honey roasted strawberry parfait

 

i just spent last night making a zillion different types of chocolate & vanilla cupcakes for a bridal shower i am off to shortly. okay, by a zillion i mean four dozen, but EH that is a lot of cupcakes! i have been trying really hard to perfect my rose piping technique (spoiler alert: you will see the results this week). i don't know, i feel like it still doesn't look exactly how i want it to.. maybe that is just me being a crazy perfectionist. i really want to work on my skills so i can make both a ruffle cake & ombre rose cake! but enough about piping & more about these parfaits. this is kind of a little intro to spring/mother's day, even though it snowed yesterday & looks like it is christmas outside. every year since i was little, my sisters & i have made my mom breakfast in bed. what started out as burnt toast & orange juice, slowly progressed to a much fancier breakfast. bobby flay's blueberry pumpkin french toast (i need to blog those ASAP), nigella lawson's strawberry cheesecake pancakes & various forms of fruit parfait! this parfait has been the best one to date. not only is the honey granola homemade, but i decided to roast the strawberries in honey & they are amazing. i can't believe i didn't always do this. with the help of bee raw's variety of honey, i decided to include the different honeys in ALL three layers of the parfait. i chose a very simple almond granola base & went with a plain greek yogurt sweetened with honey.

ingredients

(makes 4 parfaits)

for the almond granola

  • 3 cups whole rolled oats
  • 1 cup slivered almonds
  • 1 pinch cinnamon
  • 1 pinch nutmeg
  • 1/3 cup olive oil
  • 1/3 cup honey (i used bee raw's new york basswood honey)
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 2 tablespoons almond milk

for the roasted strawberries

for the honey greek yogurt

directions

for the almond granola

  • preheat oven to 325 degrees.
  • in a large mixing bowl add oats, almonds, cinnamon & nutmeg. stir until combined.
  • in a separate bowl whisk oil, honey, vanilla & milk.
  • add wet ingredients to dry ingredients & toss until evenly coated.
  • on a parchment lined tray, bake for 45 minutes. stir granola every 10 minutes for even baking.
  • set aside & let cool.

for the roasted strawberries

  • preheat oven to 400 degrees.
  • in a bowl toss strawberries & honey. pour onto a parchment lined baking tray.
  • roasted for 10-15 minutes, until strawberries become soft & juicy.
  • set aside & let cool.

for the honey greek yogurt

  • in a bowl add yogurt & honey. stir until evenly mixed.

for assembly

  • in a clear glass or parfair dish layer yogurt, granola & strawberries. repeated until you reach the top of the glass.

this post was created in partnership with bee raw. they have so many unique flavours of honey, i seriously want them ALL. 

wild mushroom & rosemary fritatta

 

the answer to how many eggs that egg cracking action shot took.. FOUR! luckily this recipe calls for five eggs, so i had several attempts to get the perfect shot. i used to be obsessed with making frittatas of all sorts. even back when i didn't really like eggs, frittatas were the one thing i liked. so many flavour possibilities & all that delicious cheese! for this particular version i wanted to use woodsy flavours, so i went with rosemary & wild mushrooms. i know both these flavours can be quite a love or hate situation, or at least they are in my family. feel free to use this recipe as the base for all your frittata making needs! just substitute the herbs, vegetables & cheeses for which ever flavour combinations are your favourite. if you are lucky enough to have leftovers, please try a frittata sandwich. i promise it is sooo good. fri-ta-ta for now! #corny

ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 1 clove of garlic, minced
  • 1 sprig of fresh rosemary chopped
  • 1 medium onion, finely chopped
  • 2 cups wild mushrooms, roughly chopped (i used oyster, shiitaki & mini white)
  • 5 eggs, lightly beaten,
  • 1.5 cups gruyere cheese, shredded
  • 1/2 cup bread crumbs
  • salt & pepper, too taste

directions

  • preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  • in a cast iron skillet on low heat add oil, butter, garlic, onions, rosemary & mushrooms. cook until the onions begin to turn translucent & the mushrooms have softened. season with salt & pepper. let cool to room temperature.
  • in a mixing bowl lightly whisk eggs. stir in shredded cheese, breadcrumbs, mushroom mixture, salt & pepper.
  • pour back into a well greased skillet & bake for 20 minutes or until the eggs are puffed & fully cooked.
  • let stand for 5 minutes before serving. garnish with fresh rosemary!

thank you so much to canvas home store for providing all the plates, flatware, cups & linens in this post. 

amaretto & almond tart

 

happy monday! i hope everyone had a happy easter & relaxing long weekend. my family came up to the city this weekend to spend easter in toronto with my sister & i (buddy holly too). we walked along queen west & went to the distillery district for a delicious mexican brunch at el catrin followed by some antique (window) shopping. we even ate a whole easter lamb pound cake! it was the first time i ever had one, it was so good. my mom made my favourite cherry cookies & i made these fancy little almond tartlets in the most gorgeous copper pans. i love the flavour of amaretto & almond. i was able to get an almond flavour throughout the tart by using bob's red mill's almond meal flour in both the crust & filling. the crust is buttery like a shortbread cookie & the filling is soft like cake. i made them to be not overly sweet, just a touch of powdered sugar to sweeten the deal.

ingredients

for the crust

  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, cold & cubed
  • 1/3 cup white sugar
  • 1 pinch sea salt
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon amaretto
  • 1/2 cup bob's red mill almond meal/flour
  • 1 1/2 cups bob's red mill all purpose flour
  • 1-2 tablespoons ice water

for the filling

  • 1/3 cup white sugar
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon amaretto
  • 1 cup bob's red mill almond meal/flour
  • 1/4 cup bob's red mill all purpose flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 cup slivered almonds, for topping
  • 1/4 cup powdered sugar, for dusting

directions

  • for the crust: preheat oven to 350 degrees. in a mixing bowl add the butter, sugar, salt, vanilla, amaretto, almond flour & flour. using your hands or a pastry cutter, cut into the butter until a pea sized crumb consistency is formed. add the water, one tablespoon at a time until the dough begins to come together. take a handful of the dough & press it into the tartlet pans. place tartlets in the freezer for 30 minutes to firm up. bake for 10 minutes before adding the filling.

  • for the filling: in a mixing bowl cream butter & sugar. add the eggs one at a time, followed by the vanilla extract & amaretto. add the almond flour, flour & salt, beat until a smooth batter is formed. pour into pre-baked tartlet pans, sprinkle with slivered almonds & bake for an additional 15 minutes. dust with powdered sugar before serving.

this post was created in partnership with bob's red mill. you can find the almond meal/flour i used here.

like what you see? get it here. copper tartlet pans | mixing bowl | plates | kettle | flatware | linen