Red Velvet Cake

Red Velvet is one of the oddest recipes I've ever encountered. It's not chocolate, not vanilla, and has much more food coloring than seems safe. But it is really, really good.

I intend to someday make this with some kind of natural food colorings, like beets and cherries, but for now, a box mix will do you.

Red Velvet Double Chocolate

1 box red velvet cake mix
Chocolate Olive Oil
Cream cheese frosting
3-4 cups fresh or frozen berries(thawed), mix cherries, raspberries and blackberries
1/4 cup Cherry Balsamic, or Chocolate Raspberry Balsamic

Follow the instructions on your cake mix. Sub in the Chocolate Olive Oil where it calls for vegetable oil or butter.

In a large bowl, mix the berries and balsamic together. Let sit, they are done when the cake is.

Bake the cake. Let cool and top with the cream cheese frosting and berries.

I made about half in single graham cracker crusts, because it felt fancy. The other half was baked in a round cake pan. However you like it, it's just a fun time.

Balsamic Fruit Fool

Happy April Fool!

Like many of the things I post, this is a simple recipe. I'm all for things that can be done in a few minutes and still look and taste great.

This could be dressed up any number of ways, but I went with the easiest.

Balsamic Fruit Fool

Shortcake shells
1/2 cup vanilla yogurt per shell
mixed berries in balsamic
glazed walnuts

Set each shell in a small bowl. Layer in 1/2 cup yogurt and about 2 tbsp of the fruit on each. I put about the same amount of nuts as well. Serve!

Berries in Balsamic

3 cups mixed berries
     strawberries, blackberries and blueberries
1/4 cup Chocolate Raspberry Balsamic

Chop the strawberries into small bits. Toss fruit and balsamic together in a large bowl and let sit for about half an hour.

Serve on anything.


Glazed Sesame Walnuts

1 cup walnuts
1/4 cup Cherry Balsamic
2 tbsp white sugar
1 tsp Sesame Oil
2 tbsp Sesame Seeds, garnish

Heat a pan to medium heat and add the nuts and Sesame Oil. Toast, stirring occasionally about 2 minutes. Nuts should be fragrant but not burnt.

Add in the Balsamic and sugar and stir quickly to coat. Cook about 30 seconds.

Turn out onto a platter and spread in a single layer to cool. Sprinkle with sesame seeds immediately.

Stores up to a week in the refrigerator.

Happy Pi Day!

Happy Pi Day everyone!

Apple Raisin Honey Pi(e)

1 refrigerated pie crust
3 large apples, diced
1 cup raisins
1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
1/2 cup Honey flavored whiskey
1 tbsp Honey Date Balsamic
1 tsp Chocolate Olive Oil

Preheat the oven to 425°. Brig the pie crust to room temperature and set aside.

Mix the Honey Whiskey with the Balsamic and soak the raisins for at least 10 minutes. Dust the apples with the confectioners sugar and toss the apples and raisins together.

Roll the crust into a 9-10 inch pie plate. Pour the filling into it and drizzle with the Olive Oil.

Bake 35-40 minutes. Since this is a one crust pie, the filling may start to over-brown. Keep an eye on it and tent with foil if it gets too toasty.

(I however really like crispy bits on my pie and just leave it alone)

Slow Cooked: Honey Date Apple Butter

Welcome to the month of slow cooked foods! Cousin Jen asked for more slow cooker food. I can't promise that everything will take 8 hours to make. Sometimes, a slow cooker is just a great way to make soup! And there will be a few deviations along the way. I already have two things planned that are most certainly not made in a slow cooker.

But this was!

Honey Date Apple Butter

5 lbs of apples
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp powdered ginger
2-4 tbsp Honey Date Balsamic
2 1/2 cups white sugar

Peel, core and dice the apples finely. The smaller you chop them, the smoother your end product will be, so it is up to you.

Place the apples in your slow cooker. Mix the sugar, balsamic and spices together in a large bowl. Pour over the apples, stir to combine and turn it on.

Cover and cook on high for an hour or so then turn it to low and let it go for 9 hours or so. It should be thickened and a dark brown in color. It will probably be a bit watery yet, so remove the lid and cook on low for another hour.

Stir it up and put it in some jars. Store in the refrigerator. Can also be frozen. Plan on using it within two weeks though.

Balsamic Swirled Shortbread

Shortbread is considered lucky. I have no idea why, and can't find out in a casual internet search. It has been a staple of my childhood new years eve's. If you know why it's lucky, please comment and let me know. It's baffling.

Maybe because it's golden and coin shaped?

I have made olive oil shortbreads before. They were spectacular. But I can't make them the same way twice! So this time I started with a standard shortbread and swirled some fun inside.

So what is your New Year's lucky tradition?

Balsamic Swirled Shortbread

1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups flour
2 tbsp Tangerine Balsamic

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cream the butter and sugar together in a large bowl. Add the flour in gradually and mix until the dough sticks together nicely.

Make a well in the center of the dough and sprinkle the balsamic in. Stir around, but not too well.

Break off pieces in tablespoon sized chunks and flatten into discs.

Bake for 11-13 minutes.

Pumpkin Butterscotch Cookies

The original recipe I adapted this from was my sister in law's signature thanksgiving cookie. She makes these with chocolate chips. Chocolate is nice....But I thought these would go better with butterscotch!

Pumpkin Butterscotch Cookies

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup Vanilla Olive Oil
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup pumpkin
2 tbsp molasses
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice (optional)
1 egg
1 1/2 cups butterscotch chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, mix the olive oil, the sugar and the egg together until creamy. Gently stir in the pumpkin and molasses. Take all the rest of the dry ingredients and whisk them together in a medium sized bowl. Combine that with the wet ingredients slowly, mixing well in between each addition so that it is well combined.  Stir in the chips.

Drop onto ungreased cookie sheets in rounded tablespoonfulls. Bake 12-13 minutes. Their color is already a bit darker because of the pumpkin, so don't wait too long for them to brown.

Apricot Sugar Drop Cookies

These sugar cookies were a last minute thing. I made an apricot paste for thumbprint cookies but found out that the intended recipient was allergic to apricots! In the interest of not killing them, I used some of our Fig Jam instead, but it did leave me with a bunch of apricot paste. I contemplated sandwich cookies, but I was out of time.

So this is another cookie made from a box. With Vanilla Olive Oil of course. But still from a box. I still have a bunch of apricot paste leftover from this. Look for some more recipes with it coming up. I'm thinking chicken! But then, I always think chicken.

Apricot Sugar Drop Cookies 

1 bag of sugar cookie mix
the eggs it calls for
instead of butter or vegetable oil, use Vanilla Olive Oil in the same amount
1/2 cup apricot paste

The apricot paste makes these too sticky to roll out into shapes. But a drop cookie is nothing to be sneezed at.

Bake for the recommended time. Checking at the minimum time to make sure the apricots aren't burning.

Apricot Paste

1 1/3 cup (8 ounces) dried apricots, finely diced
1/3 cup water
1/3 cup white sugar

Put the apricots and water in a small heavy bottomed sauce pan. Heat up to just under a boil and simmer until the water is mostly absorbed and the apricots are just about falling apart. Stir every few minutes so that it doesn't scorch. Should take about 20 minutes.

Add sugar and reduce the heat just a little bit. Stir constantly until it forms a thick paste. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature.

Can be kept for a few weeks in the fridge or a week or so out of it.

Blood Orange Brownies

These are easy enough to make with a box of mix, some oil and a couple eggs. I'll give you the full from scratch recipe I was going to use though. If only I hadn't run out of cocoa powder!

Blood Orange Brownies

from scratch version

4 eggs

2 cups sugar

3/4 cup Blood Orange Olive Oil

1 1/2 cup all purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 9x13 inch pan.

Cream the eggs, sugar and olive oil together in a large bowl. Gently add the dry ingredients one at a time, stirring until fully combined.

Pour into your greased pan and bake for 20-25 minutes.

For the easy version, grab a box of brownie mix. Mix it all up according to the directions, except where it says to use vegetable oil. Use the olive oil instead. And you are done.

Oatmeal Cookies with Goji Berries and Pecans

You can make these cookies with any berry and any nut. I happened to have pecans and a whole bag of dried goji berries hanging around. And I love they way they taste together. Nutty and sweet, but in a more subtle way than a cranberry.

Oatmeal Cookies with Goji Berries and Pecans

3/4 cup Casa Ligaro VERDONE Olive Oil
1 cup, packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
3 cups quick cooking oats
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 cup chopped pecans
3/4 cup goji berries
1/2 cup warm water or bourbon

In a small bowl, stir the goji berries and the water or bourbon together. By the time you need them, they should be ready.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Using a large bowl, combine the olive oil with the sugars, stirring until the oil is well incorporated. Beat in the eggs and the vanilla until smooth.

In a separate bowl, stir all the dry ingredients together, except the pecans. Slowly add them to the olive oil and sugar mixture. When combined, fold in the pecans. Drain the excess liquid from the goji berries and fold them in as well.

Drop in tablespoon sized rounds on an ungreased cookie sheet about an inch apart. They do not spread over-much, but it is always better to be safe than to have giant blob cookies.

Bake for about 11-13 minutes. They should be golden brown.

Cookie Swap 2013!

Welcome to this year's Blogger Cookie Swap! I ended up with the vegan card again this year. But I always love a challenge!

Cranberry Lime Cookies with Caramel Chips

1 1/4 cup spelt flour
1 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup Persian Lime Olive Oil
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup vegan caramel chips*
1/2 cup cranberries
Zest of one lime, minced
juice of 1/2 a lime
1/2 cup milk of choice
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp apple cider vinegar

Preheat the oven to 400degrees.

Combine flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Make a well in the center and pour in the olive oil and the lime juice. Stir until combined. Add in the chips, lime peel and cranberries. Stir well.

Reduce the temperature to 350degrees.

On a greased cookie sheet, drop the cookies by the tablespoonful about half an inch apart. They do not spread much. Bake 9-11 minutes or until golden. Wait for the cookies to cool well before attempting to remove them from the cookie sheets. They are a bit fragile until they cool.

*I used these: Vegan Caramel Chips

Cranberry Fool

Cranberry Fool
(serves 6ish)

1 bag cranberries
3/4 cup sugar
a pinch allspice
1/4 - 1/2 cup water
3 tbsp Blood Orange Olive Oil
Splash of orange liquor
1 tub frozen cool whip

In a sauce pan, combine everything but the cool whip. Simmer over medium heat until the cranberries start to pop, stirring often. Start with 1/4 cup water, if it seems too dry, add the other 1/4 cup.

Reduce the heat to a very low simmer and cook about 5 minutes. The water should evaporate and leave you with a loose cranberry sauce.

Remove from the heat and cool to at least room temperature. You make this up to 24 hours ahead and put it in the refrigerator.

When you are ready to serve, thaw the cool whip slightly and turn it out into a large bowl. Fold in the cooled cranberry sauce. You want swirls, not pink cream. (although that will taste just as good!)


You could serve the cranberries without the cream as is as cranberry sauce with no problem. I did something similar last Thanksgiving. Though I think leaving the shallots out is better for a dessert!

And if you are really rushed, you can dress up a can of whole berry cranberry sauce with a little olive oil and liquor. If you want to be fancy, feel free to make your own whipped cream.

Harvest Cake

You can't ever really have too many apples in the house right? It's not that I have too many, it's that they are so pretty, and smell so good that they jump in my shopping cart. I can stop buying them any time I want! I just have a bit more than I can eat right now. That's why there is cake. You can give someone a cake. Or just share one.

Baked apples are awesome. Raw apples are awesome. But apples in cake is sticky sweet SUPER-awesome! Get some ice cream to serve with this and the whole thing will be gone in ten minutes!

Harvest Cake

3 med apples, finely diced
1/4 cup diced dates
1/4 cup walnuts
1/4 cup flaked coconut
2 tbsp Persian Lime Olive Oil
2 cups hot water

Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to just under boiling and simmer for 10-15 minutes stirring often. Apples should be very soft and the water should be almost gone.

1 box Spice Cake Mix
2 tbsp Persian Lime Olive Oil
1/4 cup apple cider or milk

Bake at 350 degrees. 25-30 minutes.

This is a very sticky cake. If you wanted to make it more fluffy, you could add the eggs that the box mix calls for. But I like this to be dense. The only thing I forgot was the ice cream.

Warm this up to serve with vanilla ice cream and you will never look back!

Vanilla Apple Brown Betty

It has started to get a chill in the air! Brrr! But it is so nice and refreshing too! It's fashion scarf weather! (the ladies understand!)

The apples are so beautiful this time of year. They wanted to be made into a pie, but I didn't really want to roll out any dough this week. So the Brown Betty is our compromise. It's not a pie, but it's not a crumble either. It's just the best of both. This recipe takes a short cut and a little less sugar, but it's delicious!

I know that this is a big sports weekend, but to heck with them, Go Apples!

Vanilla Apple Brown Betty

5 large apples or 2 lbs any kind, I like Honeycrisp

3 slices bread, any kind

1 cup apple cider

3 tbsp Vanilla Olive Oil, +2

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

a pinch of allspice

4 tbsp brown sugar

1/4 cup walnuts (optional)

Preheat your oven to 375degrees.

Thinly slice and core your apples. Roughly chop the bread into small bits. Pulse in a food processor until they become crumbs. If you don't have a food processor, just chop the bit up as fine as you can, they will taste just as good.

In a large saucepan over medium heat, put the cider, apples 1 tbsp of brown sugar and the cinnamon. Simmer for about 8 minutes and turn out into a large bowl. Stir in the olive oil and the rest of the spices.

Take one additional tbsp of the olive oil and coat a 9inch pie pan very thoroughly. Put the apples into the pan. Combine the bread crumbs/cubes with the rest of the brown sugar and the walnuts and the last tbsp of the olive oil. sprinkle on top of the apple mixture.

Bake for 25-30 minutes. Serve warm with whipped cream or even better, ice cream!

Strawberry Basil Pizza

I love pizza. Crispy pizza, squishy pizza, oh man, breakfast pizza! But dessert pizza's are something else. Add some savory things to the sweet and even better! (Hey, this would be a great breakfast pizza too!)

Strawberry Basil Pizza

1 pocket-less pita

1 tsp Vanilla Olive Oil

1 tsp cinnamon sugar

2-3 strawberries

3-4 small basil leaves

2-3 tbsp ricotta cheese

1 tbsp Fig Balsamic

Brush the olive oil on your pita and sprinkle it with some cinnamon sugar. Spread the ricotta over that.

Slice the strawberries thinly and spread around. Slice the basil into ribbons and spread that around too.

Now you can eat this cold, but I like it toasted in the toaster oven or broiler for a couple minutes. I let the cheese and the pita to start browning around the edges.

Drizzle with the Fig Balsamic and enjoy!

Zucchini Lemon Cake

Once more, Zucchini!

I never did get around to making the zucchini bread over again. But this works out as a good substitute.

The only problem I had, was I ran out of confectioner's sugar when it came time to make the frosting! I love the rustic texture of the brown sugar though, so it's not a problem for me, but make sure you check that you have all your ingredients before hand!

Zucchini Lemon Cake

1 1/2 cup flour
1 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp Lemon Twist Sea Salt
1 cup pureed zucchini, about 1 1/2 zucchinis
chopped zucchini skin
1/4 cup Meyer Lemon Olive Oil
1/4 cup milk
1 cup chopped walnuts
juice of 1 lemon
zest of one lemon, chopped

Preheat your oven to 375. Spray a 9 inch round pan or rub it down with olive oil.

Prepare your zucchini! Wash and peel them, but don't discard the skins. Dice about 1 1/2 zucchini's and put them in a blender or food processor. Puree until smooth. You may need to add a little of the olive oil to make it smooth, but I wouldn't say more than 3 tbsp all together. You could also use a little water. Chop the skins and set aside.

Sift together all the dry ingredients, except the skins in one bowl and set aside. Stir all the wet ingredients, including the lemon juice together in another larger bowl until they combine. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet. Once everything is thoroughly combined, fold in the walnuts and the zucchini and lemon skins.

Pour into the pan and smooth down. Bake for about 40-45 minutes. A toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean. Let cool on a wire rack before frosting. Try a cream cheese or sour cream frosting, or my brown sugar frosting is after the pictures.

Rustic Brown Sugar Sour Cream Frosting

1 1/4 - 1 1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 c butter
1/2 c sour cream
1 tsp lemon extract

Whip everything together and chill before serving. You could heat the butter and brown sugar in a small saucepan until the sugar dissolves before whipping everything together, but I think it tastes wonderful as is. I just call it rustic.

Walnut Zucchini Bread

This zucchini bread was first posted back in January. Later this week, I hope to make a new version of it! But this recipe is still delicious.

Walnut Zucchini Bread

1 cup walnuts, chopped
3 cups flour, sifted
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1tsp baking soda
3 tsp ground cinnamon
3 eggs
1 cup Butter Olive Oil
2 1/4 cups white sugar
3 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups grated zucchini (about 2 or 3)

Preheat the oven to 375degrees. Lightly grease and flour 2 loaf pans. Use the 8x4 size.

Mix the oil, eggs, vanilla and sugar together in a large bowl.

Sift all the dry ingredients together in another bowl. Mix in the zucchini and nuts. Stir in the dry ingredients slowly.  When everything is well combined, pour into the prepared pans.

Bake about 50 minutes. Mine took more like 55. A testing stick should come out clean.

Cool slightly before removing it from the pan.

Please note that this poor zucchini loaf has been squashed in plastic wrap 

and dropped. I am sorry poor little zucchini loaf!

*Additions: 1/2 cup chocolate chips
1 cup grated zucchini, 1 cup grated carrot or apple
Sub in Vanilla Olive Oil, and don't use vanilla extract
Use Blood Orange Olive Oil and 1/2cup candied orange peel

Zesty Lemon Strawberries

I had some strawberries in the fridge that were just begging to be eaten.

So eat them I did!

Zesty Lemon Strawberries

1 pint strawberries

1/4 cup cream cheese(or marscapone)

2-3 tbsp Zesty Lemon Balsamic

Chop off the greens and take the center from the strawberries. This leaves a little cup that is perfect for a little dollop of your cream cheese.

Drizzle with Zesty Lemon Balsamic. 

Eat.

Blood Orange Chocolate Confetti Cake

So, our store is 2. Right now at 2pm. Lets break out the balloons!

Some of the employees here are vegan, so I made a vegan cake. I wanted to be sure that we could all eat! The batter is really thick and sticky, and makes a dense and moist cake with a slightly fudge-y crumb. If you aren't vegan and would like the cake to be more fluffy, go ahead and add an egg.

And the frosting... The frosting recipe is after the pictures!

Blood Orange Chocolate Confetti Cake

3 cups flour
6 tbsp cocoa powder
2 tsp baking soda
pinch or two of salt
2 cups sugar
3/4 cup Blood Orange Olive Oil + some for greasing the pan
1 cup Tofutti Sour Cream
1 cup Almond Milk
1 container hard sugar sprinkles

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Use a drizzle of the Olive Oil to grease an 11x14 pan.

Combine the sugar, Olive Oil, sour cream and milk in a large bowl. Stir to combine. In another bowl, stir the four, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt together.

Stir them together in batches, slowly. Mix well, until everything is moistened. Pour the sprinkles into the batter and stir to distribute.

Turn out into the pan. The batter is very thick and sticky, so smooth it out as best as you can. If it is too thick and sits in a lump, try mixing in a couple extra tablespoons of Almond Milk.

Bake for 35-45 minutes. A toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean.

Cool. Drizzle with frosting before serving.

Orange Frosting

3/4 cup confectioner's sugar
3 tbsp Mandarin Orange Balsamic
1 tsp vanilla extract
Water as needed

Stir the ingredients together until it makes a smooth paste. Add water, by teaspoon as needed until you reach a consistency that you can drizzle.

You don't need a lot, just a little drizzle on each piece before serving will do you. I also think this would be great using the Vanilla Balsamic, and a touch of orange juice instead of water.

Balsamic Apple Rings with Cheese

I wanted to serve an apple-something other than applesauce with pork chops the other day. This turned out so well, I'm going to serve it without the pork chops from now on!

Balsamic Apple Rings with Cheese

1 large sweet apple, cored and sliced
1 tbsp Zesty Lemon Balsamic
White Cheddar, sliced thinly
mint leaves

Heat a small, non-stick sauce pan to medium heat. Place the apple rings inside and cook for a little bit, maybe 2 minutes.

The slices should be getting a little soft and it should start to smell very apple-y. Add the Lemon Balsamic and turn the apple to coat. Continue to cook another minute, but be careful to keep your your heat to a medium, medium low so it doesn't burn.

Center a small slice of cheese on one apple slice and stack another apples slice on top of that. I try to make each stack no more than 3-4 sliced high, I can usually get two stacks out of one apple. Let cook until the cheese has melted.

Serve warm with some mint leaves for garnish.

Pistachio Cheesecake 'Pudding'

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

For my green today, I used our Pistachio Cream. But this is a recipe where any of the sweet creams would work well. Just change up the garnishes. And I know that this isn't really technically a pudding. But pudding is closest in texture to what this is.


Pistachio Cheesecake 'Pudding'

8oz cream cheese, softened
2 tbsp confectioners sugar
1/4 cup crushed graham crackers
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup Pistachio Sweet Cream*
1/4 cup sour cream
1/2 cup plain or vanilla yogurt
2 tbsp fresh lime juice
2-3 tbsp crushed pistachios
whole pistachios for garnish

Stir everything together and chill. Garnish with whole pistachios and enjoy!

*Pistachio Cream avaliable in store or by phone only. Sorry!