Baking Babes Commentary: JBabe had a huge zucchini from the garden and wanted to try to make a zucchini loaf. While the name isn't appetizing, the flavour is very nice and the loaf is very moist. This recipe was adapted from Epicurean.com and offer a wide variety of ways to make your own loaf. This recipe is also child friendly - similar to carrot cake! We've heard that chocolate zucchini loaf is also very decadent but we haven't tried it yet. That will definitely be on the to try list one day.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups of pared and grated zucchini
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 eggs lightly beaten
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
  
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup cinnamom
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/4 cup raisins
• 1/4 cup dried cranberries
  

Directions:

• In a large mixing bowl, beat together the zucchini, sugar and eggs.
• Add the vegetable oil and mix well.
• In another bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Stir into the zucchini mixture.
• Fold in the walnuts and dried fruits.
  
• Preheat the oven to 325 F.
  
• Grease a loaf pan (9x5x3) or line with parchment paper and add a little grease.
• Pour the loaf batter into the pan and bake for 60-70 minutes.
  
• Remnove from the pan and cool thoroughly on a rack.
• Store in an airtight container.
  

Whisk Rating: (out of five)

Easy Vanilla Cream Puffs

Baking Babes Commentary: We really like cream puffs and often buy it at Costco. The only downfall is you have to eat the whole box once it's thawed and eating that much is never good. We tried to make our own and it's actually not that hard, unless you are expecting some gourmet cream puff. With six ingredients and minimal baking time, it's the perfect little dessert for a dinner party especially when you don't have a lot of time! We had one of our own with Vietnamese spring rolls and a nice glass of wine! Cheers!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of water
• 1/2 cup of oil
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 box Jello vanilla instant pudding (for the filling; chocolate pudding is also an option)
  

Directions:

• Prepare the pudding following the directions on the package but use 1/2 the amount of milk recommended ~1 cup (250 ml) (This allows for a more firmer custard)
  
• Boil water and the oil together
  
• Once boiled, immediately add the flour and salt. Mix well and let cool until it's warm
  
• Once the mixture is warm, add in the eggs one at a time (For a lighter coloured puff, use just the egg whites)
• Preheat the oven to 350 F
  
• Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and lightly grease it
  
• Spoon mixture onto the parchment sheet in a ball shape about 1 1/2 inch wide, leaving about 1 1/2-2 inches in between. (Recipe should make about 18-22 puffs depending on the size of the balls)

• Bake at 350 F for 10 minutes on the middle rack so puffs are browned at the bottom.
• Broil at 350F for another 10 minutes or until the top is light brown. Be sure to move your cookie sheet to the bottom rack otherwise the top will be too burnt.
• Turn off oven and leave in for 3 minutes with the door closed. Open the oven door and let the puffs sit for another 10-15 minutes to help the puff maintain its shape. (Removing the puffs too soon from the oven will cause the air to leave and your puff will deflate)
• Allow puffs to cool down fully.
• Once cooled, use a flavour injector needle and inject the puffs with your vanilla pudding filling. If you don't have a flavour injector needle, you can slice each pastry using a pair of scissors 3/4 of the way or fully. Pipe or spoon your pudding filling in.
• Ready to serve!
  

Whisk Rating: (out of five)

Almond Roll

Baking Babes Commentary: A tried and true tested recipe that's a family favourite with JBabe. LBabe couldn't believe that there's no flour! Great for people with wheat allergies. This almond log is easy to make and bakes in under 20 minutes. The secret is to 'pre-roll' the cake after it comes out of the oven to prevent it from cracking when rolling it with the fruit filling. A light and refreshing dessert to make on a lazy afternoon!


Beware of Almond Allergies!

Ingredients:

• 5 eggs (room temperature), separated into yolks and whites
• 1 cup of nuts (almonds or hazelnuts crushed finely)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 3/4 tsp baking powder

Directions:

• Mix yolks and sugar with a whisk for about ten minutes
• Whip up egg whites separately until they're stiff
• To the yolk mixture, add nuts and baking powder and mix
• Line a rectangular pan (16" x 10" and at least 1" high) with parchment paper
• Oil and dust the parchment paper with flour
• Preheat over to 350F
• Add 1 BIG spoon of whites into nut mixture and fold gently
• Then add nut mixture into the rest of the whites and fold GENTLY (your mixture should be nice and fluffy now)
• Pour into pan and bake for 18-20 minutes
• Prepare tea towel with icing sugar sprinkled on it (If you don't have a tea towel, another sheet of parchment paper will do)
• FLIP cake into tea towel, and gently separate cake from parchment paper using a spatula
• Sprinkle icing on the cake, then lift tea towel and roll the cake, let cool

For the filling:

• Open 1 carton of whipping cream and 1 satchet of Dr. Oetker "Whip It". Whip until it's whipped cream, then fill the cake with fruits and cream (we used really fresh strawberries and blueberries from the farmer's markets). Decorate the cake as desired, then serve chilled (we tried using the whip cream from the can but it didn't hold it's shape well so a harder cream is needed)

Whisk Rating:(out of five)

Strawberry Torte

Baking Babes Commentary: This recipe was one that we tried from the Food Network - Anna Olsen. It's fairly easy to make about 45 minutes in total and tastes quite good. What we didn't get is why the meringue for one cake gets flipped onto the plate, the meringue gets crushed and sticks to the plate.

Our funny discovery: the dessert looks like the one on the Cool Whip tub!


Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup sugar (less is a bit better)
• 3 x large eggs
• 1 tsp finely grated lemon zest
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1/3 cup 2% milk
• 1-1/4 cup pastry flour
• 1-1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp fine salt
• 2 cup sliced fresh strawberries
• 1/2 cup whipping cream, whipped to soft peaks

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F and grease and flour two 8-inch square cake pans.
   
2. Beat vegetable oil, ½ cup sugar and egg yolks with electric beaters until fluffy. Stir in lemon zest and vanilla. Stir in milk.
   
3. Sift together pastry flour, baking powder and salt and gently stir into egg yolk mixture until blended. Spread evenly into the 2 prepared pans.
   
4. Whip egg whites with electric beaters until frothy, then gradually add the remaining ½ cup sugar and whip until whites hold a stiff peak. Spread meringue evenly over batter in pans.
5. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until a tester inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool cakes completely in the pan.
6. To assemble, turn one cake out onto a plate, meringue-side down (We suggest not). Top cake with half the strawberries and cream (Place cream on the bottom layer, add strawberries and then coat with one more layer of cream or else torte doesn't hold). Place second cake layer on top, meringue-side up and top with remaining cream and fruit. Chill until ready to serve.
7. Garnish with whip cream.
   

Whisk Rating: (out of 5)