Cookbook giveaway: Norwegian Cakes and Cookies

Each month, I usually run a giveaway here with a cookbook I think my readers will enjoy. This month, I have a copy of  Norwegian Cakes and Cookies - a pretty cookbook that I hope will inspire you to cook up a few desserts that you've never made before. The book offers a beautiful repertoire of dessert recipes - many based on traditional Norwegian desserts with a modern twist. Acclaimed pastry chef Sverre Saetre shares some of his favourite recipes alongside some gorgeous food photos. Some standout recipes I can't wait to try are his Marzipan Cake with Strawberries, Raspberry Jam with Lychee and his Rhubarb Soup with Cinnamon and Sour Cream. It's often easy to get into a bit of kitchen routine and to make the same desserts over and over again. This book is the perfect opportunity to step out of your comfort zone - whatever it may be - and try something new!




To win your very own copy of this cookbook, simply let me know which dessert you've made most recently. The contest ends on April 12th 2012, at midnight. The winner will be drawn at random and you must be a Canadian or American resident to enter. Good luck and I look forward to hearing from you!

Yellow Kitchen Accessories

I love brightening my kitchen with a little pop of colour. It makes the space inviting and cosy and makes me want to cook that much more. Somehow, yellow items always seem to make it to the top of my list of favourites so I thought I would share some of my current sunny kitchen crushes.

The start of spring has been incredibly warm here in Toronto -- it actually seems like we skipped a beat and fell right into summer. My lighter clothing is still in storage and only days ago I was still thinking about a couple stew and roast recipes I wanted to try. But there is no room to complain here so here are a few pretty items to get in the mood to entertain!

Lemon Poppy Seed Loaf with a Lemon Glaze

This post is the perfect platform to declare my love for meyer lemons. If you've never tasted one of these gorgeously sweet citrus, I hope it will be on your to-do list for the week! Meyer lemons are ideal to bake with and give that perfectly intense citrus flavour to sweet treats. This lemon loaf can, of course, be made with run of the mill lemons but try making it with organic meyer lemons if you can - you won't be disappointed!

As for this delicious dessert it comes together in minutes and features a mix of poppy seeds and lemon - a classic combination that usually pleases any palette!

Dark Chocolate Medallions with Pistachios and Candied Papaya

I'm almost ashamed to write out a recipe for these delicious indulgences because they are so incredibly simply to make. These little dessert bites came about a few nights ago. Do you ever have a late night sugar craving you just can't soothe? It's not the most healthy feeling, but, let's face it, it happens to the best of us. I could have settled for a little piece of dark chocolate only but I knew I wanted to turn my craving into something I could share with all of you... and this is how these little chocolate discs made their way onto my kitchen counter. They take minutes to put together and are also perfect to serve with a cup of tea or coffee in the afternoon.

I've had different versions of these growing  up - they're called 'mendiants' and are basically chocolate discs topped with candied fruit. You can try these with different variations of fruits and nuts -  I love the combination of salty pistachios with sweet candied papaya but walnuts and candied orange are delicious too, as is candied lemon and toasted almonds! You can lay these out on a parchment-lined cookie sheet, but I like to use a Silpat for projects like these.

DIY Coffee Table

Regular readers of this blog will notice that I've been sharing more and more home decor posts with all of you. The truth is, I've always been a lover of any creative DIY project, and my love of food has always been linked to my love of pretty tableware. So, it was only natural that I start sharing some of my decor inspiration with all of you! As a regular contributor for Style at Home, decorating is a topic I love to discuss during work hours as well as during my leisure moments.

Lemon Meringue Chocolate Cake

 This past weekend was a weekend filled with indulgences. First, and foremost comes this cake - this decadent cake with its three separate layers of goodness: a delicious brownie-like chocolate cake whose centre is scooped out and filled with tangy homemade lemon curd that is then topped with meringue icing. Can you think of a more decadent dessert? This recipe was one of my favourite finds from the 10th anniversary edition of Donna Hay's magazine .

Valentine's Day Brownies

I didn't grow up celebrating Valentine's day. Should I even attempt the stereotypical sentence that Paris is romantic every day of the year and that we don't need a special day to celebrate love? I wouldn't dare. But the truth is, it's not a day of the year we that we're particularly attached to in France. Or at least not a day that really marked my young teenage years. I see a lot more marketing around the holiday when I go back to France now, but while I was in high school I saw it as a North American celebration that you really only understand from cheesy American movies.

Now that I live on this side of the world, I've got to admit, I have a love/hate relationship with it. Yes, it really is a consumer-driven holiday. The cards, the chocolate, the teddy bears, the teddy bears made of chocolate, the hearts, the flowers - is that really what we are waiting to receive? That part isn't really enticing to me in any way. However, the love part I'm all for. Although I don't believe in set days to remember to show affection, I will never say no to an added day of the year that's about a little bit of giddiness.

To mark the occasion, I've got an an easy update on a classic. Deliciously sweet brownies, all-dressed up for Valentine's Day! I like to use the Baked brownies (my all-time favourite!), cut the cooled brownies with a heart-shaped cookie cutter and add a few decorative Smarties.