Pumpkin Pecan Cake

Happy weekend everyone!

We recently celebrated my son’s 17th birthday and last Saturday we celebrated my daughter’s 20th birthday!! We spent the weekend at Niagara Falls, in Ontario. We had a lot of fun, due to the cold, we spent most of our time doing things indoors like bowling and eating! ;))

I still had some pumpkins left from our garden, made some soup and a pumpkin pecan cake. Pumpkin and pecan might be a bit an unusual combination but it turned out really yummy! This is probably going to be my last pumpkin recipe for this season, as I’m starting to think of gingerbread and other delicious holiday baked goods!

 

Pumpkin Pecan Cake

• 200 ml maple syrup
• 4 eggs
• 150 g butter, soft
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• pinch of salt
• 200 g grated pumpkin
• 120 g ground pecans
• 100 g spelt flour
• 1 tsp baking powder

-Whisk together the butter and the eggs, add the maple syrup, cinnamon, vanilla and salt. Add the pumpkin, pecans, flour and the baking powder, stir until well combined.

-Fill into a 8 x 12 baking form that is lined with parchment paper. Bake in preheated 375F oven for 40 minutes or until tester inserted into centre of cake comes out clean.

-Let cool completely, then cut into squares.

 

Enjoy!

Ursula 

 

Follow me on Instagram! littleswisslittlecanadian

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Cranberry and Orange Sheet Cake

I love the smell and taste of this flavor combination, so lovely! If you are looking for a simple and delicious sheet cake this might be just what you are looking for.

I still had some cranberries left from Christmas baking and my kids have been eating oranges, I had everything at home to whip this up. I used spelt flour and maple syrup to make it a healthier treat.

 

Cranberry and Orange Sheet Cake

Ingredients:

• 1 cup dried cranberries, chopped
• 2/3 cup orange juice
• 1 cup maple syrup
• 1/3 cup buttermilk
• 2/3 cup grapeseed oil
• 4 eggs
• 3 cups spelt flour
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 4 tbsp orange zest

-Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour a 9 x 13 inch baking pan.

-Soak cranberries in orange juice for 15 minutes.

– In a large bowl mix together flour, baking powder, salt and orange zest.

-In a separate bowl whisk eggs, oil, buttermilk and vanilla, then add the cranberry mixture. Stir in flour until well combined. Fill into the prepared baking pan.

-Bake in preheated oven for 30 – 40 minutes or until tester inserted into middle of cake comes out clean.

-Let cool completely. Cut into squares, decorate with an icing if desired, I used maple syrup and small cranberry pieces and orange zest.

-Can be baked in a smaller sheet pan, a bundt form or muffin tins.

Enjoy!

Ursula

 

Follow me on Instagram: littleswisslittlecanadian

 

 

 

Maple Shortbread Cookies

Happy Monday! After yesterdays Canada Day we have an other day off and it is also finally vacation for our kids. Last week has been busy with preparations for my daughters Prom, which was on Friday. She looked beautiful with a long navy blue dress, all dolled up with makeup and hair done. All the kids or I should say the young ladies and gents looked amazing! Hard to believe that she already finished high school, emotional moments for sure.

It has been, and still is, a few very hot days here in Ontario, which makes you wish for a pool, spend time at the beach or simply stay indoors.

These Maple Shortbread Cookies were our treat for Canada Day! But they are yummy all year round!

 

Maple Shortbread Cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 cup butter, soft, room temperature
• 1 cup maple syrup
• 1.5 tsp pure vanilla extract
• pinch of sea salt
• 3 cups spelt flour

-Combine the butter, maple syrup, salt and vanilla extract. Add the flour and mix until well combined. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

-On a lightly floured surface roll dough out and cut into desired shapes. Place on baking sheets lined with parchment paper.

-Refrigerate for 5 minutes.

Bake in 300 F preheated oven for 20-30 minutes or until golden brown, do not overbake. Let cool before icing.

-Decorate as desired. I left some plain, some with a maple icing (icing sugar and maple syrup mixed together) and a few a I spread some maple syrup on top and some maple sugar.

-Feel free to use whole wheat or all-purpose flour instead of the spelt flour.

 

 

I wish everyone a happy July!

Enjoy!

Ursula

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Maple Walnut Oat Muffins

Happy Friday everyone!

I am finally able to do some baking again! We’ve had an ice storm last weekend that left us with power outages, especially Sunday almost all day and on Monday the power went on and off all afternoon and then it just continued for the last few days. So annoying!

Now I am looking forward to some warmer and sunnier days!

We’ve been munching on these scrumptious muffins this week! My kids put one in their lunch bags for school every day! They are lovely just plain or you can eat them warm or cold with some maple butter.

Try to get your hands on some real Maple Butter from your local maple producer! Which does not contain any butter!! 🙂

 

Maple Walnut Oat Muffins

Yields: 14 large muffins

Ingredients:

• 3 cups spelt flour
• 2 cups oats
• 1 1/2 cup coconut sugar
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 4 eggs
• 2/3 cup butter, melted
• 2 cups milk, room temp., I used cashew milk
• 1 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 2 tbsp baking powder
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts

-Grease or line your muffin cups. Preheat oven to 385F (convection setting).

-In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, oats, sugar, salt and baking powder.

-Whisk together the eggs, add the butter, milk and maple syrup.

-Add the milk mixture and walnuts to the dry ingredients and stir just until combined, do not overmix.

-Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups. Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes or until tester inserted into middle comes out clean.

Optional, Maple Butter: 1/2 cup butter softened and 1/3 maple syrup, room temp. Beat together until smooth.

-Serve muffins warm with Maple Butter

 

Enjoy! And happy, almost, weekend!

Ursula

 

You can find me on Instagram: littleswisslittlecanadian

 

 

 

Mango Coconut Rose Tart

I hope you all had a happy Easter and a great start into April!

I can’t believe I am saying this but last week I did not feel like baking anything special for Easter. Last year I have made a Swiss Carrot Cake , this year instead of something Easter themed I was in the mood of making something bright and flowery. Thinking of daffodils, it looked more like a rose in the end, but surely made me happy. The mango pairs nicely with my coconut custard, a little exotic taste that makes you dream of a beautiful island.

 

 

Mango Coconut Rose Tart

Crust:

• 150 g white spelt flour
• 50 g buckwheat flour
• 100 g butter, soft
• 2-3 tbsp maple syrup
• 1 egg
• pinch of sea salt

-Whisk together butter, maple syrup and egg until creamy. Add salt, spelt and buckwheat flour, mix until combined. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

-Line the bottom of a 9-inch/23 cm tart form with parchment paper, grease sides. Preheat oven to 375F/180C, convection setting.

-Roll dough out to fit form, prick bottom evenly with a fork, cover bottom with a piece of parchment paper, to add some weight, fill with some dried chickpeas or other legumes. Blind bake for about 30 minutes or until golden brown. Remove parchment paper with the legumes half way through baking. Let cool completely before filling.

Coconut Custard

-You can find the recipe here: Coconut Custard mini tarts with mixed berries

-Prepare in advance as the custard needs some time in the refrigerator to set.

-(Instead of the 1 1/2 canned coconut milk, I used 500 ml coconut milk from a tetra pak that does only contain coconut milk.)

Mango Rose Topping:

• About 1 1/2 large mangoes, thinly sliced

-Fill tart shell with the coconut custard, about 3/4 full. To make the rose, start on the outside and work your way towards the center, as you like.

 

 

I hope you’ll give it a try, let me know if you do! You can tag me on Instagram so I can see your creation:)

littleswisslittlecanadian

 

I wish you all a lovely week!

Ursula

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Almond Cake

It’s been a bit of a crazy week, so glad it’s the weekend! High School mid-term exams are done, my kids had their last test on Wednesday and were able to enjoy two extra days off. My daughter and I also started looking for prom dresses. Can’t believe she will be done with High School this summer.

February greeted us with winter weather…the return of cold temperatures and snow.

 

I’ve made this yummy Almond Cake a few days ago. Adapted from a Betty Bossi Almond Cake recipe. I sweetened it with coconut sugar and used Spelt flour. I am really happy with the outcome, it was so delicious and gone in a short time;)

 

Almond Cake

Ingredients:

• 175 g butter, soft
• 200 g coconut sugar
• 8 egg whites
• 1 pinch of salt
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 120 g spelt flour
• 175 g ground almonds

-Prepare a 24 cm Springform. Cover the base with parchment paper, grease and flour the sides.

-Preheat oven to 180C/375F.

-In a mixing bowl whisk together the butter and sugar. In a separate bowl whisk egg whites, salt and baking powder until stiff peaks form.

-Add the egg whites, flour and almonds, a little at the time, to the butter mixture and gently fold under until all ingredients are combined.

-Fill into prepared Springform pan and bake for 40 minutes, or until tester inserted comes out clean.

Tip: You could use hazelnuts instead of the almonds.

-As always feel free to use regular sugar and white flour. The coconut sugar gave it a light caramel flavor.

 

Wishing everyone a wonderful Weekend!

Happy February!

Ursula

 

 

You can find me on Instagram: littleswisslittlecanadian

 

 

 

Vegan Granola Cookies

Happy Weekend!

The first week of back to school went by rather quick, it also only started on Tuesday, because Monday was a Snow-day. All schools were closed because of bad weather. The remaining of the week was very warm and rainy, melting almost all of the snow we had, which was a lot. Now we are back to freezing temperatures.

I like to use weekends to prepare some healthy snacks to have on hand, easy to grab for breakfast, school, work or for that moment when you are just really craving something sweet;) lol. I usually make cookies or granola bars. The following recipe is a healthy, vegan, crunchy granola cookie that tastes, well, like granola.

I’ve been using flaxseeds and flaxoil for my breakfast for a few years now already, these are rich in omega-3 fats. Because of my very low iron level I always have to include foods into my diet that are rich in iron, and these cookies are perfect, rich in healthy fats, protein and minerals, including iron.

 

Vegan Granola Cookies

Yields: 20 large cookies

Ingredients:

• 3 cups oats
• 1 cup spelt flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 cup sunflowerseeds
• 1/4 cup pumpkinseeds
• 1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
• 1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
• 1/2 cup almonds, slivered
• 1/3 cup raisins
• 1/4 cup cranberries, dried
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1/3 cup coconut oil, melted
• 1/2 cup + 1 tbsp maple syrup
• 1/3 cup + 1 tbsp natural almond butter, or any natural nut butter
• 3 tbsp finely ground flaxseeds/flaxmeal
• 6 1/2 tbsp warm water

-Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Preheat oven to 350F/180C

-In a small bowl or cup mix together the flaxmeal with the water, let stand for at least 5 minutes to thicken.

-In a large bowl mix all your dry ingredients including cinnamon, vanilla and salt.

-Add the melted coconut oil, maple syrup, almond butter and “flax egg”, mix together well.

-With a tablespoon drop equal amounts of dough onto the sheets, and form, with the help of your hands into cookie shapes.

-Bake in preheated oven for about 10-15 minutes or golden brown.

-Let cool completely.

Enjoy with a glass of milk!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Ursula

 

You can find me on Instagram: littleswisslittlecanadian