Banana Cake

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C) and grease a 9×13 inch pan.
  2. Make the cake: Mash the bananas. I usually just use my mixer for this! Set mashed bananas aside.
  3. Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt together. Set aside.
  4. Using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on high speed until smooth and creamy – about 1 minute. Add both sugars and beat on high speed for 2 minutes until creamed together. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed. Add the eggs and the vanilla. Beat on medium-high speed until combined, then beat in the mashed bananas. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl as needed. With the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients in three additions alternating with the buttermilk and mixing each addition just until incorporated. Do not over-mix. The batter will be slightly thick and a few lumps is OK.
  5. Spread batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 45-50 minutes. Baking times vary, so keep an eye on yours. The cake is done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. If you find the top of the cake is browning too quickly in the oven, loosely cover it with aluminum foil.
  6. Remove the cake from the oven and set on a wire rack. Allow to cool completely. After about 45 minutes, I usually place it in the refrigerator to speed things up.
  7. Make the frosting: In a large bowl using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment, beat the cream cheese and butter together on high speed until smooth and creamy. Add 3 cups confectioners’ sugar, vanilla, and salt. Beat on low speed for 30 seconds, then switch to high speed and beat for 2 minutes. If you want the frosting a little thicker, add the extra 1/4 cup of confectioners sugar (I add it). Spread the frosting on the cooled cake. Refrigerate for 30 minutes before serving. This helps sets the frosting and makes cutting easier.
  8. Cover leftover cake tightly and store in the refrigerator for 5 days.

Broccoli Salad

  1. Cut the green onions into bits
  2. Mix
  3. Chill at least 4 hours (or overnight)

Burger Buns

Note: The amount of water you need will depend on the humidity in your kitchen. Start with ¾ cup and add more as needed.

  1. Mix and knead all of the dough ingredients.
  2. Cover and let rise until doubled, 1–2 hours
  3. Deflate and separate into 8 (~100g) balls
  4. Flatten each ball into 3" disks
  5. Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet, cover, and let rise for ~1 hour
  6. Brush buns with melted butter, then egg wash (1 egg white + 2 tbsp water)
  7. Sprinkle with sesame seeds
  8. Bake at 375°F for 15–18 minutes

Buttercream Icing

  1. In large bowl, beat shortening and butter with electric mixer until light and fluffy. Beat in vanilla.
  2. Gradually add sugar, one cup at a time, beating well on medium speed. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl often. When all sugar has been mixed in, icing will appear dry.
  3. Gradually add milk or water; beat at medium speed until light and fluffy.

Note: This recipe is for stiff consistency buttercream, which is excellent for piping decorations like flowers. However, it will need to be thinned for icing cakes and borders.

Hints

Storing Buttercream

Leftover buttercream can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to two weeks. Buttercream can also be frozen for up to six months. Before reusing, bring buttercream back to room temperature and rewhip using a paddle attachment until it’s back to the correct consistency.

Chili

Note: If using beans in tomato sauce, include a small glug of molasses. Corn is also nice in it.

  1. Dice the onion into medium-small pieces
  2. Brown the ground beef and onion together, breaking up the ground beef as desired
  3. Add the canned tomatoes, brown beans, and kidney beans
  4. Add the chili powder (if concerned about spice level, start with a small amount, you can always add more)
  5. Turn the heat to low / very low
  6. Thoroughly mix and stir the pot
  7. Summer for at least half an hour, ideally a couple of hours on very low

Chocolate Cake

  1. Pre-heat the oven to 350 °F
  2. Mix the dry ingredients together in a stand mixer
  3. Add the milk, oil, eggs, and vanilla and mix until combined
  4. Slowly add the boiling water and mix until smooth and combined
  5. Bake for 30–45 minutes (cake), 15–20 minutes (cupcakes) or until a toothpick comes out clean and dry.

Chocolate Chip Coffee Bars / Cookies

  1. Pre-heat the oven to 350 °F
  2. Mix all together
  3. Grease large cookie pan
  4. Spread mixture evenly in pan
  5. Bake at 350 °F for 18–20 minutes
  6. Cut while still warm into bars

Chocolate Chip Cookies

  1. Brown the butter
    1. Heat the butter in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly
    2. Keep going until the milk fats turn brown and form in small solid clumps (don't burn the butter!)
    3. Refrigerate the butter again until it's cold (at least an hour or two)
  2. Mix the white sugar, brown sugar, and browned butter together using a stand mixer
    • The butter should go in cold
  3. Add the eggs, 1 one at time, mix until creamy
    • The eggs should go in cold
  4. In a separate bowl, mix the flour, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon
  5. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the sugar & eggs mixture, mixing the whole time
  6. Add the chocolate chips (and optional nuts) into the mixture until just mixed (minimize the mixture)
  7. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to 3 days
  8. Pre-heat an oven to 375 °F
  9. Form into 12 roughly-equal balls
  10. Squish the balls onto a cookie sheet into roughshod shapes
  11. Bake for 17 minutes, or until desired doneness
  12. Let cool, then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling

Green Onion Cakes

Dough

Green Onion Mixture

  1. Make the dough
    1. Mix the flour, baking powder, and baking soda together
    2. Pour the water in and mix with your hands until it forms a dough (if it gets too sticky to deal with, add a bit of flour on your hands)
    3. Leave the dough in a mixing bowl and cover with a towel
    4. Let sit under the towel for ~half an hour to an hour, until it feels a bit elastic when you poke it (like poking a cheek)
  2. Make the green onion mixture
    1. Chop the green onions into little bits (~half a centimetre or so)
    2. Mix the chopped green onions, shortening, vegetable oil, sesame oil, and salt together in a bowl
      • Mixing by hand is the easiest, but shortening is hellishly difficult to wash off your hands
  3. Form the green onion cakes
    1. Roll the dough out into a large rectangle, about the size (or at least aspect ratio) of a stovetop
    2. Spread the green onion mixture to cover the rolled out dough
    3. Tightly roll the dough up, like you would a cinnamon bun until it is a long cylinder
    4. Chop the cylinder across its length into 8 equal discs
    5. Twist and squish each of the discs into flat pancakes, about 6 inches in diameter
    6. If freezing for later, separate with sheets of parchment paper
  4. Cook the green onion cakes
    1. Heat a small pan with a tablespoon or two of your oil of choice on medium-low heat
    2. Fry the green onion cakes, don't flip until the bottom is golden-brown
    3. Serve with sriracha and/or chili paste, hot

Hamburger Soup

  1. Brown the hamburger and onion together
  2. Add the rest of the ingredients
  3. Bring to a boil then turn right down to a simmer and let simmer for a while

Hummus

  1. Place the dry chickpeas into the instant pot with 1 teaspoon of salt. Cover with ~1 inch of water. Cook on high pressure for 1 hour and let the pressure naturally release.
  2. While the chickpeas are cooking, place the lemon juice, garlic, cumin, and remaining salt in a food processor and let sit without processing for at least 5 minutes.
  3. Add the tahini to the food processor and combine to a thick paste
    • Add 2 tablespoons ice water and combine
    • Continue adding ice water 1 tablespoon at a time until the mixture is saucy rather than pasty
  4. Once the chickpeas have cooked and the pressure has been released, drain them and add them to the food processor
  5. Combine (stopping to scrape the sides as necessary) for at least 4―5 minutes. During this process add ice water 1 tablespoon at a time if the hummus is too thick. Continue processing until the hummus is perfectly smooth or you get bored. Taste test as you're going to see if you need to adjust any ingredients.

Nova Scotia Chicken

  1. Pre-heat the oven to 325 °F
  2. Lay chicken in shallow pan
  3. Mix sugar & mustard
  4. Cover chicken with sugar / mustard mix
  5. Set in fridge for 2 hours
  6. Mix together corn syrup and soya sauce
  7. Pour over the chicken
  8. Bake for 2 hours at 325 °F
  9. Baste often

Pancakes

  1. In a large bowl mix flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar
  2. Make a well in the dry ingredients
  3. Pour in melted butter, milk, and egg
  4. Mix until smooth
  5. Heat griddle
  6. Pour ¼ cup per pancake
  7. Brown on both sides

Crepes

  1. Combine all ingredients in a big bowl.
  2. Mix the heck out of it until its nice and smooth, not worried about gluten because its so wet.
  3. Heat pan over medium.
  4. For each crepe:
    1. Butter the pan using the frozen butter
    2. Pour in a less-than-full ladel
    3. Swirl the pan to spread the batter
    4. Cook until solidified
    5. Flip and cook the other side

Peanut Butter Cookies

  1. Pre-heat the oven to 350 °F
  2. Roll into balls
  3. Press with a fork
  4. Bake at 350 °F for 8 minutes

Ragusea Pizza Dough

  1. Combine the water, sugar, and yeast and wait until it wakes up
  2. Add olive oil, salt, and 5 cups of flour
  3. Mix until just combined, then start kneading
  4. Keep adding just enough flour to keep the dough workable
  5. Knead until it passes the window pane test
  6. Divide the dough into 4 oiled glass containers, using the dough to "paint" the containers
  7. Either let rise for 2 hours or cover and put in the fridge for up to 7 days

Pizza Sauce

  1. Blend the tomatoes in a blender until smooth
    • If you like a chunkier sauce, blend for less time or use a potato masher
  2. Combine

Pretzels

  1. In a small saucepan, heat milk to 110° F. Remove milk from heat, add yeast and let sit for about 5 minutes, or until frothy and bubbly.
  2. Put milk and yeast mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer and add the brown sugar, all purpose flour, bread flour, salt, and butter. Knead mixture for 10 minutes using the dough hook attachment. Dough should not be sticky and should pull away from the sides of the bowl. If the dough is sticky, add a few tablespoons of flour.
  3. Place dough in a well-oiled, covered bowl and let rise in a warm place (recommended: on top of or inside an oven that is off) for 1 hour.
  4. Preheat oven to 450° F. Spray workspace with cooking spray. Unwrap the dough, which should have doubled in size, and divide into 12 equal pieces. Roll dough out into long strands that are about the thickness of your finger and 3 feet long. Grab dough by ends and twist around itself three times. Then, fold the dough on top of itself, forming a pretzel.
  5. Dip pretzels into the hot water and baking soda mixture, then place on baking sheet covered with parchment paper. Sprinkle rock salt or cinnamon sugar on top.
  6. Place pretzels into preheated oven for 12 minutes, or until lightly browned. Turn pretzels halfway through to ensure even cooking.
  7. After the pretzels have slightly cooled, brush them with melted butter.
  8. (Optional) Top with sweet glaze, cinnamon sugar, chocolate drizzle, white chocolate drizzle, a smearing of hot fudge, M&Ms, caramel sauce, mint chips, chocolate chips, miniature marshmallows, nuts (peanuts), toffee nuts (candied pecans), coconut, peanut butter drizzle, crushed Oreos, multi-colored jimmies (sprinkles), cotton candy bits, and a gentle snowfall of powdered sugar.

Stew Dunplings

  1. Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt
  2. Add the milk and mix to combine into a sticky dough
  3. Once the boiling stew or soup is nearly done, drop spoonfuls of the batter on top. Be sure that there is plenty of liquid in the pot, but try to keep the dumplings on top of the vegetables and meat.
  4. Cover and cook for about 10 to 15 minutes, depending on the size of the dumplings. Do not remove the lid until it is time to check the dumplings; when ready, a toothpick inserted into one of the dumplings should come out clean.

Stuffing

  1. Put margarine in pot
  2. Cut onions into chunks and simmer
  3. While simmering, add spices
  4. Let summer for about 10 minutes
  5. Pour over crumbs
  6. Mix
  7. Let set and mix again
  8. Make ahead of time to let the flavours percolate

Supermarket Bread

  1. Combine yeast, water, and milk
  2. Heat to 98 ° F
  3. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit for 10 minutes
  4. Whisk together bread flour, salt, and sugar
  5. Start the mixer on low using a kneading attachment
  6. Slowly add the yeast / water / milk mixture
  7. Once its a cohesive dough, let it keep mixing a few minutes until its smooth
  8. Add butter 1 tablespoon at a time, keep mixing until all together
  9. Shape into a ball, place into an oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap
  10. Let rise for 1–1½ hours (until doubled in size)
  11. Punch it down
  12. Lightly flour work surface
  13. Using a rolling pin, roll it out into a ½ inch thick sheet about as wide as your bread pan is long
  14. Tightly roll it into a tube and place into a greased loaf pan
  15. Cover with a wet towel or another inverted loaf pan
  16. Let rise 45–60 minutes or until doubled in size
  17. Bake at 350 ° F for 35–40 minutes (until light and golden brown)
  18. Let rest on an oven rack until completely cooled

Tuck Shop Cinnamon Buns

  1. Soften yeast in ½ cup warm water with 2 tablespoons sugar. Let the mixture sit until the yeast is dissolved (about 10 minutes).
  2. In a large bowl combine 2 cups boiling water, 3 tablespoons margarine, 2 teaspoons salt, and 3 tablespoons sugar, let the margarine melt and the mixture cool a bit.
  3. Add 2 cups all-purpose flour and beat hard until very smooth and creamy (about 5 minutes)
  4. Add softened yeast mixture, 3 eggs, and 3¼ cups more flour.
  5. Continue beating until dough is very smooth (it should be a very soft dough).
  6. Cover and let stand in a warm place to rise until the dough is doubled in bulk (about 1 hour)
  7. While the dough is rising, in a flat pan melt ⅓ cup margarine, then set aside to cool.
  8. In a flat dish, mix 1 cup white sugar and 1½ teaspoons cinnamon.
  9. Turn the raised dough onto a lightly floured work surface. Let the dough set 5 to 10 minutes to "firm up".
  10. Cut the dough into pieces about the size of a orange.
  11. Dip each piece of dough first into the melted margarine, the coat it well in the cinnamon-sugar mixture.
  12. Stretch the dough piece until it is 4 to 5 inches long and form it into a simple knot.
  13. Place the knots side by side in a 9"x12"x2" pan (be sure the pan is 2" deep and allow a 3" square for each bun)
  14. Let the finished buns rise for about 45 minutes.
  15. Bake at 375 °F for 30 minutes. Should make 18 good-sized buns.

Ultimate Sugar Cookies

  1. Cream butter and sugar
  2. Add eggs and vanilla
  3. Combine dry ingredients
  4. Stir into first mixture
  5. Refridgerate
  6. Shape, drop, roll and cut, etc as desired
  7. Bake at 350° F for 8–10 minutes

Basic White Bread

  1. In a large bowl, dissolve yeast and ½ teaspoon sugar in warm water; let stand until bubbles form on surface.
  2. Whisk together remaining 3 tablespoons sugar, salt and 3 cups flour.
  3. Stir oil into yeast mixture; pour into flour mixture and beat until smooth.
  4. Stir in enough remaining flour, ½ cup at a time, to form a soft dough.
  5. Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, 8–10 minutes.
  6. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease the top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, 1½ to 2 hours.
  7. Punch dough down. Turn onto a lightly floured surface; divide dough in half. Shape each into a loaf. Place in 2 greased 9x5-in. loaf pans.
  8. Cover and let rise until doubled, 1 to 1½ hours.
  9. Bake at 375° F until golden brown and bread sounds hollow when tapped or has reached an internal temperature of 200° F, 30-35 minutes.
  10. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool.

White Cake

  1. Pre-heat the oven to 350 °F
  2. Grease and flour a 9x9" pan or line a muffin pan with paper liners
  3. In a medium bowl, cream together `1 cup sugar` and `½ cup butter`
  4. Beat in `2 eggs` one at a time
  5. Stir in `2 teaspoons vanilla`
  6. In a separate bowl, combine `1½ cups flour` and `1¾ teaspoons baking powder`
  7. Add dry ingredients to wet and mix well
  8. Stir in `½ cup milk` until batter is smooth
  9. Pour or spoon batter into the prepared pan
  10. Bake for `30–40 minutes` for a full cake, `20–25 minutes` for cupcakes

Rice Krispie Squares

  1. Line a 9x13" pan with parchment paper, leaving some overhang on the sides, and grease the parchment paper.
  2. In a large pot (dutch oven or stock pot), melt the butter and salt over medium heat.
  3. Add the marshmallows and stir until a homogenous melted goop.
  4. Remove from heat and add vanilla, then fold in the Rice Krispies.
  5. Smush into the prepared pan, pressing down firmly and evenly.
  6. Let cool.