Whole Wheat Sunflower Seed Muffins

Now that summer is here, I finally feel like I have enough time to devote to baking and blogging. I made these muffins quite a while ago from my new book and wanted to share with you.

Sometimes when you bake, substitutions need to be made. I had all the ingredients I needed but had no sunflower seeds. My lovely neighbour graciously let me borrow some pumpkin seeds which I happily used.

These muffins are easy to prepare and full of flavour and texture. There is a hint of spiciness from the ginger, zing from the lemon and crunch from the pepitas, so much in fact that I wish I had added more to the batter. They're not your typical muffins but are delicious. I also like the fact that they're mostly made with whole wheat flour making them healthier than most. Give them a try with a seed of your choice!

Recipe: Whole Wheat Sunflower Seed Muffins

Daring Bakers June Challenge - Bakewell Tart..er..Pudding

The June Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Jasmine of Confessions of a Cardamom Addict and Annemarie of Ambrosia and Nectar. They chose a Traditional (UK) Bakewell Tart... er... pudding that was inspired by a rich baking history dating back to the 1800's in England.

Finally a challenge that allowed me to bring out my as-yet-unused tart pan. The Bakewell Tart consists of three parts - a sweet pastry, jam and frangipane, a lovely almond filling. I opted to do a classic flavour combination of almond paired with raspberry jam and ended up with, in my opinion, a very authentic tasting tart.

The crust was solid and held everything together. The jam was seedless store-bought and provided a splash of sweetness and the frangipane was light in texture and the star of the tart. It cut beautifully and tasted even better cold the next day.

I really enjoyed this challenge. The tart was easy to prepare, looks impressive and was extremely edible. I will make it a point to work with frangipane again - I loved it.

Golden Cinnamon Loaf

The next recipe I tried out from my new book was the Golden Cinnamon Loaf. Again, I was not disappointed with the results. I won't bother going into the nitty gritty, but if you follow the instructions and give yourself enough time, you will be successful. What you end up with are two great loaves filled with cinnamony goodness.

One thing I tried that eased the process was to freeze the butter and then grate it. This worked really well and the butter got evenly distributed throughout the dry ingredients. Also, I didn't crisp them up at the end as I liked them the way they were. This loaf makes excellent toast especially when slathered in butter.

Recipe: Golden Cinnamon Loaf