Celebration

I have been getting progressively busier. So busy in fact that I am having trouble finding the time to update my humble little blog here. Its ok though, I love what I do. Maybe not at every single moment. But overall, I love it! I feel very lucky to have found this path in my life. If food is love than baking is the sweetest love. I am constantly grateful that I get to be part of so many celebrations.



Working on big orders gives me some time in my head. alot of my orders this week were wedding or anniversary related. I made a lemony blinged out for a wedding shower. Another order from my favourite singing sisters. I also had a special wedding cake to make, and finally an anniversary cake. Seemed like love was in the air.

 so much BLING! so much LOVE!!

The wedding cake was for a lovely couple. We chatted one day, while I was working at the restaurant, and they decided to allow me the honor of making their wedding cake. They wanted a fairly simple three tier cake, simple, classic, and pretty.with silver and purple ribbons. They also requested a grooms cake based on their favourite game, Eve Online. Even though I had some trouble getting the proportions right on the replica of their ship, in the end it turned out. I had to adjust the design last minute, because the ship grew and was to heavy for my original plan. They were happy though with the final product. In the end I was happy because they were happy. They even called me the day after their wedding to thank me, which meant the world to me. I hope someday they are ordering a 60th anniversary cake.

Alvin and Cecille got an anniversary cake, 60 years. Stop and ponder that. How long has your longest relationship lasted? I bet it wasn't remotely close to 60  years. As I was squinting at the cake, trying to paint on the the words, I teared up. I'm getting abit choked up now again, just thinking about it. I don't know Alvin, or Cecille. not personally. In my head though, they had a whole romance. 60 years together, ups and downs. It overwhelmed me, but the more I thought about it the more I smiled. The more hope I felt for love.

The progression from the wedding shower cake, to the wedding cake to the anniversary. it was an wonderful journey in my head. I may have been stressed and busy, bu it was a happy week.

Mellow Mallows

I love making marshmallows. They are simple,and fun, and fluffy! They are also incredibly sticky and frustrating at times. With a bit of practise ( and a reliable mixer ) they can be an excellent  unique homemade gift for friends or fun treat for yourself. Low fat equals healthy right? Marshmallows are definitely one of my favourite treats to make for friends. When you are a pastry chef, you are expected to bring sweets to alot of people. I never mind, For me food is love, and I am always more than happy to share.Only problem is butter cream and ganache can get expensive. Homemade marshmallows prove that things don't need to  be expensive to be good. I have tried alot of different flavourings for my fluffy delights. traditional vanilla bean is always a hit. I also enjoy ginger, green tea, mocha, cherry coke, lavender, chai, chocolate, or caramel. I think I have made about 50 flavors of marshmallows and i haven't  found one yet that isn't good. Correction, I do recall an ill fated attempt at peanut butter marshmallows. I still think the theory is good, but my execution was definitely lacking! lol!

here is a nice starter recipe for marsh mallow. it has egg whites, you can find ones which do not, but i find this recipe is easiest to begin with. 

*don't forget as with all recipes which include boiling sugar*

*RESPECT THE BOILING SUGAR*

18g (2 pkg) gelatin                           Bloom gelatin in 1/2 cup cool water
1/2 cup cold water
455g sugar (1/4 cup)                        Place 2 cups sugar, corn syrup, and second 1/2 cup of water in a pot                  
1 tbsp corn syrup                                 on medium heat, boil to 245
1/2 cup water
4 egg whites                                     Whip egg whites with 1/4 cup sugar to medium peaks

on a low speed stream the sugar syrup into the egg whites very slowly, and then just turn up the mixer speed and let it whisk. it will grow and fluff up as it cools. while you're waiting make a mixer of 1/2 cup cornstarch and 1/2 cup icing sugar. this mixture should help keep your fresh treat from sticking. you can put a layer in a pan and then spread your marshmallows over it and let them set. or you can pipe your marshmallow onto the mixture, or get crazy and use toasted coconut, or crushed nuts.
My recipe may not be perfect, for more details check out my inspiration here, and
here.

don't be intimidated, marshmallows are a fun and simple treat to make at home that always impresses!

Potter Pops

I don't like cupcakes. we all know this by now, right? I do however love cake pops,and /or cake truffles. I  also adore my friends. So often when I am making something for mi amigos, that is my go to treat.
One of my favourite gals had a birthday not long ago, and her adorable sister asked me to make her something. Ive grown quite attached to this family, they are very sweet. You may remember the cowboy hat cake I made for them, and more recently the moustache cake she commissioned. Now finally I was getting a chance to design something just for her.

Months ago,when I brought treats to a ska  show, she munched happily, offhandedly she mentioned that the golden snitches from Harry Potter would be cool as a cake pop. So after much deliberation between her sister and I, we decided on Potter Pops. The coolest designs I could think of were the snitches, and the sorting hat.



As always there was a learning curve putting these guys together, but it was super fun. I don't think I stopped giggling the whole time I was working on the sorting hat's faces.

The snitches started out as carrot cake dipped in white chocolate, with white fondant wings. I painted them bright yellow, with a coat of shimmer over top to make them nice and bright and shiny.


For the sorting hats I shaped chocolate cherry cheesecake into cones and dipped it in dark chocolate. when it was set up I used modelling chocolate to shape the faces and add details.



It would seem I can always rely on this crew to keep me inspired!

I also made some other fun cake pops for friends awhile ago. I made carrot shaped carrot cake,chocolate dipped brownies, zombies,and hello kitties. So much fun. And so much easier to deliver and serve than cup cakes,or traditional cake

                                                   

Ready Freddy!

I know usually I write about what I am baking. Today is different. Not that I havent been baking... oh my loaves...I have been baking plenty. Today however I was looking around my little culinary slice of the world and I noticed something.
I saw Fred. I have fallen in love with the whimsy of Fred products.
Usually I find these fun treasures at a local shop, which I happen to adore, called Mars & Venus down on Whyte Ave. But I have seen them popping up all over the place. Never failing to put a smile on my face.

I have ice cube trays
and cookie cutters.
among other fun goodies.

I took a jaunt over to the interwebs to see what else Mr Fred had in his repitoire.
Oh My.

so much wanting.

I got all these pics from Fred's Facebook page. you should go check it out! who wouldnt love cooking when your tools are this fun!!!

It Will Change Your Life

BACON JAM 

you heard me. 

BACON JAM!

I heard about this concoction somewhere, and I knew immediately I had to give it a try. And I am glad I did. Seriously it changed my life. Bacon jam, aka trailer park pate, bacon spread, or pork product marmalade.

As far as I can tell Bacon jam was born in Seattle. A food truck called Skillet which now sells their burger condiment nation wide. After abit of online research I found myself with a day off and a hankering for cholesterol. Off I went to the Italian Centre where  shopped with a vague idea of what I wanted to make. I looked at many recipes online, and decided to throw together some things and hope for the best. if it is mostly bacon it has to work out right? 

Into my finest largest pot i threw onions, garlic, and double smoked bacon slabs from the Italian centre ( do not cheap out on the bacon here folks ) I chopped the bacon up as small as i could. I put the pot on a low heat and scoured my pantry for additions

As the bacon rendered down i added brown sugar, apple cider vinegar, and some spices. then i left it on that low heat simmering away for about five hours. I'm pretty sure my arteries hardened just smelling this deliciousness all day. 

Now I found myself with a very large batch of a very tasty condiment. whats a girl to do?!? lots of things apparently. I started with the obvious things like bacon jam burgers, and the most epic grilled cheese in history.

then I had some fun with it.

I roasted up a chicken, caramelised some onions, roasted a whole bunch of garlic, and mixed it up with an egg and some ricotta. And of course a generous amount of the bacony delight. 

I made some fresh pasta dough, and after rolling it out I cut circles. each semolina disc received a dollop of the delicious mixture, then SHAZAM! dough origami makes chicken and bacon tortellini!

I was feeling pretty bold after my tortellini adventure, so I made a big batch of mashed potatoes, mixed in some roasted garlic, aged cheddar and bacon jam. I knew I had to make pierogi! I made some sour cream pastry and made another type of dumpling with  this batch of carby lusciousness. 

Last, but certainly not least... bacon caramels. 

since this first time I have improved my caramel recipe. But even then, it was amazing. I made two batches, the first batch had the jam cooked into the caramel and simply cooled. I didn't care for the texture,  so I made a second batch cooked with the bacon, but then strained. MMMMMmmmmmm.

The candies were sweet, and salty with a savoury smokiness that I really liked. Alot of my friends wussed out and wouldn't try them. Big thanks Baconhound, Joyful Follies, ZoomJer for tasting and being honest with me.  And all my friends who were brave enough to trust me and try it even though they thought i was a nutter!

UPDATE...

That adventure was awhile back. I tried making bacon jam again this week. As a matter of fact I was motivated by starting this blog post. This time I was lucky enough to have my bacon ground for me at the divine ACME meats. This saved me much time and aggravation. The texture was fantastic, the only thing missing from my second attempt was the intense smokiness I got from the double smoked bacon. This batch was just completed, and I don't know how it will be consumed, but I know I will be making another batch of caramels. And it was delicious mixed in with some barley and veggies for lunch yesterday. This time I paid attention more to my amounts.

3 lbs ground bacon
4 large onions (finely diced)
1 head of roasted garlic
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp smoked paprika
black pepper

All into a pot and simmered for about 6 hours. easy peasy, lemon squeezy.

makes a huge batch, but it freezes well. you could also experiment with maple,or different spices and vinegars. I'm already thinking about my next batch.

Super

This is a cake i did last year, but i recently ran into Super Liam's Mom, and remembered it. So much fun doing kid cakes.The bright colours, the imagination, the SUGAR! whats not to love?

Super Mom gave me some basic guidelines and let me do my own thing for her. I tried to design the small super hero his very own logo, while including some of his faves, making a loose representation of a hero costume. A Topsy turvy cake on top to add abit of fun. I think I like the idea of Topsy turvy cakes cause when you are handing out pieces of cake there is always those people who ask for a small piece or a big piece. The different heights of that kind of cake would make that easy peasy. Although, I have never done it,all my ideas are purely hypothetical at this point. 

I digress.

Started out covering the whole thing with some bright blue fondant, using some bright skittles candies around the bottom to add colour. Then rolled out a vibrant red fondant  cape and cut out some letters. It was my first time using my letter cutter set. To be honest i didn't love it. I like the simple bubble letter look on this, cause it is a child's cake and should have a bit of silly whimsy. In general though I don't like the aesthetic of that font. The final step ended up being the most time consuming. I painted the skittles with his favourite hero's logos. it took some time, but it was worth it!

The last minute before Super Liam's Super patient Dad came to get the cake, i decided the logo was lacking definition. I tried to outline the different parts to make them look more comic book-y. Even though I was rushing, and it was a tiny bit sloppy, it brought it together and i was much happier with it. And did I mention Super Dad was very patient waiting for my neurosis to finish up his cake.

Super cake, for a superb family.

I'm always so glad to be a part of it.  

MMMMoustache!

Sometimes I do not realise how badly I want to make a cake design until someone asks me for it. This cake was a perfect example. One of my ska buddies, who also happens to be one of the sweetest gals I know, ordered this cake for her super rad roomie. She has ordered cakes from me before, you may remember reading about the fireball adventure from her last order! She has such a positive energy, you can't help but adore her, and she is always a great boost for my ego. She trusts me, and lets me make what I think will work for her. So far so good, from what I hear 8)

So when we talked about the cake, she mentioned that her roomie loved chocolate chip cookie dough everything. I was hooked, I was immediately obsessed with making a cookie dough cake. I started out with vanilla bean cake and chocolate chip vanilla cake, which I layered it with cookie dough flavoured Italian butter cream loaded with mini chocolate chips

then a quick coat of the cookie dough butter cream, and into the fridge to set up while i roll out fondant. Just a simple coating of white fondant, a clean slate

I kneaded abit of cocoa powder into the fondant to tint it a light brown. then used some funky cookie cutters I got from Mars and Venus (all sorts of fun baking stuffs in stock!) to cut out moustaches to go around the base of the cake. this fondant also formed a giant moustache for a topper.

Once the decorations were set, I gave them a quick brush with brown food colouring to add depth and texture. I thought I was done, but....NO! I had another idea! And since she left it up to me, I chose to make both cakes. 

So i forfeited my sleep to make a monster moustache cake ball.

and then in my facial hair frenzy I rolled out the last of my fondant to cover the moustache shaped cake "ball" and some letter shapes. really I just wanted to make the M. It looks kinda like a foomanchoo, and it made me giggle incessantly.