salted vanilla + chocolate truffle cupcake

 

it's national truffle day! FINALLY a day i can get on board with. aside from the obvious of celebrating by stuffing my face with endless LINDOR truffles, i thought it would be nice to bake them into something too! a salted vanilla cupcake, stuffed with a surprise milk chocolate LINDOR truffle. if a surprise gooey chocolate truffle isn't enough, i finished them off with a drizzle of truffle ganache & a sprinkle of sea salt. i know my sister in alberta is beyond jealous looking at this right now, because these are one of her favourite chocolates too. good thing it's her birthday this week & she will be flying home.. should i be a nice sister & save her one!? when i worked downtown, there was a LINDOR store in the concourse of my office building. they had piles & piles of different flavours of truffles i didn't even know existed! i was like a kid in a candy store. what is your favourite flavour of truffles?!

ingredients

(makes one dozen cupcakes)

for the cake

  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
  • 3/4 cups white sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1 cup all purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup whole milk
    * 12 LINDOR truffles, whole

for the frosting

  • 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 3 cups icing sugar, or to taste
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
  • coarse sea salt, for topping (like sprinkles)

for the chocolate ganache

* 6 LINDOR truffles, roughly chopped

  • 1 teaspoon heavy cream

directions

  • preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
  • in the bowl of a stand mixer cream the butter and sugar. add the egg & vanilla extract, beat until light and fluffy.
  • in a separate bowl sift the flour, baking powder, and salt. gradually add it to stand mixer at low speed, alternating with the milk.
  • divide the batter evenly amongst 12 lined cupcake tins. place a whole LINDOR truffle in the centre of each cupcake & push down.
  • bake for 12-15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
  • for the buttercream add the butter, sugar, vanilla & salt to the bowl of a stand mixer. beat until frosting is light & fluffy, about 8 minutes.
  • while the buttercream is whipping make the chocolate ganache. melt truffles in a microwave safe bowl. Add cream & stir until silky smooth. let cool slightly.
  • pipe each cupcake as desired. drizzle with truffle ganache & a sprinkle of coarse salt.

this post was created in partnership with lindt chocolate. happy national truffle day! 

balsamic roasted chickpea salad

 

because it is almost everyones favourite swimsuit season, today i am trading in my slice of cake for a delicious spring salad! radishes are one of my favourite vegetables to include in a salad because of the crunch factor. i eat them like apples to be honest, is that weird? idk. the dressing of this salad features various maison orphee oils & vinegars. a company who i feel in love with after i was on the hunt for the perfect dijon & whole grain mustard. bonus points because maison orphee is canadian & the sunflower oil + mustard are both produced in quebec city! the recipe for the dressing came from the maison orphee app where you can find various salad dressings & marinades. i decided to keep this salad vegetarian & use chickpeas as the protein. a cost friendly & vegetarian alternative to meat, but feel free to add some grilled chicken breast to the salad. lastly, because plain chickpeas are bland & boring, i marinated them in balsamic vinegar before roasting them. the leftover chickpeas make for a tasty healthy snack, enjoy!

ingredients

for the roasted chickpeas

for the salad

  • 5 ounces baby arugula
  • 1 seedless cucumber, sliced thinly
  • 1 bunch of radishes, sliced thinly
  • 1 cup roasted balsamic chickpeas
  • 4.5 ounces soft goat cheese

for the balsamic dressing

directions

for the roasted chickpeas

  • in a mixing bowl add the chickpeas & balsamic vinegar. let sit for 30 minutes.
  • strain the vinegar & add the olive oil, salt + pepper.
  • on a lined baking sheet roast at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes. stir once in between.

for the balsamic dressing

  • in a mixing bowl or salad dressing jar add the olive oil, sunflower oil, balsamic vinegar, dijon mustard, brown sugar, salt & pepper. whisk/shake until well combined.

for the salad

  • in a large serving bowl add the arugula, cucumber, radishes, chickpeas & goat cheese.
  • toss in the fresh balsamic dressing & serve immediately.

this post was created in partnership with maison orphee. i used the following maison orphee products to create this recipe: sunflower oil, extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar, grey sea salt & dijon mustard. download the app here to get 100+ bbq marinades & vinaigrette recipes! 

mint + ginger green tea lemonade

 

the weather is finally warm enough to enjoy drinking iced tea & beer outdoors! this past weekend in toronto, everyone was out riding bikes & every restaurant with a patio was jam packed. winter hibernation is over! each morning i start off by drinking a hot cup of green tea, half because i love tea & half because of how healthy green tea is for you. with the weather changing, i wanted to come up with the ultimate refreshing way to drink my green tea! using stash tea's loose leaf organic lung ching green tea i created an iced green tea lemonade that is flavoured with fresh ginger + fresh mint & sweetened with raw honey + panela raw sugar. this drink would be perfect for an outdoor bbq in one of those massive mason jar jug drink dispensers that i got my mom last year for mother's day. hint hint: mom;)

ingredients

  • 4 cups water, boiled
  • 3 tablespoons loose leaf green tea (i used organic lung ching green tea)
  • 2 tablespoons ginger, peeled & sliced
  • 3 sprigs fresh mint, plus more for garnishing
  • 3 tablespoons raw honey
  • 1-2 tablespoons raw or turbinado sugar (i used obelo's panela sugar)
  • 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • sliced lemons, for garnishing

directions

  • in a large teapot or kettle steep loose leaf green tea & sliced ginger in boiling water. once desired strength is reached strain out tea & ginger.
  • add honey & sugar, stir until sugar is fully dissolved. place in fridge & let cool completly.
  • in a punch bowl or ice tea pitcher add green tea base mix, fresh mint leaves, lemon juice, sliced lemons. allow time for flavours to mend.
  • serve in an iced raw sugar rimmed glass with fresh mint & a slice of lemon.

this post was created in partnership with stash tea. you can find the organic loose leaf green tea i used here & the loose leaf glass teapot here.