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Mother’s Day is today, but we had an early celebration chez moi with my mom and grandmother yesterday. I had them both over for Brunch – it was far from a healthy brunch, but boy was it delish!
Gluten Free Chai Tea Cupcakes
Both my mom and my sister are gluten intolrant, and lately I’ve been suspecting I am as well. I’m going gluten free for a month (currently on day 5!) to see if that helps how I’ve been feeling – but more on that another time. Needless to say, brunch had to be gluten-free for my mom’s sake (and I guess, possibly mine!) – so I decided to go balls to the wall and work on making this awesome Chai Tea breakfast cupcake recipe I’ve been meaning to make gluten free… and do cake balls. I don’t half ass when it comes to baking – I love baking (and eating the results, which is how I ended up falling in love with fitness… haha ;)
Gluten Free Cake Balls
So, after some research and a ridiculous overload on GF flour and cake mix at Bulk Barn (I will be baking GF yellow cake for the rest of my life), I was ready to get down to business. The morning’s menu?
Chai Tea breakfast cupcakes, chocolate covered vanilla cake balls, non-alcoholic sangria (my mom also can’t have alcohol – the poor thing! luckily I didn’t inherit THAT terrible allergy), and banana split bites.
Banana Split Bites
Yum.
Tea time! Only we'll be eating it.
Gluten-Free Chai Tea Cupcakes Bake @ 375° for 18-20 minutes | makes 24 cupcakes
- 2 c all purpose gluten free flour
- 1.5 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 c sugar
- 4 chai tea bags
- 1 1/4 c milk, heated
- 1/2 cup softened butter
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 2 eggs
- 3/4 (ish) a cup Nature’s Path Crunchy Maple Sunrise
Put the milk in a saucepan and heat until it’s JUST simmering on the stove. Once it’s ready, take it off and add your 4 chai tea bags – let it steep for 5-7 minutes while the milk cools a bit. While its steeping, mix the gluten-free flour, baking soda, ginger, and salt in a bowl, and set aside. Next, cream the butter using a beater, and then add the sugar and vanilla, mixing until it’s combined. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing after each. Fill your cupcake liners, and then sprinkle the Crunchy Maple Sunrise on to. Pop them in the oven and bake at 375° for 18-20 minutes. Chai Cream Cheese Drizzle (to top the cupcakes with!)
- 85 grams (about 1/3 a 250 gram brick) low fat cream cheese, softened
- 2 tbsp butter (softened) or margarine
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 1/4 c icing sugar
- strongly brewed chai tea, cooled
The spread! Om nom.
Combine the butter, cream cheese, and vanilla in a bowl and beat until fluffy. Add the icing sugar (I recommend doing this a little bit at a time as it’s easier and doesn’t make a gigantic mess, especially if you’re using a hand mixer like I do!), and continue to mix it in. Finally, add your chai tea in bit by bit until the consistency is thin enough to drizzle, but not so thin it’s totally liquidy. Using a spoon, drizzle it over the top of your cupcakes. If you had tons leftover (I did), you can use the Wilton #230 to fill the centers with more icing. Oh, yum. I only wish I had thought of this before serving them! I ended up filling them the day after as I found the cake dried out quite quickly (a side effect of the GF flour, maybe?), and this gives it extra moisture. Finally, eat them and love them. Or, if you’re serving them up for a brunch like I did – pair them with this wicked non-alcoholic sangria (or, just flip the cranberry juice out for a bottle of red wine and make it alcoholic!)
Psssst! Looking for the Chai Tea Breakfast Cupcake nutritional information? You’ll find it here!
Delicious non alcoholic Sangria
Non-Alcoholic Sangria
- 4 cups of cranberry juice
- 1 c orange juice
- 1/4 c lemon juice
- 1 pear
- 1 apple (I used a granny smith green one – they’re my favourite! :)
- 3 c carbonated lemon lime beverage (ie. 7UP or Sprite)
Combine the cranberry juice, orange juice, and lemon juice in a pitcher. Slice up your fruit, and add it it. Allow it to sit for a few hours before you’re planning on serving it (I prepped this the night before, so the fruit was good and infused by the morning). JUST before serving it, add in the pop – you don’t want to do this too early, or it goes flat. Toss in some ice and volia! Tastiness in a pitcher. Happy mother’s day to all you fabulous moms out there.
And for those of us who may not be mom’s, always remember this key piece of wisdom when dealing with your mom:
“When your mother asks, “Do you want a piece of advice?” it’s a mere formality. It doesn’t matter if you answer yes or no: you’re going to get it anyway.” – Erma Bombeck
As seen on: Sweets for a Saturday #69, The Sundae Scoop #28, Makin’ You Crave Monday, Weekend Wrap Up Party, Made By You Monday #98,
Featured on: Cupcakes Take the Cake, FoodGawker
I have to be honest. I’m not a morning person, and most my mornings go a little something like this:
Hit snooze
Hit snooze again
Hit snooze AGAIN
[continue snoozing for the next 45 minutes or so]
Finally get up, panic, rush around like crazy trying to get ready.
Make coffee in panic, spill on counter, don’t bother cleaning, slam toast in toaster, slap peanut butter and/or jam on it, rush out door and shove toast in mouth on the way out the door.
However, I’ve discovered the recipe of ALL recipes that, with a little night-before prep work and an extra 5 minutes in the morning, can be made to-go and is healthy, delicious, and contains so many good-for-you things you’ll be feeling amazing all morning.
Mmmm... so good in the morning.
And, even better, this recipe makes enough for four smaller, or two giant pancakes – so I use half the batter one morning, and it keeps an extra day in the fridge for the next morning. Score.
Pre-making the batter the night before means less work in the morning!
I know, this sounds too-good-to-be-true, but I swear it’s not.
Four Ingredient Chocolate Protein Pancake
- 2 scoops Bodylogix chocolate protein powder
- ~1/2 cup egg whites (I use 2 large eggs, which is usually a little shy of a half cup)
- 1 heaping tbsp ground flax seed
- 1 medium banana, mashed
Protein Pancake Ingredients & Extras
The night before, mash your banana in a medium to large bowl, and set it aside. Measure out your egg whites, then add to the banana bowl. Add your protein powder, and ground flax seed. Mix it up well, transfer to tupperware (or cover the bowl with saran wrap) and stick it in the fridge.
Morning Extras
- Coconut oil (or your oil of choice) – for the frying pan
- Syrup (I use E.D. Smith’s No-Sugar-Added Syrup) or Agave
- Chocolate chipits, berries, or chocolate chia goodness as a topping
Cooking the pancake
The next morning, heat up your frying pan while you mix your coffee, add 1-2 tsp coconut oil, and scoop half the batter (for a large pancake) or 1/4 (for two small) into the heated pan.
I find when I make one big one it’s harder to flip and becomes less pancake-like, but still tastes great, so I usually do this when I’m more rushed. If I have a few extra minutes I’ll do two smaller ones, one at a time. Cook until brown on one side, then flip it and cook on the other.
If you’re like me, and usually in a rush, I toss it it tupperware, put the syrup on, and bring it with me. A quick 20-second zap in the microwave at the office usually warms it up nicely.
And, if you’re so inclined – top with syrup, berries, a few chocolate chips, or whatever else you’d like and enjoy!
Yum!
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To those who know me, it’s no secret I like love my wine. Going to university in Niagara Region was largely responsible for this – I’d never even opened a bottle of wine before heading to Brock, let alone been able to discern my pinots from each other, but going to university in Ontario’s wine country had a really big impact on me. I mean, when you have an annual grape stomp, an oenology and viticulture program, and an entire festival (or two or three) dedicated to vino every year it’s hard NOT to get caught up in it.
I long have dubbed the Cave Springs Gewürztraminer as my “all time, favourite wine” (next to, uh, every variety of ice wine I can find and consume in a 50 mile radius), but after this weekend I think it’s safe to say I found a few new (and smaller/local) options (even though to get the CS Gewürz you have to go to the winery in Jordan – I usually buy it by the case to, you know, stock up).
Thanks to one of those group buying deals, The Boy and I went on a four-winery “winter” ice wine tour (I use the term “winter” lightly since it was a balmy 22°C in Southern Ontario over the weekend!) and to a chocolate factory (hotel stay included) for a really great price. And, surprise – we (along with the others who bought the deal) were separated out onto the short tour bus, so there were simply 18 of us (instead of the usual 30 or so) who traveled around together.
Much wine was consumed.
Did you know…
- Icewine has to be picked at night, when it’s -10°C
- Icewine must be naturally produced – no artificial freezing
- Icewine was accidentally created in Germany in 1794 due to an exceptionally cold winter German icewine doesn’t meet the sweetness standard to sell in Canada today (must be a sweetness rating of 18+)
- Ice wine is made when frozen grapes are pressed and the sugar water is extracted.
- One vine might make a bottle of wine, but one vine only makes a glass of icewine – hence the expensive price tag!
Chocolate F/X - sooo amazingly tasty!
First, we stopped at Chocolate FX and learned about how the chocolate was made – I wish I could tell you more about this, but I was a bad tourist and stopped paying attention, as was evident when Mike was schooling me on chocolate knowledge while we were eating the AMAZINGLY delish raspberry chocolate covered coffee beans we bought (on sale! two for one! omg! and you can order online!) last night. Stopped paying attention largely because a) there was no one there working so the “tour” was staring at machines and b) because I was day dreaming about all the chocolate sampling we were about to do (which made up for the lame tour – my poor, poor stomach!).
Joseph's Estate Wineries
Our first winery was somewhat of a disappointment. The wines were not exceptional, the experience was blah, and I’m so glad this didn’t set the tone for the rest of the trip. Once we entered the winery, we were seated in a dimly lit, aesthetically unpleasing room. We had to move once seated, and then at the end I tried to look at one of the bottle for information and we were hurriedly ushered out of the room for “the next group”. The sales pitch at the end of the tasting was quite over-the-top and long as well.
- ‘06 Chenin Blanc (sweetness 1) — just okay. Hints of pineapple, which was nice.
- Vintage Country Red (3) — Loved it. Ended up coming home with a bottle. It was well-rounded, with a number of flavours and sweet (the way I like my red’s!)
- Cabernet Merlot (0) — ick. I’m not a red fan, and REALLY dislike dry red’s (unless in Sangria), so this was an expected miss.
- ‘02 Vidal Icewine (18) — delicious – how can ice wine NOT be? – but nothing special.
- Gewürztraminer-Reisling (1) — meh.
- Pinot Grigio — also meh. I actually struggled to remember which one we tasted, that’s how unmemorable this one was!
Caroline Cellars
By far my favourite winery of the day – Caroline Cellars looked exactly how I imagine wineries should look, and we sidled up to the bar in-store for the tastings. Instead of being presented three to four preselected wines, we were given an entire double-sided wine menu and got to choose the four wines we wanted to try, working down the menu from white, to rose, to red, and finally, to the dessert and icewines. Mike and I paired up and picked different wines each time, so we essentially each got to taste eight.
- Gewürztraminer (0) — If you haven’t figured it out, this is my favoruite kind of wine, so I have to try it everywhere. Rather good here, with notes of honey and lychee (yum, yum).
- Enchantment (2) — A Gewürz-Riesling blend, quite similar to the Gewürz, but sweeter and quite tasty.
- Pinot-Cherry (2) — the only sweet red on the list, I was sold by the “cherry” part of the blend, but it was a little disappointing. I can see how it would make an amazing Sangria though.
- Merlot (0) — I of course didn’t like this one (the Boy chose it), and neither did he, deciding he also prefers sweet reds, and the Pinot-Cherry was only okay, though I can see how it would make an amazing Sangria!
- ’08 Late Harvest Riesling (8) — I picked this one out for Mike, and we both loved it. It promised, and delivered, orange flavours.
- ’07 Late Harvest Videl Momentum (6) — This won a double gold medal for “Best in Category” in 2009. It was quite similar to an icewine, but had strong grapefruit notes which I really liked… though, to be honest, both Mike and I preferred his Riesling!
- ’07 Videl Icewine (25) — I chose this one, which is an award-winner, as I typically prefer a Videl Icewine, and this one was no exception. Buyer’s remorse at NOT taking a bottle home.
- ‘08 Riesling Icewine (25) — Mike choose this one, because “it’s more expensive!”. Hehe. Boys. Also an award winner, it was okay though I preferred the Video. Mike preferred this one, so it worked out.
On a non-tasting related note, Caroline Cellars had all sorts of nifty gift items, including some really awesome wine racks, and wire “wine bottles” and barrels for holding corks. My favourite was a tiny wine bottle ornament that holds just one cork, I thought it would make a great wedding/engagement gift — the couple could put the cork from their celebratory bottle into it as a keepsake. Totally had to refrain from coming home with a wire barrel to put all my corks in. Next time.
Reif Estate Winery
I really enjoyed visiting Reif Estate as well – they have a very interesting sensory garden, which unfortunately it was the off-season for. Typically, it offers visitors a chance to explore the sights, smells, etc of the characteristics used when tasting and describing various wines. I also liked that the grape vines were easily accessible/viewed from the winery store, and were clearly labeled with which vine was designated for which wine. I definitely want to go back and visit during growing season.
- Videl — it was quite grapefruity, which I really liked, and overall was a very nice white.
- Cabernet Merlot (0) — of course, I didn’t like it (see “not a Merlot fan” above). It was quite strong and dry, very earthy… just not my cup of tea.
- Videl Icewine — We tried this one twice, thanks to a FourSquare check in that got us a each a free tasting of icewine at the Reif bar, and I instantly fell in love (though not with the price tag – $25 for just 200ml!). It’s easy to see why this is an award-winning ice wine. It was sweet and crisp at the same time, with a delicious flavour – unlike, and better than, any other icewine I’ve ever tried… and I do like my icewines. I took home a tiny sample bottle, as I just couldn’t justify the hefty price tag on a “full” bottle at the moment, but I will be ordering and/or going back for one at a later date.
Caroline Cellars, again - missing a photo from Riverview
Our final stop of the day was Riverview Cellars, a fairly new winery that has only been in operation since 2000. Again, this winery pre-chose our wines, but we did hit up the tasting bar to try a few more (okay, almost all of them! ;) after.
Just two to note (mainly because I can’t remember most of the names of the others, and it’s not online to look up!) While I can’t remember specifics about a lot of them, I do remember their rose was quite delicious.
- Gewürztraminer (1) — this white was amazing, possibly even rivaling my Cave Springs favourite, though I didn’t take a bottle home.
- Cabernet Franc (0) — this red is an award-winning wine and… well, I didn’t like it. Surprise, surprise. I actually liked this one the least out of all the reds we tried today, but I finished my sample anyway (even though this particular winery was the only one to offer a “dumping bucket” if you didn’t like the wine… psh.)
Additionally, I ended up buying maple ice wine tea from here – I hate to say it, but even though I was SO excited to try it… I still haven’t! It’s just been so warm I haven’t really been in a “tea” mood, though it’s cooled down considerably in the last week so I have a feeling this tea is in my immediate future.
:)
Have you ever done a winery tour? What’s your favourite kind (or bottle) of wine? I love trying new ones, so feel free to leave your recommendations :)
This blog post is long overdue – considering the CNE (aka the Ex!) ended weeks ago – but hey, I’m doing pretty good considering I still haven’t blogged about my, er, Feburary/March trip to Europe. Oops.
I haven’t been to the Ex now in a few years – actually I think the last time I went was when I was still a student… so at least 2 years ago, if not longer.
I’m going to be completely honest: there was one main reason why I begged The Boy to go with me – despite the fact he, uh, was spending 5 nights a week working the overnight shift as a poker dealer at the Ex Casino – and that was DEEP. FRIED. EVERYTHING.
The CNE is pretty well known for a number of things:
- The (sketchy) midway rides (of which I always ride the giant Ferris Wheel)
- extraordinarily expensive parking costs ($20 – unless your boyfriend has an employee parking pass, ha!)
- The casino, of course – I’ve heard Rama & Port Perry are EMPTY during the 6 weeks this one is operative
- The Labour Day weekend Air Show (which I was supposed to go to, but skipped due to impending rain that never actually arrived)
- The crazy sculptures – made from rocks, sand, butter… yeah, butter!
- And (in my family, at least) the fact I always come home with a collection of overpriced, unneeded, midway game stuffed animals.
But beyond all that, the Ex is ALSO known for their overly oleaginous, caloricly careless – but disgustingly delicious – deep friend food. Mac and Cheese! Pickles! Mars Bars! Oreos! Ice Cream! Pop Tarts! Cola! You name it, they probably deep fry it.
Doughnut burgers being made - gained 5lbs just by looking. ;)
The CNE made headlines earlier this year when they announced they’d be carrying the famed Krispy Kreme doughnut burger. I didn’t try it – the line was horrendously long, and hey, I didn’t want to subject myself to 1,500 calories in one burger (and that’s without the bacon!). I would have split with the boy – but he didn’t want to end up eating most of it if I didn’t like it or “got full”. I don’t blame him. That happens a lot to us.
I did, however, try a few other deep-friend goodies (which probably added up to more than 1,500 calories, ha – but we shared ;)
The Deep Fried Pickle
Delicious. I don’t have another word to describe this. It was super juicy on the inside, crispy on the outside, and had a super tasty flavor. It also came on a stick, which won me over immediately. I ask you – who doesn’t love food on a stick?
The Deep Fried Mac n’ Cheese
Sold out. As in, I had to settly for deep fried mac n’ cheese curds, which I was assured was “the same only cheesier” – “hell yes, I’m in!” I said. I regretted that about 15 seconds later when I actually tried them. The dish was dry, lacked flavour, and honestly I couldn’t find cheese. Seriously. It was like deep fried mac. Really disappointing. I heard from a friend that the mac n’ cheese was much better – kicking myself for settling for the curds. I must admit they were substantially better once we made the discovery that leftover ranch dip from pickle + deep friend mac n’ curds = om nom.
The Deep Fried Pop Tart
OMG DELICIOUS! I do have to admit, I was deeply disappointed they didn’t have a chocolate pop-tart, and asked for a deep-fried s’more instead – but they were sold out. So I decided to “settle” for a raspberry pop-tart (I really wanted the sprinkley strawberry one, but The Boy doesn’t like strawberry all that much). Much to my delight, it ALSO came on a stick (again, food tastes better on a stick! ;) and drowned in icing sugar and chocolate sauce. Cardiac arrest? Possibly, but at least you’ll die with happy taste buds. I loved it so much. I am immensely glad I don’t have a deep-frier at home or I’d be eating these for breakfast every day (and weigh like 700 lbs). And probably deep frying everything else in my kitchen too – deep frying is kind of fun to do.
'Deep-fried Cola 3' by alanosaur on Flickr
The Deep Fried Coke
Didn’t eat it. Why? We searched, and searched, and FINALLY found it and were going to give it a whirl (even with the line) but… it looked disgusting. Like worms. Deep fried worms.
And we were stuffed. From eating everything else.
It was worth it, though – especially that Pop Tart.
Maybe next year.
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I made these cuties for a May 2-4 barbeque my friend was having last week. They’re surprisingly simple to make, and were a HUGE hit at the party.
Ice Cream Cones
Simply put a bunch of flat-bottomed cones in a brownie (or meatloaf!) pan, and pour the batter directly in – filling them up until about 3/4 of the way. Pop them in the oven, and bake at 325 degrees (a little cooler than normal cupcakes so the cones don’t burn) for almost double the amount of time your recipe calls for. Because there’s so much icing, and the way it fills the cones they take much longer to bake (but it’s worth it!). They’re also totally delicious, as the cone gets soft and tastes AMAZING with the cupcake batter. The drips of batter down the side make them look like they’re melting a touch – yum!
Ice them any way you want – I used a 1M tip to do a traditional cupcake swirl, which makes it look like a soft serve cone; than covered with sprinkles. I wanted to use Peanut M&Ms to make “cherries” on top, but forgot to pick some up at the store. Oh well – next time.
Hamburger Cupcakes
These guys are tricker than the ice cream cones – but still super easy! Start off by filling your cupcake pan with vanilla cake batter. You need to fill an equal number of cupcake holes to the number of “burgers” you want (I made 8) to make your “buns”. Next, mix some cocoa into the vanilla batter to make a chocolate batter, and fill 1/2 the number of holes with the chocolate batter (so I filled 4) – these will be your “patties”
Bake them as you normally would.
Once they’re finished, let them cool and then unwrap all the cupcakes and place them to the side. Carefully slice your “buns” in half, and put them to the side. Next, slice the top of your “patties” off, and cut the bottom part of the cupcake in half. Put a bit of icing onto the bottom bun, and stick the patty on.
Continue doing this until all your burger buns have patties.
Next time I do these, I plan to pipe the “lettuce” onto the bottom of the burger instead of hiding a dollop of icing – so you 
could do that instead. I used the leaf-tip and wiggled it around while piping to get the lettuce effect.
Next, use red and yellow icing to pipe circles on top of the patties for your condiments. Close the burger, and use your finger to spread a tiny bit of water on top of the “top bun” than sprinkle with sesame seeds (the water helps them stick).
Volia!
BBQ burger and Ice Cream Cone cupcakes.
