back in time for easter!!!!!!!!

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I know, I know.

WORST. BLOGGER. EVER.

But you have to understand, since my last post, I've been slowly going a bit insane. I finished renovating my house. I sold my house. I went to Cuba. I bought another house. I got a new job. and I'm having a GIRL!

So yeah, it's been a little busy!

But, things are starting to calm back down, the brand new kitchen we renovated is starting to get a little use, FINALLY.

My mother in law was kind enough to host Easter dinner, so I thought that the least I could do would be to offer to bring my dessert (especially given that I got out of making turkey and all the trimmings - a good thing considering I'm not supposed to lift anything!).

Anyway, since there were to be 11 people for dinner, many of whom had given up dessert for Lent, I thought I'd give people a bit of an option....something that seemed "light" (but TOTALLY wasn't) and something intensely decadent (you know my style, hehe).

So this is what I ended up making....

Raspberry Lemon Layer Cake



Cake: 3 cups cake flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon fine salt
1 1/4 cups sour cream
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 1 1/2 lemons)
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature, cut into small pieces
2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest (zest of 1 lemon)
5 large eggs, room temperature

Icing and Filling:
1 1/4 cups sugar
5 large egg whites
1 1/2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
Pinch fine salt
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature, cut into small pieces

1/2 cup seedless red raspberry jam
1/2 cup lemon curd (or purchased lemon spread....for the lazy!)

For the cakes:
1. Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F.

2. Lightly brush 2 (9-inch) round cake pans with shortening or butter. Line bottoms with buttered parchment paper and dust with flour. BTW, has anyone figured out WHY you can't buy rounds of parchment paper? I drive myself mental everytime, trying to trace the slippery stuff, and then trying to make sure I've cut off all the pen!

3. Sift the flour, baking powder, soda, and salt into a medium bowl; whisk to combine evenly. Sift - HAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAH! I don't sift. This could be my problem, but I just don't do it.

4. Stir the sour cream, lemon juice and vanilla together in a liquid measuring cup, and set aside.

5. Beat the butter in a standing mixer with the paddle attachment on high until light and creamy, about 2 minutes. Stop and scrape butter off the sides of the bowl. Continue beating while gradually adding the sugar-- it should take a couple minutes to add all the sugar. Continue beating until very light and fluffy, about 3 to 4 minutes more.

6. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat in the lemon zest.

7. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.

8. At low speed, add the flour mixture in 3 parts, alternating with the sour cream in 2 parts, beginning and ending with the flour. Scrape the sides of the bowl and mix for 15 seconds longer.

9. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans and smooth the top with a knife. (Lightly tap the pan on the counter so the batter settles evenly.)

10. Bake the cakes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 35 to 40 minutes. Cool in the pan on a rack for 20 minutes; then turn cakes out onto the rack to cool completely. I baked my cakes for about 30 minutes, and they ended up a touch overdone. I don't know if I need new pans, a new oven or both.....

For the Icing:
1. Bring a few inches of water to a boil in a saucepan that can hold a mixer's bowl above the water.

2. Whisk the sugar, the egg whites, lemon juice, cream of tartar, and salt in the bowl by hand.

3. Set the bowl above the boiling water and continue whisking until the mixture is hot to the touch and the sugar dissolves, about 1 to 2 minutes.

4. Transfer the bowl to a standing mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and beat the whites at medium-high speed until they almost holds a stiff peak and are cool, about 10 minutes.

5. Beat in the butter, a little at a time, until the icing is smooth and spreadable. (If the icing separates, just keep beating and it will come back together.)

**Note - I was lukewarm about this icing. First, the recipe didn't really make enough to nicely ice the cake. It made enough to cover the cake, but (as you'll see in the final photo), there wasn't enough for it to be really smoothable on the sides. The taste was okay....I used vanilla sugar, but I think I just don't really like buttery icing. I think it should have been a lot fluffier....it was quite dense. BUT, I was thanking my lucky stars for the kitchenaid....if I'd had to stand with a stupid hand mixer for 15 minutes, the icing would have been tossed!


To assemble the cake:
1. Slice each cake in half horizontally with a serrated knife, to make 4 even layers, taking care that they are as flat and straight as possible. Believe it or not, the cake actually sliced really well. I was nervous, but the cake was easy to cut and stayed together pretty nicely. No complaints there.

2. Set a large flat plate on a large inverted bowl or bottom of a salad spinner (of course, if you have a cake stand, use that), dabbing a little frosting on the bottom of the plate to secure it. Seriously, I can't imagine trying to balance a plate on top of a wee little bowl.....I have a glass cake stand...it doesn't rotate or anything, but it works pretty well for this.

3. Place a cake layer top side up on the plate. Using an offset spatula, spread about half of the raspberry jam in a thin layer over the first cake layer, leaving about 1/4-inch border along the outside. On the top cake layer, spread a thin layer of the lemon spread/lemon curd. I bought the E.D. Smith stuff. It's tasty!

4. Lay the second cake layer on top, stacking it as straight as possible. Using an offset spatula spread about 1 cup of the icing on the top layer.

5. Place a third cake layer on top. Spread remaining red raspberry jam over the cake layer, then spread the lemon curd over the fourth layer. Place the final layer on top, pressing down lightly to secure all 4 layers together. Spread about 3/4 of the remaining icing around the sides with a knife or offset spatula, then ice the top of the cake.

6. Use an offset spatula to smooth icing as much as possible. I have a nifty icing smoother thingamabob that I got to use for the first time. Of course, this is AFTER hubs stole it to use for tile adhesive....who knew kitchen implements could be so versatile???? He swears he washed it well. I washed it again, just to be safe. I kinda bungled up the icing a bit (there wasn't quite enough, and I just kinda suck at it anyway). I happened to have some pink buttercream in the freezer (froze it on a whim just to see if it would freeze). I defrosted it and used it to make the cake look snazzier. I think I need an icing course, but it still turned out cute! Canadian ladies, bulk barn is your friend for cake decoration stuff - it's cheap, you can buy only as much as you need and they have fun colours!

The final result: Looks - despite my mediocre icing job, it turned out really cute! Taste - BUT, I found the cake texture to be too hard and too dense. I think I am still in search of a nice moist, soft cake recipe. Preferably one that doesn't come out of a box. Let me know if you find one!

So yeah, that cake was a bit of a labour of love. It served REALLY well though - four layers always makes you look like a ktichen genius. Definitely WAY more work than the second cake. This second cake is chocolatey indulgence at its best. If you are someone who loves a rich, dark chocolate cheesecake.....this is for you. It is rich, silky and just incredible. Hubs is not a fan, but that makes my preggo butt happy, because there is all the more for me. :)

The technique might seem a bit weird at first, but it works really well, and it's my first cheesecake without a fissure the size of the grand canyon!!!!!!

Double Chocolate Cheesecake
(stolen and lightly adapted from www.epicurious.com)



For crust:
1 9-ounce box chocolate wafer cookies
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted

For filling:
1 1/2 cup whipping cream
1 rounded teaspoon instant coffee powder
12 ounces dark chocolate, finely chopped (I used a bar of 70%, a bar of 85% and one of 60%)

2 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 cup sour cream
2 T kahlua
3 large eggs

Make crust:
1. Preheat oven to 350°F.

2. Wrap outside of 9.5-inch-diameter springform pan with 2 3/4-inch-high sides with double thickness of foil (this recipe would be fine with a 10 inch pan too - the cake was quite high)

3. Spray bottom of pan with vegetable oil spray. Finely grind cookies in food processor. Add butter and process until blended. Press mixture onto bottom (not sides) of prepared pan. Refrigerate while preparing filling. I liked that, FOR ONCE, there was actually enough crust to easily cover the bottom of the pan. I like to use a flat bottomed potato masher to squish it all down evenly....I always bugger it up with my fingers.

Make filling:
1. Combine cream and coffee powder in medium saucepan.Stir over medium heat until coffee powder dissolves. Reduce heat to low. Add chocolate; whisk until chocolate melts and mixture is smooth. Cool 10 minutes.

2. Using electric mixer, beat cream cheese and sugar in large bowl until well blended.Beat in cornstarch.

3. Add sour cream and kahlua; beat well.

4. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating just until blended after each addition.

5. Whisk 1 cup cheese mixture into chocolate mixture. ***IF you want to make a pretty, swirly top, take about 1/3 cup of the white cheese mixture in a measuring cup and just set it aside. Swirls are pretty and make you look like a superstar and they take ZERO talent to actually do. :) Totally my style.

6. Return chocolate mixture to remaining cheese mixture; whisk until smooth.

7. Pour batter into crust. ***If you're making swirls, take a small spoon and drip/dollop the white cheese mixture over the chocolate mixture. Use a butter knife and swirl it all around. Don't try to be too orderly - this stuff swirls really nicely by just using a random pattern!

8. Place springform pan in large baking pan. (I had to use my turkey roaster)
Add enough hot water to baking pan to cone halfway up sides of springform pan. Bake cheesecake until softly set and slightly puffed around edges, about 1 hour.

9. Turn off oven. Let cake stand in oven 45 minutes. Transfer springform pan t0 rack and cool. Cover; chill cake overnight.

***IF I am somehow a cheesecake goddess and if for some reason your cake cracks, there are a few tried and true tactics - 1. Cover your cake with whipped cream, then melt some chocolate and drizzle artistically. 2. Melt an equal amount of whipping cream and chocolate (1/2 cup cream, 4 oz chocolate) to make a ganache. Pour it over and let it set for 1-2 hours.

Using a knife, cut around sides of pan to loosen cake.Remove pan sides. Cut into wedges and serve.

This cake totally rocks. It looks nice, but tastes absolutely AMAZING. YUMMY.

Thanks so much for reading! Who knows, if I get a few comments, you may even convince me to post a preggo pic.... :) I'm nearly 22 weeks now!

WIshing you a happy 2008 through rustic italian pasta

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So folks, it's been a while. A long while. Come to think of it, it's kinda been three months since my last real post.

Isn't that something, eh?

Funny how time flies.

Well, the good news is that I don't have to diet this year. In fact, I've got carte blanche to gain about 25-35 pounds over the next six and a bit months. Neat, eh?

Of course I can't drink any vino, and I'm supposed to avoid sushi and most other yummy indulgent things....but hey - there's a MINI FOODIE on the way! :) Coming late July/early August 2008. Let's all hope my picky kid posts don't come back to bite me in the arse or you al l will have great old belly laugh at my expense. :)

Anyway, I haven't posted much lately because, to be honest, I've barely been able to eat. I've felt kinda icky and not at all hungry....but the good news is that as the first tri is coming to an end, I'm actually back to looking at recipes and other food sites without turning green. So I can post again! And lucky for hubs, he actually gets to eat homemade food again.

First though, I have some confessions to make.....

In the last few weeks, I have:
- eaten boxed mac and cheese no fewer than three times
- sent my husband out at 1 am for Chicken McNuggets with bbq sauce because I HAD to have them
- insisted on eating a big mac (um.....EWWWWWWWWWWWWW)
- subsisted nearly entirely on simple carbohydrates
- generally grumped, whined and moaned my way through the first trimester.

On the up side Christmas brought a new attachment for the kitchen aid (a meat grinder - prepare for LOTS of new uses for ground meat).

Anyway, you don't come here for my random rambles, you come here for the food. So let's get to dinner. I wanted to come up with a kind of rustic italian stew - the kind a nice old italian nonna would have made for her hungry family (or at least something similar....y'all know that authenticity and I are rarely intimate bedfellows). But in the interest of not becomind a whale in the next bit, I wanted a way for it to be hearty, rustic but not to butt-enrounding.

This is what I came up with - I loved it. It had just the right amount of bite, acidity, texture, and is a good way to incorporate marginally sketchy fridge veggies that may be slightly past their prime (hey, is it really my fault that anything green or crunchy was out?????).

Rigatoni with Rustic Sausage Stew
1 lb rigatoni (or other chunky pasta)

2 T olive oil
(most people would put garlic here, but I still can't eat it....neither can hubs...because I can SMELL IT FOR DAYS....poor guy - use 2-3 cloves if you can stand it. Just don't talk to me after)
1 onion, diced (not too fine)
1 green pepper, diced (again, not too fine - we want chunky!)
1 head broccoli, coarsely chopped (you could use any veggie here - zucchini, mushrooms, etc.)
1 cup red wine (it's the only way I get to have any! and it really enhances the flavour)
1 can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 t oregano
1 t italian seasoning
1 T balsamic vinegar
1-1.5 cups low fat cottage cheese (sneaky way to up calcium)

6 lean italian turkey sausages (best way to lower the fat and uck content of this recipe)

parmesan cheese for grating

1. Set a big pot of salted water to boil.

2. Cook your sausages - I prefer doing them on my indoor grill. It's quick, easy, and if you slice the little suckers diagonally, it lets all the extra fat drain out.



3. In a large, deep skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the (garlic if you MUST...but again, do NOT come near me) onion and green pepper. Sauté until the veggies brown just a little bit (like nonna went outside to yell at the family to come in and got distracted a moment).



4. Add the wine. Let it boil until it's about half evaporated.



5. Add the can of tomatoes, the oregano and the italian seasoning. Add the broccoli at this point too.

6. Meanwhile, your sausages should be just about done. Using a sharp knife, slice them up and toss them in with the sauce. Add the cottage cheese.



7. Now your water should be boiling. Cook the pasta about 12 minutes, until done to your liking. This will give your stew time to blend and develop a little more flavour. If it's losing too much liquid, turn the heat down.

8. Drain the pasta, return to the pot and dump your stew in on top. Serve topped with parmesan cheese. It would be fabulous with a nice italian red...but you'll have to raise a glass for me, as I am reduced to toasting with grape juice. :)



Thanks for reading! Now that I seem to be able to eat again, I will be back!

SHF 37: The Beta Carotene Harvest - Part 2!

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Welcome all to part two and thanks for your patience!

Marija from Palachinka came up with a Serbian Pumpkin Pie that looks divine!


Julie from A Mingling of Tastes shares a super-moist pumpkin batter that's the base for a holiday bundt cake. Check out her All-in-One Holiday Bundt Cake!


Nicole from Audaciousness presents her carrot custard with graham cracker topping and lime-cilantro syrup. Fun!


Kayla from Mama Yogini (fun name, btw!) submits her Pumpkin Bread Pudding with Caramel Sauce and Whipped Cream. Great use of a slow cooker, if you ask me!


Sara from Cupcake Muffin made pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese frosting for a friend's birthday party. Happy b-day!


Chris from Mele Cotte created a wonderful fall 'brunch' cake. Check out his Spiced Pumpkin Cake!


Monica, the Pastry Princess sends us her Sweet Potato Hazelnut Tart and Pumpkin Financiers. Sounds awesome!

Carolyn from French Peach created Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting....I'm loving the frosting.


Susan from Sticky, Gooey, Creamy, Chewy shares a rich and creamy dessert made witha gingerbread cake base and a pumpkin cream filling.....check out her Pumpkin Gingerbread Trifle!


Melody from Fruittart combined tropical with temperate with her carrot pineapple cupcakes.


Julie from The Persnickety Palate shares a Paradise pumpkin pie that she made for thanksgiving (with fresh pumpkin) along with some toasted pumpkinseeds.


Cenk from Cafe Fernando has created a carrot cake with both chopped walnuts and dried blueberries. Love it!


David from Sketchy's Kitchen satisfies our sweet tooth with his Pumpkin Cheesecake with Navan Cream.


Gretchen from Canela & Comino shares her Pumpkin Cake with Chocolate Icing, made with her first ever roasted pumpkins. Looks great!


Linda from Make Life Sweeter! just squeaked in with her Carrot Ganache Covered and Clementine Curd Filled Petit Four (can I just say that looks fabulous?).


A HUGE thank you to all those who participated. Such a great variation of tasty, nutrient-filled treats! I REALLY hope I haven't missed anyone - I have a sneaking suspicion that my spam filter may have caught some of your entries, and I wasn't able to check this account while I was in Thailand. SO...if I've missed you, PLEASE let me know and I would be most happy to add you in.

You can find next month's SHF 38, "The Proof is in the Pudding" at Kochtopf. Looks like a great theme! I'm looking forward to a December that is hopefully (perhaps naively?) a little less crazy than November and October have been. I'm anxious to post a whole whack of stuff and anxious to have y'all read about it.

Thanks for reading, and again, a HUGE thanks to Jennifer from the Domestic Goddess who created the whole SHF shebang. :)

SHF 37 - The Beta-Carotene Harvest - Part 1

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So here it is - the fist part of the round-up of all the fabulous bloggers who participated in November's edition of Sugar High Friday! There were quite a number of you, so hopefully I didn't miss anyone (but if I missed yours, let me know I will be happy to add). I received TONS of submissions, and I'm totally jet-lagged right now, so I promise to have the rest of 'em all up first thing tomorrow morning. MUCHO thanks to all those who participated, and also to Jennifer of the Domestic Goddess who came up with the whole idea.

November has completely whizzed by for me - between work, class and travelling to Thailand for my father's wedding, it feels absolutely impossible that it's the end of the month already! November is ending with a white, blasty bang here, so it seems almost impossible to fathom that mere weeks ago people were actually harvesting from the cold, frozen ground. :)

And without further ado, I invite you to travel the globe (virtually, of course!) and check out this month's entries into Sugar High Friday....

Brittany from The Pie Lady has come up with a lovely sweet potato flan with brandy snaps, cider reduction and glazed pecans. Yummy!


Sophie from Mostly Eating created butternut squash, oat and ginger cake bites for your perusal and enjoyment. Check them out!


Judy from No Fear Entertaining offers us a vamped-up version of pumpkin bread in the form of muffins. I bet that smelled fabulous!


Courtney from Coco Cooks gives a twist on the traditional Spanish/Latin American churro, with her sweet potato and orange zest version. Looks very tasty!


Rosa, a fellow Canuck from Rosa Jackson: Edible adventures in Paris, Nice and beyond, has baked up a batch of butternut squash muffins. Watch out Jamie Oliver!


Helen from Tartelette has baked up an exquisite Pumpkin Praline Cheesecake for you to try. One would expect nothing less from the Tartelette!


Caroline from A Consuming Passion profers a simple yet exceedingly flavourful pumpkin breakfast cake. Beautiful work!


Rachel of Vampituity stepped out into the world of weird and different with this very fun cantaloupe soup. Kudos for thinking outside the (carbon shoe)box!


Anne from A Foodie Froggy in Paris came up with a creative and tasty-sounding orange tart (yep, they do have a lot of betacarotene!). Merci Anne!


Inge from Vanielje Kitchen offer yummmmy sounding Spiced Carrot, Pineapple and Walnut Cake. Not your average carrot cake for sure!


Susan from Food Blogga came up with a very snazzy Persimmon and Date Bread...not to be missed!


Eva from The Golden Shrimp played around and came up with Sweet and Savoury Parsnip Muffins. I love parsnips!


Meeta from What's for Lunch, Honey? gives us a wonderful take on Crème Caramel, flavouring it with sweet potatoes and toffee. I'm drooling - yum!


Daniela from Fragole & Cioccolato has created a rustic and spicy tart, to be enjoyed with a cup of tea. Grazie!


Cakelaw from Laws of the Kitchen shares with us a low fat cake laden with the goodness of pumpkin and sultanas - check it out!


Karyn from Hot Potato has created mini pies that provide the same cute one-serving appeal as cupcakes...but they are pies! Check out her mini pumpkin pies!


Louise from Knit 1 Bake 2 revamped the humble carrot cake with her Ultimate Carrot Cake with Marscapone and Fromage Frais Topping.


Nora of Life's Smörgåsbord comes from down under and refreshes us with a Mango and Apricot Frappé.


Ann of Redacted Recipes shares her Bittersweet Carrot Orange Cake Mini Bundts with Cream Cheese Frou Frous. Cute!


Elizabeth from SMBSLT's Journal shares her delicious and moist Pumpkin and Sour Cherry Scones. I will have to try sometime!

SHF: November – The Beta Carotene Harvest

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Welcome all to definitely not martha, the sarcastic, quip-filled home of Sugar High Friday for November 2007. SHF was created by Jennifer at Domestic Goddess and has been hosted by blogs across the globe...now including me.

Seeing as this month is Thanksgiving for American readers, and generally has me in a harvest-y kinda mood, what with threats of snow, ice and other such chilly menaces….the theme for this month is Beta Carotene Harvest.

This is like the chicken soup of the dessert world – something hearty, something comforting and something that packs a beta carotene punch…i.e., desserts made with typical harvest gourds and roots – pumpkin, squash, sweet potato, etc. (I’m open to other possibilities…but this is the general idea). A few examples:
- pumpkin pie
- carrot cake
- sweet potato torte
- spiced pumpkin strudel

Go nuts! Be creative! Make something totally new. I love weird and different. So show me what you’ve got!

The deadline for submitting to this month’s SHF is MONDAY, 26 November at midnight EST (GMT-5). I will post the round-up on Friday the 30th of November…at some point during the day/evening (he – I’ve got a day job peeps!).

In order to share your submission, I will require the following:
- image (optional) no larger than 100x100 (doesn’t have to be square, but the biggest dimension cannot exceed 100 pixels)
- a link to your entry
- name of your blog (and link to your blog)
- a brief summary of your entry

Please send your entries to me here: definitelynotmartha@hotmail.com with the title SHF November (or something like that, so I don’t think it’s spam!). You can post in comments, but I can’t guarantee I’ll find it….so if you could send me an email, that would kick ass.

If you do not have a blog and wish to participate, please feel free to do so in the comments section.

I look forward to seeing all of your vitamin-packed creations…

PS - the photo was the dessert I made for Canadian thanksgiving (first Monday in October...it gets cold here REALLY fast....read all about it HERE