipe to also be included in Book Four – Gluten Free Chocolate Desserts. Looks yummy, right?

Quadruple Chocolate Brownie | urbnspice.com

Quadruple Chocolate Brownie – this award-winning Recipe is included in Book 2 – Cookies, Brownies and Squares as well as Book 4 – Gluten Free Chocolate Desserts

A Pastry Chef’s Mantra:

“Every job is a self-portrait of the person who did it.

Autograph your work with excellence.”

Unknown

Denise Paré-Watson

The Urbnspice Chef

Here are the links:

Email: urbnspice@gmail.com

Website: Urbnspice

Author Page: Denise’s Author Page

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Urbnspice

Twitter: https://twitter.com/urbnspice

Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/urbnspice/

About me: http://about.me/urbnspice/#

Facebook: I Love Chocolate page

Lavender Rose Mini Cheesecakes

By Denise Pare-Watson

The Inspiration of Urbnspice Series

When I develop a recipe, there is often something pertinent behind its creation that has inspired me. Here is the story behind the creation of this special little cake called Lavender Rose Mini Cheesecakes.

Everyone has fond food memories and for me, growing up in a large French Canadian family, I have many precious memories. Family gatherings were frequent and boisterous affairs – full of the happy chatter of young children playing and the elderly family members speaking in typical friendly and demonstrative manner.

Our extended family included many aunts and uncles, cousins and friends. One of my Mom’s sisters is aptly named Rose and she was famous for bringing her famous Poppy Seed Cake to every family gathering. We all looked forward to having a little slice of this heavenly cake.

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Dark Chocolate Truffles

By Denise Pare-Watson

What do you do with a bit of leftover dark chocolate ganache? Make Dark Chocolate Truffles, of course! You can make these truffles in a snap and they make wonderful hostess gifts and they are also great additions to a cookie plate. Besides, they are fun to make and a great activity if you have children helping in the kitchen. There is no complicated tempered chocolate dipping with this recipe – the outside of the truffles are covered easily in Chocolate Vermicelli. Anyone can make these – give them a try!

: Truffles are easy to make

A ganache filling can be used for many things, including making truffles. Other uses include top brownies or squares; layer in between a crumb crust; sandwich in between cookies or macaroons. I have used ganache to coat a cake and spread on a cake as a frosting. In other words, ganache is extremely versatile, so making a little extra is a good thing. You can freeze ganache in an airtight container or an airtight sealed bag using a food sealer.

: Closeup of Chocolate Vermicelli Coating

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Sweets

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The Reflection of a VIP Dessert Menu

RECIPE ROUNDUPS

The Inspiration of Urb’n’Spice Series

The Inspiration of Urbnspice Series

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