Tag: baking

Pop Tarts- A Recipe Review

A couple of months ago, I had re-watched Claire Saffiz’s original Gourmet Makes video on the oh so nostalgic snack, Pop Tarts. I remember liking Pop Tarts as a kid, mostly because I wasn’t allowed to have them at home and not because they tasted amazing. I also enjoyed anything with multi-coloured sprinkles, but that still hasn’t changed. I was intrigued by the idea of making this nostalgic snack actually taste really good and this recipe seemed to be the best option out there. 

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Blood Orange Biscotti

There’s nothing quite like enjoying an afternoon cup of coffee with a biscotti on the side for dipping. I don’t have a big sweet tooth, so cookies are usually the last on my list of satisfying snacks. The biscotti however… I can stand behind a biscotti in all it’s golden glory.

Biscotti which translates to “twice cooked” is both their name and how they are made. We appreciate this method of baking to yield a very crunchy, evenly cooked, and beautifully golden cookie. The recipe I am sharing today encompasses all of these qualities, but with a unique, fun twist- blood orange. The basis of this recipe comes from a note card I found in my Nonna’s recipe box. I made some adjustments to the original recipe before testing it many times, and they have always turn out perfectly. Through this, I’ve discovered the biscotti to be a very versatile dough that can be adjusted by swapping ingredients out simply because you don’t have them on hand. The original recipe used vegetable oil as the fat rather than butter for example, but the day I made these I only had butter on hand. Flavour wise, the blood orange could easily be swapped for lemon or other citrus fruit, and the almond extract could become vanilla. You certainly can’t do such a quick swap of ingredients in most baking recipes, but because this one is forgiving, why not be creative! 

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Raspberry Babka With Orange & Cardamom

We see babka bread everywhere these days as it has become quite the baking trend. Filled with anything from chocolate, jams, and even pesto, the babka has come a long way from its origins in some ways. Originating in Eastern European Jewish cultures, the babka was created as a way for people to use up leftover challah dough. When you make a babka for yourself, it certainly doesn’t feel like you are using up any old dough scraps as you build the bread from the ground up and it truly becomes a pride and joy. I can only assume that back in the day, challah was made so often in a house that once it was divided and braided, there would be some left over bits. Here is where I understand that babka comes into play. Traditionally it was filled with nuts, dried fruit, or cinnamon. I think I can stand by all of fillings still. In the last 50 years, the babka has transformed into a much sweeter dessert, often filled with chocolate, nutella, or fruit preserves. It is such an appealing bread and recipe to do as it allows for so much creativity and because of the unique way it is braided, it is absolutely gorgeous to look at. 

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Marbled Tahini Cookies

I recently came across a marbled halva recipe that looked absolutely gorgeous. This recipe (and a huge container of tahini sitting in my fridge) is what inspired these fun little cookies I am  sharing with you today. I was most intrigued by the marbling of the tahini, and this particular recipe called for black tahini to achieve the effect. I’ve certainly seen black tahini in some specialty grocery stores and perhaps a health food store or two, but right now I knew I wouldn’t be able to go searching for such a specialty item. In my pantry, I keep an array of “health food” powders such as beetroot, spirulina, and activated charcoal. I’ve successfully made pasta dough with all of these, so why not some cookies? So here it is, my version of a marbled tahini cookie using activated charcoal. The cookies themselves are shortbread adjacent, but have a smooth and creamy texture. This was a happy accident actually. I had started the recipe off by looking at a shortbread cookie recipe and swapped some of the fat for tahini. In the process, I accidentally forgot to add the eggs to the dough. By the time I noticed, it was too late to incorporate them so I just left them out and hoped for the best. My forgetfulness turned into a delicious, melt in your mouth cookie and I couldn’t be happier.

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Sourdough: A Journey

Making sourdough at home has been a goal of mine for quite a while. I never felt like I had the time or patience to do it myself, so I never did. There was also one time I did try growing a starter and killed it within a few days. Discouraging to say the least. With nothing but time on my hands, I don’t feel like I have any excuses left and need to jump on that sourdough bandwagon. Everyone in the city is making their own sourdough while in quarantine, and frankly I think that’s awesome. 

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Edible flower shortbread cookies

Edible flowers are something that I can’t help but smile at every time they appear on a plate. Whether it is a sweet or savoury dish, they seem to layer on such a magical essence. With Spring quickly approaching, I can’t wait to get my hands on more and more varieties of flowers to incorporate in various recipes. You may be wondering where you can find edible flowers in the city, and this is something I wondered as well. After a bit of research, and frankly years of just keeping my eye out for them, I have come to the conclusion that they are so hard to find because they are seasonal and they don’t have a long shelf life. They are however very easy to grow yourself! This is something I am hoping to start this Spring so that I don’t need to rely on finding them in stores. 

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Gabby Bevilacqua1 Comment

Welcome!

This Gal Cooks is a food blog dedicated to my food explorations at home. I started this thing off through Instagram posting all of my most recent adventures, often featuring snippets of not only tasty food, but cute vintage dishware and tablecloths, both things I have been collecting (maybe too much of) for many years. I always wanted to take this vision further but I just didn’t have the time to make enough content to keep up with a blog. Now, I do have time. Just like hundreds of thousands of workers in the food industry right now, I am out of work until further notice due to COVID-19. 

Since I have been home, I have cooked, created, and documented every single day. Not only do I have the time to cook and experiment, I have the time to take good photos, play around with my dish collection and truly make art that I am proud of. So here I am with This Gal Cooks- the blog!

As a budding food professional (of sorts), who loves cats, vintage dishware, monochromatic colour palettes, and all things pasta. It’s hard for me to label myself as a ‘chef’ at the moment as I am just starting to navigate my way through the food world and figure out what exactly I want to do while i’m in it. 

Food has been my one and only consistent love, following me through many different stages in my life. I recall a project from elementary school where we had to select a profession and do research on the clunky library computer to find out how to become that when we grew up. At the time I debated between a ballerina, a fashion designer, or a chef. I ended up researching how to become a chef and wrote about going to Le Cordon Bleu in Paris. My 10-year-old self knew what I wanted to be, but it took me a few extra years and a University degree in film to figure it out for myself. When I did make the realization, I went ALL IN. In 2019, I quit my job working for an installation artist and applied to culinary school. In the meantime, I searched around Toronto for some sort of job in the food industry, ready to do absolutely anything; as long as it got my foot in the door of this magical world of food. I was stepping into a space that I had absolutely zero formal experience in (not even a FOH or cafe job under my belt), and I was scared of being laughed at and rejected. I knew that that attitude would certainly hold me back, so I shoved it aside and moved forward. I reached out to a few places around the city and quickly received a delightful email back from Dish Cooking Studio. I am pleased to say that I have been working there since September 2019 as a Prep Chef in their daytime kitchen and Assistant Chef in their cooking school. Being around food all day everyday, learning, experimenting, teaching, and eating has made me the happiest version of myself.

This Gal Cooks is here for me to show and share what I love to cook when I am at home, from easy dinners, to intricate desserts, to wacky experiments. As a vegetarian, I am naturally inspired by the freshest fruits and vegetables, but my cooking is also heavily inspired by my Italian heritage, my passion for baking, colours (literally), and oftentimes vintage dishware and patterns. I am a visual person and so I often plan and think of food firstly by how I want it to look; what colours will make something pop, or what textures will work well together. I believe in this method, and you will see and make sense of it through the food I cook. 

I am so pleased for you all to join me in the kitchen as I share my food experiments, some nifty tips and tricks, and lots and lots of pasta….

Enjoy!

Gabby

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