Today is National Raspberry Cake Day, National Cotton Candy Day and Jump of Jelly Beans Day.

Serve this with a dollop of whipped cream and raspberries for garnish.

You need:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.   Coat a 9×9 inch baking pan with cooking spray.

In a large bowl beat the egg white until stiff.

Add 1/4 cup of the sugar and beat until smooth.

In another bowl combine the butter,vanilla, salt and remaining sugar.

Beat in the egg yolk.

Add 1 1/2 cups of flour, baking powder, milk and the egg white. 

Beat together well.

In another bowl add the raspberries and 1 tbsp of flour.

Toss together well.

Fold the raspberries into the batter.

Spread the batter into the prepared pan.

Bake for 40 minutes or until tester inserted in centre comes out clean.

Cut into squares and serve with whipped cream.

Enjoy!

Raspberry Cake

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Coat a 9×9 inch baking pan with cooking spray.
2. In a large bowl beat the egg white until stiff.
3. Add 1/4 cup of sugar and beat until smooth.
4. In another bowl beat the butter, vanilla, salt and remaining sugar until creamy. Add the egg yolk and beat well.
5. Add 1 1/2 cups of the flour, baking powder, milk and egg white. Beat well until combined.
6. Toss the berries with the remaining flour and fold into the batter.
7. Pour into the prepared pan.
8. Bake for 40 minutes or until tester comes out clean.

Today is National Cheesecake Day.

Caramel Apple Cheesecake

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Stir together the graham cracker crumbs and butter until it forms a coarse crumb. Press into the bottom of a 9″ spring form pan.
3. Bake in oven for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool.
4. Reduce oven to 325 degrees F.
5. In a bowl over a pot with simmering water melt the caramels into the whipping cream. Stir until smooth. Reserve 1 cup for the filling and refrigerate the remainder.
6. In a large bowl beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add the sugar and beat until combined.
7. Add the vanilla and sour cream and beat well.
8. Add the eggs one at a time and beat until smooth.
9. Fold in the caramel sauce then the apples.
10. Pour the mixture into the pie crust and bake for 15 minutes.
11. Reduce the temperature to 275 degrees F and continue to bake 70-90 minutes longer or until set in centre.
12. Let cool then place in the refrigerator until ready to eat. Serve it with the caramel sauce.

Oddly enough this day is exactly what it sounds like.

It is the day you go out and get some cheese that you will then leave out for the mice. Odd!

Today is National Milk Chocolate Day.

Cacao

• this is the bean minus the shell.
• can be used whole, powdered or in small pieces.
• bitter tasting

Chocolate Liquor

• cacao nibs that are ground into a smooth, liquid paste.

Unsweetened Chocolate

• also known as baking chocolate, pure chocolate, bitter chocolate.
• chocolate liquor that has cooled and hardened.
• base of other types of chocolate

Bittersweet Chocolate

• also known as semisweet chocolate, dark chocolate.
• 35% chocolate liquor, cocoa butter and different amounts of sugar.

Sweet Chocolate

• 15% chocolate liquor, cocoa butter, and sugar

Milk Chocolate

• 10% chocolate liquor, cocoa butter, sugar and at least 12% milk.

White Chocolate

• not really chocolate as it contains no chocolate liquor.
• 20% cocoa butter, 14% milk and sugar

Cocoa

• chocolate liquor that has had the cocoa butter pressed out of it.
• it is left hardened, then ground into a powder.
• Dutch Cocoa-cocoa powder washed with an alkali solution of potassium carbonate.

Cocoa Butter

• expelled fat from pressed chocolate liquor.

Chocolate Extract

• cacao beans are soaked in alcohol.

Today is National Scotch Day and National Creme Brulee Day.

Crème Brule

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.
2. Beat together the egg yolks, 4 tbsp of the sugar and the vanilla together in a mixing bowl until creamy.
3. In a saucepan over low heat bring the cream up to almost a boil, stirring regularly. Remove from heat immediately.
4. Add the cream to the egg mixture beating until combined.
5. Place the mixing bowl over a pot of boiling water and simmer until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.
6. Pour into ramekins and bake for 30 minutes. Let cool to room temperature then refrigerate 1 hour.
7. Preheat your broiler.
8. Mix together the remaining white sugar with the brown and sprinkle over the custard.
9. Place under broiler until melted. Allow to cool and then refrigerate another hour.

Today is National Coffee Milkshake Day.

Coffee Milkshake with a Kick

1. Combine everything in a blender and whip until smooth.

Today is National Hot Fudge Sundae Day.

Burton “Burt” Baskin and Irvine “Irv” Robbins were brother in laws who had a vision about family, fun and old fashioned ice cream. In 1945 the pair each had their own individual ice cream shops;  Irv’s Snowbird Ice Cream and Burt’s Burton Ice Cream Shop, and by 1948 they had 6 stores between them.  This is where the concept of Baskin-Robbins eventually grew.  In 1953 their dropped their separate names and became one.

The 31 logo was developed to represent the idea of a different flavour for every day of the month.

Since 1945 over 1000 unique flavours have been created with Pralines ‘n Cream and Chocolate Mint being the top sellers.  Baskin-Robbins is visited each year by over 300 million ice cream lovers.

Today is National Tequila Day.

Tequila Sunrise

1. Pour tequila in a glass with ice and top with orange juice.
2. Add grenadine by tilting glass and pouring grenadine down side by flipping the bottle vertically very quickly. The grenadine should go straight to the bottom and then rise up slowly through the drink.

Today is Vanilla Ice Cream Day.

There are 3 varieties of vanilla.

Bourbon Vanilla

-grown from the vanilla planifolia plant in Madagascar, Comoros and Reunion.
-fruity, sweet flavour with a heavy vanilla scent.

Mexican Vanilla

-grown from the native vanilla planifolia plant in Mexico.
-rich, mellow flavour with a spicy, woodsy scent.

Tahitian Vanilla

-grown from vanilla tahitiensis plants.
-fruity and floral aroma and flavour.

*French vanillais the designation given to the preparation of products with a strong vanilla scent and contains vanilla grains.

Those 3 types of vanilla can come in any of the following forms.

Vanilla Extract

-this is vanilla beans steeped in alcohol and water for several months, usually 13.35 oz. of bean per 1 gallon of liquid.
-labelled “pure”.
-this should not be added to hot foods since the alcohol will then evaporate off.

Vanilla Essence

-this is vanilla beans steeped in alcohol and water for several months, usually more than 13.35 oz. of bean per 1 gallon of liquid.
-stronger vanilla flavour.
-this should not be added to hot food since the alcohol will then evaporate off.

Imitation Vanilla Extract

-this is made from synthetic vanilla.

Vanilla Flavouring

-this is a combination of pure and imitation vanilla.

Whole Vanilla Bean

-shiny, black, tender, moist and plump beans.
-you can add seeds and pulp directly to foods.
-pod can be steeped in hot liquids.

Vanilla Sugar

-made from a vanilla bean that is add to white or confectioners sugar.
-1 tbsp vanilla sugar is the equivalent of 1/4 tsp extract
.-to make, cut bean in half and bury in 1-2 cups of sugar for 2 weeks in sealed container.
-can be used in place of regular sugar for more complex flavours.

Vanilla Powder

-ground whole dried vanilla beans
-can be used in hot liquids.

Today is National Penuche Fudge Day.

What make this fudge different is that it is made with brown sugar instead of the standard white giving it a creamy texture and tan colour.

Penuche Fudge

1. Line a 8 x8 inch baking dish with foil making sure it is smooth. Butter the bottom and sides.
2. In a large saucepan combine the sugars, syrup and whipping cream and let it sit for 10 minutes.
3. Turn the heat to medium and bring the fudge to a boil. Turn down the heat to med-low and continue cooking until it reaches 234-239 degrees F. on a candy thermometer, stirring occasionally.
4. Turn off the heat and place the butter pieces evenly on top. Don’t not disturb until the butter has melted.
5. Add the white chocolate and stir until it’s completely melted and smooth. Stir in the vanilla.
6. Pour the fudge into the prepared pan and let it cool. Once cool place in the fridge to firm it up.
7. Carefully remove the foil from the fudge before slicing.