They are finally packaged up, and ready to fly out the door! I’ve been waiting for this day for quite some time now. Here are the pictures of me saying good bye.
Hockey, Eh? Root Beer Cake!
February 14, 2011 by
Many like to think that hockey is Canada’s unofficial national sport.
There once was a time when I lived in rinks, and watched hours, upon hours of my brother’s hockey games. All of my teenage girl crushes were on the local hockey players. I used to cut their pictures out of the papers! Hello, stalker! I’m sorry if you were one of those boys 😉 I don’t do that anymore. It wouldn’t really fly with Paul.
When my brother left home to continue his hockey career, I listened to hours of internet radio broadcasts, and drove to every one of his games that was within three hours! Surprisingly, there was limited webcasts at that time (and it was only about 10 years ago). After he finished playing in the States, he went abroad, and I was hooped. There was no way (that I discovered) to get to watch or listen to him.
My love for hockey (and hockey players) stayed strong despite the fact that I no longer had a family member on the ice to root for. Let me tell you, it’s much more relaxing to watch a game when you’re not glued to one particular person the whole time. Every hit meant a grimace, every touch of the puck meant a cheer!
In 2003, I moved to London for a year to teach abroad and travel. Hockey? What is hockey? At the time, they had a London hockey team, but if you know anything about England, you know it’s FOOTBALL (soccer) all the way! So what did I, the dedicated hockey fan that I was, do? I paid 16 GBP to have the one and only channel that played Hockey Night in Canada! At 3 in the morning! It was live in Canada, but not so much in London. One night, I was so desperate to watch it “live” that I stayed up! Oh, the dedication . . . and amount of time on my hands I had then.
I’m telling you this story because I think that it is funny that something I spent hours upon hours doing, I no longer even think about now. I used to have the Vancouver Canucks schedule memorized, and now, I can’t even tell you what their logo looks like.
I’m also giving you this trip down memory lane, and what things used to be like, so I could tell you that I was super excited to get to make a hockey cake! It was for Jackson’s Birthday . . . a “Montreal Canadiens root beer cake”. Your wish is my command sir.
Rootbeer Cake
Cake:
1 cup butter
2 cups granulated sugar
3 cups cake flour
1 1/2 tablespoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 1/2 teaspoons water
4 eggs
1 tablespoon root beer extract
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup milk
Directions:
Make the Cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour 2 (9-inch) cake pans and line the bottoms with parchment paper.
In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter; then add the sugar and continue mixing until light and fluffy.
Meanwhile, sift together the cake flour, baking powder, and salt.
With the mixer on low speed, gradually add the water and eggs to the butter mixture until blended. Mix in the root beer extract and vanilla. Alternately add the flour mixture and milk to form a smooth batter.
Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake until just set, about 30 to 40 minutes. Let cool in pans for 5 minutes, and then invert onto cooling racks to cool completely before frosting.
Root Beer Frosting
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
4 cups icing sugar
3 tbsp milk
2 tsp root beer extract
In a large bowl using an electric mixer, or a food processor fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter until very pale and soft, about 2–3 minutes. Gradually add icing sugar, beating on medium speed, until it is fully incorporated. (The icing will seem very thick at this point, but that’s OK.) Beat in milk, 1 tbsp (15 mL) at a time. Beat in root beer. If you feel the icing is still too thick, add an additional 1 tbsp (15 mL) milk.
How to decorate this cake:
1. Bake the cake and freeze when fully cooled.
2. Base coat cake in root beer icing.
3. Prepare a new batch of white buttercream (which means you need to leave out the root beer extract as it makes the icing a shade of brown). It is possible to use clear extract, but then you are adding an extra flavour to the cake. I recommend that you use this recipe for the icing decorating.
4. Tint one cup blue, one cup red and leave 3 cups of the icing white.
5. I started with a gel transfer of the logo (remember to trace it with your piping gel onto a backwards image, so it transfers the correct direction onto the cake).
6. I piped,with star tip 16, the white of the logo first, as I thought that it set the image in my mind, and it seemed the easiest place to start.
7. I used star tip 18 to complete the white part of the cake, as it took less time than 16. I continued to use 16 for the red and blue sections.
Making this cake didn’t remind me to watch hockey, but it made me study the logos of the NHL more closely!
Go Canucks go! Maybe I still have it in me.
I’m ready to make more hockey cakes people, bring them on!
328 Cupcakes Baked
February 13, 2011 by
Perhaps I will be needing a better tracking system?
Yesterday I baked 106 mini cupcakes (hello, BEST teacher EVER . . . they’re for the upcoming celebration for 100 Day!), two dozen Cookies and Cream cupcakes, and two dozen Lemon Drop cupcakes.
15 Dozen Mini and Regular Cupcakes
Last week, I baked 15 dozen cupcakes. . . that’s 180 cupcakes in case you are wondering! I know because I used my calculator. I baked a 9×13 Rootbeer cake (I will post it soon!), and a heart shaped Buckeye Cake!
Two cakes and 328 cupcakes! Mother.
That’s a lot of baking for someone who couldn’t ever find the time to cook a box of Kraft Dinner.
My first batch of cupcakes had to be shipped out on Friday afternoon to Richmond. I’m scared to think about what they’re going to look like when they get there! Fingers crossed they survive!
One Dozen Regular Assorted
Mini's!
Yum!
I’m working on icing the rest of the 15 dozen orders today! I can’t wait to deliver them to everyone who ordered.
I hope you are having a great weekend!
Valentine’s Cake!
February 12, 2011 by
Sugar Lilies and Petunias
Royal Icing Flowers
Sugar Lilies and Petunias
This week in my cake decorating classes, we were to finish a cake! I had an order for a Montreal Canadiens birthday cake which was perfect for my Beginner class, and I wanted to make Paul something special for Valentine’s Day for my flower class. Both of the cakes turned out beautifully, and I’m really happy with what I have learned in my courses. Next week, I start a fondant and gum paste flower class, so I’m looking forward to that too!
Buckeye Valentine's Cake
Using the flowers and techniques that I learned in my course, I made a Buckeye (chocolate and peanut butter) Valentine’s Cake! The cake itself is delicious . . . we broke into it early 🙂 The bottom layer is a heavy chewy brownie like cake, middle layer is smooth peanut butter cream, and it’s topped off with a chocolate ganache! Yum!
Buckeye Cake
(adapted from amandeleine)
Cake
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 3 oz. unsweetened chocolate, melted
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
Peanut Butter Layer
• 3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup powdered sugar
Ganache
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1/3 cup peanut butter chips
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350º F. Grease 9-inch-round cake pan. Line bottom of pan with parchment paper; grease.
2. Cake: Combine eggs and sugar in large bowl. Stir in flour, melted butter, melted chocolate, vanilla extract and salt until smooth. Pour into prepared pan.
3. Bake for 25 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool on wire rack for 5 minutes. Run knife around edge of cake; cool for an additional 10 minutes. Invert cake onto serving platter. Remove pan and parchment; cool completely.
4. Peanut Butter Layer: Beat peanut butter, butter and vanilla extract in medium mixer bowl until combined. Gradually beat in powdered sugar. Spread mixture on cake. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
5. Ganache: Heat cream in small saucepan to boiling; remove from heat. Add semi-sweet morsels; let stand 5 minutes. Stir; refrigerate for 30 minutes or until mixture is spreadable. Spread chocolate on top and sides of cake.
6. This step I did not do, as I was decorating my cake with my sugar flowers, but I’ve included it for you to enjoy! Melt peanut butter chips in resealable plastic bag on MEDIUM-HIGH (70%) power for 30 seconds. Knead bag to mix. If necessary, microwave at additional 10- to 15-second intervals until melted. Cut a small hole from corner of bag; squeeze to drizzle over cake. Store in refrigerator. Let stand for 30 minutes before serving.
What are YOU doing for Valentine’s Day?
Coconut Cream Cupcakes and Week 3- Wilton Decorating Class
February 11, 2011 by
1M Swirls and Pompom Flower
What do you do with leftover coconut milk? Well, of course you make CUPCAKES! From the domestic goddess her self- Martha Stewart‘s Cupcakes book!
I got this book for Christmas (thanks G) and I have been waiting for the opportunity to bake something from it. Finally, the opportunity presented itself in form of Coconut Cream Cupcakes!
Poinsettia, Shaggy Mums
For my Wilton Decorating class week 3, we were to bring in one dozen cupcakes to “learn” how to decorate.
1M Swirl with pompom flower topping
The first way to decorate was the base coat . . . which is usually my complete topping for my cupcakes . . . 1M tip, swirled. But, that is not the “Wilton Way” (more on that later)! On top of the 1M swirl goes the pompom flower. Since I knew I was going to be giving these cupcakes to my staff, and some people don’t like icing (they are criminally insane), I didn’t put the swirl on some of the cupcakes.
Pompom Flower
For these pompom flowers, start with a small mound of icing for the flower base, in the middle of the cupcake (the top of the 1M swirl works as a base if you have piped the swirl). Using tip 16, make the top of the flower in a darker shade of colour, simply squeeze, and pull up and away.
For the petals, using tip 18, start at the bottom of the base, and pipe petals around the base of the flower, move up a layer, alternating between bottom petals, fill in spaces, move up the base again. Wilton actually has a good tutorial for this flower on their website: Pompom Flower. Add leaves (with any leaf tip) when you are finished piping the petals.
Avec leaves
Shaggy Mums
To make a shaggy mum flower, you need your tip 233. Start with piping the leaves around the swirl (again, not shown . . . but truth be told, it wasn’t that I was thinking of others, I had simply run out of base icing! I think people that don’t like icing are crazy, so why would I help them out by not putting TONS on my cupcakes!?) With your 233 tip, you start at the outside, and squeeze and pull away! Super easy. Work your way to the inside, by squeezing and pulling these “petals”. The messier, the better!
There they are . . . all on display! 1M swirls, shaggy mums, poinsettia, and pompom flowers! Super easy and quick cupcake decorating ideas!
**Edited to Add . . . the recipe! I forgot it!
Coconut Cream Cupcakes
(adapted from Martha Stewart)
Makes 2 dozen
3 cups cake flour (not self-rising)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3 sticks (1 1/2 cups) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 1/4 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup coconut milk
8 large egg whites
1 1/4 cups shredded sweetened coconut
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two standard 12-cup muffin pans with paper liners; set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and 2 cups sugar until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes, scraping down sides of the bowl as needed. Beat in vanilla. With mixer on low speed, add flour mixture in three parts, alternating with the milk and beginning and ending with the flour; beat until just combined. Transfer mixture to a large bowl; set aside.
- In the clean bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat egg whites on low speed until foamy. With mixer running, gradually add remaining 1/4 cup sugar; beat on high speed until stiff, glossy peaks form, about 4 minutes. Do not overbeat. Gently fold a third of the egg-white mixture into the butter-flour mixture until combined. Gently fold in remaining egg-white mixture; stir in shredded coconut.
- Divide batter evenly among the muffin cups, filling each with a heaping 1/4 cup batter. Bake, rotating pans halfway through, until the cupcakes are golden brown and a cake tester inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. Transfer pans to a wire rack. Invert cupcakes onto rack; then reinvert and let cool completely, top sides up. Frost cupcakes with seven minute frosting, swirling to cover. Cupcakes may be stored in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Garnish with fresh coconut just before serving.
Angel Food Cookies and Acquired Adult Tastes!
February 9, 2011 by
One of my favourite cakes to make is Angel Food. And my favourite bit of the cake? The super crunchy brown pieces on the top, that just barely don’t overflow onto the floor of the oven . . . where the other dead cakes lay.
As a kid, I used to hate Angel Food. Whenever my mom would make this cake, I would feel gipped out of a real cake. I always craved the super fatty cake! Can you tell I have a weight problems?! Haha. No, seriously.
Now, I crave the taste of THIS cake! I’m not sure how my taste buds have changed to love angel food . . . I guess the same way they changed to love squash, eggplant, cooked cauliflower, and cilantro.
Angel Food Confetti, with whipping cream frosting! Mmmmm! The best part about Angel Food is that it is mostly fat free! Ummm, not so sugar free . . . or fat free with the whipping cream, but I guess it’s better than a regular cake!
Somehow, someone (perhaps moi?) needs to invent a sugar free, fat free cake (with icing!) that TASTES great. Hmmm, I smell a mission! I’ll call it “spring cleaning” . . . cleaning out the sugar and the fat! I’ll be sure to post if I can figure it out.
HELP! What did I just say? Do you have any good recipes for a “healthy” cake?
Bail me out if you can, but for now, back to the post . . . Angel Food Cookies. At first, I didn’t think it would be possible to turn a runny cake mix into a cookie, but it was! All you need to take is one box of your favourite angel food batter (funfetti, hello!), add 1/2 cup of diet rootboor, mix it up and scoop it out! Super simple!
Angel Food Cookies
(adapted from Home Cook’n)
Ingredients:
1 box of angel food mix
1/2 cup of diet rootbeer (or any flavour diet pop of your choosing . . . you can even use water)
1 tsp vanilla
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 F. Mix all ingredients together well. Drop by muffin scoop on to lined cookie sheet. Bake for 6-8 minutes, or until cookies are JUST browned. *The original recipe said to make sure they didn’t turn brown, and stay white, but to me when I did this, those cookies seemed underbaked. I recommend that you let them brown just slightly. Store in an airtight container.
Too light . . .
Just right . . .
If you’re like me, you would top these babies with strawberry whipping cream! Mix together a 1:2 ratio of strawberry yogurt to whipping cream and you have a sweet topping for these cake cookies.
Next time I am going to let these cookies bake for a couple of minutes longer than I even did . . . get them nice and brown and crispy. I’m still craving the crunchy taste of the cake top that didn’t die 😉
Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Crackers
February 8, 2011 by
Looking for an easy snack that looks like you spent hours making? Look no further than this crave-satisfying treat.
Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Crackers
That’s right. Peanut butter and chocolate!
Seems to me that the PB & C combo is quite common around this blog.
That’s because it’s DELICIOUS! I might even love it so much to say that it is the best flavour combo out there! There, I said it. It is! I cannot resist this combo if it is within 10 feet of my taste buds. It’s a real talent I have! I’m like a bloodhound, sniffing out whatever a bloodhound sniffs out. Perhaps, that wasn’t the best analogy I could have chosen.
This recipe has been floating around the blog world for a couple of months, and when I was in a pinch looking to whip up a homemade snack for a party I was hosting, I remembered seeing these! I’m sure glad my notoriously horrible memory decided to kick in for this treat! The sprinkles only add to the cuteness factor here. Sprinkles are where it’s at people.
Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Crackers
(adapted from all the bloggers who have also written this recipe!)
Ingredients:
1 box of Ritz Crackers
1 package of dark chocolate chips (melted)
1 cup of smooth peanut butter.
Directions:
1. Spread a small amount of peanut butter in between two Ritz crackers. The box of crackers makes about 30 sandwiches.
2. Melt the chocolate however you please…I used the microwave on 50% power for a total of 8 minutes, one minute at a time.
3. Dip the sandwiches one at a time, and add sprinkles if desired.
4. Enjoy! Try to resist these babies . . . I dare ya!
What is your favourite, irresistible flavour combo?
How to Order
February 7, 2011 by
I have now complied a list of all of the cupcakes I will be offering! Check it out on the How to Order link! You will be drooling . . . I promise!
