Babička’s Makovec (Czech Poppy Seed Roll)

Date Published: Nov 11th, 2025 | Last Updated: Nov 11th, 2025
Author: Abby | Category: breads, Czech, dessert, pastry, snacks, vegetarian
Makes: 3 loaves (enough for a party or one Toby 😂) | Prep time: 1.5 hours | Cook time: 1 hour

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This is Toby’s all time favourite food that his babička (grandmother) makes when he visits her in Czech (next to Svíčková, of course!). We’ve been trying to learn this recipe for years, but true to OG-style grandma cooking, she measures nothing and everything is done by eyeballing it. I can usually get away by guessing the amounts she puts in when it comes to savoury cooking but baking requires precise measurements, so finally during our visit this past summer, we bought her some measuring spoons (which was surprisingly quite difficult to find to Czech) and whipped out the kitchen scale. Thanks to Toby’s translating and our diligent watchful eye on her every step (this lady moves fast in the kitchen!), I’m happy to report that we FINALLY learned her secrets and I’m very excited to add her recipe to my collection and share it with you all! 😊

Toby & a fresh tray of makovec that babi has just made for him ❤️

What is Makovec?

Makovec (pronounced: Mah-ko-vets) is a traditional Czech poppy seed roll pastry. It’s made of a light and fluffy bread-like pastry that’s rolled around a sweet filling made of freshly ground poppy seeds.

(Note: Some people use the term Makovec to describe a square poppy seed cake rather than the roll. According to Toby and babi, they’ve always referred to makovec as the roll.)

What makes this recipe so special from the others?

There are many variations of makovec around. Some people make it with raisins in the mixture, others put a lemon icing overtop. The neighbouring countries of Poland call it makowiec and Slovakia calls it maková štrúdla. This recipe is specifically Toby’s grandmother’s version. Call it nostalgic bias, but Toby and I have travelled quite a bit and he always gets super excited when he sees someone selling poppy seed cake, but no matter how many farmers markets and European bakeries we visit, nothing compares to babi’s version. Her version is made with strawberry jam mixed in the poppy seed filling for that extra strawberry flavour, and she finishes it off with a streusel crumb topping (which I’ve never seen anyone else do!). The ratio of bread to filling is also on point 👌 – too many times we find that there’s too much bread and not enough filling – poppy seed is not a robust flavour on its own so if there’s too much bread it drowns out the filling.

Toby & his babička making makovec (May 2025)

Grinding Poppy Seeds – Is it necessary?

Yes! Poppy seeds are the star of this dessert and it is imperative to grind down the seeds for a few reasons:

Flavour: Grinding the seeds releases their natural rich oils and flavours. Eating unground poppy seed on its own is quite flavourless.
Forming a paste: Ground seeds absorb moisture and is essential to form a paste when we’re cooking down the filling. You won’t get the texture we’re looking for unless the seeds are ground.
Texture: Ground seeds are less gritty and provides a smoother texture when eating.

How to Grind Poppy Seeds

The best way to grind down poppy seeds is to use a dedicated poppy seed grinder. It’s usually about $40-$50 and is worth the investment if you’re into poppy seed desserts. We use this one from Tescoma: https://a.co/d/iUgRhGq. We found it to be reasonably priced with good reliability.

If you don’t have a poppy seed grinder, you can use a clean coffee grinder, spice grinder, mortar and pestle, or a food processor.

If you’re lucky and live near a European grocer, check if they have pre-ground poppy seeds for sale. I see it everywhere sold in Czech grocery stores due to the sheer popularity of poppy seed food items, but rarely outside of central Europe. Pre-ground poppy seeds can spoil quickly so sometimes it’s sold out of the refrigerated section.

Some Myths and Truths About Poppy Seeds

Poppy seeds have the notorious reputation of causing people to test falsely positive for opiates on urine drug tests (remember that episode of Seinfeld where Elaine tested positive after eating a poppy seed bagel?). I always thought that you needed to ingest very large amounts of it to test positive, but on an episode of Mythbusters, Adam tested positive within half an hour of eating a large slice of poppy seed cake and Jamie tested positive 2 hours after eating 3 poppy seed bagels! So if you’re in a situation where they do routine urine testing, you might want to hold off on making this or ask for a blood test instead. 😅

Despite possibly testing false positive for opiates, you won’t actually feel any opiate-related effects or “highs” from eating poppy seeds. Toby has eaten TRAYS of makovec (which is a LOT Of poppy seeds) and seen no ill effects.

How does this happen, you ask? Poppy seeds themselves have no opium content, however the milky white fluid that comes from the seed pod of the poppy called the “latex” is what contains the opium content. There is a possibility of contamination of the latex onto the seeds during the harvesting process, but don’t worry, poppy seeds sold for general use/foods are all washed prior to sale. In fact, there are actually legalities around buying unwashed poppy seeds. In the United States, at least 12 deaths have been reported in association with the use of tea made from unwashed poppy seeds causing lethal opiate overdose! (Here’s a pdf from the DEA if you want to learn more about poppy seeds: https://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/drug_chem_info/unwashed_poppy_seed.pdf)

Anyways, if you’re a fan of poppy seed pastries, give this recipe a try! It looks like a long recipe, but it’s not all that difficult, just very wordy to describe.

I’ve had to tweak her recipe a little due to difficulty of obtaining certain ingredients outside of Europe (I’m looking at you, coarse flour 😒), but after multiple taste tests, Toby gave the stamp of approval that it’s just like babi’s! The photos in this post are a mix of photos from when she taught us how to make this dish in Czech and me re-making them in our apartment back in Brooklyn.

Note: To make the most accurate version of this recipe, I would recommend using the grams/mls measurements as this was what I used to measure her recipes, however I’ve also included a cup conversion as well.

I’d love to hear from you in the comment section! You can follow me on instagram, youtube and facebook to see all the recipes I post!

Happy cooking!

Ingredients you’ll need:

*I recommend to use the metric measurements (grams/mls) for accuracy of the ingredients to have it as close to babička’s version as possible.

Poppy seed filling:
- 500ml (2 cups) whole milk
- 250g (1.75 cups) poppy seeds, ground
- 120g (1.25 cups) granulated sugar
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 175g (1/2 cup) strawberry jam (or more to taste)
- 4g (1/2 Tbsp) ground cinnamon
- 28g (2 Tbsps) cocoa powder
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Dough:
- Yeast prep:
  - 60ml (1/4 cup) milk
  - 7g (1 packet) of active dry yeast
  - 1 tsp granulated sugar
- 50g (1/4 cup) granulated sugar
- 50g (3.5 Tbsps) butter, softened
- 1 large egg, divided into yolk and egg white
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 350g (2.75 cups) all-purpose flour, sifted (+ more for dusting and rolling)
- 175ml (3/4 cup) + 1/2 Tbsp whole milk, room temperature
Streusel:
- 50g (1/4 cup) granulated sugar
- 50g (3.5 Tbsps) butter, softened
- 70g (1/2 cup) all-purpose flour

Directions:

A) Make the poppy seed filling:

In a wide-based pan on MED heat, add in 500ml of milk. When the milk boils, add in 250g ground poppy seeds and mix together. It will thicken as you mix. Once the mixture boils again, turn down the heat to LOW and continue to stir until you get a dry crumbly mixture without any liquid left (see photo) – this can take up to 20 minutes.

Pro-tips:

You can use any type of pan or pot, but a wide-based pan will increase your surface area and quicken the process.
Make sure you don’t have any liquid left in your mixture or else your filling will be too wet.

When you get a dry mixture, turn the heat OFF and take the pan off of the heat. Add in 120g of sugar and 1/2 tsp salt and stir until combined. Set aside to cool completely.

While you’re waiting for the filling to cool, you can start making the dough in the next section.

Once the mixture fully cools, add in 175g strawberry jam, 1/2 Tbsp ground cinnamon, 2 Tbsps cocoa powder, and 1 tsp of vanilla extract. Mix well and set aside.

B) Make the dough while the poppy seed filling cools:

Activate the yeast:

In a small bowl, add in 1/4 cup of milk and microwave for 10 seconds at a time until it’s warmed (make sure it’s not too hot or it will cook the yeast). Add in 7g (1 packet) active dry yeast and 1 tsp sugar. Mix until well-combined, cover and set aside. The yeast is activated once it gets frothy (5-10mins).

In a separate mixing bowl, add in 50g sugar, 50g softened butter, and 1 large egg yolk. Mix on HIGH speed for 2-3 minutes until the mixture is well-combined and a little fluffy.

To the sugar/butter mixture, add in 1 tsp salt, and the frothed yeast mixture (from step 1).

Mix well then alternate adding in 1/3 amount at a time the 350g sifted flour and the 175ml room temperature milk. Once the mixture gets too thick for the mixer, either use a dough hook attachment (if you’re using an electric mixer) or knead by hand. The dough is complete when you get a formed but sticky dough (see photo below) – this took about 5-7 minutes on an electric mixer.

Once the dough forms, scrape it all together, add a dusting of flour on top then cover with a tea towel and let it rest in a warm place until doubled in size (~45 mins – 1 hour).

If you don’t have a warm place, use my fail-proof oven proofing method here.

You can finish off the poppy seed filling (if cooled) while you wait and make the streusel in the next step.

C) Make the streusel:

In a small bowl, add in 50g of sugar, 50g of butter, and 70g of flour.

Mix/pinch/squish it by hand for 2-3 minutes until you get a crumbly mixture (see photo). Set aside.

D) Roll out the dough & assemble:

Prepare a greased or lined 9×13” baking tray.

Preheat the oven to 180˚C/350˚F.

Once the dough has risen, scrape out the dough onto a floured surface and knead it a few times to remove the bubbles. Weigh the dough and divide it evenly into 3 portions.

Dump the dough out onto a floured surface

Take one dough ball (keep the other two covered with a tea towel to prevent it from drying out) and roll it out onto a floured surface. Flip the dough and roll it out a couple times on the floured surface until you get a rectangle shape about 0.5cm thick (see photo) and roughly the length of your baking tray. Evenly spread 1/3 of the finished poppy seed/jam mixture onto the rolled dough, leaving 1-2cm from the edge of the dough.

To form the roll: Grab the bottom edge and fold the dough up by 1/4, then roll up by 1/4 again, then fold the upper 1/4 edge down over the roll and pinch the edges to seal in the poppy seed mixture (see photos). Gently pick up the roll and place this onto the prepared baking tray. Don’t worry if you have some areas of thinner dough or where some poppy seed filling sticks out.

Repeat steps 4-6 with the other two dough balls. Leave about a 2cm space between each roll on the baking tray so they don’t stick together when they bake.

E) Make the egg wash and add the streusel:

In a small bowl, beat the remaining egg white with 1/2 Tbsp of milk and brush this mixture over the top and sides of each roll.

This step creates a moist sticky surface for the streusel to stick better. Babicka actually uses rum but to limit the number of ingredients and to use up the egg white, I’ve elected to use the egg wash method. There is no difference in taste if you use rum or an egg/milk mixture.

Evenly sprinkle 1/3 of the streusel on top of each roll. Gently push it into the dough if it seems to be rolling off.

Bake in the preheated oven until golden brown (~25-30 minutes), turning the pan halfway through the cook time to bake evenly. DONE! Let it cool slightly before slicing then serve immediately.

Storage:

Store in an air-tight container and eat within 2 days at room temperature or up to 5 days in the refrigerator.
To freeze: slice the makovec and freeze in an air-tight container – mine’s still in the freezer from 3 months ago and still going strong! To reheat: microwave from frozen for 30 seconds at a time until warmed.
Note: once you refrigerate or freeze it, the bread firms up slightly.

Summarized Recipe:

Babička’s Makovec (Czech Poppy Seed Roll)

Ingredients: I recommend to use the metric measurements (grams/mls) for accuracy of the ingredients to have it as close to babička’s version as possible.

Poppy seed filling:
- 500ml (2 cups) whole milk
- 250g (1.75 cups) poppy seeds, ground
- 120g (1.25 cups) granulated sugar
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 175g (1/2 cup) strawberry jam (or more to taste)
- 4g (1/2 Tbsp) ground cinnamon
- 28g (2 Tbsps) cocoa powder
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Dough:
- Yeast prep:
  - 60ml (1/4 cup) milk
  - 7g (1 packet) of active dry yeast
  - 1 tsp granulated sugar
- 50g (1/4 cup) granulated sugar
- 50g (3.5 Tbsps) butter, softened
- 1 large egg, divided into yolk and egg white
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 350g (2.75 cups) all-purpose flour, sifted (+ more for dusting and rolling)
- 175ml (3/4 cup) + 1/2 Tbsp whole milk, room temperature
Streusel:
- 50g (1/4 cup) granulated sugar
- 50g (3.5 Tbsps) butter, softened
- 70g (1/2 cup) all-purpose flour

Directions:

Make the poppy seed filling:
1. In a wide-based pan on MED heat, add in 500ml of milk. When the milk boils, add in 250g ground poppy seeds and mix together. It will thicken as you mix. Once the mixture boils again, turn down the heat to LOW and continue to stir until you get a dry crumbly mixture without any liquid left (see photo) – this can take up to 20 minutes.
  - Pro-tips:
    - You can use any type of pan or pot, but a wide-based pan will increase your surface area and quicken the process.
    - Make sure you don’t have any liquid left in your mixture or else your filling will be too wet.
2. When you get a dry mixture, turn the heat OFF and take the pan off of the heat. Add in 120g of sugar and 1/2 tsp salt and stir until combined. Set aside to cool completely.
  - You can skip ahead and make the dough in this time while you wait for it to cool.
3. Once the mixture fully cools, add in 175g strawberry jam, 1/2 Tbsp ground cinnamon, 2 Tbsps cocoa powder, and 1 tsp of vanilla extract. Mix well and set aside.
Make the dough while the poppy seed filling cools:
1. Activate the yeast:
  - In a small bowl, add in 1/4 cup of milk and microwave for 10 seconds at a time until it’s warmed (make sure it’s not too hot or it will cook the yeast).
  - Add in 7g (1 packet) active dry yeast and 1 tsp sugar. Mix until well-combined, cover and set aside. The yeast is activated once it gets frothy (5-10mins).
2. In a separate mixing bowl, add in 50g sugar, 50g softened butter, and 1 large egg yolk. Mix on HIGH speed for 2-3 minutes until the mixture is well-combined and a little fluffy.
3. To the sugar/butter mixture, add in 1 tsp salt, and the frothed yeast mixture (from step 1). Mix well then alternate adding in 1/3 amount at a time the 350g sifted flour and the 175ml room temperature milk. Once the mixture gets too thick for the stand mixer, either use a dough hook attachment (if you’re using an electric mixer) or knead by hand. The dough is complete when you get a formed but sticky dough (see photo above) – this took about 5-7 minutes on an electric mixer.
4. Once the dough forms, scrape it all together, add a dusting of flour on top then cover and let it rest in a warm place until doubled in size (~45 mins – 1 hour).
  - If you don’t have a warm place, use my fail-proof oven proofing method here.
  - You can finish off the poppy seed filling (if cooled) while you wait and make the streusel in the next step.
Make the streusel:
1. In a small bowl, add in 50g of sugar, 50g of butter, and 70g of flour.
2. Mix/pinch/squish it by hand for 2-3 minutes until you get a crumbly mixture (see photo). Set aside.
Roll out the dough & assemble:
1. Prepare a greased or lined 9×13” baking tray.
2. Preheat the oven to 180˚C/350˚F.
3. Once the dough has risen, scrape out the dough onto a floured surface and knead it a few times to remove the bubbles. Weigh the dough and divide it evenly into 3 portions.
4. Take one dough ball (keep the other two covered with a tea towel to prevent it from drying out) and roll it out onto a floured surface. Flip the dough and roll it out a couple times on the floured surface until you get a rectangle shape about 0.5cm thick (see photo) and roughly the length of your baking tray.
5. Evenly spread 1/3 of the finished poppy seed/jam mixture onto the rolled dough, leaving 1-2cm from the edge of the dough.
6. To form the roll: Grab the bottom edge and fold the dough up by 1/4, then roll up by 1/4 again, then fold the upper 1/4 edge down over the roll and pinch the edges to seal in the poppy seed mixture (see photos). Gently pick up the roll and place this onto the prepared baking tray.
7. Repeat steps 4-6 with the other two dough balls. Leave about a 2cm space between each roll on the baking tray so they don’t stick together when they bake.
Make the egg wash and add the streusel:
1. In a small bowl, beat the remaining egg white with 1/2 Tbsp of milk and brush this mixture over the top and sides of each roll.
  - This step creates a moist sticky surface for the streusel to stick better. Babicka actually uses rum but to limit the number of ingredients and to use up the egg white, I’ve elected to use the egg wash method. There is no difference in taste if you use rum or egg/milk mixture.
2. Evenly sprinkle 1/3 of the streusel on top of each roll. Gently push it into the dough if it seems to be rolling off.
3. Bake in the preheated oven until golden brown (~25-30 minutes), turning the pan halfway through the cook time to bake evenly. DONE! Let it cool slightly before slicing then serve immediately.

November 11, 2025

AbbyLeave a comment

Dubai Chocolate Bars

Date Published: April 6th, 2025 | Last Updated: April 6th, 2025
Author: Abby |Category: snacks, dessert
Makes: 6 chocolate bars (in the specified molds) | Prep time: 15 mins | Total time: 1 hour

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My coworker Joe was the one that put me on the viral Dubai Chocolate Bars. I’m not much of a TikTokker so I had never heard of them until he brought it up, and then suddenly within the next two weeks I was seeing these chocolate bars everywhere. An NYC nut shop was importing them from Dubai and was selling them for $16 for 1 bar! It was insane. It was ridiculous, but out of curiosity we got suckered into the hype and bought a bar. Not many things live up to the craze, but this chocolate bar was SERIOUSLY SO GOOD. I’m not sure if it was $16 good, but it was pretty close.

A Dubai Chocolate Bar is a milk chocolate bar with a crunchy pistachio paste filling. After some googling, I found a few vague copycat recipes and decided to try my own hand at it. It was a messy process (when is it ever not when working with melted chocolate 🥲) but after a few tweaks and portioning, it came out perfect! I had some leftover store-bought $16 Dubai Chocolate Bar and compared it with my own homemade version and in a blind taste test, Toby picked my version! 😁 I’d say that’s a pretty big win. So here I am, sharing the recipe with you all!

Some tools you’ll need:

Chocolate mold – you can use any kind of silicon chocolate mold you wish. I used this one from Amazon which makes 6 medium-sized bars at a time. If you choose to use a larger mold to make larger chocolate bars, keep in mind that you will have to increase the portions in the recipe to account for the difference.

Metal rack – to allow for excess chocolate to drip out of your molds. Any kind of rack will do.

A Breakdown of the Ingredients:

Kataifi pastry, milk chocolate melts, and pistachio cream

Kataifi pastry is essentially shredded or spun phyllo dough that gives a lovely crunch and holds its texture even when sitting within a paste for long periods of time. It actually looks just like dried rice vermicelli to me. It’s a common ingredient used in Middle Eastern desserts and can be found in specialty grocery stores. I used the Alkis brand that can be found here.

Pistachio Cream or Pistachio Spread is blended pistachios in a paste form with added ingredients to make it smooth and creamy. I like to use the Pisti Pistachio Cream that’s imported from Italy, but sometimes this can be a bit hard to find so I’ve also shared a recipe to make your own that can be found here. It’s not quite the same but will yield equally delicious results. Whichever kind of pistachio cream you use, make sure it’s good quality that’s strong in pistachio flavour.

Milk Chocolate – whatever brand you choose, treat yourself and get a higher grade milk chocolate. You can use chocolate chips, but I prefer chocolate melts for easier melting. My go-to brand for this recipe is the Ghirardelli milk chocolate wafers – it tends to be more expensive but it’s soooo good 😬.

Tahini is a paste made from sesame seeds. It’s used in this recipe to add extra richness and fluidity of the filling due to the natural oils from the sesame seeds. It can be found in most grocery stores these days but if you can’t seem to find it, you can make it yourself by blending up toasted white sesame seeds with a neutral oil in a 2:1 ratio with a pinch of salt in a high speed blender until you get a smooth paste.

Anyways, without further ado, here’s the recipe! If you have any comments or suggestions, I’d love to hear from you in the comment section! You can follow me on instagram, youtube and facebook to see all the recipes I post!

Happy cooking!

Tools you’ll need:

Chocolate mold – I use this one
Cooling rack with a tray below

Ingredients you’ll need:

50g of kataifi pastry – I use this one
20g unsalted butter
400g of milk chocolate – I use this one
Pinch of salt
120g Pistachio cream or spread – I use this one or you can make your own here
7g tahini

Directions:

Prepare the kataifi pastry:

Place the kataifi pastry in a bowl and crush it by hand until you have small pieces, roughly 3mm long.

Melt the 20g of butter in a pan on MED heat and add in the kataifi pastry. Stir and toast the pastry until golden brown (~5 mins). Turn off the heat and place the toasted pastry in a bowl until cooled and ready to use.

Prepare the chocolate mold:

Melt/temper the chocolate by putting it on a double boiler: In a small sauce pan, fill up 1/3 of the pan with water and let it come to a boil. Fit a glass or heat-proof bowl over top the boiling water and add in the chocolate. Whisk until the chocolate has completely melted and it reaches 100˚F/38˚C.

Set up double boiler by boiling 1/3 pan of water

Alternatively, you can also microwave the chocolate 30 seconds at a time until it reaches 100˚F/38˚C.

Pour chocolate into the molds, making sure you cover all edges and the sides as well.

Make sure you cover all the edges with chocolate

Prepare a clean rack over a tray and flip the chocolate-coated mold upside down on the rack to let the excess chocolate drip out. Let it drip for a few minutes then turn back over. Keep the excess chocolate for the final step.

Make sure all the edges are covered and clean up the excess

Let the chocolate set in the fridge for 10-15 minutes until solidified.

Make the filling: In a mixing bowl, mix together the pistachio cream, tahini, and a pinch of salt. Then add in the cooled toasted kataifi pastry. Mix thoroughly.

Spoon the filling into the solidified chocolate molds, spreading it evenly to the edges.

Melt/temper the excess chocolate (from step 2) again by either putting it on a double boiler or microwave 30 seconds at a time until it reaches 100˚F/38˚C. Pour it into the mold over the filling and spread out evenly. Lightly bang the mold on the table to release any air bubbles, then refrigerate until solid. (20-25mins).

Once the chocolate has solidified, gently remove them from the molds. Clean up any edges with a knife.

Done! Eat immediately or keep refrigerated.

Summarized Recipe:

Dubai Chocolate Bars

Tools you’ll need:

Chocolate mold – I use this one
Cooling rack with a tray below

Ingredients:

50g of kataifi pastry – I use this one
20g unsalted butter
400g of milk chocolate – I use this one
Pinch of salt
120g Pistachio cream or spread – I use this one or you can make your own here
7g tahini

Directions:

Prepare the kataifi pastry: Place the kataifi pastry in a bowl and crush it by hand until you have small pieces, roughly 3mm long. Melt the butter in a pan on MED heat and add in the kataifi pastry. Stir and toast the pastry until golden brown (~5 mins). Turn off the heat and place the toasted pastry in a bowl until cooled and ready to use.
Prepare the chocolate mold:
- Melt/temper the chocolate by either putting it on a double boiler or microwave 30 seconds at a time until it reaches 100˚F/38˚C.
- Pour chocolate into the molds, making sure you cover all edges and the sides as well. Bang the mold on the table to release any bubbles and to ensure even distribution.
- Prepare a clean rack over a tray and flip the chocolate-coated mold upside down on the rack to let the excess chocolate drip out. Let it drip for a few minutes then turn back over. Keep the excess chocolate for the final step.
- Let the chocolate set in the fridge for 10-15 minutes until solidified.
Make the filling: In a mixing bowl, mix together the pistachio cream, tahini, and a pinch of salt. Then add in the cooled toasted kataifi pastry. Mix thoroughly.
Spoon the filling into the solidified chocolate molds, spreading it evenly to the edges.
Melt/temper the excess chocolate (from step 2) again by either putting it on a double boiler or microwave 30 seconds at a time until it reaches 100˚F/38˚C. Pour it into the mold over the filling and spread out evenly. Lightly bang the mold on the table to release any air bubbles, then refrigerate until solid. (20-25mins).
Once the chocolate has solidified, gently remove them from the molds. Done! Eat immediately or keep refrigerated.

April 6, 2025February 15, 2025

AbbyLeave a comment

Creamy Pistachio Spread

Date Published: March 31st, 2025 | Last Updated: March 31st, 2025
Author: Abby |Category: dessert, easy, quick, snacks
Serves: 2-3 cups | Prep time: 15 mins

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This recipe for pistachio spread came from my own attempt at trying to recreate the Pisti Pistachio Cream – which became my new obsession when I discovered it while having a go at making the viral Dubai Chocolate Bars. Although I haven’t been successful at making a duplicate, the end result was still fantastic inside the chocolate bars and I figured I’d share the recipe here incase I can’t get my hands on the Pisti Pistachio Cream in the future. You can use this spread on toast, in baked goods, or filled in a Dubai Chocolate Bar!

Although this recipe is pretty basic and there’s not many ingredients you need, but one important piece of equipment is a good high speed blender such as a Vitamix to get the smoothest results.

Pistachio Butter vs Pistachio Cream vs Pistachio Spread?

Pistachio butter is just pistachios blended until you get a paste. This is the same way you’d make any kind of nut butters such as peanut butter. The consistency tends to be a bit more grainy and with or without added sugar.

Pistachio cream is blended pistachios (pistachio butter) with added milk products and sugar to give it a creamy and smoother consistency.

Pistachio spread is a broad term that can be used interchangeably with any spreadable pistachio product. Since my recipe is neither that creamy nor as simple as just blended pistachios, I’ve elected to label mine as a ‘pistachio spread’.

Happy cooking!

Ingredients you’ll need:

450g pistachios, shelled, unsalted, unroasted
1.25 cups whole milk powder
2 Tbsps granulated sugar
7 Tbsps neutral oil (ie. canola or a light tasting olive oil)
1/2 tsp kosher salt
115g condensed milk

Directions:

In a high speed blender, add in the pistachios. Blend on HIGH until you get a paste.

Add in the rest of the ingredients: 1.25 cups milk powder, 2 Tbsps sugar, 7 Tbsps oil, 1/2 tsp salt, 115g condensed milk. Continue to blend on HIGH until you get a smooth paste. Drizzle in more oil if your paste is becoming too thick and difficult to blend.

Taste and adjust salt or sugar as needed. Store in an air tight container until ready to use. Done!

Summarized Recipe:

Creamy Pistachio Spread

Date Published: March 31st, 2025 | Last Updated: March 31st, 2025
Author: Abby |Category: dessert, easy, quick, snacks
Serves: 2-3 cups | Prep time: 15 mins

Ingredients:

450g pistachios, shelled, unsalted, unroasted
1.25 cups whole milk powder
2 Tbsps granulated sugar
7 Tbsps neutral oil (ie. canola or a light tasting olive oil)
1/2 tsp kosher salt
115g condensed milk

Directions:

In a high speed blender, add in the pistachios. Blend on HIGH until you get a paste.
Add in the rest of the ingredients: 1.25 cups milk powder, 2 Tbsps sugar, 7 Tbsps oil, 1/2 tsp salt, 115g condensed milk. Continue to blend on HIGH until you get a smooth paste. Drizzle in more oil if your paste is becoming too thick and difficult to blend. Taste and adjust salt or sugar as needed. Store in an air tight container until ready to use. Done!

March 31, 2025February 15, 2025

AbbyLeave a comment

Healthy Fudgy Red Bean Brownies

Date Published: Feb 16th, 2022 | Last Updated: Feb 16th, 2022
Author: Abby |Category: dessert, healthy, low-cal, Asian, easy
Serves: 6-8 | Prep time: 1hr | Cook time: 30 mins

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These guilt-free brownies are rich, dense, flourless, butter-free, and sugar-free. They’re naturally sweetened with dates and are a healthy alternative to regular brownies. Best of all, they’re so easy to make and there aren’t many ingredients involved. I will admit that I’d still choose a regular buttery brownie over this healthy alternative, however these are still pretty damn good and you can eat them guilt-free without getting a sugar crash. Toby liked them so much that he ate half a batch in one sitting 😅! The original recipe is from Hey Nutrition Lady which has a ton of nutrition information on this recipe – highly recommend checking it out.

What are Red Beans?

The term “red bean” can be synonymous with different types of beans that are red in colour. In Western culture, red bean commonly refers to ‘kidney beans‘ which have an earthy plain taste but absorbs flavours easily so they’re commonly used in stews or sauces. In Eastern Asian culture, red bean is the ‘adzuki bean‘ which is much smaller than the kidney bean and has a sweet flavour. This recipe uses adzuki beans. You’ll commonly see red/adzuki bean paste baked goods at Chinese bakeries. At OG Chinese restaurants they often serve red bean soup as dessert. Beans are starchy by nature which is the perfect substitute for flour in this recipe.

Happy cooking!

Ingredients you’ll need:

1.5 cups adzuki beans
1.5 cups (200g) Medjool dates
2 tsps vanilla extract
2/3 cup (50g) unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup coconut oil
4 large eggs
180g milk or dark chocolate, chopped

Directions:

Prepare the beans: Soak the adzuki beans overnight (the longer the better to soften the beans). Once soaked, boil the beans in a pot of water for 1 hour, then drain and set aside. (Make sure the water is at least 2-3cm above the beans since they will expand and absorb water as they cook).

Preheat the oven to 180˚C (350˚F). Line a brownie pan (8″x11″ or 20cm x 30cm) with baking paper.

Prepare the dates: soak the dates in boiling hot water for 10mins, then drain and set aside.

In a food processor, add in the cooked adzuki beans and the dates. Blend until you get a chunky thick paste (see photo). Next, add in the vanilla extract, cocoa powder, coconut oil, and eggs. Continue blending until you get a smooth paste.

Stir in half of the chocolate into the batter and pour the batter in the prepared brownie pan. Sprinkle the rest of the chocolate over the top. Bake for 25-30mins until the edges are set and a toothpick comes out clean. Let it cool for 10mins before slicing. Enjoy!

Summarized Recipe:

Healthy Fudgy Red Bean Brownies

Ingredients:

1.5 cups adzuki beans
1.5 cups (200g) Medjool dates
2 tsps vanilla extract
2/3 cup (50g) unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup coconut oil
4 large eggs
180g milk or dark chocolate, chopped

Directions:

Prepare the beans: Soak the adzuki beans overnight (the longer the better to soften the beans). Once soaked, boil the beans in a pot of water for 1 hour, then drain and set aside. (Make sure the water is at least 2-3cm above the beans since they will expand and absorb water as they cook).
Preheat the oven to 180˚C (350˚F). Line a brownie pan (8″x11″ or 20cm x 30cm) with baking paper.
Prepare the dates: soak the dates in boiling hot water for 10mins, then drain and set aside.
In a food processor, add in the cooked adzuki beans and the dates. Blend until you get a chunky thick paste (see photo). Next, add in the vanilla extract, cocoa powder, coconut oil, and eggs. Continue blending until you get a smooth paste.
Stir in half of the chocolate into the batter and pour the batter in the prepared brownie pan. Sprinkle the rest of the chocolate over the top. Bake for 25-30mins until the edges are set and a toothpick comes out clean. Let it cool for 10mins before slicing. Enjoy!

February 16, 2022

AbbyLeave a comment

So Easy Healthy Chocolate Mousse

Date Published: Oct 10th, 2021 | Last Updated: Oct 10th, 2021
Author: Abby |Category: quick, easy, healthy, vegetarian, dessert, low-cal, <15mins
Serves: 4-6 | Prep time: 5 mins | Blend time: 1 min

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Get ready for a quick, easy, healthy, vegan, sugar-free, low-carb chocolate mousse! Sounds too good to be true, right? I promise it’s worth a try. Chocolate mousse is one of Toby’s all-time favourite desserts and although this isn’t quite as good as his favourite version, it still got his official stamp of approval for being pretty damn good especially since it’s a healthy alternative! He can gorge on this guilt-free and better yet, it’s SO easy to make.

This mousse isn’t as fluffy and light as a traditional chocolate mousse but it’s still packed with chocolatey flavour and just as creamy because it uses avocados as the main ingredient. You can eat this on its own with some diced strawberries or alternatively choose to use it as a frosting on a cake or as a stuffing in a pastry.

What makes this recipe so amazing?

Quick and easy – Just blend all the ingredients together. It comes together in 15 minutes, perfect for a quick snack or last minute dessert plans.

Vegan – No dairy products are used. Avocados are the main ingredient that gives this mousse its creamy velvety texture.

Sugar-free – Medjool dates are the best kept secret to replacing sugars in a recipe without adding any extra flavour! You can alternatively use honey or maple syrup if you don’t have any dates on hand.

Low-carb – Compared to a regular chocolate mousse, the only ‘carb-y’ ingredient in this recipe are the dates. No extra added sugars

Healthy – avocados, dates, and soy milk make up the bulk of this recipe!

Happy cooking!

Ingredients you’ll need:

24 pitted dried Medjool dates
4 ripe hass avocados, pitted with the flesh scooped out (~500g of flesh)
1/2 cup natural cocoa powder
1/2 cup dutch cocoa powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup soy milk (or any milk alternative)

Directions:

Soak the dates in hot water for 10 mins until soft (this will help the dates blend easier).

Drain the dates and blend the rest of the ingredients (avocados, cocoa powders, salt, vanilla, soy milk) together until you get a smooth mousse texture. Taste and adjust ingredients as needed. Add more soy milk if too thick, or more soaked dates if not sweet enough. Serve!

Summarized Recipe:

So Easy Healthy Chocolate Mousse

Ingredients:

24 pitted medjool dates
4 ripe hass avocados, pitted with the flesh scooped out (~480g of flesh)
1/2 cup natural cocoa powder
1/2 cup dutch cocoa powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup soy milk (or more to your liking)

Directions:

Soak the dates in hot water for 10 mins until soft (this will help the dates blend easier).
Drain the dates and blend the rest of the ingredients (avocados, cocoa powders, salt, vanilla, soy milk) together until you get a smooth mousse texture. Taste and adjust ingredients as needed. Add more soy milk if too thick, or more soaked dates if not sweet enough. Serve!

October 10, 2021

AbbyLeave a comment

Mini Banoffee Pies

Date Published: April 12th, 2021 | Last Updated: April 12th, 2021
Author: Abby |Category: desserts
Serves: 16 pies | Prep time: 10 mins | Cook time: 2 hours

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Banoffee = banana + toffee. If you love bananas, caramel, and cream, then you’ll love banoffee pie. I don’t remember where or when I first had it, but I do remember it was love at first bite. The first time I heard of this pie was actually in an episode of Little Britain when Marjorie from Fat Fighters shamed Tania for bringing banoffee pie for the group and puts it in her own handbag instead 😂.

This recipe uses dulce de leche as the “toffee” which is essentially caramel but made with both milk and sugar instead of just sugar. I’ve used Arnott’s Granita biscuits as the pie base but it’s also commonly made with a graham cracker base (it’s just nearly impossible to find graham crackers in Australia). Feel free to use pre-made whipped cream for the topping but I find fresh whipped cream nicer and easier to control the sweetness (and it’s also super satisfying turning a liquid to a whipped “solid”).

This recipe is SUPER easy BUT it does take time to make so plan ahead if you’re making this for a party. Most of the time that goes into this recipe is just waiting for the condensed milk to caramelize into dulce de leche in the oven. Grab a book or put on a movie while the oven does most of the work for you! The rest of the recipe is basic. Just blend up the biscuits with some butter and honey, bake for a few minutes, then top with the dulce de leche, chopped bananas and cream. Done!

A banoffee pie is usually served as an actual regular-sized pie, but since it’s usually just Toby and I on the road and we never have the space to store a whole pie (nor be able to eat it all on our own), so when I bake I like to bake for the entire hospital staff. I always find whole pies and cakes difficult to serve to a big busy team on the go when you have to fuss with plates, forks, knives, storage and the dishes afterwards so I’ve developed a smaller two-bite version with not cutlery required. Feel free to make this into a full-sized pie. Just follow the instructions as-is, but press the base into a pie dish instead of cupcake liners.

Happy cooking!

Ingredients you’ll need:

Dulce de leche:
- 1 can (397g) condensed milk
Biscuit Base:
- 1 package (250g) Arnott’s Granita biscuits
- 125g unsalted butter, melted
- 2 Tbsps honey
2 bananas
Whipped Cream Topping:
- 2 cups (500ml) thickened cream
- 5 Tbsps granulated sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp cream of tartar (optional – but it helps the cream set better and last longer)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 180˚C (350˚F).

Make the biscuit base: Place the Granita biscuits in a food processor and pulse until completely crumbled. Then add in the melted unsalted butter and honey and continue to pulse until all combined.

Line a muffin tray with cupcake liners (or tart shells if you’ve got them) and place a large heaping tablespoon of the biscuit mixture into each cupcake liner. Press the biscuit mixture firmly into the pan. You can use a 1/4 cup measuring spoon to help you press it down.

Bake in the oven at 180˚C for 8-10 mins until golden brown. Remove gently and let it cool completely.

Make the dulce de leche: Pour the entire contents of the condensed milk into a glass* pie dish or a heavy tray and cover with aluminum foil. Place it in a larger tray and pour boiling water in the outer tray until the inner tray is half submerged in water. Bake for 90 mins (still at 180˚C) until the condensed milk is a caramel brown colour. Mix it around and smooth out any large lumps.

* This will still work with a metal pan (as pictured above), but the metal pan won’t be heavy enough to submerge in the water and will float on top of the water instead. A glass dish will be heavy enough to submerge in the hot water. It’s not the end of the world if you don’t have a glass dish and your pan floats. The flavour will be similar but the dulce de leche will be thicker and not as smooth. Flavour will still be similar – you can just cover any lumps with extra bananas or cream :).

Make the whipped cream topping: While the dulce de leche is cooking, make the cream by adding together the thickened/heavy cream, sugar, vanilla extract and cream of tartar (optional) in a mixing bowl. Whip until you get stiff peaks (be careful not to over whip). Refrigerate until ready to assemble.

Once the bases are cooled and the dulce de leche is ready, assemble the pie: Granita base + spoonful of dulce de leche + banana slices + whipped cream. Remove the cupcake liners before serving. Done!

Tip: If the dulce de leche is difficult to spread out, you can warm it up a little by re-submerging your tray in a warm water bath, or dip a spoon in a little oil and smooth it out in the pie.

Summarized Recipe:

Mini Banoffee Pies

Date Published: April 12th, 2021 | Last Updated: April 12th, 2021
Author: Abby |Category: desserts
Serves: 16 pies | Prep time: 10 mins | Cook time: 2 hours

Ingredients:

Dulce de leche:
- 1 can (397g) condensed milk
Biscuit Base:
- 1 package (250g) Arnott’s Granita biscuits
- 125g unsalted butter, melted
- 2 Tbsps honey
2 bananas
Whipped Cream Topping:
- 2 cups (500ml) thickened cream
- 5 Tbsps granulated sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp cream of tartar (optional – but it helps the cream set better and last longer)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 180˚C (350˚F).
Make the biscuit base: Place the Granita biscuits in a food processor and pulse until completely crumbled. Then add in the melted unsalted butter and honey and continue to pulse until all combined.
Line a muffin tray with cupcake liners (or tart shells if you’ve got them) and place a large heaping tablespoon of the biscuit mixture into each cupcake liner. Press the biscuit mixture firmly into the pan. You can use a 1/4 cup measuring spoon to help you press it down. Bake in the oven at 180˚C for 8-10 mins until golden brown. Remove gently and let it cool completely.
Make the dulce de leche: Pour the entire contents of the condensed milk into a glass* pie dish or a heavy tray and cover with aluminum foil. Place it in a larger tray and pour boiling water in the outer tray until the inner tray is half submerged in water. Bake for 90 mins (still at 180˚C) until the condensed milk is a caramel brown colour. Mix it around and smooth out any large lumps.
- *See notes above under the photos if you don’t have a glass dish
Make the whipped cream topping: While the dulce de leche is cooking, make the cream by adding together the thickened/heavy cream, sugar, vanilla extract and cream of tartar (optional) in a mixing bowl. Whip until you get stiff peaks (be careful not to over whip). Refrigerate until ready to assemble.
Assemble the pies: Once the bases are cooled and the dulce de leche is ready, assemble the pie: Granita base + spoonful of dulce de leche + banana slices + whipped cream. Remove the cupcake liners before serving. Done!
- Tip: If the dulce de leche is difficult to spread out, you can warm it up a little by re-submerging your tray in a warm water bath, or dip a spoon in a little oil and smooth it out in the pie.

April 12, 2021

AbbyLeave a comment

Chewy Soft Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip Cookies

Date Published: April 4th, 2021 | Last Updated: April 4th, 2021
Author: Abby |Category: desserts, easy
Serves: 22 cookies | Prep time: 20 mins | Cook time: 8 mins

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This recipe is straight right off of the bag of Reese’s Peanut Butter Chips. The first time my housemate made them I was ADDICTED. She happened to make a big batch because the PB chips were on sale (which never happens). These cookies are soft, light, and packs a punch of peanut butter chips. You can also easily substitute out the PB chips for regular chocolate chips. I decided to add the recipe to this website as a reference for myself so I don’t always have to read off the wrinkled bag and also so I can use substitutions when I don’t have the bag around. I’ve added a few notes from myself to help guide the process and also added in metric units for food scales (which makes life so much easier and less messy in my opinion!).

Btw, these cookies are soft enough to use to make ice cream sandwiches. Just skip the PB chips in the recipe, bake the cookies as normal, and when they’ve fully cooled, add a scoop of ice cream between two cookies. Yum!

This recipe is SO easy and cooks up quickly, perfect for last-minute baking for an event.

Happy cooking!

Ingredients you’ll need:

1 cup (180g) all-purpose flour
1/2 cup (35g) cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2/3 cup (150g) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup (180g) sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1.5 cups (280g/10oz package) Reese’s Peanut Butter Chips

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 175˚C (350°F).

In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

In a mixing bowl, Beat together the butter and sugar until combined, then add in the egg and vanilla. Continue mixing until everything is incorporated.

Gradually add in the flour mixture 1/3 at a time, allowing everything to be combined before adding the next 1/3. Stir in the peanut butter chips.

Drop rounded tablespoons of batter onto an ungreased cookie sheet (roughly golfball-sized). Bake in the preheated oven for 7-9 minutes. Do not over bake.

The cookies will puff up slightly when baking then deflate into flat cookies when cooling.

Tip: If you want perfectly round cookies, form them into round balls with your hands before baking them instead of dropping them by the spoonful.

Tip: If you want less soft and more chewy cookies, flatten them slightly before baking.

The cookies will be very soft and fragile when they come out of the oven. Let them cool on the baking tray first until they firm up before letting them cool on a wire rack completely. Enjoy!

Summarized Recipe:

Chewy Soft Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip Cookies

Date Published: April 4th, 2021 | Last Updated: April 4th, 2021
Author: Abby |Category: desserts, easy
Serves: 22 cookies | Prep time: 20 mins | Cook time: 8 mins

Ingredients:

1 cup (180g) all-purpose flour
1/2 cup (35g) cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2/3 cup (150g) butter or margarine, softened
1 cup (180g) sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1.5 cups (280g/10oz package) Reese’s Peanut Butter Chips

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 175˚C (350°F).
In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
In a mixing bowl, Beat together the butter and sugar until combined, then add in the egg and vanilla. Continue mixing until everything is incorporated.
Gradually add in the flour mixture 1/3 at a time, allowing everything to be combined before adding the next 1/3. Stir in the peanut butter chips.
Drop rounded tablespoons of batter onto an ungreased cookie sheet (roughly golfball-sized). Bake in the preheated oven for 7-9 minutes. Do not over bake.
- The cookies will puff up slightly when baking then deflate into flat cookies when cooling.
- Tip: If you want perfectly round cookies, form them into round balls with your hands before baking them instead of dropping them by the spoonful.
- Tip: If you want less soft and more chewy cookies, flatten them slightly before baking.
The cookies will be very soft and fragile when they come out of the oven. Let them cool on the baking tray first until they firm up before letting them cool on a wire rack completely. Enjoy!

April 4, 2021April 4, 2021

Abby1 Comment

Lemon Poppy Seed Loaf

Date Published: March 5th, 2021 | Last Updated: March 26th, 2025
Author: Abby |Category: dessert
Serves: 1 loaf | Prep time: 30 mins | Cook time: 60 mins

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This is my copycat version of Starbucks’ lemon poppy seed loaf. It’s pretty much the only food item I buy from Starbucks back home. I don’t usually like loaves, but this one draws me in every time. It’s a moist fluffy cake bursting with lemon flavour topped with a lemon icing drizzle overtop. It pairs wonderfully with a coffee or better yet, a London Fog (essentially a vanilla earl grey latte). The loaf is delicious and full of lemon flavour on its own, but the lemon icing is what gives it an extra punch. If you’re not a fan of sugar, feel free to skip the icing but to me its my favourite part!

There aren’t many Starbucks in Australia and the ones that are here don’t sell this cake so I actually don’t know how close this recipe is to the ones at Starbucks since I don’t have one to compare it to, but when I have it it brings me right back to those memories – so I must be pretty close, right? Let me know what you think in the comments!

This recipe uses lemon juice. You can choose to use fresh lemons or bottled lemon juice. You’ll need lemon zest for the recipe so I tend to just use the juice from the rest of the lemon and top it up with bottled lemon juice if I don’t have enough. The lemon extract is optional in this recipe but I do find that it does have a slightly stronger lemon flavour with it.

Happy cooking!

Ingredients you’ll need:

Cake:

3/4 cup (170g) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
Dry Ingredients:
- 2 cups (250g) all-purpose flour
- 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/8 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 Tbsp lemon zest (~2 lemons)
- 2 Tbsps poppy seeds
3 large eggs, room temperature
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp lemon extract
1/4 cup (60ml) lemon juice
3/4 cup (180 ml) buttermilk (or 3/4 cup milk + 3/4 Tbsp lemon juice, sit until curdled)

Lemon Icing:

1 cup (120g) powdered sugar
1 Tbsp lemon juice
3 tsps milk

Directions:

(If you don’t have buttermilk, step one should be to mix 3/4 cup milk with 3/4 Tbsp of lemon juice. Let it sit at room temperature for 10-15 mins until curdled and use it in place of buttermilk.)

Preheat the oven to 180˚C (350˚F)

Grease a 9 x 5 loaf pan and line it with parchment paper. You don’t need the parchment paper but it makes it a LOT easier to remove the cake cleanly from the pan.

In a medium bowl, mix together the dry ingredients: 2 cups (250g) all-purpose flour, 1/4 tsp baking powder, 1/8 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp salt, 1 Tbsp lemon zest, 2 Tbsps poppy seeds. Set aside.

In a mixing bowl with a whisk attachment or an electric beater, cream together the 3/4 cup (170g) unsalted softened butter and 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar until light and fluffy (~3-4 mins).

Add in the eggs one at a time until incorporated, then add in the 1/2 tsp vanilla extract, 1 tsp lemon extract, and 1/4 cup (60ml) lemon juice while on medium speed.

On low-medium speed, add the dry flour mixture (from step 4) and buttermilk in alternations: add in 1/3 of the flour mixture, followed by half the buttermilk, then another 1/3 of the flour mixture, then the rest of the buttermilk, and finally the rest of the flour mixture. Allow each of the ingredients to be incorporated before adding in the next.

Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake in the preheated oven for 50-60 mins until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let the loaf cool in the pan for 10 mins before removing it onto a wire rack to let it cool completely.

Tip: If the top of your loaf is browning too quickly before the loaf is cooked, you can place a sheet of aluminum foil on top to protect it while the rest of the loaf bakes.

While the loaf cools, make the lemon icing by sifting the 1 cup (120g) icing sugar into a bowl, then add in the 1 Tbsp of lemon juice. Mix until combined. Add in 1 tsp of milk at a time until you get the desired consistency (thick and not too runny).

If you prefer a thinner icing to make it less sweet, then add more milk. If you want a thicker one, then add less milk (or no milk at all).

When the loaf is completely cooled, slowly drizzle the icing onto the loaf or pour it down the centre and let the icing flow off the sides. Set aside to let the icing harden. Once the icing dries and sets, slice up the loaf and serve!

Summarized Recipe:

Lemon Poppy Seed Loaf

Date Published: March 5th, 2021 | Last Updated: March 26th, 2025
Author: Abby |Category: dessert
Serves: 1 loaf | Prep time: 30 mins | Cook time: 60 mins

Ingredients:

Cake:

3/4 cup (170g) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
Dry Ingredients:
- 2 cups (250g) all-purpose flour
- 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/8 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 Tbsps poppy seeds
3 large eggs, room temperature
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp lemon extract
1 Tbsp lemon zest (~2 lemons)
1/4 cup (60ml) lemon juice
3/4 cup (180 ml) buttermilk (or 3/4 cup milk + 3/4 Tbsp lemon juice, sit until curdled)

Lemon Icing:

1 cup (120g) powdered sugar
1 Tbsp lemon juice
3 tsps milk

Directions:

(If you don’t have buttermilk, step one should be to mix 3/4 cup milk with 3/4 Tbsp of lemon juice. Let it sit at room temperature for 10-15 mins until curdled and use it in place of buttermilk.)
Preheat the oven to 180˚C (350˚F).
Grease a 9 x 5 loaf pan and line it with parchment paperYou don’t need the parchment paper but it makes it a LOT easier to remove the cake cleanly from the pan.
In a medium bowl, mix together the dry ingredients: 2 cups (250g) all-purpose flour, 1/4 tsp baking powder, 1/8 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp salt, 1 Tbsp lemon zest, 2 Tbsps poppy seeds. Set aside.
In a mixing bowl with a whisk attachment or an electric beater, cream together the 3/4 cup (170g) unsalted softened butter and 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar until light and fluffy (~3-4 mins).
Add in the eggs one at a time until incorporated, then add in the 1/2 tsp vanilla extract, 1 tsp lemon extract, and 1/4 cup (60ml) lemon juice while on medium speed.
On low-medium speed, add the dry flour mixture (from step 4) and buttermilk in alternations: add in 1/3 of the flour mixture, followed by half the buttermilk, then another 1/3 of the flour mixture, then the rest of the buttermilk, and finally the rest of the flour mixture. Allow each of the ingredients to be incorporated before adding in the next.
Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake in the preheated oven for 50-60 mins until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let the loaf cool in the pan for 50-60 mins before removing it onto a wire rack to let it cool completely.
- Tip: If the top of your loaf is browning too quickly before the loaf is cooked, you can place a sheet of aluminum foil on top to protect it while the rest of the loaf bakes.
While the loaf cools, make the lemon icing by sifting the 1 cup (120g) icing sugar into a bowl, then add in the 1 Tbsp of lemon juice. Mix until combined. Add in 1 tsp of milk at a time until you get the desired consistency (thick and not too runny). If you prefer a thinner icing to make it less sweet, then add more milk. If you want a thicker one, then add less milk (or no milk at all).
When the loaf is completely cooled, slowly drizzle the icing onto the loaf or pour it down the centre and let the icing flow off the sides. Set aside to let the icing harden. Once the icing dries and sets, slice up the loaf and serve!

March 5, 2021March 26, 2025

Abby3 Comments

Luxe Banana Bread with Espresso Mascarpone

Date Published: Feb 9th, 2021 | Last Updated: March 26th, 2021
Author: Abby | Category: dessert
Serves: 1 loaf | Prep time: 30 mins | Cook time: 1 hr

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To be honest, I was never a huge fan of banana bread but every time I make this recipe I get rave reviews. I never knew banana bread was loved by so many people! No matter how big the loaf turns out, there’s never any leftovers. Although banana bread has grown on me over the years, the only way I like to eat it is toasted with some salted butter over top or alternatively I’ll add in a couple handfuls of chocolate chips to the batter and get a more decadent chocolate banana bread. If I’m feeling really fancy, I’ll make myself espresso mascarpone to top it off. My favourite part about making this recipe is eating the freshly baked crunchy toasted edges right as it comes out of the oven.

This banana bread recipe makes a beautiful moist loaf every time, packed with banana flavour. It’s the best way to use up over ripe bananas that have been sitting on the counter for a little too long.

This original recipe came from a good friend of mine, Yoke. She used to make banana bread all the time in vet school (and still do). When I was in NYC a couple years ago for a vet externship, I stumbled across a random little Aussie café called Two Hands and went in for a coffee. I saw a “banana bread with espresso mascarpone” on the menu and knew I had to try it. I still didn’t love banana bread at this point, but I do love anything that’s coffee-flavoured and the combination of these two got me excited. When it arrived, it was the most beautiful serving of banana bread I had ever seen. It was a nice thick slice of banana bread with a healthy serving of the espresso mascarpone, drizzled with a bit of maple syrup and sprinkled with puffed buckwheat. This was hands down the single best banana bread I’ve ever had. The different flavours mixed so well together – it blew my mind. I was determined to recreate it when I got back to Australia and who best to ask for a good banana bread recipe than Yoke? That’s when I started making this banana bread. I don’t always make it with the espresso mascarpone because a few of my friends aren’t fans of coffee, including Toby, (sometimes I wonder how we’re still together 😜) but if I’m feeling indulgent I’ll make a small portion for myself (recipe adapted from GoodFood.com). I do like to add in the chocolate chips to jazz it up otherwise.

*I haven’t had a chance to take any photos with the espresso mascarpone yet, but its coming!

Happy cooking!

Edit: I found the recipe for the Two Hands banana bread posted on a website a couple years after I started making my version. I haven’t tried making it their way, but if anyone’s interested, here’s a link to their recipe: https://camillestyles.com/food/two-hands-nyc-banana-walnut-bread-with-espresso-mascarpone/

Ingredients you’ll need:

Banana Bread:

Dry Ingredients:
- 3 cups (375g) all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp salt
Wet Ingredients:
- 3/4 cup (170g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 3/4 cup (150g) granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup (100g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 3 large eggs, at room temperature
- 2 tsps pure vanilla extract
- 3 large overripe bananas, mashed (= ~ 1.5 cups mashed)
- 1.5 cups (360ml) buttermilk, at room temperature (or 1.5 cups milk + 1.5 Tbsp lemon juice, left for 30mins until it starts curdling)
+ optional: 180g chocolate chips or chopped semi-sweet chocolate
+ optional: chopped walnuts

Espresso mascarpone:

500g mascarpone
2 tsps vanilla extract (or 1 vanilla bean, cut in half lengthways, seeds scraped)
pinch cinnamon
100ml espresso coffee
1/4 cup icing sugar
Maple syrup (for drizzling)
Optional: sprinkle with some chopped pecans, walnuts, pine nuts or puffed buckwheat

Directions for Banana Bread:

Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C) and grease a loaf pan (9×13 inch).

(If you don’t have buttermilk, you can make it now at this stage by adding milk with lemon juice and letting it sit for 20-30mins until it curdles while you prepare the rest of the recipe.)

In a bowl, combine the dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside.

Peel the overripe bananas and mash them. Set aside.

In another bowl, use a mixer and beat the butter until smooth and creamy. Add in the white and brown sugar to the bowl and continue beating until creamed together. Beat in the eggs and the vanilla until combined, then fold in the mashed bananas.

With the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients to the wet in three additions alternating with the buttermilk, allowing each to be incorporated before adding the next. Do not over mix. The batter will be slightly thick and a few lumps is OK.

Optional: If you want to make chocolate banana bread, you can stir in the chocolate chips at this stage into the batter. OR if you’d like to add walnuts, now is the time to stir it in.

Pour the batter into the greased loaf pan. Feel free to sprinkle walnuts over. Bake for 45mins to 1hr (depending on your oven). The cake is done when a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.

*Tip: If you find the top of the cake is browning too quickly in the oven, loosely cover it with aluminum foil and continue baking.

When the cake is done, remove it from the oven and set on a wire rack to cool completely before serving. Serve on its own or follow the instructions for espresso mascarpone below!

Cover leftover cake tightly and store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. The cake also freezes well up to 3 months. Just thaw and serve when ready to eat.

Optional: Directions for Espresso marscapone:

Combine all the ingredients into a mixing bowl and use a stand mixer to blend everything together until smooth and creamy. Do not over whip or else it will split. Keep the mascarpone cold at all times. Serve on top of banana bread with a drizzle of maple syrup and a sprinkle of puffed buckwheat.

Summarized Recipe:

Luxe Banana Bread with Espresso Mascarpone

Date Published: Feb 9th, 2021 | Last Updated: March 26th, 2021
Author: Abby | Category: dessert
Serves: 1 loaf | Prep time: 30 mins | Cook time: 1 hr

Ingredients:

Banana Bread:

Dry Ingredients:
- 3 cups (375g) all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp salt
Wet Ingredients:
- 3/4 cup (170g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 3/4 cup (150g) granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup (100g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 3 large eggs, at room temperature
- 2 tsps pure vanilla extract
- 3 large ripe bananas, mashed (= ~ 1.5 cups mashed)
- 1.5 cups (360ml) buttermilk, at room temperature (or 1.5 cups milk + 1.5 Tbsp lemon juice, left for 30mins until it starts curdling)
+ optional: 180g chocolate chips or chopped semi-sweet chocolate
+ optional: chopped walnuts

Espresso Mascarpone:

500g mascarpone
2 tsps vanilla extract (or 1 vanilla bean, cut in half lengthways, seeds scraped)
pinch cinnamon
100ml espresso coffee
1/4 cup icing sugar
Maple syrup (for drizzling)
Optional: sprinkle with some chopped pecans, walnuts, pine nuts or puffed buckwheat.

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C) and grease a loaf pan (9×13 inch).
(If you don’t have buttermilk, you can make it now at this stage by adding milk with lemon juice and letting it sit for 20-30mins until it curdles while you prepare the rest of the recipe.)
In a bowl, combine the dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside.
In another bowl, use a mixer and beat the butter until smooth and creamy. Add in the white and brown sugar to the bowl and continue beating until creamed together. Beat in the eggs and the vanilla until combined, then fold in the mashed bananas.
With the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients to the wet in three additions alternating with the buttermilk, allowing each to be incorporated before adding the next. Do not over mix. The batter will be slightly thick and a few lumps is OK.
Optional: If you want to make chocolate banana bread, you can stir in the chocolate chips at this stage into the batter. OR if you’d like to add walnuts, now is the time to stir it in.
Pour the batter into the greased loaf pan. Feel free to sprinkle walnuts over. Bake for 45mins to 1hr (depending on your oven). The cake is done when a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.
- *Tip: If you find the top of the cake is browning too quickly in the oven, loosely cover it with aluminum foil and continue baking.
When the cake is done, remove it from the oven and set on a wire rack to cool completely before serving. Serve on its own or follow the instructions for espresso mascarpone below!

Storage: Cover leftover cake tightly and store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. The cake also freezes well up to 3 months. Just thaw and serve when ready to eat.

Optional: Directions for Espresso marscapone:

Combine all the ingredients into a mixing bowl and use a stand mixer to blend everything together until smooth and creamy. Do not over whip or else it will split. Keep the mascarpone cold at all times. Serve on top of banana bread with a drizzle of maple syrup and a sprinkle of puffed buckwheat.

February 9, 2021March 26, 2021

Abby1 Comment

Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

Date Published: Feb 8th, 2021 | Last Updated: Feb 8th, 2021
Author: Abby |Category: dessert
Serves: 24 cupcakes | Prep time: 20 mins | Cook time: 20 mins

Jump to recipe |

Pumpkin spice is all the rage back home especially in the autumn season – and for good reason! It’s a mix of warm spices that usually includes cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and allspice that just seems to comfort you on a cold day. In Canada I would often get a pumpkin spice latte from Starbucks early in the morning and head out on an autumn hike enjoying the leaves change colour while sipping on my latte – it was the perfect combination. You can put pumpkin spice in just about anything: scones, lattés, whipped cream, cakes, cookies, and….. cupcakes! I’ve even seen them incorporated into dog treats (no idea why). These cupcakes are delicious on their own as a moist fluffy pumpkin cake (similar to a carrot cake) paired with a coffee, or if you’ve got a sweet tooth it’s even better topped with the cinnamon cream cheese frosting. You can choose to bake these as cupcakes in a muffin pan as I have in this recipe or put it in a bundt cake pan or cake pan and bake it as an entire cake and top it with the frosting to make it a little fancier for afternoon tea.

These cupcakes turn out fluffy and moist every time – the secret is using vegetable oil instead of butter!

This recipe is adapted from AllRecipes. I’ve halved the sugar from the original recipe because the cinnamon frosting is quite sweet on its own and is more than enough sweetness when paired together. If you’re making this as a cake on its own without the frosting, feel free to add in a little extra sugar (I’d increase the white sugar from 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup). When I make this recipe, I usually buy the pre-made pumpkin spice mix from Clubhouse but you could just as easily make it yourself in a big batch (see recipe below). Unlike North America, canned pumpkin purée is actually very difficult to find in Australia so if you can’t find any in your local shops, you can make it yourself by baking your pumpkin in the oven with some olive oil until soft, peel it, and mash it up.

Happy cooking!

Ingredients you’ll need:

Dry Ingredients:
- 2 1/4 cups (400g) all-purpose flour
- 3 tsp pumpkin spice
  - If you don’t have pumpkin spice:
    - 1 tsp ground cinnamon
    - 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
    - 1/2 tsp ground ginger
    - 1/2 tsp ground cloves
    - 1/2 tsp ground allspice
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 Tbsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
Wet Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup (160g) vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup (115g) white sugar
- 1/3 cup (78g) brown sugar (or 1/3 cup white sugar + 1 tsp molasses)
- 2 eggs, room temperature
- 3/4 cup milk
- 1.5 cups (420g) pumpkin puree

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting:
- 1 (226g/8 oz) package cream cheese, softened
- 1/4 cup (57g) butter, softened
- 3 cups (400g) icing sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon

Directions:

(If you don’t have canned pumpkin puree, cook your pumpkin in the oven and put it in the blender as step #1)

Mix together the dry ingredients: flour, pumpkin spice, salt, baking powder, and baking soda; set aside.

Preheat the oven to 375˚F (190˚C).

In a separate large bowl, combine your wet ingredients: vegetable oil, white sugar, and brown sugar. Add the room-temperature eggs one at a time, allowing each egg to blend into the butter mixture before adding the next. Stir in the milk and pumpkin puree after the last egg.

Gradually add in the dry ingredients while mixing

Gradually add the dry ingredients into the batter one cup at a time while mixing. Allow the ingredients to mix together before adding the next cup. Once you’ve incorporated all the dry ingredients to the wet, your batter is ready for the oven!

Line your muffin tray with liners, or grease them if you’re not using liners. Pour the batter into the prepared muffin cups and bake in the preheated oven until golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the middle (about 15-20 minutes). Cool in the muffin pan for 5 minutes before removing to cool completely on a wire rack.

While the cupcakes are cooling, make the frosting by beating the cream cheese and butter together until smooth. Add in the vanilla extract and ground cinnamon. Beat in the icing sugar a little at a time until incorporated. Spoon the frosting into piping bags and frost the cupcakes once they’re cooled. Done!

*Tip: If you find your frosting a little running, refrigerate it for 20mins and it should firm up.

Summarized Recipe:

Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes

Date Published: Feb 8th, 2021 | Last Updated: Feb 8th, 2021
Author: Abby |Category: dessert
Serves: 24 cupcakes | Prep time: 20 mins | Cook time: 20 mins

Ingredients:

Dry Ingredients:
- 2 1/4 cups (400g) all-purpose flour
- 3 tsp pumpkin spice (see recipe above if you don’t have the spice mix)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 Tbsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
Wet Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup (160g) vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup (115g) white sugar
- 1/3 cup (78g) brown sugar (or 1/3 cup white sugar + 1 tsp molasses)
- 2 eggs, room temperature
- 3/4 cup milk
- 1.5 cups (420g) pumpkin puree

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting:
- 1 (226g/8 oz) package cream cheese, softened
- 1/4 cup (57g) butter, softened
- 3 cups (400g) icing sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon

Directions:

Mix together the dry ingredients: flour, pumpkin spice, salt, baking powder, and baking soda; set aside.
Preheat the oven to 375˚F (190˚C).
In a separate large bowl, combine your wet ingredients: vegetable oil, white sugar, and brown sugar. Add the room-temperature eggs one at a time while mixing, allowing each egg to blend into the butter mixture before adding the next. Stir in the milk and pumpkin puree after the last egg.
Gradually add the dry ingredients into the batter one cup at a time while mixing. Allow the ingredients to mix together before adding the next cup. Once you’ve incorporated all the dry ingredients to the wet, your batter is ready for the oven!
Line your muffin tray with liners, or grease them if you’re not using liners. Pour the batter into the prepared muffin cups and bake in the preheated oven until golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the middle (about 15-20 minutes). Cool in the muffin pan for 5 minutes before removing to cool completely on a wire rack.
While the cupcakes are cooling, make the frosting by beating the cream cheese and butter together until smooth. Add in the vanilla extract and ground cinnamon. Beat in the icing sugar a little at a time until incorporated. Spoon the frosting into piping bags and frost the cupcakes once they’re cooled. Done!
- *Tip: If you find your frosting a little running, refrigerate it for 20mins and it should firm up.

February 8, 2021February 8, 2021

AbbyLeave a comment