Raspberry Cream Roll screams spring, but as I write this post I look outside to a grey and windy day with a forecast of snow. It’s recipes such as this that keep me focused and looking forward. In this case, forward to better weather, summer days and fresh berries.
This lovely dessert is a classic combination of a vanilla jelly roll laced with raspberry jam, however, it is anything but ordinary. The raspberry jam layer has the addition of Chambord liqueur for a vibrant punch of raspberry flavour, and the cream filling is a luscious combination of mascarpone and whipped cream. It’s a wonderful combination served with lightly macerated mixed berries.
What makes a good jelly roll? Getting lots of volume in the beaten eggs and sugar will ensure your jelly roll is light and spongy. Only mix in the dry ingredients until combined and smooth, don’t over mix after this addition. Allowing the jelly roll to rest for about 10 minutes before rolling will prevent it from deflating itself from its own weight when rolled. Keep in mind you need to roll the cake while warm to prevent cracking but rolling while “hot” out of the oven will result in a flat jelly roll. I find the time it takes to loosen the cake from the edges of the pan, gather together the kitchen towel, sifter and powdered sugar is about enough cooling time to flip over the jelly roll, trim the edges and roll it while warm without cracking or deflation.
The end result is a light and airy cake with a smooth surface that’s begging to be dusted with powdered sugar for the perfect finish. It’s the kind of dessert you want to show off to your guests and one that you’ll want to make again and again.
Preheat oven to 375°F and line a 10"x15"x1" baking tray with parchment. Spray the sides with non-stick spray.
Whisk together flour, baking powder and salt and set aside.
Whip eggs until thick and fluffy, 3-5 minutes. Gradually beat in sugar until combined. Beat in water and vanilla at low speed until incorporated.
Add flour mixture and beat until combined and smooth. Pour batter into prepared pan and spread out evenly using an off-set spatula. Tap pan once or twice lightly on the counter to remove any large air bubbles. Bake in preheated oven for 15-16 minutes until center is set and cake is golden.
Remove cake from oven and loosen cake from edges using a sharp knife. While the cake is warm (not hot, see note) dust top of the cake generously with sifted powdered sugar. Invert cake onto a clean kitchen towel and carefully remove parchment by peeling off at a sharp angle. Trim cake edges.
Starting at the short end, roll the cake up tightly in the kitchen towel. Allow the cake to cool completed before final assembly.
Filling and Assembly
While the cake is cooling whisk jam until smooth and stir in Chambord if using.
Beat whipping cream and powdered sugar until soft peaks form. Add mascarpone and vanilla and continue to beat until stiff peaks form.
Carefully unroll cooled cake and spread evenly with jam mixture. Dollop whip cream mixture over the jam and spread evenly over the jam.
Roll the cake back up as tightly as possible without squishing out the filling. Trim the ends evenly and dust the cake roll with sifted powdered sugar. Transfer cake to a serving platter and cut into thick slices. Serve immediately with fresh macerated berries of choice. If serving at a later time, move the cake to your serving platter and cover ends with plastic wrap and then the entire cake with plastic wrap. Keep chilled until ready to serve. When ready to serve, dust with sifted powdered sugar and cut into thick slices.
Notes
-It is important to note that the cake should be warm and not "hot" when removing from the pan, inverting and rolling. Most recipes don't indicate this, but if you rush and roll the cake while it is hot, it will flatten itself because it's still very soft. I'm not talking about a lot of time difference, 5 minutes in the pan and taking some care loosening it before flipping and care taken to remove the parchment and trim the cake is enough time for the cake to be set enough to roll without excessive flattening yet warm enough to prevent cracking.
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The Keto diet continues to be very popular and I was asked by a friend to whip up a few Keto treats. Although I am familiar with the diet, having done it with my husband about a year and a half ago, we did not eat any sweets. Not only were we not hungry, my husband (who has the sweet tooth) didn’t seem to miss sugar. We were all about the savoury side of the Keto diet, eating meat, avocado, eggs and cheese mostly. So I jumped in with both feet to experiment and learn the world of Keto baking. My Keto Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake Bites are delicious proof that perseverance pays off. They’re rich, chocolatey, not too sweet and the perfect size to treat yourself while staying within the parameters of the Keto Diet.
Baking sweets for Keto was new to me as I’d never baked with artificial sweeteners. I started by baking a batch of cookies, and they were dry, bland and had an odd texture. I then moved on to make mini cheesecakes with greater success. Probably the biggest part of why cheesecake is a great Keto treat option is because the texture is as it should be, smooth and creamy. With other baked items such as cookies, cupcakes and brownies the texture is not necessarily bad, but just a little different than what you would expect. Next came the cupcakes. I experimented with chocolate, chocolate chip and coconut cupcakes. I found a blend of almond flour and coconut flour work well, along with the addition of Xanthan gum which helps give structure to risen products when there is no gluten to fulfill that job.
I quickly learned that artificial sweeteners are not created equal!! If you’re just starting out using sweeteners in baked products, I highly recommend doing some research first. I started by using Splenda because I just happen to have a big bag of it. But several recipes later I learn that Splenda contains dextrose and maltodextrin, both of which are sugars and starches. So while the items made with Splenda were still considered low carb, they were not Keto-friendly. Because Splenda was a bust, I moved on to using a monk fruit /Erythritol granulated blend, powdered Erythritol and a brown sugar Erythritol. The products worked well, tasted good and are suitable for the Keto diet. The problem with Erythritol is it has the tendency to crystallize when cooled. I found this out the hard way after chilling a batch of chocolate cupcakes. The frosting which was made with powdered Erythritol was smooth and creamy when I piped it but when I tasted a chilled chocolate cupcake from the fridge, the frosting had a gritty feel. Again, with some prior research, I would have known this could happen. I was rather disappointed but left the cupcake to sit a room temperature and tasted it again. Although the icing was not as smooth as when first made and piped, the grittiness was almost non-existent and the cupcake was good to eat. So it is important to bring items to room temperature before eating if you’re using a Erythritol sweetener that is prone to crystallizing.
I think the biggest issue I have with artificial sweeteners and no added sugar chocolate is the availability and cost. Not all sweetener varieties are available for purchase in my area. I have to travel almost an hour to find some varieties at a health food store or Costco, otherwise, I have to order online. The cost seems to vary but even the best priced Erythritol blend at Costco works out to about $2.25CND per cup of sweetener. The other sweeteners I purchased which included powdered and brown sugar were more expensive yet. No added sugar chocolate is also very expensive and not a convenient item to shop for.
There are many different sweeteners to choose from, each with pros and cons. I can’t stress enough how important it is to read and learn about the varieties. Some can be a 1:1 substitution, some have a cooling sensation and some are better for baking than others. Here’s a good article from The Spruce Eats to help get you started. Happy Keto baking!!
Preheat oven to 300°F and line 20 mini muffin cups with mini liners.
Add all the dry crust ingredients to a medium bowl and mix until there are no lumps. Add melted butter and mix until combined.
Scoop approximately 1 tsp of crust mixture into each mini muffin liner and press down evenly with your fingers.
Bake for 12 minutes, remove and allow to cool slightly while proceeding.
Cheesecake
Beat cream cheese until smooth using an electric mixer. Add egg and beat until combined. Add sweetener, cocoa powder, vanilla, espresso powder and salt. Beat until combined and smooth.
Finely chop the chocolate and melt in the microwave using 30-second intervals, stirring between each until melted. Add to cream cheese mixture and beat until smooth.
Using a 1 1/2 tbsp cookie scoop, scoop mixture generously into prepared cheesecake bases. Smooth out each using a spoon that is moistened with water. They will appear quite full.
Warm the raspberry jam slightly in the microwave and drizzle evenly over the cheesecake. Using a toothpick swirl the jam two or three turns.
Bake for approximately 12-14 minutes at 300°F. The centers should be slightly soft but not sloppy. Remove and allow to cool before removing from the mini muffin tin.
Notes
-I did not use liners for the pictures, however, they were a challenge to remove, so liners are recommended.-If you can not find seedless no added sugar jam, warm jam and press through a mesh strainer.-I used a disposable piping bag with no tip (just cut a very small hole) to drizzle the jam. -Alternatively, you can drizzle the jam over the baked cheesecake base prior to adding the cheesecake filling, eliminating the need to swirl it. I've done it both ways and while the jam on the base is easier, they have a nicer appearance with the swirl on the top.-The cheesecake bites can be kept in the fridge in a sealed container for up to 3-4 days or several weeks in the freezer. It is recommend to allow cheesecakes to come to room temperature before eating.
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Cheesy and spicy with crispy, golden edges make these tender Cheddar Jalapeño Muffins one of my favourites. I have made them more times than I can remember because I like them that much. They are the perfect accompaniment to chili, stew, tomato soup or green salad and so good about ten minutes out of the oven. Just long enough for them to cool down enough to handle but are still warm on the inside and crispy on the outside.
This lovely recipe originates with one of my favourite food bloggers, Joy the Baker. Joy notes that you can bake these muffins with liners in the muffin tins. You certainly can, but trust me, you do not want to! I find it is best to generously butter non-stick muffin tins to achieve a wonderfully golden muffin bottom that is crispy and chewy when eaten while still slightly warm. They will pop right out of the muffin tins too. When using liners, the muffins need to cool completely before peeling away the liner, otherwise, they will stick and you’ll miss out on the best part. In a nutshell, it’s lots of butter, no liners!!
Do not be skimpy on the cheese!! It will seem like a lot, and the batter will be thick with an abundance of cheese, but the result is a gloriously cheesy muffin. It is also important not to over mix the batter. This is a quick bread and does not require gluten development, so only mix the wet and dry ingredients until they are combined. The batter won’t be completely smooth and that’s okay. The cheese needs to be folded in last so it doesn’t clog up the whisk and make everything gummy. It’s a quick and easy recipe that freezes well too. Simply store cooled muffins in an airtight container or bag for up to a month. Allow to thaw and warm gently in the oven or microwave. They don’t retain their crisp exterior, but they’re still delicious. Enjoy!
1/4cupfinely chopped drained pickled jalapeñosplus more for garnishing
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350°F and generously butter a 12 cup non-stick muffin tin.
Whisk together the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt. Set aside.
Whisk the egg, add the milk and melted butter and continue to whisk to fully combine. Stir in jalapeños.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet stirring until just combined. Fold in cheese until evenly distributed in the batter.
Scoop batter evenly between the prepared muffin cups and bake for 20-25 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Remove from oven and allow to cool for 10-15 minutes in the pan. Gently loosen the muffin tops if any have slightly stuck and pluck out the muffins placing them on a wire rack to cool further.
Notes
-these muffins are best served slightly warm out of the oven.-use a non-stick muffin tin for this recipe and be sure to butter generously. The butter not only helps the muffins not to stick but ensures a crisp and golden bottom. -you can use muffin liners but the muffins will need to cool completely before trying to peel off the liner.
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Who can say 2020 was a wonderful year? I am thankful and happy to report that I can! What makes my year something special is searching for and finding my biological father. My year started with spitting into a test tube through Ancestry. I’m excited to say the DNA test result matches were more than I expected. Although they were not a direct match with my biological father, they were a 100% match with three of his close family members. One message sent to my matches got the ball quickly rolling, and within two weeks I had my first contact with my biological father. His name is Bernie, and imagine his surprise, not knowing that I existed until now. How someone digests such a thing I cannot say, but what I found was a very welcoming, warm and sincere man who was “pleasantly surprised” to learn of me. What I also quickly learned was that Bernie is very much a family man with a family of four children. How cool, now I have more siblings! Wait, not quite… not only was Bernie the man being searched for by an adopted child but also one who has adopted his own four children and over time has assisted them in finding some of their biological roots. So I have to say half-siblings in spirit but not biologically. But the interesting twists in my story don’t end here. I was adopted by a family who live in the same small town as my biological family. I went to the same high school his children did, shopped at the same stores and practically grew up right under his nose. Ooooh how small the world just became!
I have since had the pleasure to meet Bernie, his lovely wife Joan, most of his children, two aunts, and cousins. I also have a biological grandmother still gracing the earth at 92 years old, but sadly with our pandemic world I have not been able to meet her yet. It’s truly hard to find the words to describe what an experience it all has been and continues to be, but I do know that time spent with Bernie and his family is very much a gift and I look forward to our continuing story.
Now, on to the Dutch Jan Hagel cookies, also known as Dutch almond shortbread. As you’ve probably guessed I have learned that I am Dutch on my father’s side. My biological grandparents immigrated to Canada from Holland in 1949 on the vessel RMS Seythia. They settled in the province of Saskatchewan, Canada to farm and raise a family of seven children. I’ve been dabbling in several different Dutch recipes but these cookies are my favourite so far. Jan Hagel Cookies are crisp, buttery and very addictive. They are a traditional Dutch cookie often made at Christmas and will become part of my holiday baking line-up from now on. I’m excited to continue to experiment in Dutch cookery and hope to share more recipes as time goes. Till then, enjoy!
Preheat oven to 350°F and set oven rack to the middle position. Lightly butter a 10"x15" baking tray, set aside.
Cream together butter and granulated sugar. Divide the egg and add the egg yolk, cinnamon, salt and almond extract. Beat to fully combine. Add flour and mix only until dough starts to come together.
Press or roll dough evenly into prepared pan. Whisk egg white with 1 tbsp water. Brush evenly onto prepared dough. Sprinkle evenly with almonds and then sprinkle with coarse sugar. Just enough to create a nice sparkle.
Bake for 20-22 minutes until lightly golden. Remove from oven and allow to cool on a wire rack for 3-5 minutes and then cut into squares or diamonds while the cookie is warm and soft. Once cut, allow to cool completely before removing from the pan. The cookies will firm up as they cool.
Recipe Notes
-coarse sugar is a larger crystal sugar that doesn't melt when baked so it keeps a sparkle on the goods it's sprinkled on. It may also be called pearl sugar, decorators sugar, sparkling sugar.
-I get about 45 - 2" diamond shaped cookies, plus the best and crispiest half diamonds around the edges.
-I've tried sliced almonds with and without the skin and both are good to use and is a matter of preference.
-I find it just as easy to cut the squares instead of just scoring them while they are warm, but if you're having difficulty just score them and cut when cool.
-cookies are best if eaten while fresh, however they will last in a sealed container at room temperature for several days. If freezing, allow to cool completely and store in an airtight container away from strong odours.
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It is crazy how cheese can be made into something so bread-like!! Low Carb Almond Bread has a spongy texture and a chewy bread-like feel. It’s sturdy enough for your favourite sandwich and warms nicely in the toaster for your fried egg. This low carb, Keto-friendly bread also tastes great!!
You can use regular cream cheese, but I like to use flavoured for this recipe for something a little different. I like the garden vegetable for regular sandwiches and the herb and garlic for bread to serve with soup or stew. This great recipe is also super quick, being ready in about half an hour. Serve slightly warm right out of the pan, room temperature or lightly toasted in the toaster. You can use Low Carb Almond Bread for sandwiches, croutons, as a dipping bread, or a base for fried eggs and tuna melts. It’s a great way to keep your Keto diet on track with only 2.4 net carbs per slice. Enjoy!
Here’s the breakdown per slice when cutting into 12 slices per recipe.
Preheat oven to 375°F and lightly spray a 10"x15" baking tray with non-stick spray and line with parchment if desired.
Stir together almond flour and baking powder.
To a large bowl add the cream cheese and mozzarella. Heat in the microwave for 1 minute. Stir and return to microwave for another minute. Stir until smoothed out. Add eggs one at a time whisking with a fork to incorporate each fully. Stir in parmesan cheese and dry ingredients. Spread evenly into the prepared pan and bake for 17-20 minutes.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes in the pan before removing to a wire rack to cool completely. Once cool cut into 12 squares.
Recipe Notes
-I like to use garden vegetable or herb and garlic cream cheese. They add a nice twist to the taste.
-The cut squares will last up to a month in the freezer in an airtight container or Ziplock bag.
-Room temperature squares can be warmed in the toaster.
-This bread holds up well when used for sandwiches, but also great topped with a fried egg or as a tuna melt.
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