Cardamom Pull Apart Loaf

Christmas | Fruit | Pastry

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I had every intention of posting this before Christmas. Really, I did. I worked extra hard on my days off to make three desserts in one day so I could post them when I didn't have time to make things (i.e. the week before Christmas).

But then work happened and I really had no time at all except to eat and sleep. Not even eat, really, mostly just squeeze in as much sleep as possible.

Posted by : Hint of Vanilla
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Orange Cranberry Morning Buns

Christmas | Fruit | Pastry

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So, let's say that you had some croissant dough lying around. You then took this croissant dough and sprinkled sugar on it and rolled it up. Then, after it was baked, you filled it with with a fruit sauce and rolled it in even more sugar, because why the hell not. Sounds a little crazy and kind of over-the-top, right?

Well, it may be crazy and over-the-top, I'll give you that, but it's delicious.

Posted by : Hint of Vanilla
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Chai Apple Pie

Christmas | Fruit | Pie

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What's the holiday season without an apple pie? The smell of warm spices and slowly cooking apples just makes your home seem so cozy and inviting. Taking time out of your busy Christmas schedule of parties, shopping, and work (or for me, just work) to go through the steps of making a pie from scratch really helps to slow things down. You forget the world outside and all those things that you have to do and just focus on little things like the temperature of the dough or cutting the apples. 

Posted by : Hint of Vanilla
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Dark Chocolate, Passion Fruit, and Hazelnut Layer Cake

Cake | Chocolate | Fruit

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It's my birthday!!!

It is 3:30 in the morning and I am getting ready for work, which will probably be a 12 hour day because we're in Christmas production mode and that shit is crazy. If you're a long term reader of this blog, that sentence may sound awfully familiar to you because I said almost exactly the same thing when I posted this chocolate cake for my birthday last year. Except last year, it was 6:30 am instead of 3:30 am. Not much has changed.

Posted by : Hint of Vanilla
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Honey and Vanilla Bean Crème Brûlée with Sautéed Apples

Custards | Fruit

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If I could make crème brûlée for every post, I'd be pretty happy. I love custards of any kind. Ice cream, pot de crème, crème brûlée, pastry cream, crème anglaise, french buttercream, the list goes on and on. There's something about the creamy smooth feeling of custards that I can't get enough of. I work in a place that makes a damn good crème brûlée, which I have for lunch every so often and I make crème brûlée at home. And last night, I went for dinner with some coworkers and for dessert, I ordered crème brûlée. One of my coworkers asked me why I would order something that I can easily make at home or have at work. And I replied, "Because I like crème brûlée. I want to eat crème brûlée, so I ordered it. And this is a delicious crème brûlée."

Posted by : Hint of Vanilla
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Apple Cider Loaf

Breakfast | Cake | Fruit

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Back when I was in university, over 4 years ago, before I had any notions of starting a blog, let alone going into the pastry industry, I followed one blog. I didn't know about any others and to be honest, I can't remember how exactly I stumbled across this one blog. That blog was A Cozy Kitchen.

I checked that blog every. single. day. And she posts every few days, which is just ridiculous. I went through the recipe archives and read every post there was to read. I would be taking notes on my laptop in my classical archaeology classes and in any spare minute that the professor wasn't talking, I simply typed in the letter "a" and it was autofilled to my favourite blog. I was obsessed.

Posted by : Hint of Vanilla
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Milk Chocolate and Passion Fruit Marshmallows

Chocolate | Confections | Fruit

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I love marshmallows, but only in hot chocolate. And only if they're homemade. Okay, sometimes I make hot chocolate with a mix that has tiny little marshmallows already in it, but they're really small so it doesn't count. 

But seriously, homemade marshmallows are infinitely better than store bought and they're easy and don't even require a whole lot of ingredients! And you can customize the flavour to almost aaaanything.

Posted by : Hint of Vanilla
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Peach Pie

Fruit | Pie

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Have you guys seen the Netflix show Chef's Table? If the answer is no, you need to fix that right now. Because it is so good. It's basically a bunch of mini-documentaries of some of the best chefs in the world and their restaurants, lives, philosophies on food, etc.

As someone who works in the food industry, I find chefs and line cooks to be fascinating. Pastry cooks and line cooks are two very different people that do two very different jobs, so their world of blistering hot kitchens and orders coming in every minute and expediting food is new and thrilling and scary. I know that the world of kitchens is completely different to what the customers experience, so I love seeing their behind-the-scenes.

Posted by : Hint of Vanilla
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Lavender Honey Ice Cream with Raspberry Swirl

Fruit | Ice Cream

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The last ice cream post of 2015! Unless I decide to make a winter ice cream, which may happen… Ice cream is best enjoyed in the summer, fall, winter, spring, morning, afternoon, evening, alone, with friends, and every time in between. There is no bad time for ice cream.

Posted by : Hint of Vanilla
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Cherry and Peach Galette

Fruit | Pie

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There's something pretty magical about nature and the fruits that come into season around the same time. Peaches and cherries go together so well and they're in season at the same time. Peaches and blueberries, same thing. Strawberries and rhubarb, the classic spring combo. Apples and pears, the fall duo. Do they go so well together by accident or have we been conditioned to like them together simply because they are both around at the same time? 

These are the things that keep me up at night.

Just kidding, that would be my anxiety-filled self-doubts about work and life and my future.

Posted by : Hint of Vanilla
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Cherry Pistachio and Almond Tarts

Fruit | Tarts

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It's been three weeks since my last post! I wish I had a real excuse for my absence, like a vacation or my oven broke or my camera died, but it was really just a lack of time... I'm enjoying summer while I can, you can't blame me for that! Although there is the constant nagging in the back of my mind saying, "You should post something this week! You really should!". 

Whatever, nagging voice, get outta here.

Posted by : Hint of Vanilla
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Brown Butter and Peach Brioche Bun

Bread | Custards | Fruit

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I always have a hard time thinking of something to make with peaches because to me, peaches are best enjoyed exactly as they are. I'm talking fresh as can be, juice dripping down your wrist as you bite and slurp at the soft flesh, and sucking on the pit to get every last bit of deliciousness that you can. That is how I want to eat my peaches, 9 times out of 10.

But sometimes, I do want to do a bit more with them. You don't want to mess with them too much or you lose that delicate texture and flavour. 

Posted by : Hint of Vanilla
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Strawberry and Vanilla Bean Jam

Fruit

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Well, this is the fourth and final recipe from my giant haul of strawberries that I bought a few weeks ago (the previous three being strawberries and cream pavlova, roasted strawberry and balsamic vinegar ice cream sandwiches, and strawberry financiers). Finally, we have reached the end of the strawbaggedon. 

Except maybe not, because I froze a bunch of strawberries because I just couldn't handle any more strawberries desserts at the time. But they'll be back.

Posted by : Hint of Vanilla
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Strawberry Financiers

Cake | Fruit

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Aaaand the strawberry saga continues. First there was the strawberries and cream pavlova, then there was the roasted strawberry and balsamic vinegar ice cream sandwiches, and now there's strawberry financiers. And there's still one more strawberry recipe to post next week (hint: it's jam). This is what happens when you get 2 kilos of strawberries. Strawberry everything.

Posted by : Hint of Vanilla
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Roasted Strawberry and Balsamic Vinegar Ice Cream Sandwiches

Fruit | Ice Cream

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Whoever thought of making ice cream into a hand-held treat surrounded by two delicious cookies is a straight up genius. It's tough to take something already so awesome like ice cream and make it even more awesome. But ice cream sandwiches are proof that it can be done.

Posted by : Hint of Vanilla
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Raspberry, Mint, Lime, and White Chocolate Tart

Cake | Custards | Fruit | Tarts

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Summer is in full swing here and hopefully everywhere else! That means cold and fresh dinners, sunburns (just me?), and fruit! Fruit everywhere! Pretty much every berry is coming into season right now and it's almost too much for me. I feel like a kid in a candy store! 

A few weeks ago, I came into possession of about 6 lbs of strawberries and then went buck wild with making strawberry everything. So the next few weeks are going to be filled with strawberry recipes. But for now, it's all about these tiny little raspberries and their amigos - lime, mint, and white chocolate. 

Posted by : Hint of Vanilla
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Strawberries and Cream Pavlova

Fruit

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I almost didn't put this recipe up because it's just too easy. I could've done so many fancy things with this pavlova (strawberry fluid gel, meringue shards, diplomat cream, and strawberry powder were all thoughts floating around in my mind), but I didn't. Sometimes, all you need is a few fresh strawberries and some sweetened whipped cream.

Posted by : Hint of Vanilla
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Mascarpone, Rhubarb, and Vanilla Bean Verrine with Oat Streusel

Fruit | Mousse

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This is a super great dessert for spring and summer dinner parties, for many reasons - minimal oven time, simple, fresh, and perfect to make ahead. Not that I would know anything about dinner parties because I don't even have a dining table in order to have people over for dinner, but I can imagine. Or, even better, for a picnic! Instead of glasses, make them in jars and keep them in the cooler and the streusel in a separate container. Once again, not that I would know because I don't have a cooler. 

Posted by : Hint of Vanilla
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Strawberry Cream Puffs

Fruit | Mousse

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There's a farmers market that happens every Saturday right near my apartment. It's one of my favourite things about summer - fresh veggies and fruit, local honey, homemade breads, all kinds of stuff! It's a great little market and always has awesome fresh produce. But I work on Saturdays now and I usually get off around 2 or 3pm. The market closes at 3pm and everything is usually cleaned out long before then. So you can imagine how excited I was when I went to the farmers market at 3:05 pm and there were still a few punnets of strawberries left!!

Posted by : Hint of Vanilla
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Rhubarb Danish

Fruit | Pastry

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I'm loving all the rhubarb desserts that I've been seeing on blogs and around Pinterest lately. Rhubarb pies, rhubarb muffins, rhubarb cakes, rhubarb crumbles, rhubarb drinks, rhubarb everything!! Except… not many rhubarb danish (danishes?). Everyone knows that rhubarb goes great with flaky pastry, but it's usually a pie pastry. With a little help from King Arthur Flour, I stepped it up a notch and paired rhubarb with uber flaky croissant dough to make one kickass flaky-fruity-sour-sweet-crunchy-creamy pastry.

Posted by : Hint of Vanilla
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