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"Thank you very much for the orders this week. The food was delicious and so pleased about the presentation! You make our lives so much easier when we have to cater these events. ...Until our next events....thanks!"

Shamrock Cookies Recipe:

Ingredients

Makes 50

4 cups sifted all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
2 cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Green sanding sugar

Directions

Sift together flour, salt, and baking powder into a large bowl; set aside. Combine butter and granulated sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with paddle attachment; cream on high speed until fluffy. Beat in eggs
Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture in two additions, mixing until well combined. Mix in vanilla. Divide dough in half, and cover with plastic wrap; refrigerate 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Roll out 1 piece of dough on a lightly floured work surface 1/8 inch thick. With a 3-inch cookie cutter, cut out 25 rounds. Working with 1 round at a time, place clover stencil on top; sprinkle surface with sanding sugar.
Arrange rounds on parchment- or nonstick baking mat-lined baking sheets. Refrigerate until firm, about 15 minutes, or until ready to bake. Repeat process with remaining dough.
Bake, one sheet at a time, until edges just start to brown, 10 to 12 minutes. Let cool completely on sheets on wire racks. Store cookies in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

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Please click here to be directed to the Green Tea Cake Recipe!

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Please click here to download The Holiday Festive Cup Cake Recipe!

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Caramel Apple and Pear Cake:

1 1/2 cups vegetable oil

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 tablespoons Calvados (apple brandy) or Brandy

3 large eggs

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg (1/4 teaspoon if freshly ground)

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 cups peeled, cored and diced apples (Beacon, Haralson, Granny Smith or other tart variety)

1 cup chopped nuts (optional) - my eldest son is in a non-nut eating phase and so I left them out.

1 bosc pear, peeled, cored and thinly sliced

sugar for sprinkling on pan

For Caramel Glaze:

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

6 tablespoons brown sugar

2 teaspoons honey

2 tablespoons Calvados

2 tablespoons heavy cream

Prepare a tube pan with a parchment round. Grease the pan and the paper and then sprinkle with sugar. Set aside. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Fan the sliced pears around the bottom of the pan. Whisk together the flours, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt in a bowl, set aside. In a stand mixer combine the oil, sugars, vanilla, Calvados and eggs. Add the dry ingredients and mix until well combined. Add the apples and nuts. Pour into the prepared pan, over the pears. Bake for about 1 hour and 25 minutes in the center of the oven, until a tester comes out clean. Allow the cake to cool for about 20 minutes before removing from the pan. Carefully invert the cake onto a cake plate. Use one that has a slight lip to it to catch the caramel sauce. In a small sauce pot combine all the ingredients for the caramel and bring to a gentle boil for 2-3 minutes. Allow the glaze to cool slightly, to thicken it, and pour over the top of the cake.

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Jack O' Lantern Fruit Cups!

Try this healthy Halloween recipe. All you need are some oranges and any other fruit plus a black marker to make your jack-o-lantern. This is an easy recipe that even young kids can help make.

Ingredients:

Large navel oranges
Assortment of fresh seasonal fruit
Lemon

Materials:

Paring knife
Spoon
Black marker

Rinse oranges, then cut across the top to make a lid. Don't cut the lid off, you should be able to open and close the lid, but if you accidentally cut the lid off, just use a toothpick to keep it on.

Scoop out the inside of the orange with a paring knife and place orange pieces in a bowl. Rinse and cut up remaining fruit (apples, bananas, strawberries, etc.) and add to bowl. Squeeze a little lemon over the fruit so it won't turn brown too quickly.

Draw a jack-o-lantern face on the orange with a black marker. Let dry.

Use a spoon to scoop fruit into oranges and serve.

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Raspberry Ice Cream!

1 pt Fresh raspberries
2 lg Eggs
1 1/2 c Sugar
2 c Heavy or whipping cream
1/2 Lemon; juice of
1 c Milk

Compare to other fresh fruit, raspberries are intensely flavorful and very tart, so to make ice cream you need less fruit and more sugar.

Toss the raspberries, 3/4 cup sugar, and the lemon juice together in a bowl. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours, stirring every 30 minutes. Whisk the eggs in a mixing bowl until light and fluffy, 1-2 minutes. Whisk in thr remaining 3/4 cup sugar, a little at a time, then continue whisking until completely
blended, about 1 minute more. Pour in the heavy cream and milk and whisk to blend. Drain the juice from the raspberries into the cream mixture and blend. Mash the raspberries until pureed and stir them into the cream mixture. Transfer the mixture to an ice cream maker and freeze following the manufacturer's instructions. Makes 1 generous quart.

NOTE: If you prefer a chunkier raspberry ice cream, return the raspberries to the refrigerator after pouring off the juice. After the ice cream stiffens, about 2 minutes before it is done, add the whole raspberries

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Recipe of the Month!

Caramel Pear Mousse Cake

Ingredients

1-1/2 cups diced pears

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1/2 cup plain yogurt stirred

1/2 cup cottage cheese

1 packet unflavored gelatin

1/4 cup water

1/4 cup pear nectar

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup whipped topping

Directions

Puree pears and lemon juice in a food processor.

Mix together the yogurt and cottage cheese.

Stir mixture by hand into the pureed fruit.

Dissolve gelatin in the water in a small saucepan over low heat.

Add nectar, ginger and sugar then cook for 2 minutes.

Add pear mixture to the gelatin and mix well.

Place mixture into a pint container and freeze until mixture looks thick about 30 minutes.

Follow Caramel Glaze cooking instructions below.

Cut into individual dishes and serve.

Caramel Glaze

Ingredients:
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup evaporated milk

Directions:

Stir together brown sugar, butter, and evaporated milk in a small saucepan over medium heat; bring to a boil, and cook, stirring constantly, 2 1/2 minutes or until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and cool slightly. Spoon the caramel glaze over a completely cooled cake.

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Recipe of the Month!

Holiday Festive White Chocolate Mousse

Preparation time overnight
Cooking time less than 10 mins

Ingredients
750g/1lb 10½oz strawberries
2 tbsp lemon juice
225g/8oz white chocolate, grated
7g/¼ oz powdered gelatine
450ml/15¾fl oz double cream
30g/1oz icing sugar, plus extra for dusting

To serve :
biscotti
extra strawberries, raspberries and blueberries.
4 springs fresh mint

Method
1. Place half of the strawberries into a blender and puree until smooth. Pass the puréed strawberries through a fine sieve into a clean bowl.

2. Add the lemon juice to the bowl.

3. Slice the remaining strawberries and add to the purée.

4. Place a heatproof bowl in a saucepan half-filled with boiling water. With the heat turned down very low, place the grated chocolate in the bowl and leave until melted.

5. In a small bowl, add the gelatine to about 50ml/¾ fl oz of water and leave to rest for five minutes.

6. Place a quarter of the cream along with all the icing sugar into a pan and simmer until warm. Add the gelatine water and stir for five minutes over a low heat until dissolved. It is important not to let the mixture boil, so keep the heat under the pan gentle.

5. Pour the cream and gelatine mix into the melted chocolate and stir until smooth. Add three quarters of the strawberry purée.

6. Place the remaining cream into a bowl. Whip the cream until soft peaks form when the whisk is removed from the bowl. Gradually fold the cream into the chocolate and strawberry mix.

7. Transfer the mixture to individual serving glasses. Place in the fridge to chill for at least two hours, preferably overnight (store the remaining strawberry purée in the fridge too).

8. To serve, add a spoonful of the remaining strawberry purée to each serving glass. Garnish with a few strawberries, dust with icing sugar and add a sprig of mint to each glass

www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes

Autumn Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Icing

Birthdays, weddings, reunions — this moist cake is welcome at all special occasions.

Servings: 18

Ingredients:

2 cups (500 mL) all-purpose flour
2 tsp (10 mL) baking powder
2 tsp (10 mL) cinnamon
1 tsp (5 mL) baking soda
3/4 tsp (4 mL) salt
1/2 tsp (2 mL) nutmeg
3/4 cup (175 mL) each granulated and packed brown sugar
3 eggs
3/4 cup (175 mL) vegetable oil
1 tsp (5 mL) vanilla
2 cups (500 mL) grated carrots
1 cup (250 mL) drained canned crushed pineapple
1/2 cup (125 mL) chopped pecans
Icing:
1 pkg (8 oz/250 g) cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup (50 mL) butter, softened
1/2 tsp (2 mL) vanilla
1 cup (250 mL) icing sugar

Preparation:

Grease and flour 13- x 9-inch (3.5 L) metal cake pan; set aside.

In large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, salt and nutmeg. In separate bowl, beat together granulated and brown sugars, eggs, oil and vanilla until smooth; pour over flour mixture and stir just until moistened. Stir in carrots, pineapple and pecans. Spread in prepared pan.

Bake in centre of 350°F (180°C) oven for 40 minutes or until cake tester inserted in centre comes out clean. Let cool in pan on rack. (Make-ahead: Cover with plastic wrap and store at room temperature for up to 2 days. Or ovenwrap with heavy duty foil and freeze for up to 2 weeks; let thaw before continuing.)

Icing: In bowl, beat cream cheese with butter until smooth. Beat in vanilla. Beat in icing sugar, one-third at a time, until smooth. Spread over top of cake. (Make-ahead: Cover loosely and refrigerate for up to I day.)

Additional Information

Tips: Set timer for 5 minutes less than the time specified in recipe, check cake then for the following signs. If the cake is not done, return it to the oven to finish baking.

When is the cake done:
A fully baked cake will spring back when touched in the center. The cake also draws away from the side of the pan, and a cake tester (a toothpick of skewer works well) inserted in the center comes out clean. Also trust your sense of smell: the fresh aroma of butter and sugar wafting out of the oven can be the signal to check the cake.

When cakes emerge from the oven, their structure is set, but the set is still fragile. Let cakes stand in pans on rack for time specified in each recipe, usually 15 to 20 minutes. Run knife around edge of cake, then place rack over pan and invert cake onto rack to cool completely.

Nutritional Info
Per Serving: about	-
cal	338
pro	4 g
total fat	20 g
sat fat	6 g
carb	38 g
fibre	1 g
chol	58 mg
sodium	278 mg
% RDI	-
calcium	4%
iron	9%
folate	10%
vit. A	38%
vit. C	2%

Source

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Crust:

1/4 cup butter, melted
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
3 tablespoons sugar

Cheesecake:

24 ounces cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 eggs
10 ounces frozen strawberries (thawed), in syrup
1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch

Puree strawberries and cornstarch in blender. Heat in a saucepan over medium heat until thickened, then cool. Combine melted butter, graham cracker crumbs and sugar; press onto bottom of 9-inch springform pan.

Bake at 350 F. for 10 minutes. Combine cream cheese, sugar and vanilla, mixing at medium speed on electric mixer until well blended. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Pour half of the batter over the crust then add half of the strawberry mixture by spoonfuls to the batter. Pour remaining batter into the pan then add the remaining strawberry mixture by spoonfuls. Swirl the mixture with a knife until it resembles a marbled effect. Bake at 300 F. for 50-60 minutes or until set. Allow cheesecake to cool then remove from rim of pan. Chill overnight before serving.

Serving Size: 12

*recipe courtesy of cooks.com

Franco Freshy's “Do A Good Deed Campaign”

Thanksgiving is a great time of year because, while it makes us mindful of our own blessings, it also brings the needs of others to our conscience.

At Franco Freshy, we try to live by the Golden Rule and truly believe in the value of doing good deeds. We have always tried to help those in need through our food donations to the shelters in the GTA, our support of numerous charity events for our clients and, our support of mission work among the impoverished in other parts of the world. This year, we have become inspired to try to accomplish even more by launching our “Do A Good Deed Campaign” whereby we will match your personal or your company’s monetary contribution DOLLAR FOR DOLLAR (up to a maximum of $100,000.00 for our current fiscal year)Your monetary contribution can start as low as $25.00. Together, our charitable dollars will go twice as far!

We will supply freshly made, nutritious meals (not leftovers) for anyone in need. You can specify the food that you would like to have donated, the needy individual or the charitable organization that you would like to benefit or you can let us do it for you. We are equipped to send one or a series of individual meals or, pans of food delivered to homes or shelters. We will include a card with our food donation naming you or your company as our joint donor.

Most recently, in cooperation with one of our corporate clients, we were able to help a single mother feed her family during a period when one of her children, a cancer patient, was sent home from hospital without any hope of survival. Our staff expressed pure joy at being able to provide assistance to someone that they had never previously known. It does feel good to do a good deed. TRY IT, YOU’LL LOVE IT! Give us a call today!