Hilary makes Friday treats

“Happy Birthday Canada” Cupcakes (and a brief narration of Canada Day from in front of the Terry Fox statue)

~ Hilary ~ 3 Comments

If there is one thing that you need to know about me, it is that I love my country.  With such knowledge now in your craniums, I’m sure it’s not hard for you to guess just what it was I was doing on July 1.  Decked out in my red shorts and Canuck shirt, I trekked to downtown Ottawa, to experience Canada’s birthday the way it should be celebrated: on Parliament Hill.

(It was windy, we were trying to fly)

11:30 a.m.
 So the Parliament Hill thing didn’t really happen…apparently you have to come a wee bit earlier than 11:30 if you wish to even claim a smidgen of space on the Hill.  Alas, myself and a few of my fellow Summer O leaders camped out in front of the Terry Fox statue, where we managed to see the Queen in her red pantsuit (very patriotic of her) and get scared as 21 shots rang out into the afternoon heat.  Special shout out to Iman who found her soulmate on this balmy July day: a tall, photo-taking, prominent jawline man who we have appropriately named Eric (after Prince Eric in The Little Mermaid).  All in all, my feet were run over by strollers, bicycles and walkers, but not even sore feet could smother my patriotism!  I swear, if they had played that Olympic “I Believe” song, I would have broken out into tears.

My tippy-toes view of the day’s events:

Mass chaos ensued as we tried to escape the drowning push and pull of red-and-white…

On to the treat!
Since it certainly isn’t everyday that your dear country turns 143, I thought I should do something extra special for this Friday’s treat, in honour of this festive occasion.  Between coming home from being swamped downtown and going to see the fireworks at night, I managed to churn 27 pretty little cupcakes out of my ghetto student kitchen.  I even melted red chocolate into maple leaf moulds!!  Come on, how cute is that?  Even after a long, frustrating struggle with the Stove from Hell and our pathetic mixer (I am so buying a counter mixer with my Visa reward points), we were complete.  Here is the result, which I am rather pleased with.

So what did I think of Canada Day in the capital?  AWESOME!!  Next year’s plan?  Parking myself on Parliament Hill at 8:00 a.m. sharp, picnic blanket and Canada flag in hand (and painted on my face).

I hope you all had as great a Canada Day as I did!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie

~ Hilary ~ 4 Comments

In honour of the first official Summer Orientation Leader sleepover held last night, I decided to postpone Friday’s treat until Sunday, so I could make something extra special and extra tasty.  Unsure of what dessert would warrant additional “oohs” and “aahhs” from my co-workers, I flipped through my Canadian Living cookbook, hoping to be inspired.  Just as I was about to give up and make some lame cookie recipe, I found it; the dream dessert of my childhood, combining what are possibly my two most favourite things: chocolate peanut butter pie.  If someone had made this for me as a kid, I swear I wouldn’t have been able to run to the kitchen fast enough.

The recipe boasted a deliciously crunchy chocolate wafer crust (which isn’t shown in the photos because I did an absolutely miserable job of cutting my plated piece), a rich peanut butter-infused filling (there was whipping cream folded into it!!!!), and an AMAZING chocolate drizzle.  How AMAZING you ask?  Let’s just put it this way…I was piping chocolate sauce into my mouth for 15 minutes straight after the completion of the pie topping.  All in all, the pie was extremely rich and decadent, but it turned out absolutely perfect.  Warning if you plan to make this (and I highly suggest that you do): with a painful amount of chilling required, leave an entire afternoon free for complete preparation.

There is a leftover piece of pie sitting in my fridge which I am supposed to be saving for my roommate’s boyfriend (peanut butter foods are his Kryptonite); however I am seriously considering eating it, and supplying him with one “IOU a piece of the best pie ever” ticket.  We shall see.

Cheesecake Brownies

~ Hilary ~ 3 Comments

Welcome to another weekly posting of my Friday treat!  This week’s treat was requested by our team leader at work, Kristina, and was inspired by the cheesecake brownie recipes I have been frequently stumbling on this entire week.  An unrelated side note: as I type this post, I am listening to the blaring sounds of my mom’s new iPad.  It is currently being controlled by my 16-year-old brother, and he is showing me some neato 2009 megamix thing as well as commenting on Miley Cyrus’ midriff in her new album cover.  Oh weekend trips home.

I have never made brownies before, so you can probably imagine how worried I was when this recipe called on me to make them FROM SCRATCH.  Walking around the grocery store collecting my ingredients, I paused for an extended period of time in front of the “brownie-in-a-box” Duncan Hines mix.  Wouldn’t it be nice to just add three ingredients and magically have a delicious brownie batter?  Alas, I refused to give in, and promptly snatched up bars of semi-sweet chocolate and unsweetened cocoa powder.  That’s what I get for stubbornly refusing to make boxed food.

Anyways, since I couldn’t find a cheesecake brownie recipe on Canadian Living, I turned to dear Martha Stewart for this recipe.  Technically these are called “cream-cheese brownies,” but when you add the word “cheesecake” to a recipe, it always becomes more fun, right?  Since I don’t have a double-boiler (and didn’t fully know what one was until I googled it late Thursday night), I just heated the chocolate and butter right over my stove element, cautiously aware of the fact that I had burned an entire chocolate bunny in a similar manner just years earlier.  IT WAS PERFECT.  Once I mixed the batter together, it was like magic.  It was delicious and rich and smooth, and so much better than I could ever imagine the consistency of a brownie batter to be.  I came face-to-face with the Dessert Gods, and I loved it.

The recipe told me to bake the brownies for 50 to 60 minutes at 350 degrees.  Obviously in our oven, this translated to 30 minutes at 300 degrees.  Oven temperature…I have conquered you.

The picture can really not do these brownies justice.  I’m usually pretty humble with my cooking skills, but these were perfection.

PS: I have been CHALLENGED by my friend Gord to a cook a meal using tofu (my mortal enemy).  I have hesitantly accepted, and will be making something tofu-fied sometime in the next week.  Watch out world.

Chocolate Marshmallow Fudge

~ Hilary ~ 1 Comment

I was feeling unmotivated last Thursday night, so I knew I wouldn’t be making as elaborate a Friday treat as I usually do.  I bought a can of evaporated milk earlier in the month, and knew that I finally had to use it.  Not knowing what else you can make with such an ingredient, I made the one thing I knew used it – chocolate fudge!  This entire recipe took me all of ten minutes to make, but I think it turned out rather well.  It’s not as photogenic as some of my other desserts, but I tried!  I still have some evaporated milk leftover, so I’m thinking of this recipe for next Friday’s treat…thoughts?

S’mores Cupcakes

~ Hilary ~ 2 Comments

I’ve started this thing where every Friday (this was my second Friday, it’s not quite a pattern yet..) I bring in a delicious baked treat for my wonderful co-workers.  Last week’s baked good was the cheesecake, so I knew I had to do something dramatically different for this week’s surprise.  I asked our team leader Kristina on Thursday what she would like me to bring in for the next day, and she eagerly suggested that I make the s’mores cookies I photographed earlier for this blog.  Since I didn’t want to start with food re-runs already, I knew I needed to find a new way to incorporate s’mores into a delicious recipe.

Just when I thought all was lost, my favourite dessert blog Bakerellasaved the day!  I was just scanning through the pages looking for a white cake recipe when I stumbled on her recipe for “s’more-or-less cupcakes.”  The second I saw them, I knew I needed to make them.  Two hours later, voila!  These cupcakes were decadent, and the recipe made the perfect amount for all the staff in our office.

Just so you all know, I still have leftover s’mores ingredients, so expect a s’mores cheesecake sometime in the near future.

As for tonight’s dinner?  I’m going back to my “can’t cook” roots and having soup noodles.