Chez Cora’s

Across Canada, there is a breakfast cafe chain that thrives on fresh, wholesome food centred around fruit. On the whole, or in slices, Chez Cora is a fantastic idea – if you like that kind of good for you, fru-fru, I mean fruit-fruit, stuff!

Personally I believe that breakfast should be a hearty meal as it was always meant to be. Eggs, toast, lots of bacon, hash browns and the fruit should be optional on your pancakes if at all! Then I was diagnosed Celiac and I had to drop the toast and most of the pancakes. Eh, steak and eggs for breakfast it is then. Or better yet, a breakfast burrito (GF of course!)

Well folks if you’re like me when it comes to breakfast, then this is not the place for you. If you care about no sugar added to your fruit smoothie, then Chez Cora is for you. Getting to the core of this restaurant, if I wasn’t looking for heartier fare and was really interested in high-quality, super healthy food at premium prices, then this place would be fantastic!

Chez Cora

Rating: 3 out of 5 Peppers – a long wait coupled with a lacklustre portion compared to the menu and excessive prices means I am not rushing back any time soon.

Location: Stonebridge area of Saskatoon, SK

Restaurant type: Gluten Sensitive (Their warning – Despite all the care that we take in the preparation of our sensitive gluten menu dishes, we cannot guarantee the absence of cross-contamination while handling and cooking food.) On the whole, you could be glutenized here if you are not careful. I didn’t have an issue with my breakfast choices.

The picture of the French Toast in the menu filled most of the plate, not half!

The picture of the French Toast in the menu filled most of the plate, not half!

Food: On the whole, the food was flavourful and looked amazing. There was one Gluten Sensitive option that called out to me – Banana French Toast. According to the menu and picture, this decadent dish featured three banana cake slices, dipped in French toast batter, filled with bananas, chocolatey-hazelnut spread and cream cheese while topped with our decadent caramel sauce. And because I love eggs I got three wrecked with cheese.

And the wait began. This was not all that absurd considering I was with the wife and kids – so a four-top and they had a pretty full restaurant. But the wait was more than I would have expected for a breakfast cafe.

Once the food arrived I immediately noted that the portion size was not as large on my plate as what appeared on the menu. The French toast was nicely caramelized and the flavour was good, but the cream cheese was hardly noticeable and the caramel sauce almost over-powered any other flavours. As for my scrambled eggs with cheese, it was more like they softly scrambled them and then threw the cheese on top because they forgot.

Selection: Their specific Gluten Sensitive section consisted of about six menu items specifically designed to be GF. That said, for the most part, we all know most raw ingredients without seasoning, IE scrambled eggs or fruit plates, should be gluten free. It really is all of what you are comfortable with and how much you want to pester the staff for answers.

Service: Despite the wait for the food, our server was attentive and I had trouble telling them not to fill up my coffee every time they came by.

Price: This was one of those places that I left feeling like I could have made the same breakfast for about half the prize and been full!

Spicy Ending: This restaurant would be decent for someone who is cautious and willing to try the Gluten Sensitive options. And if your family doesn’t have to worry about that or about the over-priced menu, then this is a great place for the family and kids.

Death by Ice Cream Cake

IC cakeWarning: This recipe takes awhile and may not be worth sharing with others depending on what flavours you use. They wouldn’t like it – it would likely only be for you. Why would you share it? Why do I have to share it? You can’t make me share … Shut up you and give them the recipe! All right, fine!

Now that my inner chocolate demon is done arguing with my kind sharing, er, angel, I’ll give you what is one of the most versatile recipes for an ice cream cake. I’ve used this recipe a number of times including for a few friends of mine who wanted two of them as their wedding cakes. The one I did most recently (and shared) prompted another friend to tell me that I could make one of them for her wedding as well!

Once you pick your flavours and make your cookies it’s then all about the assembly, which will likely take a day or two. Without further digression …

 

 

Death by Ice Cream Cake

1 recipe GF cookie (such as Creamed Coffee Cookies)IC cake with form
1 recipe Bailey’s Ganache
1 tub GF ice cream (such as Peanut Butter Cup ice cream)

  1. Bake one half of your cookie dough into one giant cookie at the bottom of a spring form pan (I used an 8″ form). You should line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper so that you can undo the mold and lift the baked cookie right off.
  2. Bake the second half immediately. For this one you don’t need the parchment paper unless you want to take the cake of the bottom to put it on a nice platter for serving.
  3. While both cookies cool, make your ganache and let it cool a bit. Pull out your ice cream so that it’s not extremely stiff when you start the assembly.
  4. Now you can start assembling the first layer with the form still on the pan. Layer about half of the ice cream onto the bottom cookie so it’s relatively flat; using a spatula to even the top works best. Pour a layer of ganache over the ice cream, again try to make it even.
  5. Put it in the freezer for a few hours to let the ice cream get cool again since it should be a bit melty and soft.
  6. Repeat Steps 4 & 5 with the parchment paper off the middle layer cookie.
  7. You may have to heat your ganache a bit to ensure you can pour it over the sides. Not to hot though or it won’t stick. Warning: this is the messiest part of the assembly as you take the form off the layers and then pour/frost the side of the ice cream cake. Try using a long frosting knife to coat the sides of the cake – you’ll have to work quick and then get the cake back in the freezer to keep the ganache on the side as it will likely try to melt down.
  8. Once it’s frozen, you should be ready to serve it! And remember it’s OK to share it!

IC Cake without form

Bailey’s Ganache

This is about what it should look like once you're ready to start cooling.

This is about what it should look like once you’re ready to start cooling.

Typically a chocolate ganache is used to enrobe a cake in a sweet chocolate frosting that hardens into a smooth glossy shell. It’s really simple to make a ganache, making your cake look pretty and easy to decorate if that’s the way you want to go!

This recipe utilizes Bailey’s Irish Cream or any other Irish Cream instead of whipping (heavy) cream. Additionally if you decide to use cream, you could technically use any other type of chips such as white chocolate or butterscotch – just keep the proportions the same.

Irish Cream Ganache

3/4 cup (188 ml) Bailey’s Irish Cream
1 cup (180 g) semi-sweet chocolate chips

  1. Heat the cream in a sauce pan until it just starts to boil. You’ll want to stir it regularly since you don’t want the cream to burn onto the bottom of the pan.
  2. Once it boils, add in the chips and remove from heat. Stir until the chips melt and the mixture is smooth.
  3. Give it a few minutes to cool and then pour over your cake!

New Things Coming!

You may have noticed a few changes to the site. I’ve tried to update the feel and look a bit – I hope you like it!

And keeping with the New Year (yeah, I realize I’m a little late), you will be seeing some other changes/additions coming over the next few weeks. I’ve got more recipes coming up along with a new category of content: reviews! I will be reviewing restaurants, both chain restaurants and those restaurants specific to Saskatoon, as well as product reviews.

Seeing as how I shop (and live in Canada), I will also be re-visiting all my recipes to add in the metric measurements for your convenience.

Stay tuned! And as always, It’s Never Too Hot in the Kitchen unless there’s Gluten!