Almond Butter Cake

Hello friends! Time to dust off this old blog & send out a new recipe! And it's a good one!

In the last few months a new local bakery opened up, and boy oh boy, they're CRAZY good. I cannot stay away. Everything they make and sell is fantastic, but one of my standbys is an individual almond butter cake, best enjoyed with a vanilla latte or peppermint tea. Inspired by that cake is this full-size rendition. It's rich, dense, and has the loveliest subtle flavour of almond. In the words of my good friend Emily, "OMG. I could eat the whole thing." Enjoy!

Ingredients:

3/4 cup butter, melted 

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 teaspoons pure almond extract
1 1/2 cups flour, sifted
3/4 cup sliced almonds

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Thoroughly combine melted butter and sugar in a large bowl. Add 2 lightly beaten eggs and mix vigorously for 1-2 minutes, or until it appears creamy. Add salt, vanilla & almond extract and sifted flour. Mix again until combined. Lightly grease a springform or 9-inch cake tin and place a measured parchment round on the base. Pour the batter into the pan and evenly sprinkle the sliced almonds over the top. Bake for 50 minutes or until the a toothpick placed in the center of the cake comes out clean. If the almonds brown faster than the cake bakes, place aluminum foil over the top.

"A great many things can be resolved with kindness, even more with laughter, but there are some things that just require cake." ♥️ 

My Favourite Gingersnaps

I almost called these "Snappy Gingersnaps", I know, I'm sorry, we're better than that. It's true though, they're a cinch to make and don't take very long from start to finish....or very long from start to finishing them all off with a glass of milk, for that matter. That leads to my next confession: I've made these 3 times in the last week. Both of my brothers have declared that gingersnaps are their favourite kind of cookie so every time the cookies run out I just keep making more! Maybe I'll take a break when we run out of molasses... but probably not.

2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cloves
Pinch of salt
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup molasses
3/4 cup canola oil
1 large egg
Sugar for rolling


Instructions:
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

Whisk together the flour, baking soda, spices, and salt in a medium bowl. In another bowl, combine together the brown sugar, molasses, canola oil, and egg until smooth. Mix the flour mixture into the brown sugar mixture, stirring until dough comes together.

Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Scoop up dough by the heaping teaspoonful and roll into balls between your palms, about the size of a quarter. Roll the balls in sugar and place on the baking sheets 2 inches apart. Bake 8 minutes – if you like crispy gingersnaps, try 9 or 10 minutes.

Cookies will be very soft but will firm up. Leave on the baking sheet several minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Enjoy with a glass of ice cold milk. =)

Recipe from 17 and Baking

Music Monday - cold, wet, lazy days

The weather outside was pretty miserable today - cold, rainy and dark by 4pm. I took the opportunity to have a beautiful, lazy day indoors. I stayed in bed until very late in the morning (okayyyy, it was noon), savored my cup of coffee, perused the newspaper, caught up on my favourite TV shows, listened to some beautiful music, drank hot chocolate, nuzzled with Meeko...ahh, bliss. Such a good idea to have one these lazy days every once in awhile.

"The time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time."