My Favourite Summer Baking with Longing for Marché St. Georges

There are few things I enjoy or remember more about my summer holidays then long afternoons alone or with friends at a cafe. Even if I'm enjoying only one mug of coffee, the act of sitting and drawing out the experience, makes it seem as if I'm drinking coffee "all day." And what could be more relaxing?

We're spoiled here in Toronto -- there is so much good coffee .. here ... here ... here...oh and this one and this one.. this is one of our old stand-bys, where I drank I gigantic up of cinnamon laced coffee served to me in a beer glass and enjoyed and peanut butter and jelly sandwich, all alone. This one is a frequent stop on our bike rides, and this one, just around the corner from me, holds such sentimental value. I've enjoyed solo breakfasts over bottomless coffee here and here, because breakfast treats make the coffee experience that much better, don't you think?

Despite all the wonderful cafes here in Toronto, yesterday, my heart tugged towards to a neighbourhood coffee shop that we went to in Vancouver: Marché St. Georges.  It's tucked away in quiet residential neighbourhood, away from the more stylish, sleek-looking cafes on busier, streets. It's also a market that sells unique products and gifts such as specialty teas, coffees, cookies and an intriguing honey, flavoured with thai chillies. Although the gifts were tempting, we settled on iced coffees and a few treats -- a cherry crumble tart and a butter tart -- and let the late afternoon melt into evening.

But yesterday when I was thinking about Marché St. Georges, it occurred to me that I wanted to have breakfast there, sitting in the patio, slowly enjoying a coffee and something sweet, warm and fruity, in front of some reading material or maybe even some *gasp* planning for September. If anything were to make the prospect of going back to work in a few weeks bearable, it would be breakfast and coffee at Marché St. Georges. But since I'm in Toronto and no longer rambling about the streets and trails of Vancouver, I'll just savour the memories along with my fruity and caffeinated breakfast.

And my breakfast of choice? It would have to be a simple summer fruit crumble. When I got back from Vancouver, there were baskets of sour cherries just begging to be taken home from the farmer's market. Some of them were cooked down and jarred, but most of them went into making this crumble many, many times. In with the cherries, I threw some raspberries, and some chopped rhubarb. A squeeze of lemon would have made sense, but I didn't want to taint that beautiful, almost almond-like flavour of the sour cherries, so I skipped that part. I also skipped the spices I would generally add to a crisp or crumble topping like cinnamon or nutmeg, just to keep things nice and fruity and pure.

I ate this warm, right out of the oven with my coffee, but it was equally as good eaten cold then next day with some yogurt. It was beautiful and the perfect way to wake up on a perfect summer day.

Simple Summer Fruit Crumble
inspired by Joy the Baker
serves 4-6

6 cups of fresh summer fruit, chopped if necessary (berries, cherries, peaches.. go wild)
2 tablespoons of natural cane sugar
1 cup + 1 tablespoon of spelt flour
1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons of rolled oats
1/3 cup of brown sugar
2 tablespoons of maple syrup
3 tablespoons of Earth Balance (or butter)

1. Place your fruit in a large baking dish. Sprinke over the cane sugar, 1 tablespoon of flour and 2 tablespoons of rolled oats. Mix well.

2. In a bowl, stir together the rest of the flour, oats and brown sugar until everything is evenly combined. Add the maple syrup of stir gently.

3. Add the Earth Balance or butter and with your fingers, rub it against the flour mixture until you get a nice coarse meal.

4. Spoon the crumble mixture over the fruit mixture and bake in a 350 degree oven for about 25 minutes or so, or until the crumble is golden brown and the fruit is bubbling up.

A Sure Sign of Spring: Rhubarb

It's still a bit nippy out there. The winds are still whipping by my face in the morning, and I still reach for my pair of fuzzy socks when I'm walking across the cold concrete floors.

But ... spring is definitely on the way. It was warm enough for me to take my hat off this afternoon, the sun peaked at us for more than just a few minutes, and this past weekend, I saw rhubarb in the market. Yup, rhubarb -- those beautiful pinky-red stalks of deliciousness. They are a sure sign of spring. I couldn't resist snatching up a bunch and immediately turning them into something sweet and gooey and tasty. And what could be easier than a crumble?

I mixed my rhubarb with a crisp apple to give it a little sweetness, and added a double dose of ginger -- candied and fresh -- to give this dessert a little spice. It's the perfect mesh of flavours to have while winter melts into spring -- fresh and tangy, warm and spicy. Perfection!

Because I baked this crumble in a smallish baking dish, it ended up being more like a pandowdy -- the top of the crumble topping turned nice and brown and crumbly, but the because it ended up being such a thick layer, the further you went down, the more biscuit-like it turned. Totally fine by me, though. The biscuity parts were tender and tasty and soaked up the rhubarby-gingery juices really well. It was the perfect way to end a meal, and as the original recipe suggests, also perfect served with a dollop of yogurt and alongside a strong coffee for breakfast.

Happy spring!!

Rhubarb Apple Ginger Crumble
adapted from Poppytalk

For the Fruity Part
1 pound of rhubarb (about 4 large stalks)
1 large apple (I used a Jonagold)
1/3 cup of brown sugar
1 tablespoon of minced fresh ginger
1 tablespoon of candied ginger, chopped fine
juice and zest of a lemon

1. Mix all the ingredients in a large pot and heat gently -- stirring frequently. Let the fruity mixture bubble and cook for about 5-7 minutes, or until the rhubarb and apple start to get soft and juicy.

2. Pour the mixture into a baking dish -- keep in mind that if you use a smaller (like 6inch) dish, you'll get pandowdy-like results -- biscuity with a bit of crumble on the top. If you more crumble/crisp- like results, use a larger dish.

For the Topping
1 cup of spelt flour
1/2 cup of rolled oats
1/4 cup of brown sugar
1 tablespoon of minced fresh ginger
1 tablespoon of candied ginger, chopped fine
1/3 cup of butter (I used Earth Balance)


2 tablespoons of maple syrup

1. Mix the flour, oats, sugar and gingers together. Using your fingers, rub the butter into the flour mixture until you get a coarse mealy texture.

2. Add the maple syrup and use a spatula to incorporate into the crumble. Spread the crumble mixture over the fruit mixture.

3. Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 30 minutes, or until the fruit starts bubbling up over the top, and the crumble is nice and golden brown.

Peanut Butter + Fruit Part 1

Did we ever discuss my love for peanut butter? It's not just a love. It more like a dependency. Kind of like with coffee. Yup, I have peanut butter days. Yup, it's that bad. Weekends are usually when I get to eat peanut butter, and while I love it stirred into bowls of oatmeal, baked into a cookie, worked into granola or in a classic or super special PBJ, my favourite way to eat peanut butter has always been and always will be, on a spoon. That being said, I'm forever looking for ways to add peanut butter to different things. I've been known to substitute peanut butter for butter, mostly because I like the taste, partly because it's a healthier alternative.

That's exactly what happened here: a peanut butter apple crumble/crisp. Don't get me wrong; I love the classic no-fail apple crumble, and it will probably remain my partner's favourite, but let me tell you, this peanut butter version is going to steal your heart. In the past year, I've realized that natural peanut butter is so much better than the commercial version, so that's what I used in this recipe. It makes the apples get sticky and gooey and creamy -- a perfect match to the toasty crumble/crisp topping that gets sprinkled over top. And since realizing that honey and peanut butter so hand-in-hand, there's a generous spoon of it added to the filling and the topping. Peanut butter + fruit = happiness. Can you guess what the next combination will be?? And can anyone tell me what's the difference between a crumble and a crisp?


Peanut Butter Apple Crumble/Crisp

Filling

2-3 apples, peeled cored and diced (I used Empires)
a pinch of cinnamon
a splash of water
2 teaspoons of honey
1 tablespoon of natural peanut butter

Topping

1/2 cup of oats
1/3 cup of whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon of brown sugar
2 teaspoons of honey
3 tablespoons of natural peanut butter

1. Put all the ingredients for the filling in a small saucepan. Heat on medium, stirring for the first few minutes, until the peanut butter melds with the rest of the ingredients. Turn it down to low and cook until the apples get tender -- about 7-10 minutes.

2. In the meantime, make the crumble by first mixing together the oats, flour and brown sugar until well combined. All the honey and peanut butter and work it into the dry mixture slowly, until a crumble forms.

3. Pour the apple mixture into a baking dish and sprinkle over the crumble topping. Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 15-20 minutes, or until the top gets nice and golden brown. Get ready for a bit of peanut butter heaven .. and you don't even have to feel guilty!

Ooooooops.. some very tasty miscalculations

Ok, I'm going to say it. I'm a bit uptight. Whew. That was hard to admit -- but like all things that make us stronger, admitting our weaknesses is good in the long run. Like that time in high school when the good-looking guidance counsellor suggested that if I hated math, I might not want to go into the science field. I was furious at first. He didn't know me! I was going to be a scientist and that was that. Math was just something I'd have to deal with or learn to like. A year later, I was lining up at 8:00am in the morning with a note from my Mommy asking the ex-cop VP if I could swap Algebra/Geometry for Writers Craft, and switching my university dreams from University of Toronto to York University. Mr. New-Guy-Guidance was right. I didn't want to admit it, but in the end, I did. And I wholeheartedly regret not telling him.

But I'm off topic! My uptightness, yes. I'm a little uptight. (Sorry for getting mad when you told me before!) Sometimes, I plan everything out, and it all works out. Other times, I have a perfect plan that doesn't follow through. Though I've had a pretty good coping strategy, I'm pleased to say that I'm learning to make the best out of a situation that comes about unplanned instead of just accepting the consequences as is.

For example, last week, I made a this beautiful roasted tomato pasta salad to take to a barbecue party. The recipe called for a vinaigrette made with lemon juice, mustard, balsamic vinegar, olive oil and honey. Yum! Fabulous combination that tasted awesome. However, when I assembled the salad, I found that my tomatoes that had been roasting with balsamic vinegar, olive oil and garlic, produced lovely juices that reduced nicely in the oven, and coated the pasta perfectly. What did that mean? My lovely little bowl of vinaigrette went unused. Instead of putting plastic wrap over the bowl and leaving it in the back of the fridge for a month, which I would have probably done before, I surprised my partner by using it to marinate some chicken thighs. "Look what the balsamic vinegar did for the chicken!" he exclaimed when searing them off. I smiled proudly when I saw a yummy-looking, caramelly crust on the outside of the chicken. We'll definitely be doing this one again!

Balsamic Roasted Chicken

2 teaspoons of grainy mustard
juice of one lemon
1.5 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon of olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
4 chicken thighs
1/4 cup of broth or water
2 sprigs of thyme

1. Prepare the marinade by whisking together the lemon juice, mustard, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper.

2. Place the chicken thighs in a large dish and pour over the marinade. Turn the chicken several times in the marinade so that everything gets coated evenly. Let it sit in the fridge for at least an hour.

3. Heat some olive oil in a stainless steel pan until smoking. Place your chicken thighs carefully in the pan, making sure that you let any excess marinade drip off. Save the remaining marinade for later. Sear the chicken thighs for about 3-4 minutes on each side until a nice, dark, sticky crust forms.

4. Remove the chicken from the pan and let it rest for a few minutes. In the meantime, add the remaining the marinade and broth/water to the pan and let it reduce a bit, making sure you scrap up the yummy, balsamicy bits from the bottom. Add the sprigs of thyme.

5. Put the chicken back in the pan and place in a 350 degree oven for about 15 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through.



Example number 2 (hey, I'm getting less uptight already!): For an outdoor dinner with my parents, I was going to make the best strawberry and rhubarb crumble. The best. That's what kickpleat said so I had to give it a try. I had 3 lovely stalks of rhubarb begging to be used up. However, when I went to the market, there were no more Ontario strawberries. Instead of sulking in disappointment or breaking down and buying those gigantic California strawberries, I looked to the local fruit that replaced the strawberries on the shelf: beautiful, delicate, ripe raspberries. I had never really baked with fresh raspberries before, let alone combine it with rhubarb. It didn't seem like a good idea at first -- tart rhubarb + tart raspberries ... ? I gave it go, and thought, if we're going with "tart" we're going all the way. I added a big dose of lemon, popped it in the oven and hoped for the best. Result? Bubbly, crumbly, very tart, lovely raspberry flavour and a hit with my family. Yup, definitely the best.

Raspberry Rhubarb Crumble
adapted from Everybody likes Sandwiches

3 stalks of rhubarb - chopped
1/2 pint of fresh raspberries
juice of half a lemon juice
1/3 cup of sugar
1 teaspoon of corn starch

1/2 cup of flour
1/2 cup of ground almonds
1/4 cup of oats
zest and juice and half a lemon
2 tablespoons of honey
1 tablespoon of brown sugar
1/4 cup of canola oil

1. Placed the chopped rhubarb and raspberries in a baking dish. Sprinkle over the lemon juice, corn starch and sugar. Toss so that all the fruit is coated.

2. Prepare the crumble by first mixing together the flour, ground almonds and oats. Add the honey, brown sugar, oil, lemon zest and juice and stir until a crumble forms.

3. Spread the crumble evenly over the fruit. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 25-30 minutes or until the crumble gets golden brown and the fruit gets bubbly. Pucker up and get ready for a bite!

Warm Weather + Warm Spices = Warm Feelings

Summer is almost here! Officially, I only have to wait 2 days. Unofficially, it's more like 8, but for me, the good times have already started. My weekends are getting more relaxed - I'm enjoying time doing nothing or having outdoor adventures without that nagging "you've got marking to do!" in the back of my mind. Monday, instead of looming over me, has become something to look forward to - let's face it: no one really does much teaching during the last week of school, right? And the warm weather (crossing my fingers) finally looks like it's here to stay. The sun pops her head up around 5:30 instead of 8:00, and by 9:00, I can already shed the sweater I've put on and walk carefree in a t-shirt. And did I mention that certain people have already started wearing sandals?

Although I can honestly say that we're truly blessed with having all four seasons, and that I do love winter with her blustery fresh cold air and fluffy snowflakes which give me the perfect excuse to put off the marking and go trampling outdoors, I must admit that the warm weather is definitely lifting my spirits. So why on earth, you would ask, am I baking with warm winter flavours instead of fresh summery ones? Instead of lemons and strawberries, why would I turn to oranges and nutmeg? I don't know. I honestly do not know. But what I do know, is that what came out of the oven didn't remind me of Christmas or snowfalls or days spent curled up inside. The smell was lovely, warm, inviting: the perfect baked treat to share with a friend who I desperately needed to catch up with.


See, I was meeting my friend yesterday in the mid-morning. My weekday biological alarm clock went off around its usual time, so I had a bit of time of spare, but not too much. I didn't want to start off the already steamy day by working up a sweat in the kitchen. So, after a nice long workout and a quick, cold smoothie, I decided to bake a little cake. I decided that the Ontario strawberries in the fridge would serve me much better blended up in a smoothie or eaten as is, plus I didn't feel like spending all that time hulling and chopping. Although I did have some lemons, I thought that I'd probably need them for our upcoming Father's Day barbecue when we would have to come up with a marinade for chicken. So, with warm weather outside and warm thoughts of meeting an old friend, I turned to the warm spices of cinnamon, nutmeg and cardamom and the fresh zing of orange zest. I slightly modified this recipe for orange crumb cake that I used way back in December and waited patiently as it baked in the oven. Not only did my partner wake up to a nice little slice of warm, spicy sweetness, but it put a big smile on my friend's face when I gave them to her. Plus, it was so easy and almost healthy -- no butter in a crumb cake?! I promise, you won't miss it.

So I'm not that good with seasonal baking. So what? Bake the orange crumb cake and save the lemons and berries for tomorrow.

Orange Crumb Cake
(slightly adapted from Everybody Likes Sandwiches)

1/2 cup of all purpose flour
1/2 cup of whole wheat flour
1/2 cup of ground almonds
1/2 cup of brown sugar
zest of half an orange
1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon of cardamom
a pinch of nutmeg
1/4 cup of canola oil
2 tablespoons of orange juice
1 egg
1/4 teaspoon of almond extract
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
1/2 cup of skim milk yogurt

1. In a large bowl, sift together the flours and spices. Add in the ground almonds and sugar and stir to make sure everything is evenly combined. Add in the oil and juice and mix to form a crumble. Set aside a heaping 1/2 cup of this mixture for the topping.

2. In a small bowl, beat together the egg, almond extract, baking powder and soda and yogurt.

3. Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture and stir to combine. Don't over mix! It will be lumpy and that's ok!

4. Pour the batter into a small loaf pan and top with the reserved crumble topping. Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 30 minutes or until a cake tester inserted comes out clean.

5. Feel warm and cozy inside as you take a little bite and share with your friend.

The No-Fail Gift

Do you remember that crazy, silver spray-painted macaroni wreathe that you made in kindergarten and presented proudly to your parents as soon as you got home? Ever wonder why your mom keeps it hung up on the wall after all these years, talks about it to every guest, and yet that beautiful angora sweater that you bought her for her birthday last year hasn't been worn even once? Well, it's because what your kindergarten teacher told you was true: the best gifts are the ones you make. The mixed tapes (or CDs .. or mp3 playlists now a days??), home-made cards, the photo frames with favourite memory pictures ... and the jar of cookies with the bow tied to it. Gifts that come from the heart are almost always ones that you put your love and sweat into by making.
When I want to make a special treat for the ones that I love, I always look to my "no-fail" recipes. They're different for different people. For my Dad, it would be "fluffy cake" (a plain butter and sour cream pound cake), for my sister and best friend, probably chocolate chip cookies, for my cousin it would be peanut butter cookies. For my love, it's got to be apple crumble.

I first made apple crumble with my sister. We guessed at the ingredients and method, and made it quite a few times before writing the measurements down.I remember her saying "So how do you think we get the butter and flour and sugar to be crumbly." And I said, quickly recalling a foodTV episode "Anna Olsen says you rub the butter into the flour and sugar until it looks likes peas." We did just that, and it worked perfectly. Over the years, I've tried fiddling with the recipe, adding oats, cinnamon, or using whole wheat flour. But the original version always gets the best reviews. I made it the other night as a special request and it was, as always, very well received. So please try this recipe -- even if you're like my apple-hating best friend (yeah, she hates apples! Who hates apples?!), I'm confident that you'll take a second bite.

No-Fail-I-Love-You Apple Crumble

2-3 apples (my favourite is Empire), peeled, cored and cut into small chunks
1/2 + 2 tablespoons of brown sugar
a pinch of cinnamon
1/2 cup of butter, cold, cut into small cube, + 1 tablespoon for the apples
3/4 cup of all purpose flour

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

2. Place your apple chunks, cinnamon, 1 tablespoon of butter and 1 tablespoon of brown sugar in a pot and cook on low, stirring occasionally.

3. While the apples are cooking, make your crumble. Put the flour and brown sugar in a large mixing bowl and stir around until mixed together. Add the butter and rub it against the flour until the mixture has lumps the size of peas (just like Anna Olsen said!). Put half of this mixture in the bottom of a pie plate or cake pan and bake for about 15 minutes or until it gets golden and fragrant. Remove from the oven.

4. When the apples have softened, spread them out on top. Add the remaining crumble mixture and put the whole thing back in the oven for 20 minutes or until the top gets brown and you can smell cinnamon and apples coming from your oven.

5. Present it to the love of your life with pride.