• Autumn baking,  Baking Recipes,  Quickbreads & Loaves,  The Breakfast Bin

    Biscoff and autumn are a nifty combination

    I’ve sung this song a million times before, but it’s simply inevitable that I feel this way around this time of the year. I can’t help it! I can’t quite hold back the green-eyed monster when all the beautiful orange-hued photos with scarf-wearing people in them begin popping up everywhere. I can’t help wishing that I live in a place where I can take Instagram photos of my boots nestled beneath a mountain of crunchy orange leaves; a place where the breeze is crisp and cool all-day long once the -ber months hit. Well I could spend all my energies wishing for autumn to magically fall upon this country, but unless…

  • Autumn baking,  Baking Recipes,  Doughnuts & Fried pastries

    An attempt to copy McDonald’s Fried Apple Pie

    I don’t have much of a relationship with fast food to speak of, simply because it hasn’t been a part of my diet in the last 5 years. I’ll eat fast food when I’m traveling in a foreign place and I’m too hungry to seek out a restaurant, or when I absolutely have no choice. That happens maybe 3 to 5 times a year. But if I had to pick one of my favourite fast food indulgences, the McDonald’s Apple Pie would definitely be on the top of my list. These crunchy buttery pastries are one of those things that’s soooo difficult to resist even though you know it’s ridiculously…

  • Autumn baking,  Baking Recipes,  Experiments & experiences,  Foodie Life,  J'adore macarons

    {Kitchen Diaries} Autumn Edition

    It’s November, which means I am officially starting my countdown to Christmas! Since we don’t actually celebrate Thanksgiving holiday here, we’re jumping right into festive, Christmas-y baking before the last week of November arrives. It’s my favourite time of the year and I’m super excited to make the recipes I have planned for Christmas already, but before that, I wanted to share some of the autumn recipes that did not make the cut. I’ve actually been pretty busy in the kitchen even though it’s not as apparent on the blog. Poor planning, crazy whims, and the desire to use ingredients screaming at me in the fridge have led me to…

  • Autumn baking,  Baking Recipes,  Christmas & holidays,  Pies & Tarts

    Of pumpkin pie and spiderwebs

    I have already resigned myself to the fact that celebrating Halloween just is not in the cards as far as traditions go in our home. But because it is a fun little holiday, I like to join in by making something extra special from my kitchen. This year however, I find I did not have the time for a Halloween baking extravaganza. It’s just been that kind of year. I got completely thrown off my timeline after the big move to the self-hosted site and with the slew of other responsibilities in the real world, I feel like I’ve been playing a game of catch-up since August. Anyway, I decided…

  • Autumn baking,  Baking Recipes,  My favourite things,  Simple cakes

    The perfect first cake roll experience

    If I had known beforehand how easy and fun these are to make, I wouldn’t be sitting here right now telling you how this is my first time making a cake roll. I guess there is something about cake rolls that unnerved me. I’m not sure if it’s because I question my abilities to be gentle enough to make them look as good as the ones in the pictures, but I often find myself imagining how heartbreaking it would be to ruin such a piece of edible art. What I forgot to think about is how cake rolls are great examples of how bakers play with cake and icing flavour…