The Cake Princess

Post Christmas Blues.

2012-01-13T11:09:00.000-08:00

Here is a tale of the bleak and dark side of owning an ipad.

I got an ipad for Christmas
by: marcemerrell

I was inspired by great lego-guy videos of the Fort McMurray dating scene (I've been entertaining friends with these for years) and a recent reminder from Thomas Trofimuk of the power and fun of creating these things. : )

Dear 16 year old me.

2012-01-12T06:38:00.000-08:00

It could be a thousand pieces of advice about dozens of different subjects. I'm not going to ruin the adventure of finding out, because the video is so well done that you won't feel cheated. At least I didn't.

I'm not sure what I'd tell my sixteen year old self. I know that what she'd most want to hear is that everything is going to work out, that she will be loved, and that one day she'll be far away from the bad guy. I don't know if she'd believe me.

Thanks Morgan for sharing this one on facebook.

Typeface Love for Dyslexic Readers.

2012-01-11T06:33:00.000-08:00

Of course it makes sense. I'm not sure if there's any research yet on its effectiveness, but I'd be willing to test drive this with some students I work with! I'll let you know what happens in the field!

This came to my attention via Springspotter!

Interesting ideas. Cool design. A visual playground with just the right mix of "huh!" Even their tagline is quirky smart: The essential fix of entrepreneurial ideas.

If you love books.

2012-01-10T12:51:00.000-08:00

If you love books, you'll love this video.

After a long break from the blogging life, I return because I have some things to share and some things to say. I've known for a couple of weeks that my first post back would include an embedded video. (I have been working on a few of my own, but they are not ready yet.)

As for what I have to say. Well, that meaningful work is everywhere when you decide you're going to find it. My writing life is full with a new book titled Wicked Sweet out in June. I've been working on a follow-up novel. When I think of one of my characters, Jillian, I often think of Cayley, below. They aren't the same person, in fact their lives are completely different. It's some lovely inspiration going on... (Definitely a writer's thing to say!)

WHAT'LL I DO? from cayley kathleen on Vimeo.

My family life is full. A daughter is getting married this summer. A son, next summer. Two more sons are living satisfying lives of travel and/or adventure in larger cities than this one. A fourth son is already thinking about the transition from junior high into high school.

"Do not wish away this day," I think but never say to my junior high son. Because I can understand why some of those days are the worst. Mostly because I work in many, many junior high classrooms. I see what small and large miseries a young man might want to wish away. This is one my favourite X Factor contestants whose heart was broken much later in the competition when she was voted out. The roller coaster hills are terrifying in junior high- especially when you take a risk like Drew.

I have been reading and following food bloggers over the years and I love the combination of friendliness and quirkiness. So... I guess that's what you can expect from me. My version of friendliness and quirkiness. I will have recipes for Cake. And great how-to articles on specific baking techniques and strategies. And I'll also have the ingredients of a quirky life- all delivered by a friendly voice.

I'm really loving life this year, and I'm not afraid to share it or say it.

Calling all Princesses!

2010-12-14T17:08:00.000-08:00

Princess Personality Quiz

It's a Princess Quiz!

I love quizzes. (I was one of those over-achieving princesses who seemed to shine if I studied!)

And you know how I love princesses.

You'll be asked questions like:

What you do when you see a frog. Kiss it? Eat it? Tame it?

How about when the prince wakes you up? Clock him in the head because it's 5 a.m.?

I won't ruin the fun for you. Follow the link. Have a little fun. You deserve it. You are a princess after all!

Princess Personality Quiz

Lassoed and branded: Ginger Molasses Cookies.

2010-11-30T05:44:00.000-08:00

Delight unbridled.

Throw off your cowboy spurs, your chaps and your cowboy hat, because the ride is over and the cookies are lassoed and safe behind the gate.

Yes, it's the Christmas cookie round-up time and we're starting with one of my all-time favs. These Ginger-Molasses cookies, thick and chewy with crispy edges, were popular before Starbucks started stocking them in their cookie jars. They were fab during your grandma's time when sugar and spice was everything nice and it wafted from her oven, not the opening of a bag from a grocery store or Starbucks.

I think the baked goods at Starbucks taste good. Quite good. But I'm afraid of what preservatives are in them- aren't you? I mean, at home a cookie might last for 3 or 4 days in a jar before it's gone too hard or just lost too much of its delight. I'm sure, though, that the cookies in stores and coffee shops have life-extending ingredients. And those preservatives do exactly what in your body? Okay, okay, I shouldn't wreck your casual sweet sampling when you're out and about Christmas shopping, but I'm thinking that we should bring bake the home-baked. Starting with Ginger Molasses Cookies.

I've given you lots of tips and tricks in the recipe ingredients and instructions. I know cookies are easy to bake, but they're easy to screw up, too. Good luck, cowgirl, on wrestling these cookies away from your family so you can offer them to someone else!

Ingredients

3/4 cup unsalted butter (no substitutes), room temperature- as long as your kitchen is not hot- the ideal temp is about 65 to 67 degrees farenheit, 18 degrees celsius
1 cup sugar
1 egg, room temperature!
1/4 cup molasses
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon alspice
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
Additional sugar

To Do:

I rip off a large sheet of wax paper and set it on the counter. Above it, I sift the flour, baking soda, spices and salt.
I whisk the egg into the molasses in the liquid measuring cup.
I cream the butter and the sugar on low speed, scraping twice, not mixing more than is necessary to get a nice creamy, incorporated texture. Too much mixing and you're going to have flat cookies.
I add the egg/molasses mixture into the butter and sugar and beat on low, scraping twice and not mixing more than necessary.
I add the dry ingredients from the wax paper funnel I create, and beat on low, not mixing more than is necessary.
I divide the dough into two portions. I roll each into a log shape that is about 12 inches long and 2.5 inches or so in diameter.
I refrigerate the dough while the oven preheats to 350 degrees farenheit.
Once the dough is a bit firm, but not so firm that I need to saw a knife through it to cut it, I chunk off a piece that's a little over an inch wide. If you weighed this piece, it would weigh about 2 ounces. It looks about 1.5 to 2 tablespoons of dough.
In a cereal bowl with about 1/2 cup of sugar in it, I set the dough on one side and flip it over, sanding each side with the lovely granules.
I set the dough onto the cookie sheet (ungreased, but you could line it with parchment paper), and make sure that the dough's shape is sort of circular. I usually make one test cookie to see the "spread" of the cookie. If the end result is too thin (and it will be too crispy for my liking), I put the dough back in the refrigerator for 30 minutes before I try again.
Repeat.
Leave at least 2 inches of space between drops of dough.
Bake for 10 minutes. To check, carefully lift the edge of the cookie. You're going for the lightest brown color you can find and then you'll whip them out of the oven and leave them on the cookie sheet to cool. (This will ensure that crispy edge, chewy center sort of cookie!)

The Crème Brulee Secrets

2010-11-22T12:06:00.000-08:00

Linda facing down the Brulee with her torch!

Crème Brulee is a simple concept with complex execution techniques. (Do not fear the torch!)

This cold custard with a caramelized sugar topping crackles when spooned and crunches in the mouth, then dissolves quickly, lighting your tastebuds with sugar fireworks.

In Paris, (did I mention I was in Paris this summer- at a cooking class? : ) ), we met up with Briony (right) to learn some classic french desserts.

Briony with Linda.

The creme puffs we made were divine, but the creme brulee took my breath away with the soft cool custard bottom and the caramelized sugar on top. I was worried about the torch, but quickly got used to the power. It is on my Christmas List as an item that will probably be used three or four times a year but totally worth it. (Unlike some of the small appliances that collect dust in my cupboard!)

Briony taught us several secrets to diving Creme Brulee that I'll share with you:
1. Make sure the custard is cold before torching the top. (Because we were there for only several hours she put the custard in the freezer for an hour or so.)
2. Choose a low, wide serving dish as opposed to a ramekin-style dish. Surface area is important in the torching process.
3. When torching, concentrate on one outside edge area until it begins to sizzle and then move on, working your way around the edge. Once the edges are nearly done, wave the torch back and forth over the whole surface area. Too much torching is preferable to too little.
4. BE VERY CAREFUL moving your torched dishes. They're HOT.
5. Do not use the silly torches that home stores sell. They don't hold enough fuel for more than a couple of desserts, they are weak in performance and, really, when you get down to it, they're for sissies. You're not a sissy, are you?
6. The best place to buy a torch is at the hardware store. They're used to women coming in to ask and they get a kick out of it. Try it. You'll have fun. Guaranteed.

Shirley: I don't think it could taste any better than this!

Here is the Recipe from Briony:
Ingredients:

6 egg yolks
2 cups heavy cream
4 ounces sugar (1/2 cup sugar)
1 vanilla bean
2 ounces of sugar for caramelizing (1/4 cup sugar)

How To:

Put cream and vanilla bean (cut in half) into a saucepan, and bring to a boil. (just to a boil, not boiling all over the place!)
Beat the egg yolks with the sugar.
Temper the cream into the egg-sugar mixture. (this means add about 1/2 cup of hot cream mix to the eggs to warm the eggs up so that when you pour all the rest of the cream in, you won't end up with scrambled egg bits.)
Now, pour the rest of the cream into the egg mixture and stir gently but firmly- you don't want to add air, just mix it. (If you think you've got little egg floaties, you can strain this through a cheesecloth)
Portion the mixture between your cream brulee dishes and bake them in a water bath at 325 degrees in a conventional oven. 300 in a convection oven for about 40 minutes. (CHECK REGULARLY!)
The cream should be barely set in the middle.
Remove from the oven and transfer.
For the Torching: sprinkle on the sugar and torch- the torch should be about 6 inches away from the dish to start with although we went quite close in to finish off the middle...

Success can be Chocolate Ganache Ice Cream.

2010-11-17T10:26:00.000-08:00

Written by Sir Winston Churchill, a man of success and failure

I've been ruminating on success.

Yes, I know it's a deep subject for a Wednesday morning when the snow is plunging past my window as if the high altitude plumber pulled the plug.

More specifically these parts of success: how it feels, who determines it, and what happens when it is public. I came upon this topic while browsing through food pictures I'd taken in the past few months with the intent to blog about my culinary delights. I found the Chocolate Ganache Ice Cream photos I've posted here from a Tuesdays with Dorie Challenge that I completed but didn't share; I smiled at the irony that I chose a martini glass with the definition for success etched into the side. I wondered if I really felt successful, why didn't I blog about it. Was it necessary to share?

I have had some success in my life and I think that I am mostly a positive person because I focus on the successes instead of the rejections and failures (oh, I've had many of those, too.) Success, for me, is about feeling satisfied that I did my best and I saw in some small or large measure that my efforts helped me to achieve my objective. Success is about reasonable expectations, I think. If I've never baked a particular cake and the directions seem complicated my grand expectation is to make a perfect cake, but I also set a lower goal of producing an edible cake. If I achieve even an edible cake, then, I feel successful. A sense of pride surges through me, a desire to try it again some time, a willingness to offer up what I've learned in the process.

One scoop of chocolate love for pain relief.

I have also been the victim of rejection and failures that at times have felt overwhelming. Sometimes the circumstances have been beyond my understanding (I just didn't account for all the variables that might impede my success.) Sometimes my way of learning or my abilities just didn't match the skill set required. I have had to fight the questioning of my overall worth because of a failure. That's when life sucks. That's when you want not only a mound of this ganache ice cream. but the chocolate chip cookies, warm from the oven (or the cast iron skillet), to add to the emergency pain-relieving comfort dessert.

Now onto the question of sharing success; when do you tell others about the great things you're doing? I think when you are ready for any reaction, because just as likely as you are to get congratulations, you will also get some ho-hum responses. I've observed that some people are nervous about the success that others achieve– as if the Halloween candy bowl is nearly empty and all the miniature candy bar companies all over the world have ceased production. I avoid happiness-suckers when I can spot them; but it's not always easy to do. And when encountering one of these zombies-in-disguise I take a deep breath and find a way to talk about them before exiting the conversation.

That's all I have to say about success today. You? Had any successes lately?

In process. It's always a bit messy like this...

And here's the recipe for the delicious, successful, satisfying, soul amending Chocolate Ganache Ice Cream:

6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 1/2 cups heavy cream, split in half.
1 cup whole milk (skim makes a disappointing difference)
4 large egg yolks
1/3 cup sugar

The chocolate needs to have a resting spot in a large measuring cup- 1 litre or a large heatproof bowl.
Bring 3/4 cup of the cream to a boil. Pour the cream over the chocolate and let it sit a minute, then, using a spatula and smooth, firm pressure (so as not to add air bubbles), stir the cream into the chocolate, observing how the chunks break apart, turn into globs and finally, into a lovely lake of chocolate love. Set it aside.
Bring the milk and the remaining 3/4 cup of cream to a boil.
Multi-tasking, you'll whisk yolks and sugar together until well blended and just slightly thickened.(medium bowl required)
Still whisking, drizzle in about 1/3 of the boiling cream/milk mixture. (This is to temper the eggs so they won't curdle) Whisk away and pour in the remaining milk mixture.
Pour the custard back into the saucepan and cook over medium heat, never stopping the stirring, until the custard is thick. (Use this well known trick: run your finger over the back of the spoon that you've lifted from the custard. If the custard does not run, or weep, back into the track, you are at the right thickness. The thermometer reading for this is between 170 and 180 degrees.
Refrigerate the custard until chilled before churning it into ice cream. Follow your ice cream maker's directions from here.

- From Baking, From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan.

Baking Again!

2010-11-16T09:17:00.000-08:00

Cream Puffs in Paris!

Sorry to mislead you. I'm not actually baking again.
Truthfully?
I never stopped. I am still baking!

I am here, though, ready to fill you in on my baking exploits. At first I thought I better start where I left off; in general, chronological thinking is a part of my personality. And THEN, I remembered I once had a friend, who, when he started to tell a story had to start at the very beginning and could never leave a part out, no matter how long the story took or how many signals that suggested the audience was bored. I could not do that to you. I care too much.

So...a highlight.

One day I was in France. Yes, France. The one in Europe. Not the one in Idaho; that one is on route 32, past Drummond, just south of Squirrel. Honest.

In the France in Europe where I was...I went to a baking school. (In Paris!) And I made some amazing baked things, but most importantly I learned some clever tricks and techniques.

Here is one. The Pate a Choux (we know it as Cream Puffs)

If you have not tried to make a cream puff, you do not need to be afraid. Tell your inner child that you, the adult, can take over and make a successful cream puff. The first step in any arduous undertaking is the crystallization of self-confidence. It starts with facing down the fear you've carried around for far too long. You've met your inner child haven't you? She's the one who burned the cakes in the easy bake oven, the one who forgot the sugar, baking soda, baking powder or eggs and the recipe tasted like ca-ca. Oh, if you were 22 when your last baking disaster happened, you can still call her that inner child.

Is the one at the bottom a metaphor for your inner child? Slightly wonky?

It's the stirring that matters the most. At least in Pate a Choux. The French, they have the strong cheese and the strong arms from stirring the dough to make the cream puffs. You'll have sore forearms if you don't use your whole arm, because you have to stir the dough so much and it gets more difficult the longer you stir. But I believe in you. I did it. So can you.

Oui, ces't moi. C'est difficile.

I'll add the recipe we created at the bottom. And here is a youtube video that, while the pastry is very french, the music is bopping, friendly, but definitely not in French. It's fun, though, and it does show the process very accurately. It should assist you in your cream puff attempt.

PATE A CHOUX

Ingredients
---
1 pint (2 cups) water
6 oz unsalted butter (room temp)
1/2 teaspoon salt
---
10 oz all purpose flour
---
10 large eggs (room temp)

Procedure

Combine water, butter and salt in a large pan over medium heat, bring to a boil and make
sure butter is fully melted
Off the heat add all the flour and stir until smooth and no longer sticks to the sides of the
pan.
Keep stirring until cool enough to touch, then incorporate the eggs, two at a time.
Sometimes, depending on the size of the eggs you need only 9 eggs.

Transfer the mixture in a piping bag fitted with a 1/2 inch round tip and pipe 1 inch half-
spheres on a parchment lined cookie sheet.

Bake at 425F for about 10 minutes or until well risen, then lower the temperature to 350F
until well colored and dry.

Tuesdays with Dorie. White Chocolate Raspberry Brownie Dreams.

2010-06-02T06:17:00.000-07:00

Two things first off:

1. I know it's Wednesday.
2. And Dorie didn't call them brownie dreams. I did. I dreamed about them last night, baking aromatherapy.

I awoke to disappointment. The two inch band of baked brownies around the edges of the 9 X 13 pan was delectable. The rest, though, was a white muddy mess. It was undercooked.

I cut out enough brownie for the photos and I considered my options to either salvage what I could and throw the rest out or try to bake it some more and see if that might help. I opted for the latter and 20 minutes at 325 degrees has firmed them up– slightly.

I think I know my mistake. I ground my own almonds, perhaps not finely enough.

Interestingly, since the brownie cake disaster is cooked enough now not to worry about raw eggs, I ate a few spoons full from the pan's centre. Oh...the way it dances on my tongue is amazing. That white chocolate, orange zest, vanilla, almond, raspberry tango is tantalizing. Topped by a slight candy crunch of meringue? Modern dance meets the Tango. Honestly, I bet the bakers who successfully completed this challenge have finished an entire pan by themselves.

I may cover the pan and leave it in the fridge and when my guests arrive tonight, warm it again and drop it over ice cream. It's sort of like cookie dough ice cream for grown-ups and people who don't mind a fool now and then.

Here's to the baking fools among us! Thanks to Marthe of Culinary Delights who selected White Chocolate Brownies

Daring Bakers: Croquembouche.

2010-05-27T19:53:00.000-07:00

Croquembouche. When I say the name I purse my lips together attempting my most french face. I want to have on big sunglasses and a scarf waving from my neck and beautiful Audrey Hepburn pants. I photoshop out the long cigarette. I don't know why I think of this image when I think of French women, but I do.

I've been loving and hating caramel since I first made it about a year ago. I love it because I love the sugary taste. I hate it because I'm always afraid it's not going to work– when l cook it too long it ends up like concrete. With the advice on the Daring Bakers forum, though, I realized a simple solution to concrete caramel. I just need to put it back on the heat for a few seconds to warm up the caramel and it becomes liquid again. Ok. Stop laughing. I know it seems intuitive. But when you think concrete is what you're going to end up with, that's usually what you end up with– until you learn differently.

What I love most about baking challenges is that they stretch my perceptions of what is difficult, like wearing glasses not only makes you look smarter but also makes you see things more clearly.

On to the dessert:
The May 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Cat of Little Miss Cupcake. Cat challenged everyone to make a piece montée, or croquembouche, based on recipes from Peter Kump’s Baking School in Manhattan and Nick Malgieri.

The choux pastry is definitely one of the easiest parts of the challenge! As long as you have a strong stirring arm and some comfort with plastic decorator bags this is a fait de compli.

The pastry cream is perhaps my favourite part of this lovely dessert. One particular ingredient tingles my tastebuds, the Dulce De Leche. I made it myself. Super easy! Technique: one can of condensed milk poured into a pie pan, sprinkled with a little sea salt, and covered with aluminum foil. Place the pie pan in a larger pan (I used a roasting pan) and fill halfway to the middle of the pie pan with hot water. Place in the oven at 425. Cook for 1 1/2 hours, adding more water every 30 minutes. Let it cool and do whatever you can not to eat all of it before it's even cool! (Thank you to David Lebovitz' blog for this great recipe.)

As for the pastry cream recipe with Dulce De Leche, I followed it precisely, adding 1 cup (ok, a little less because I spread some on my morning toast!) of it to the cream before chiling it.

The Caramel is probably the easiest part of the whole process, unless you're full of fear.

The following link helped me in making this dessert: http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/marthas-famous-croquembouche

If you'd like the recipe. Click on the link!

Pate a Choux (Yield: About 28)
¾ cup (175 ml.) water
6 Tbsp. (85 g.) unsalted butter
¼ Tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 cup (125 g.) all-purpose flour
4 large eggs
For Egg Wash: 1 egg and pinch of salt
Pre-heat oven to 425◦F/220◦C degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Preparing batter:
Combine water, butter, salt and sugar in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil and stir occasionally. At boil, remove from heat and sift in the flour, stirring to combine completely.
Return to heat and cook, stirring constantly until the batter dries slightly and begins to pull away from the sides of the pan.

Transfer to a bowl and stir with a wooden spoon 1 minute to cool slightly.
Add 1 egg. The batter will appear loose and shiny.

As you stir, the batter will become dry-looking like lightly buttered mashed potatoes.

It is at this point that you will add in the next egg. Repeat until you have incorporated all the eggs.
Piping:
Transfer batter to a pastry bag fitted with a large open tip (I piped directly from the bag opening without a tip). Pipe choux about 1 inch-part in the baking sheets. Choux should be about 1 inch high about 1 inch wide.
Using a clean finger dipped in hot water, gently press down on any tips that have formed on the top of choux when piping. You want them to retain their ball shape, but be smoothly curved on top.

Brush tops with egg wash (1 egg lightly beaten with pinch of salt).
Baking:
Bake the choux at 425◦F/220◦C degrees until well-puffed and turning lightly golden in color, about 10 minutes.
Lower the temperature to 350◦F/180◦C degrees and continue baking until well-colored and dry, about 20 minutes more. Remove to a rack and cool.

Vanilla Crème Patissiere
1 cup (225 ml.) whole milk
2 Tbsp. cornstarch
6 Tbsp. (100 g.) sugar
1 large egg
2 large egg yolks
2 Tbsp. (30 g.) unsalted butter
1 Tsp. Vanilla
Dissolve cornstarch in ¼ cup of milk. Combine the remaining milk with the sugar in a saucepan; bring to boil; remove from heat.
Beat the whole egg, then the yolks into the cornstarch mixture. Pour 1/3 of boiling milk into the egg mixture, whisking constantly so that the eggs do not begin to cook.
Return the remaining milk to boil. Pour in the hot egg mixture in a stream, continuing whisking.
Continue whisking (this is important – you do not want the eggs to solidify/cook) until the cream thickens and comes to a boil. Remove from heat and beat in the butter and vanilla.

Pour cream into a stainless steel/ceramic bowl. Press plastic wrap firmly against the surface. Chill immediately and until ready to use.

Hard Caramel Glaze:
1 cup (225 g.) sugar
½ teaspoon lemon juice

Combine sugar and lemon juice in a saucepan with a metal kitchen spoon stirring until the sugar resembles wet sand. Place on medium heat; heat without stirring until sugar starts to melt around the sides of the pan and the center begins to smoke. Begin to stir sugar. Continue heating, stirring occasionally until the sugar is a clear, amber color. Remove from heat immediately; place bottom of pan in ice water to stop the cooking. Use immediately.
Assembly of your Piece Montée:
You may want to lay out your unfilled, unglazed choux in a practice design to get a feel for how to assemble the final dessert. For example, if making a conical shape, trace a circle (no bigger than 8 inches) on a piece of parchment to use as a pattern. Then take some of the larger choux and assemble them in the circle for the bottom layer. Practice seeing which pieces fit together best.
Once you are ready to assemble your piece montée, dip the top of each choux in your glaze (careful it may be still hot!), and start assembling on your cake board/plate/sheet. Continue dipping and adding choux in levels using the glaze to hold them together as you build up.

Tuesdays With Dorie. Banana Ice Cream Pie- An Inspirational Day!

2010-05-25T21:06:00.000-07:00

Sometimes a recipe is complete. From the moment you see the picture or you read the ingredients you decide, I want to make THAT. But sometimes a chef's ideas spark a sense of adventure. This recipe called for chocolate ice cream, a banana/rum/lemon infusion and a coconut/shortbread crust. My interpretation: Vanilla ice cream, a banana/rum/lemon/cinnamon and dulce de leche infusion with a coconut/graham crust.

Dorie's cookbook encourages substitutions by suggesting different ways a recipe could be interpreted. Much like a singer's decision to reinterpret a song in a new way. It's all you. The American Idol judges tell the contestants, and they've told Crystal and Lee from the start, great things happen when you are true to yourself. (Woah, did you see Crystal tonight? She was amazing. Her final song, Up to the Mountain was nothing short of magnificent. I love Lee's story of humble beginnings and his undisguised vulnerability, but if this is a singing competition, the winner is the woman.)

Now back to the baking! In the spirit of reinvention and discovery of my inner baking DIVA, I challenged myself to find a way to play with this recipe because honestly, I don't much like chocolate and bananas together. I made the dulce de leche myself– I'll have the complete instructions on how to do that on Thursday, May 27– and I feel a swell of pride. Thanks Dorie. And the Tuesdays with Dorie gang of people who make this such a fun challenge each week.

Thanks to Spike. Spike of spike.bakes selected Banana Coconut Ice Cream Pie.

Mango Loveliness, Upside-Down, with a bit of Spice Cake

2010-05-23T06:13:00.000-07:00

Sublime in texture and taste, the mango lofts among peasants and royalty alike. I wasn't sure about mangoes for many years, their texture and taste varied each time I tasted them. One time it would be unreal in taste and flavour and the next, it would taste like soap and smell musky.

It wasn't until I went to Southeast Asia that I learned to love mangoes.

Here a roadside seller outside the temples in Siem Reap, Cambodia, peels a mango for me. Sadly, like coffee bean farmers, mango farmers are exploited and the price they are paid is very low. How else could we buy .65 cent mangoes imported from Mexico? Interestingly, fair trade programs are being set up to help mango farmers although my research indicates the process is in the beginning stages.

The problem must be that the mango is as plentiful in tropical countries as apples are in North America. Approximately 50% of all tropical fruits produced worldwide are mangoes. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations estimates worldwide production of mangoes at more than 23 million tons in 2001.

When we buy them in our grocery stores they are green and red, yet, in their native lands the skin that is growing towards the sun is red, the opposite side is shaded yellow/orange. The flavour of the imported mango, though often good, is merely a cheap cologne version of the perfumed mango eaten from off the tree.

If you've been to a tropical country or some Thai restaurants : ), you may have eaten green mangoes, sliced, and served with chilis and salt. They are a particular treat that reminds me of the unripe green apples we used to steal from our neighbor's tree in mid-summer.

Here, Ra from Kompong Cham, Cambodia, eats a green mango.

My lovely ramekin cakes with sliced mango nestled in tiny coconut oil, lime zest and sugar pools and topped with a light five-spiced cake would never be created by most Cambodians. They don't have ovens. Their desserts are variations of white rice mixed with palm sugar and, sometimes, coconut.

The recipe for my cakes calls for cocount oil which I found at the health food store. It is a solid at room temperature so some recipes call to heat it up and others to keep it at a spreadable consistency. I was a little afraid of coconut oil, thinking that it was unhealthy. Despite some research I don't know if it's healthy or if it's being marketed as healthy. I've decided that based on the staggeringly delicious taste, it doesn't matter.

If you'd like to give the Mango Loveliness a try, click on the link under the picture. The recipe was originally printed in New Vegetarian by Robin Asbell.
Little Mango Upside-Down Cakes
makes 5 cakes.

Ingredients:

3 Tablespoons Coconut Oil, 2 of these must be softened.
3 Tablspoons plus 1/2 cup of raw sugar
1 teaspoon Lime zest
2 medium Mangoes
3/4 cup unbleached flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspon Chinese Five-Spice powder
1/2 cup Coconut milk
1 Tablespoon Lime Juice

To Do:

Preheat oven to 350.
Use 1 teaspoon of the unsoftened coconut oil to coat the bottoms and sides of five 8-ounce ramekins. Mix another 2 teaspoons of unsoftened coconut oil with the 3 Tablepoons of sugar and the lime zest and divide the mixture among the ramekins, creating little pools for the mangoes to simmer in...
Peel the mangoes, then slice the flesh from the pit. (I usually do this in two big pieces and two skinny pieces around the pit. It's often messy.) Slice your pieces into 1/4 inch-thick wedges that create a fan because you won't be slicing all the way to the bottom. Fan the mango pieces in each ramekin. I sort of had to jam in some mango wedges into one or two of my ramekins.
In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt and five-spice powder. In a stand mixer, beat the 2 tablespoons coconut oil and raw sugar until fluffy. Beat in the coconut milk and lime juice, then add the dry ingredients and beat to blend. Spoon the batter over the prepared ramekins, spreading it to the edges.
Bake until the cake tests done, 25 to 30 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes. Run a knife around the edges of the cakes to loosen. Place a small plate over each cup and carefully flip the cake onto the plate. Pull the ramekin off and scrape out any leftover fruit that may have stuck to the bottom. Serve warm or cold. Feel the loveliness dance on your tongue.

Tuesdays With Dorie. Apple Apple Bread Pudding.

2010-05-18T15:11:00.000-07:00

It is the custard that makes me swoon– not the heat, not the roasted rhubarb or the carmelized apples or the Saigon cinnamon or, even, the real vanilla bean that was roasted alongside the rhubarb first and then steeped in the milk and cream mixture like a fine tea.

It's the lovely "spread" of the custard that makes me fall in love, again and again, with the bread pudding I've made in honour of and in response to Tuesdays with Dorie.

If you don't know of Dorie and her amazing cookbooks, I'll give you the top three reasons I love her: 1. She's worked with amazing cooks like Pierre Herme and Julia Child 2. She lives in Paris, France and she hardly ever gloats about this fact. Humility in a baker is important in my mind and 3. Her cookbook really is amazing. I've yet to make a recipe that failed miserably. (any failures have been in my penchant to switch things up slightly.)

If I didn't already have a huge cooking-crush on Nigella Lawson, I would have one on Dorie Greenspan. And my crushes do not come easily. Part respect, part cool vibe and whole lot of inuition factor into my crush decisions.

The first crush I remember in high school was over a boy named Brad. He was nice to everyone it seemed, even me, though I was in a grade younger. He also sang and danced in the same group I was in, but he didn't look like a dork when he was doing it and he didn't seem embarassed either. One time he told the girl that he was paired up to dance with that she had such soft hands. I slathered my hands in lotion for weeks, but they remained sort of clammy and my dance partner never seemed to notice. I maybe said four complete sentences to Brad that whole year before he graduated, but I still wonder if he went on to marry someone nice with soft hands and live happily ever after. I hope so. If I knew him today, I'd take a pan of this lovely bread pudding over to his family. They're probably as nice as he is!

The people I crush on are genuine and they have a passion that cannot be surpressed. They stay focused despite the distractions of so many things.

Who do you crush on and why?

What would you bake them if you could?

Sweet Kisses and Hugs Cream Biscuits: Tuesdays with Dorie

2010-04-20T19:35:00.000-07:00

It's one of those sweet days, you know the kind, when the sky invites you outside, and the day unfolds instead of rushes by, and you think more about fun than work.

Those are the creative days. Why?

My guess is that because I'm slowing down with fewer things to do, I am more open to ideas. It also helps to get a good night's sleep. And take Vitamin D. Voila.

I think the day someone decided to use heavy cream instead of butter and milk to make biscuits must have been creative baking nirvana. Really! No cutting of the butter into the flour? I wasn't sure it would work. I come from a part of the world where biscuits are important. Like oxygen. You put sausage gravy on them, or honey, or jam, or butter, or just eat them plain. Biscuits make a life a whole lot better. Like oxygen. That's my belief. But they're kind of a pain to make. Only not these. NOT THESE.

You combine flour, baking powder, a little sugar and a little salt and you add heavy cream. Knead very lightly, cut out, bake. That's it! It's like my physics professor just told me the easy formula for completing the hardest problems. That's all I have to do??

And of course once I got those biscuits done, I couldn't just eat them. It was a creative day. So I added strawberries and a little vanilla ice cream with real vanilla!

Oh, if you could have been here to taste them you would have hugged me and kissed me.

I have Melissa of Love At First Bite to thank for choosing Sweet Cream Biscuits on page 23 from Dorie Greenspan's Baking book.

Simple and Delish Swedish Cake: Tuesdays with Dorie.

2010-04-13T13:41:00.000-07:00

Hello Friends!

We are back to baking. This time it's another challenge that has motivated me to walk away from my computer and whisk and spoon cake batter into a pan.

As you'll recall at the end of March I dedicated close to seven hours to create the Orange Tian. Last night's marvel mixed up in one bowl in less than, I'm not joking, five minutes. And it was delicious.

Soft in the middle with vanilla and almond scents, it was as comfortable as a handknit scarf. Love and kindness should really be the name of this cake. It isn't fussy like a bold and brassy cake and it showcases a simple kindness like holding open the door for someone or buying the coffee of the guy behind you in the Starbucks line.

Those simple kinds of kindness are what make a day pleasant. Lovely to be on the receiving end, but the doing part is what makes your brain expand.

So...if you know someone who could use a small boost in life, this cake is the way to go. Try it, you'll see. And if you share it, you'll get to taste it, too. Delish.

Thank you to Nancy of The Dogs Eat the Crumbs who selected Swedish Visiting Cake on page 197.

Daring Bakers: Orange Tian.

2010-03-27T05:27:00.000-07:00

Brain Growth, Baking and Love.

Learning something new creates pathways of neurons in your brain in patterns that didn't previously exist. Whole new maps grid your grey matter, giving you more. I think falling for someone does the same thing.

The 2010 March Daring Baker’s challenge was hosted by Jennifer of Chocolate Shavings. She chose Orange Tian as the challenge for this month, a dessert based on a recipe from Alain Ducasse’s Cooking School in Paris.

On Baking.
This month's challenge had me trying things I'd never tried. First, making orange marmalade. Second, a pastry crust that was not difficult, but I'm still not sure I've mastered it. Third, segmenting oranges (this is one thing I'll do over and over. Easy Peasy.) Fourth, a caramel sauce from heated sugar and orange juice- only.

I love that it was a french dessert because I am going to France this summer. I can compare my version to the local pastry. I loved the taste at the end, too: not too sweet, lots of fresh orange tartness and that caramel- oh. It was like pastry-gasm in my mouth.

Thank you Daring Bakers for the neural pathways!

On Love.

Have you ever noticed when you're with someone (girl or guy) and the connection is vibrant, you feel smarter, better looking, and more capable? You feel like you are more; more electrons and neutrons, more brain cells, more hormones (if it's that sort of attraction!)

It's a gift to be a human at those times, to transcend your experience as your everyday person to a whole new level of existence where confidence and love rule you instead of indecision and doubt. And, this is what I think: it's important to have those connections, because the neural pathways that are created at that point in time will remain. And your brain will understand the map of love.

And that map is something you can always follow when you're not at your happiest. That map can lead you to a memory of laughter and vibrancy and technicolour.

It's pleasant. Pleasant is good.

If you've got your mind set on making an Orange Tian and you'd like some tips, I'd be happy to exchange them via e-mail.

Irish Princess Cupcakes.

2010-03-17T15:01:00.000-07:00

It was a lovely Irish Day! Guinness (cupcakes) for breakfast and dessert, and some fun delivering of cupcakes. I decided to gift to two people: Michaela (lives in Pennsylvania) asked me to deliver cupcakes for her mother whose birthday is tomorrow and Keighlagh Donovan. She was kind enough to let me take her photo as the true Irish Princess for the Day. (Scroll down to see her smiling face!)

My Irish roots warrant a short story. This is the one day of the year, without fail, that my mother was happy from the morning until bedtime. My mother's mother was born in Ireland and my mother loved that she had a heritage to celebrate. She made corned beef and cabbage for dinner, she wore green and she talked about what it meant to be Irish.

Most of her stories involved poverty, being Catholic and having lots of kids; my mother was the oldest of 10 from a Catholic family! She lived the Irish life she spoke of, but she also held it in high esteem. She loved her brothers and sisters and the stories of poverty were told with humour- at least that's how I remembered them.

So today, continuing in my mother's tradition, I had a pleasant day from beginning until now, the very end of my day. I have attached the Guinness recipe. Everyone who has tasted them loves them. I highly recommend them!

Guinness Cupcakes

1 cup stout
1 cup unsalted butter
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
2/3 cup sour cream

Ganache Filling

8 ounces bittersweet chocolate
2/3 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons butter, room temperature
1 to 2 teaspoons Irish whiskey (optional)

Baileys Frosting

4 cups powdered sugar
8 oz. package of cream cheese
1/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 to 4 tablespoons Baileys (or milk)

To Make Cupcakes:

Preheat oven to 350°F.
Bring 1 cup stout and 1 cup butter to simmer in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add cocoa powder and whisk until mixture is smooth. Cool slightly.
Whisk flour, sugar, baking soda, and 3/4 teaspoon salt in large bowl to blend.
Using electric mixer, beat eggs and sour cream in another large bowl to blend.
Add stout-chocolate mixture to egg mixture and beat just to combine.
Add flour mixture and beat briefly on slow speed. Using rubber spatula, fold batter until completely combined.
Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full. Bake cake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, 16 minutes. Cool cupcakes on a rack.

Make the filling:

Chop the chocolate and transfer it to a heatproof bowl.
Heat the cream until it simmers and pour it over the chocolate.
Let it sit for one minute and then stir until smooth. (If not melted, try 20 seconds in the microwave. Do not overcook!) Add the butter and whiskey and stir until combined.

Fill the cupcakes:

Let the ganache cool until thick but still soft enough to be piped. Wait too long and you'll have ganache logs!
Using a small serrated knife, cut the centers out of the cooled cupcakes.
You want to go most of the way down the cupcake but not cut through the bottom — aim for 2/3 of the way.
Put the ganache into a piping bag and fill the holes in each cupcake to the top.

Make the frosting:

Whip the butter and cream cheese in the bowl of an electric mixer for several minutes.
Slowly add the powdered sugar, a few tablespoons at a time.
When the frosting looks thick enough to spread, add the Baileys (or milk) and whip it until combined.

Tuesdays with Dorie. Soft Chocolate Raspberry Tart.

2010-03-16T20:19:00.000-07:00

Woah Nellie! I am on a chocolate high. I don't think I'm even going to sleep tonight! Not only did I manage to complete my Tuesdays with Dorie challenge of crafting a tart filled with fresh raspberries and oozing chocolate that can only be describe as a molten pool of love, I've baked the cupcakes for tomorrow's St. Patrick's Day giveaway.

The cupcakes are not finished, of course, because we have four more steps: make filling, fill cupcakes, make frosting, frost cupcakes. I say "we" as if I have helpers, perhaps some invisible leprechauns that I'm inventing since I've finished off all the Guinness.

Back to the dessert of the evening: Dorie's Soft Chocolate Raspberry Tart. I can thank Rachelle of Mommy? I’m Hungry! for choosing the Soft Chocolate and Raspberry Tart on page 354. It had several steps. The hardest for me was the tart shell. I haven't had much luck with pie crusts and the like, but I figure it's called a challenge for a reason. I cooked the tart crust too long and I think too close to the bottom of the oven. Parts of it were nearly black. It still tasted good, though. The molten pool of love was easy enough. And the raspberries? You just toss them into the cooked tart crust.

So...I think I'm still a better cake baker than a pie/tart maker and I have to say, I still love the cake better. Which is great news for the St. Patrick's Day recipients! I make great cupcakes with no burned edges.

I'll reveal the winners tomorrow and the finished Chocolate Stout Cupcakes. Oh...the kitchen smells heavenly. Beer. Chocolate. Raspberries. Maybe you have to be here to fully appreciate the goodness.

Testing and Development: Day 2

2010-03-16T06:58:00.000-07:00

Heads UP! Tomorrow is a give-away day. Seeing how it's St. Patrick's Day and I'm of Irish descent, I couldn't pass up an opportunity to experiment with my Guinness cupcakes.

I've made these before and they were marvelous! This time, though, chocolate stout cupcakes will be filled with a mint chocolate ganache and topped with a Bailey's infused cream cheese frosting.

If you're interested in tasting them (you'll get at least 6 of them) or donating the taste test to a friend living in Edmonton, comment at the end of this blog and you're in the running. Please leave your e-mail address so I can contact you. Last weekend's winner, author Wayne Arthurson and family enjoyed English Tea cupcakes topped with a homemade lemon curd buttercream.

It's a busy baking week here. You can look forward to a post this evening about a lovely soft raspberry chocolate tart.

In defense of my baking compulsion, I can say that baking reduces my stress. Often when I bake, new thoughts come to me that resolve old and new problems.

Free Cupcakes. Testing and Development: Day 1.

2010-03-13T10:41:00.000-08:00

Want some Cake? Leave a comment at the end of this blog with your e-mail address!
(Oh, you've got to live in Edmonton to be a winner! Or, you can regift to someone you know who lives in Edmonton.)

I, The Cake Princess, am in the testing and development phase of cupcake and cake recipes. That means, you, the reader may benefit from my delicious creations over the next few months.

Today's creation is an English Tea flavoured Cake with lemon undertones, topped with a homemade lemon-curd infused buttercream and garnished with golden crystallized ginger.

I'll be posting the recipe for this lovely creation at a later time, but TODAY, Saturday, March 13, if you'd like to be the lucky recipient of six delectable cupcakes (I had to taste-test the first one). I can deliver it to you this afternoon.

What do you need to do? Post a comment at the end of this blog post and make sure that your e-mail address in included. Randomness will choose the winner of today's cupcakes. I'll contact the winner via e-mail and, voila, we'll arrange the delivery of gorgeous, gorgeous baking.

I've got some other ideas for giving away cakes as I test further, but today it is simple. If you live outside of Edmonton and you'd like to regift, I'll add a note that it's from you and deliver it to your chosen friend. We just need to make sure your friend is going to be home this afternoon. I don't want to encourage wild animals on porches!

Tuesdays with Dorie. Thumbprint Cookies.

2010-03-10T05:14:00.000-08:00

Oh, friends I took one look at the choice for Tuesday and thought, "I'm not making a Christmas cookie in March."

Honestly, doesn't everyone know that jam-filled cookies are a once-a-year taste? Apparently not Mike of Ugly Food Dude who selected Thumbprints For Us Big Guys from Dorie's great cookbook, Baking.

And now that I'm bitching about baking cookies that I should not have baked, let me tell you about something else that is pissing me off. I am tired of being nice to people in positions of authority simply because the consequences of expressing myself honestly might not get me what I want.

Maybe you've experienced something like this: you need an important document at office A (an official transcript or a copy of something you've signed) sent to office B. Office A people tell you that it will take four weeks for it to arrive. This seems unreasonable to you because both office A and office B are in the same city. You offer to take the document yourself. No can do; you might tamper with it. You offer to pay a courier to do it for you. Also not part of the policy. You want to express that this is crazy, that there must be some way to meet your needs.

Each time you attempt to nicely explain why, under these circumstances, the policy ought to be shoved, uh, placed, aside, the woman with the lipstick that's mostly stuck to the rim of her coffee cup becomes more determined to make you sweat.

She points to a sign on the wall near the reception desk that reads, "Customers who talk abusively to staff will not be tolerated."

You, if you're me, give up. You say, "Okay, if it gets there in four weeks, I guess it does. If that means I have to spend $500 again, I guess that's what happens." You are ready to walk out of the office, your head dripping in shame. You have been beaten.

"Well," the faded-lipstick lady whispers. "Maybe I can get this over there for you next week."

You realize that the lady wanted to win. And now that she has won, you have also won.

So, Mike, from Ugly Food Dude, you won. The cookies taste great. It's not snowing outside and I don't hear jingle bells, but I still love them. The cookie is ground almonds, sugar, butter and flour and my filling- red and yellow raspberry jelly, homemade, a gift from a friend.

Thanks Mike. You wore me down!

Tuesdays with Dorie. Honey Wheat Cookies.

2010-02-23T19:11:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Michelle of Flourchild who decided on Honey-Wheat Cookies, page 81, in Tuesdays with Dorie. No recipe today because the Dorie people like to ask bakers to buy the cookbook. I guarantee it's in your library if you don't want to part with the $.

So baking friends, these cookies are a kind of strange granola-loving but tasty enough to want to eat a dozen of them. That's good for you deliciousness.

Also a perfect antidote to illness, which I am experiencing. It's not the sort of illness that's got physical symptoms, though. I'd say it might be a spiritual malaise but then you might think I'm religious and I'm not. I was once, but I'm not now.

Actually, I think my sick feeling is about goodness.

Rambling, I know, but if you'll stick with me for a few paragraphs, I'll try to explain.

I know in my heart that doing good things and being kind to other human beings is its own reward. I just have to wonder if it's so rewarding, why are so many people jerks? Honestly, there are a whole lot of rude, obnoxious, downright mean people in the world. I meet some everyday, don't you?

I bet if goodness were a game where you could win the gold, silver or bronze, more people would aspire to it. Clearly the message that some churches want us to believe- that goodness gets us to heaven- is not a motivating factor for many among us. In schools they sometimes hand out stickers for being good or tickets for draw prizes for pizza. I guess some kids are motivated by pepperoni and cheese to be good, but not me.

When I am good, it's because I like how it feels; it's usually because I'm already having a successful and happy day and I want to share the love. Well, then goodness creates more goodness. Right? But where does it start?

I've decided that being good takes practice and you have to be persistent, but anyone can be good. And I don't mean perfect or infallible, I mean that people can be kind to each other. You can do the kind thing. You can be polite. You can say, hey, I understand your problem and I care.

I guess that's partly the reason I bake. It's an easy way to be good. People don't question your motives, they just eat your goodies (hey, isn't that a grand coincidence good/goodies!). Whether they like you or not is irrelevant; at that moment that see your goodness.

Baking, then, can equal goodness. Believe.

Tuesdays with Dorie. Chococolate Chip Cookies.

2010-02-16T20:43:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Kait of Kait’s Plate who selected My Best Chocolate Chip Cookies, page 68, from Tuesdays with Dorie.

This is what you taste when you eat one of these delectables: butter, vanilla and chocolate.
With a minimum of flour, baking soda and salt, these cookies are all the sweetest flavours supercharged. Fresh from the oven they are divine- a melting gooey cookie.

If you haven't been convinced yet to buy Dorie Greenspan's baking book you ought to at least get it from the library. Honestly, this is one of the best. And I probably own 20 books dedicated to baking so that statement has some sweet power behind it.

As the Tuesdays with Dorie people request that participants in the baking challenge refrain from posting recipes, I will not be able to give you the list of ingredients and directions. You might be able to find the recipe elsewhere if you google it. (Not everyone follows the rules!)

As for my post tonight...it's getting late. I was up early. So that's it. Just a hint of sweetness for all of you. But later this week, I'll have a wonderful party cake and another review of a cupcake purchased at a place far from my home. Yes...I'm traveling. Talk soon.

Rescue Valentine's Day! Fudge Brownies.

2010-02-14T06:09:00.000-08:00

Recipe: Decadent Fudge Brownies

Chocolate is, in my opinion, the optimum way to acknowledge Valentine's Day.

Second in line is anything that is crafted by hand:

a Valentine's card of red construction paper and purple stick-on hearts,
a photo of you and your loved one framed,
a poem of 3 lines of love or more (less than 3 and you haven't put in enough effort!),
a song that is no more than 2 minutes long (more than 2 and your loved one will not see it is a gift- unless you are a fine musician),

NOTE: This is not a time to showcase how great you think YOU are, but to celebrate how terrific your loved one is.
NOTE 2: If your Valentine's gift selection sends your gut into spasms, you must listen to your gut. Stop now. Reconsider whether this is love you are in. And for your reading pleasure, my revealing story of a Valentine's best forgotten:

In one disastrous Valentine's Day celebration a guy I had been dating made it clear what he wanted for Valentine's Day– an expensive shirt from a store that was far out of my economic reality. (It was a Lacoste shirt from an upscale department store). I was in high school and the waitressing job I had on the weekends didn't stretch far; I'd been failing at saving for a car for two years.

I offered to clean the entire house for my mother for the cash. It took me three long nights after school, but I finally met her standards. Of course buying the shirt wouldn't be easy either. I needed her to drive me to the store, but if I told her my intended purchase and the recipient, she would refuse. So I lied. I said I wanted something for myself. A treat, I said, that would remind me that one day I could shop at this store at any time if I wanted, not just after I broke everyone of my nails cleaning someone else's house.

She gave me her familiar look of disapproval, but said nothing. I browsed with her by my side for awhile but ditched her by the cable knit sweaters when she started complaining about the inflated prices for plain-old cotton. (We could hire someone to pick cotton in a field and knit the damn sweater for this price!). By the time she turned around to look for me I was at the check-out with a red polo shirt with the alligator emblazoned on the chest.

"You wanted that?" she asked. "It's so plain. You can get that shirt anywhere."

I rolled my eyes at the store clerk.

"It wouldn't be the same shirt," the store clerk told my mother.

"You wouldn't think about all the starving children in Africa when you wore it either," my mother snapped back. "Imagine how you could better spend that cash."

The store clerk rolled her eyes at me.

I endured another lecture on the value of money on the way home from the mall, though my brain was tuned into another channel. If I was buying my boyfriend this expensive shirt, what would he be buying me? I'd hinted at jewelry, a necklace or a bracelet, even a ring.

We swapped our gifts in the parking lot of the Pizza Shack (for fairness, at his suggestion, we split the cost of the pizza). "Wow, this is going to look great on me," he said as he tore off the elaborate wrapping paper and bow creation. He took off his current navy blue Lacoste polo (his family could afford them) and pulled on his red one. The color was great on him. Truly.

When he leaned over I thought it was to kiss me, but he was reaching for the glove box. He pulled a small square box from it. It was bigger than a ring box so I was a little disappointed but I was sure a 4 inch by 4 inch box could hold an exquisite necklace or a tennis bracelet. Inside, I found a key chain with a metal heart hanging from it.

"Oh, it's cute." I held it up. It said, "Be Mine."

"For your car keys, when you get a car," he said.

I know friends, it's a sad ending. You can imagine how wrong it went when my mother recognized the alligator on my boyfriend's chest. But my mother is a subject for another day.

The boyfriend lasted for much longer than you'd expect after hearing about this story, but since then, I have chosen to buy ingredients or supplies for Valentine's Day creations.

And, BFFs, if you would like to follow my lead or you simply haven't gotten yourself to a store to buy something expensive, I'd like to share my brownie recipe with you. This is the absolute easiest (even easier than store bought mix) and most delicious high-end taste (Betty Crocker and the other boxes in the baking aisle cannot compare). It takes less than 10 minutes to mix and 20 minutes to bake. I can make this without even looking up the recipe– I've got it memorized. :)

Decadent Fudge Brownies from the Moosewood Cookbook.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter
3 ounces unsweeted chocolate (I use Bakers- you'll need three squares)
1 cup lightly packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup unbleached white flour

To Do:

Preheat oven to 350. Butter a square baking pan (8 or 9 inch square)
In a saucepan, melt the butter and chocolate together over low heat, stirring occasionally.
Remove the saucepan from the heat
Add the brown sugar and vanilla and whisk.
Add the eggs and whisk more.
Stire in the flour and mix until smooth.
Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 20 minutes- just until the brownies are beginning to pull away from the sides of the pan and are still fudgy in the middle.

Additions:
I like to add cinnamon to mine and if you throw in some cayenne pepper, you'll have chocolate cinnamon heart brownies (limit to 1/2 teaspoon if you're going for subtle heat!)

I guarantee these brownies will not disappoint.

Cupcake Disaster: Zaro's Bakery. NYC

2010-01-29T13:26:00.000-08:00

I have never tasted a worse bakery cupcake than the one I had from Zaro's today. I want to take the 3/4 of a cupcake I have left back because I am so disappointed. But I won't. The line-ups are long and explaining my distaste of their cupcake will jolt them out of the groove of order fast, throw it in a bag fast, pay fast. This is one thing I notice about New York. Everywhere I go it seems that cashiers want me to hurry up and pay. There is no small talk. No discussion of even the weather. What's with that?

Okay so maybe I'm a little grumpy that I spent 2.95 US on a lousy cupcake. Here are the details: it was a yellow cake that tasted day old and Jiffy cake mix brand. It was dry and the texture was sturdy, not delicate. The frosting was an overly sweet cheap shortening and powdered sugar creamed. The coconut was fine. What might have saved this cupcake was the lemon filling between the cake and the frosting, but it didn't rescue this disgusting cake. Nope. The lemony filling was decidedly not lemony, just sugary, like lemonade from a powder instead of lemonade that's real.

So Zaro's, you got my $$ this time, but it is the last time for all eternity. I think this is a symptom of a bakery jumping on a trend but not doing its homework. Shame on you Zaro's. Shame on you.

Friday Night Cupcakes. IN NEW YORK!!

2010-01-28T10:09:00.000-08:00

New York may be the cupcake capital of the world. Every bakery window has a row of cupcakes. I will gain a zillion pounds if I try all of them, but I am going to attempt to try many of them. And I'll document them here.

The first time I came to New York, it was like I got this physics test that I hadn't studied for- some of the formulas looked a little similar, but overall not much made sense. New York is a place where if you watch people for too long you begin to feel that there is something wrong with human beings.

For instance, tonight I spent an hour in Grand Central Station. Talk about the Melting Pot of America. Expensively dressed women walked with their heads high, their eyes never tracking the evidence of humanness of a different sort all around them. Leather library chairs set like a crescent moon around a semi-fast food pasta stand cradled men who had run out of any luck they'd had a long time ago. The men slept, mouths open, snores evident. I wanted a video camera to take movies of this, but then I thought maybe the men would be embarrassed or offended. They wouldn't know, would they, that my subject was the people passing by without regard? They wouldn't understand that I realized in my own hometown that it's easy to ignore the down and outters you see every day, that what I wanted was a refresher course in being a human.

Oh...I can be so tenderhearted. One guy pushed past me with a shopping cart and he smelled very bad. He asked me if I had any change. I gave him what I had. My mother would probably tell me he'd go spend it on booze. My dad would probably agree. And then he'd say that it was my money.

I bought myself only one thing in Grand Central Station tonight: A mango banana ginger "zinger" smoothie. It was delicious. And the lovely girl in the photo made it and served it to me. I asked her if I could take her picture because I was documenting my day. She agreed! I'm going to try to take lots of pictures of people tomorrow. And share them with you.

The other thing I have to share is Junior's. It's a NY favourite for burgers and shakes and that sort of thing- a Johnny Rockets idea. But you know why I'm sharing it with you: The Cupcakes! I ordered a valentine's day one, but I haven't eaten it yet. I'm saving it for breakfast.

Tomorrow or Saturday, BFFs, I will share the results of my cupcake eating in New York City.

Haiti Cupcakes.

2010-01-21T18:25:00.000-08:00

Have you ever felt like maybe the point to doing a task is no longer in sight? Like, maybe, getting above 90 per cent on every exam is not important, even though it used to be the focus of your life? Or how about hanging out with someone is the last thing you want to do because that person is, (God how clearly you see it now), really a negative influence in your life?

And you know that in-between place when you know the truth and the reality of it all, but you're not ready to do something about it?

I know I'm being ambiguous about the details. That's necessary.

What is also necessary is that I tell you that I've decided to take action. And what brought me to that? A realization that I can't endure static. Static is remaining in a house that's crumbling around me.

And what brought me to this understanding? Over months I accumulated stress that created a consuming ache in my shoulder and neck. I started writing about the issues that were causing it. I was considering what to do. When the earthquake hit in Haiti, I, finally, cried. I cried for the children who were abandoned and for the mothers who'd lost so much and for the fathers and brothers who were only sure that they needed to help someone, somewhere. I donated money. And then I began to realize that my feelings of helplessness about my own life were a trap I could release. Difficult.

So I found the inspiration to bake again. And I started it all from scratch- fresh coconut, grated by my hands, folded tenderly into a beautiful batter. The smell enveloped me. I only ate one without frosting and one with- just to experience the wonderful taste. I shared with friends and friends of friends and I asked them to text the numbers that gave money to people who didn't have homes anymore, who were crying for a loss that was more immediate and longer lasting than mine. And I felt better. Cake can do that for a girl like me.

The Coconut Cupcakes are vegan but can be adapted for the non-vegans among us. I just like the idea of vegan because, as you know, I like rules. They keep order in life. And sometimes I need order, especially when my world is crashing.
Ingredients

1/2 cup coconut oil
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 cup coconut milk
1/4 cup soy milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon coconut extract
1 cup flour, all purpose
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup unsweetened coconut (grated raw or dried)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 F
Melt the coconut oil in a small saucepan over very low heat. After it's melted, turn off the heat but use it before it solidifies. (you can substitute canola oil)
In a medium bowl, combine the melted coconut oil, sugar, coconut milk, soy milk, vanilla, coconut extract. Mix until homogeneous (love that word!)
Add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Stir until smooth. Add the grated coconut and incorporate.
Bake for 22 to 24 minutes, until the top springs back.
Cool, then frost.

Lime Buttercream Frosting Ingredients

1 cup of butter or 1/2 cup nonhydrogenated shortening and 1/2 cup nonhydrogenated margarine
3 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup fresh lime juice

Directions

Beat the butter or shortening/margarine until fluffy. Add the sugar and beat 3 minutes more before you add the vanilla and lime juice. Beat for another 5 to 7 minutes. It will all be beautifully fluffy so that you can now pipe it onto the cupcakes. (If it's too soft, give it 15 minutes in the refrigerator).

Friday Night Cake. Chocolate Beer Cupcakes.

2009-11-27T15:51:00.000-08:00

Okay, you're thinking maybe I've gone a bit crazy with the alcohol-themed cupcakes, but any girl with an interest in baking or cooking reads a ton of recipes with alcohol in them and HAS to give them a try. (Even if she hasn't the slightest interest in alcohol).

But why?

Because it is important in baking to be fearless. To try the things one would never try. That, my BFF, is how we are going to learn about what not to do as much as what we should do.

I've been thinking a whole lot about fearlessness lately, because as you may know, I am not the most fearless person. Using beer in a cupcake recipe is stretching me to my limit and, trust me, many people my age are using the line I set down as a baby-sized hurdle to step over.

What does it mean? Right now, it means I'm not getting into much trouble. None, really. The fearless, though, are in lots of trouble when they get caught and, I suspect, often wondering what the H they are doing throwing up in a toilet on Saturday night. Maybe they only consider this on Sunday morning.

It's the later, like years down the road, that I'm worrying about; I don't think I want to be afraid of the same things I'm afraid of now- groups with loud boys who are drinking, girls who wear incredibly tight clothing and smoke cigarettes, parties, driving, the taste of any sort of alcohol that isn't drowned by soda.

Honestly, I want to know what normal is for other people. I'm just not ready for it today.

Okay, so I am the "bad kids" target. I can accept it. But, won't they find it supremely unexpected when they learn that my cupcakes are made with beer? This may elevate me in their eyes or, at the very least, give them something else to talk about besides their perception that I am a goody-goody.

Jillian tells me that one day I will do something at a party that I regret. I can't imagine it, but not many people go through life without regret. It might happen. You can't get drunk on beer cupcakes, though, so it probably won't be as a result of this Friday Night Cake.

Chocolate Beer Cupcakes
Ingredients

3/4 cup soy milk or regular milk
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1 cup plus 2 Tablespoons flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup beer. (It MUST be dark beer, stout, like Guiness! I used a Chocolate Stout. (sorry Guiness)
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup canola oil
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

The Glaze: 1 cup confectioners sugar mixed with 2 Tablespoons Stout.

Directions:

In a small bowl sift or stir with a whisk: flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, salt.
In a large bowl whisk together the soy milk and vinegar.
Add Stout, sugar, oil and vanilla to the milk mixture.
Add dry ingredients in two big pours, mixing well after each.
Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full
Bake 20 minutes.
Cool.
Top with the glaze and sprinkles if you like. I always like sprinkles!

Tuesday Bake Party. Delicious. Over-the-top. Chestnut Cake.

2009-11-10T10:05:00.000-08:00

Before I say anything else, I want to tell you that sometimes I try too hard. That's what I've been told before, and if there was one instance where this might be true, it's this cake.

Does trying too hard mean that you try and fail? Or that what you attempt to do doesn't turn out the way you expect? Or does it mean, "I know you want me to like you but because you're sort of neurotic about it, you annoy me."

The latter of those choices is what I think it means, but I've also been told that I can see the dark side of things when I ought to see the positive.

If you're confused, we are in this whole life together.

I want to be liked. That's true. I want to be liked by homeless people, by the people who serve me in restaurants, by the hot guys in my classes and by the nerds, too. I'd like to be liked by the girls who are "bad" and the girls who are "good" and the cheerleaders.

Now that I've confessed it to you all, and perhaps one or two of you may also feel the way I do.

I've learned to hide my trying-too-hard nature, but it comes out in cakes and offers to help people paint their rooms or tutor them in physics. Jillian says I'm crazy. All I know is it's who I am and, sometimes after contemplating Jillian's rants, I say maybe instead of yes or let me get back to you instead of yes. It's a start.

But this cake. This cake is one of the Tuesdays with Dorie selections and it is among the most complicated things I've ever done. It is mighty tasty, though, and well worth the effort.

I'm not going to post the recipe because it's so long and because the idea behind Tuesdays with Dorie is that you're supposed to be inspired to buy her book, which would be a very good investment!

I can describe it this way: make one large chocolate cake with the secret ingredient of chestnut spread with vanilla, cut it into three layers, spread ganache between each layer and over the whole thing once it is assembled. Oh, don't forget the crushed canned chestnuts between those layers. Then, pour a ganache glaze over the whole thing. Finally, some more chestnuts (dusted with edible gold dust) for the garnish. Wow. It's a huge amount of work, but it feels great to have accomplished it.

That's the payoff for trying hard if you choose the right target for your attention; the success that comes with the effort.

Tuesday Bake Party. Sweet and Spicy Cookies.

2009-10-30T16:22:00.000-07:00

Hello BFF!

I am off traveling tomorrow. To Toronto. My goal is to uncover several bakeries for you. I have their addresses but no car, so that means I'll be relying on the subway and taxis. And I can say I have limited experience with this sort of thing. I'm not scared for my safety, although each time I'm on a subway I think of the London bombings and then I try to remember that statistically I'm safer under the ground than crossing the street. (Yes, worriers among us unite!) My biggest fear is getting lost and standing in the parking lot of a gas station crying. I think gas station parking lots are very lonely places.

And if my own fears weren't bad enough, one of the girls in my class said I'm crazy to fly on a plane since I haven't had my H1N1 shot. I walked away. I couldn't respond.

The world outside a small town is big. It is dangerous. BFF, you know that. And, still, you go outside, don't you?

I am so into challenges these days. Last week I did the daring bakers challenge and this week, I'm onto the Tuesdays With Dorie challenge. These cookies were not too much of a challenge, (I think I've been making cookies since I was three years old- without much help) but they were delicious. I've frozen half the batch to crumble up for topping a fruit crisp and making a crust for a cheesecake because, honestly, how many crunchy cookies can one girl eat and not get a little tired of the taste? Now, cake, that's another matter entirely! I don't freeze cake, because I even eat the tiny crumbs left on the cake stand. Oh...don't get me started.

About the challenges. I am not eligible for prizes because there are no prizes. It's just baking satisfaction. I hope I gain traveling satisfaction while I'm in Toronto. Wish me luck tomorrow morning when you get up. I'll report on bakeries on Friday!

The recipe today is delicious, as always. Tips for baking:

I didn't let the dough warm up too much after I took it out of the fridge because the cookies would flatten out and get real super crispy. And I like mine soft in the middle.
I rolled the dough in sugar with ground pepper for an even more peppery taste. It was hot.

The Tuesdays with Dorie crew have requested that I don't post a recipe for these cookies so that you will consider buying the cook book, Baking from my Home to Yours, by Dorie Greenspan. It's on my top five list of all times baking books so I'd recommend it. I've made ginger/molasses cookies before and I'll say take your favourite recipe and add lots of fresh ground pepper to it and you'll get a similar result to mine. (And if you're really stuck for the recipe, leave me a comment and I'll send it to you.)

Daring Bakers: French Macarons

2009-10-27T07:55:00.000-07:00

The official line: The 2009 October Daring Bakers’ challenge was brought to us by Ami S. She chose macarons from Claudia Fleming’s The Last Course: The Desserts of Gramercy Tavern as the challenge recipe.

I am soooo excited that I have accepted the challenge to become a DARING BAKER. I have joined this "club" that's part of a website The Daring Kitchen.

Once a month, I'll be posting the results of a recipe especially chosen by another club member that I have either failed or successfully challenged. (What's really cool is that club members find out the recipe nearly a month before the posting date- today- and we have a whole month to perfect what we show you.) I love secrets like this!

It was inevitable, I suppose, that something other than a cake would make its way into my blog. These macarons are a perfect way to begin. I should tell you that I would NEVER EVER have made these without the challenge. They looked too hard. But they weren't, or I got lucky. First try success.

I've attached the recipe here, but my variation called for 1/2 almond, 1/2 pecan flour (I mixed it myself in the food processor). I filled it with white chocolate Cinnamon Buttercream. The result is a bit like a Pecan Sandie or a Sinckerdoodle. However, this little baby is cookie sophistication. I would expect nothing less from a french cookie. The outside is crisp and the inside is sweet and gooey. Wow. I thought macarons were those gross cookies with all the coconut. That must be some Americanized version of the French delicacy.

Okay, so give it a try. If you have any questions, let me know.

French Macarons
Ingredients

Confectioners’ (Icing) sugar: 2 ¼ cups (225 g, 8 oz.)
Almond flour: 2 cups (190 g, 6.7 oz.) I made my own and didn't use all of it when I folded it into the egg whites because I didn't want the batter to be too stiff. (you'll pipe it so it needs to be runny)
Granulated sugar: 2 tablespoons (25 g , .88 oz.)
Egg whites: 5 (Have at room temperature)- I put mine in a bowl the night before and left them in the refrigerator to "dry" them out a bit.

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 200°F (93°C). Combine the confectioners’ sugar and almond flour in a medium bowl. If grinding your own nuts, combine nuts and a cup of confectioners’ sugar in the bowl of a food processor and grind until nuts are very fine and powdery.
2. Beat the egg whites in the clean dry bowl of a stand mixer until they hold soft peaks. Slowly add the granulated sugar and beat until the mixture holds stiff peaks.
3. Sift a third of the almond flour mixture into the meringue and fold gently to combine. If you are planning on adding zest or other flavorings to the batter, now is the time. Sift in the remaining almond flour in two batches. Be gentle! Don’t overfold, but fully incorporate your ingredients.
4. Spoon the mixture into a pastry bag fitted with a plain half-inch tip (Ateco #806). You can also use a Ziploc bag with a corner cut off. It’s easiest to fill your bag if you stand it up in a tall glass and fold the top down before spooning in the batter.
5. Pipe one-inch-sized (2.5 cm) mounds of batter onto baking sheets lined with nonstick liners (or parchment paper).
6. Bake the macaroon for 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and raise the temperature to 375°F (190°C). Once the oven is up to temperature, put the pans back in the oven and bake for an additional 7 to 8 minutes, or lightly colored.
7. Cool on a rack before filling.

White Chocolate Cinnamon Buttercream

Ingredients

5 ounces of white chocolate, melted and cooled
3/4 cup of room temperature butter
3 Tablespoons milk
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup cinnamon

Cream the butter with your mixer.
Add the milk.
Mix more.
Add the cooled white chocolate.
Mix again.
Add the powdered sugar and cinnamon.
Mix. Mix. Mix.
If the buttercream doesn't look stiff enough, add another 1/4 to 1/2 cup of powdered sugar.
Scoop the buttercream into a pastry bag (I use the plastic disposable kind from Wilton) fitted with a big round tip. Pipe on one macaron, top with another macaron that's of a relative shape and size. Oh, you will experience such delight!

Friday Night Cake. Party Night Purple.

2009-10-23T12:30:00.000-07:00

I can't hide the truth. You'll discover it as soon as you look at the ingredients list. I've been hitting the bottle, as my grandma always said. Fallen off the wagon, drinking the sauce, marinating his liver: all grandma expressions.

Alcoholism is one of those things you learn about in the 6th grade during the drug awareness unit. Just say no is the primary message, but you're also given a sort of checklist of what makes drinking a problem. I knew 20 or more adults who drank alcohol regularly, including my parents, but, I couldn't tell you if any of them passed or failed the check-list.

Mandy was in all of my core subjects in grade 9; by grade 10 she was hardly attending school and rumour had it that she was addicted to drugs or drinking, possibly both. Or she could have been pregnant. That's rumours for you. They were wrong.

Mandy understood the checklist. She'd memorized it for the Grade 6 unit test, (we'd both gotten A's) but she didn't realize until the ninth grade that her dad was failing at being sober. There were lots of clues along the way. One afternoon she came home from school and he was home early from work, said he had a headache. She and her sister were in the kitchen fighting over who deserved the last bag of chips when he stormed into the kitchen, exploding with anger.

Shut Up! The words came out loud and long, like a growling siren; his face red, the veins popping from his neck, he raged.

She and her sister never talked about it, not with each other, their mother or friends; and a few months later on a Sunday morning, Mandy answered the phone. It was the neighbor, Mrs. Pratt. Dad's truck was parked on the back lawn, had run over their garden gnomes and bird bath.

Mandy suspected then, but she didn't talk about it. Her dad repaired the damage and stopped drinking beer. Wine, he said, was good for his heart, but beer got him into trouble. Other than minor incidents, Mandy didn't see much. She thought maybe he was like all the other adults who drank alcohol- they regularly drank too much and then regretted it. In fact there was always a group of kids at school complaining of hangovers. Her father was just like those kids, a lightweight who couldn't take the hangovers.

In Grade 10, her mother asked her to stay home, to keep her dad from drinking. "She had to go to work and she thought if I could, you know, babysit him, we could get him back on track."

The story ends sadly. Mandy couldn't stop her dad, of course she couldn't, and he moved away. He said it was best for all of them. She'd heard he was living with a friend in Vancouver. Mandy worked to get through Grade 10, but she kept falling further behind in Grade 11. School requires concentration and if your life is messy, it's hard to think about quadratic equations, photosynthesis and metaphor in fiction. I hung out with her this year, we went for coffee after school because she wants to hire me to be her tutor.

I asked her what happened in Grade 10 and she told me the story.

Life sucks, I said.

That's it. Life Sucks. I can write a blog, I can bake a cake, but when it comes to composing the proper sentiment on cue- I fail.

She laughed at me, though, and we started with calculus. I asked her if she was ever going to drink. She said she would probably try it at some point, but she was in no hurry.

"I won't drink if I'm stressed out," she said. "Only if I'm happy already."

I'm sure an addictions counsellor would have a lot to say about Mandy and her story. I'm only relating the story as it happened.

So...I'm telling you this story because it relates to our Friday night cake:

I am not drinking alcohol from the bottle or even a glass; it's all about the frosting on this delicious cake. It's infused with bourbon. Maker's Mark is the bourbon of choice here, but it is expensive. Jack Daniels works, too. My dad bought me a wee little bottle at the liquor store (a sample!) and it was just enough. I'm not advocating alcohol as a primer for your party night. Seriously, though, these cupcakes have a zing and a zap that ordinary chocolate vanilla do not. I swear you'll notice the difference! And if you're not interested in trying it out, try out some other flavour. A cake, well made, with quality ingredients, is one thing that will make you smile.

Party Night Purple.
Chocolate Bourbon Cake
Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups cake flour (not self-rising), sifted
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup plus 1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
1 Tablespoon distilled white vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup water
1/4 cup of bourbon (if not using bourbon, just use 1/4 cup more water)

To do

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a muffin tin with paper liners.
Sift together cake flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda and salt.
With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, mix together oil, vinegar, vanill and the water and bourbon until well combined. Add flour and mix until smooth.
Divide batter evenly among lined cups- each will be 3/4 full.
Bake 20 to 25 minutes.
Cool the cupcakes completely before frosting...

Bourbon Sweet Buttercream (Warning: more steps than usual)
Ingredients

1 cup plus 2 Tablespoon sugar
1/4 cup bourbon
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, room temperature
4 large egg whites
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

To Do

First we'll make a bourbon flavoured caramel: Combine 1/2 cup plus 2 Tablespoons sugar and bourbon in a heavy saucepan. Heat over medium, until the sguar is dissolved and syrup is clear. Stop stirring and cook until syrup comes to a boil. Continue to boil, gently swirling pan to color evenly, until mixture is very dark amber. Remove from head; add the cream in a steady stream, stirring with a wooden spoon until smooth and combined. Let cool.
Now, our basic swiss buttercream: With an electric mixer on medium high, cream butter until pale and fluffy.
In a heatproof bowl (the one that goes to a standing mixer works great here!), combine remaining 1/2 cup sugar and the egg whites. Set bowl over a pan of simmering water; whisk constantly by hand until mixture is warm to the touch and sugar had dissolved (the mixture should feel completely smooth if you rub it between your finger and thumb).
Attach the bowl to the mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Start on low and gradually increase speed until you are at medium-high and the egg whites are at a peak forming stage. Whisk enough so that the egg whites are fluffy and glossy and completely cool (10 minutes total) reduce speed to low, add creamed butter a bit at time until all incorporated. Add vanilla. Mix.
Switch to the paddle attachment. (Don't worry if you don't have a fancy mixer, a regular old mixer will do. It's just that your arm gets tired. I know from experience!) With mixer on medium-low, drizzle in the bourbon caramel. It's done. Now you can color and decorate, but best of all, you can eat it!

Friday Night Cake. Ferocious Cherry Chocolate cupcakes!

2009-10-15T20:26:00.000-07:00

I've been thinking about kissing.

It's not that I've kissed so often that I'm an expert; I'm actually one of those girls who watches all the kissing part on TV dramas and movies looking for tips. And, today, bffs, I will share them with you.

Here's what I have learned:

Tentative short, lips only kissing, is for the guy who's been a friend forever and you're worried that maybe this whole kissing thing will ruin your friendship.
Slow burning kisses are definitely the kind of kisses for long term boyfriends that haven't been so long term that you're a bit bored.
Pecks on the lips and cheek are the obligation kisses. Your aunt probably gets a bigger thrill.
Any kisses that also involve hands cradling faces, the stroking of cheeks, a lick along the earlobe suggest more passion is coming to a theatre near you.
Ferocious kissing is saved for your massive crush guy. It's pent-up fierceness, cultivated by long stares from across the room, brushes of hands against sleeves, near meetings that fail to come to pass. Ferocious kissing involves tongues first, light tenderness in the coffee breaks and all the hands, lips and stroking of faces you can fit in for dessert.

I live for ferocious kissing, but have only experienced it once. The details, I will keep to myself. This is a pg rated blog, after all, reserved for lovers of stories and baking. So here's the recipe that will make your mouth water and your lips crave the tender touch of someone else's:

Cherry Chocolate Cupcakes.
Inspired by Martha again this week. Makes a batch of 32
Ingredients

1 cup plus 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter (aka 2 1/2 sticks) (room temperature)
1 cup plus 2 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
2 1/2 cups plus 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup packed dark-brown sugar
3 large eggs, room temperature
3/4 cup sour cream or plain yogurt (I've also used cherry yogurt and it was great!)
1 1/2 cups buttermilk (use only 1 1/4 cups of buttermilk if you use the maraschino cherry juice)
1 teaspoon cherry extract or 1/4 cup of maraschino cherry juice

To Do:

Preheat oven to 350. Put those cupcake liners in the tins.
Whisk together flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt.
With an electric mixer on medium-high, cream butter and granulated sugar until it's the color of the center of a daisy- lovely light yellow. Add brown sugar and beat until fluffy.
Eggs drop in (without their shells, of course) one at a time. Scrape the bowl as needed to achieve a smooth batter.
Mix in sour ream. Reduce speed to low.
Add the flour mixture in three batches, alternating with two additions of buttermilk mixed with the cherry extract or maraschino cherry juice, but mix until just combined after each.
Spoon the batter into the liners, 3/4 full.
Bake 20 minutes.
Cool
Frost with a pink tinted lovely meringue buttercream frosting that has 1/4 teaspoon of cherry extract added to it.
Even cooler.

Pucker those lips. These are going to be delish!

Friday Night Cake. First Snow, Maple Walnut Sweet.

2009-10-10T07:55:00.000-07:00

It snowed here this week. Snow. Flakes. Grass bent over under the snow.

Some girls complained that it was too soon, it was too cold, they had to put away their mini-skirts. Quelle Horror! They seemed confused, as if they forgot we live in the mountains.

Me? I put on leggings and wore my mini-skirt anyway. I try to be a positive thinker and a realist.

Note the word try.

I can have my down days and I even expect them from time to time. I almost, well, plan for them. I keep a good book in reserve. I have seasons of Grey's Anatomy at the ready. The baking cupboard is stocked with specialty chocolate bars for supremely serotonin-enhancing cakes. I know how to deal with a day that goes wrong.

What I'm having more trouble with is the confusing days. Just even seeing green grass under white snow started me thinking about how things can change and what it might mean if things changed.

Okay, I'm being obtuse aren't I?

Here it is: I know Mitch and I have something good together, but I can't help wondering that hardly any people who date in high school stay together for very long. Hardly any. Statistically speaking, I'm very likely (okay, I don't know the actual statistics) to break up with Mitch or he'll break up with me and then, I'll run out of Grey's Anatomy episodes to watch. And so I wonder, maybe I should be sort of, you know, preparing for the end, like making sure that if it happens, I have something else to fall back on. Okay, someone else.

I love the transformation of Dean. And maybe that's why I've been thinking about him. I mean how could the guy who seemed to rate on the 10 worst lists of all time rocket to the 10 best? Doesn't that mean there is something special about him?

Look, I'm not going to do anything rash. I'm not breaking up with Mitch and I'm not going to turn into Dean's secret admirer (except in my head).

It's just. How do you deal with this level of confusion? What should I do to banish my rogue thoughts?

So...I baked Maple Walnut cupcakes with a delicate maple swirl frosting. They were delicious, of course. And I shared the first 2 dozen people I met at school. Mitchell was one of them. So was Dean. See what I mean? Confusion.

Maple Walnut Cupcakes.
Inspired by Martha Stewart's Cupcakes.

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour, sifted
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature.
2 cups pure maple syrup (this cannot be Aunt Jemima butter flavoured)
3 large eggs, room temperature
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup of finely ground walnuts (if you don't want to use the walnuts, you can use 1/4 cup more of flour instead)
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
A little dash of love. (important for all cupcakes!)

To Do:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
sift together flour, baking powder and salt.
With an electric mixer (paddle attachment if you're using a kitchenaid) cream butter until smooth. Add the maple syrup and beat until combined.
Add eggs, one a time, until the butter base mixture is creamy and all one colour.
Now, add the flour, cinnamon, and nutmeg (and ground walnuts, if using) alternating with the milk and vanilla. Mix the batter just until it is evenly coloured. A beautiful light brown with flecks of happy.
Spoon the batter into the baking cups, filling each 3/4 full.
Bake for 20 minutes (10 to 13 minutes for the baby cupcakes)
Take them out, cool for a couple of minutes, transfer to a cooling rack and Voila! you have your own ticket away from confusion. At least as long as a cupcake lasts. Share it with friends and then you'll have someone to talk to, too!

Friday Night Cake. Pink Lemonade Love.

2009-10-02T06:15:00.001-07:00

You know when the weather turns and it's so cold in the morning you want to wear a heavy coat, but by the afternoon (at least some of the afternoons) you can walk around in a t-shirt? I live for those afternoons. I want to hold onto summer. I love the freedom of walking around without shoes or worries about whether I'm going to be warm enough.

I created this cupcake in honor of summer even while I was thinking about pumpkins (that will be next week!).

And as summer weather lingered, so, too, did summer memories; one memory in particular.

I carried a bag of apples in one hand and a bag of carrots in another. Market stalls selling homemade baby clothes, preserves and crunchy food from the garden lined the block where the farmer's market has been set up for as long as I can remember. Jillian was at our booth selling beaded necklaces and earrings that we'd made (we're saving money to go on a volunteer vacation). On the way to my car, I fell in love. With this cute puppy, a wee little basset hound, with paws like something you'd see on Star Wars, big and furry contrasted with short and stubby legs.

"Oh," I couldn't help squealing, even though I normally am not a squealing sort of girl. I dropped my bags and rubbed both of his ears with my hands. He nuzzled his long jowls against my arm as I sat on the ground so I could get closer. We bonded, Dawson and I, over 60 seconds on the sidewalk. He crawled right onto my lap, stretched out and went to sleep. I had tears in my eyes (I know, I'm dramatic), but it was because this was the closest I'd gotten to Fern and her pig, Wilbur. I'd always yearned for this moment. And then I came back to earth; I followed the leash to the owner holding it.

I didn't recognize him at first. Dean's braces were gone, his hair was longer, and maybe even tipped by sunlight or highlights. And he had muscles, real muscles. You could see them through the t-shirt, tight across the biceps black knit. Maybe it was all the endorphins from loving Dawson, the basset hound, but I was smitten. With Dean. And I already had a boyfriend.

"Dean?"
He crouched down on his heels. "Hey, Chantal. You fell in love." He rubbed one of Dawson's ears. Gosh. Dean smelled divine. Like the forest, the sea and clean laundry all wrapped up. I felt sweat rush to the palms of my hands, my armpits.
We talked about the puppy and then we talked about him. He'd gotten a job working for forestry (the muscles) and his older sister was responsible for the new look. "She thinks I need a girlfriend."
I'm sure he could sense how I tensed up, how I froze in my spot.
"She says I just need to ask a girl I like to go out for pizza."
"Um..."
"It hasn't been that easy. Most of the girls I like are already, you know, involved."
"Yeah?" Oh, how I wanted him to say, and you're one of those girls.
"I suppose I'll just have to wait it out. Lots of break-ups happen right before Christmas, that's what my sister says. Too many expectations."
"Hm..."
"What do you think?" He looked at me and my brain, reduced to a bundle of fuzzy feelings, was like dandelion fluff flying through the air on a whispery wind.
"She's probably right." I managed to choke out. We both went quiet then, leaning against a big planter, Dawson stretched over my legs. We shared some of the apples and talked about school.
An hour later a cat walked by and Dawson must have smelled it because he woke up and took off, pulling Dean along. We managed weak good-byes.

I've seen him in the hallways talking to girls, but I haven't heard whether he's found one or not. Mitch and I are still dating and it's not that anything's changed between us, but I can't help thinking about Dean.

So these cupcakes are about Dean and sweet summer memories that linger.

Pink Lemonade Love.
The cake is inspired by Martha Stewart's Cupcakes.

Ingredients:

2 Cups flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup heavy cream (I used 2 % evaporated milk)
1 Tablespoon finely grated lemon zest. plus 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice. (2 lemons should do it)
1 Tablespoon pure vanilla extract (that is not a typo!)
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature.
1 Cup sugar
2 vanilla beans, halved lengthwise, seeds scraped and reserved. (I've made a batch without the bean mush and it turned out great, too)
2 Large eggs.

To Do:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
In another bowl combine cream, lemon juice and vanilla extract
With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, cream butter, sugar, vanilla-bean seeds, and zest until pale and fluffy
Add eggs, beating after each. Scrape down sides of the bowl. Reduce speed to low. Add the flour mixture in thirds, alternating with half of the cream mixture each time. (flour-cream-flour-cream-flour)
Fill each cupcake liner three-quarter full. Bake for 25 minutes or until the cake tester comes out clean or the cake bounces back from a light touch of your finger.
Cool those sweet cupcakes before icing or storing.

Lovely Swiss Meringue Buttercream
I've reduced the original recipe to make JUST ENOUGH frosting for the tops of these cupcakes. Look, I know the idea of cooking anything over boiling water can make you run the other way, but, trust me, this is EASY and WORTH IT. You have to try this at least once before you say you'll buy something at the grocery store or make some powdered sugar/butter cement.

Ingredients

3 egg whites
1/2 cup plus 1 Tablespoon of sugar
pinch of salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons, room temperature (very important that it's room temperature)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Combine egg whites, sugar ad salt in a heatproof bowl of a standing mixer or just a heatproof bowl. Set it over a pan of boiling water, making sure that the water does not touch the bottom of the heatproof bowl. (The whole idea here is to just heat up the egg whites enough for the sugar to dissolve). Whisk constantly by hand until the mixture is warm to the touch and the sugar has dissolved (takes about 2 minutes or less). You can test it by rubbing some between your fingers- it should feel smooth and slippery. REMOVE the bowl from the heat.
Put the bowl in the standing mixer (whisk attachment) or start up your manual mixer. Starting on low, but moving up to medium-high, whisk/beat until stiff but not dry peaks form. continue mixing until mixture is fluffy and glossy and completely cool. (about 10 minutes total)
With the mixer on medium-low, add the butter a few tablespoons at a time, mixing well each time. Once you've added all the butter, mix in the vanilla. Keep at room temperature until you use it. (as long as it's that day, otherwise refrigerate and on the day you plan to use it, warm it to room temperature and beat it for five minutes. This is very forgiving frosting!)

Friday Night Cake. Recession Banana Cake.

2009-09-21T09:41:00.000-07:00

I've heard enough about the recession. I don't mean to be insensitive, (truly I don't think I'm being insensitive); I am just telling you all my truest feelings. I'm tired of hearing how to save money, how to avoid spending money, how to do more with less and to get something from nothing.

I am not tired of this because I am living the life of a girl with only a few pennies in her pocket. I am just tired of HEARING about it. In my job as a lifeguard, I overhear things. This summer, lots of conversations between adults, teenagers and even little kids have been about money, and the lack of it. I heard two little kids on the beach arguing over who was poorer:

"My mom says we can't even RENT dvds," from a little girl in a Pocahontas bathing suit (obviously a thrift store purchase or a hand me down.

"Yeah? My mom sold our dvd player and our TV."

Honestly, it's enough to make you sit down and cry. And then, I think, much of the rest of the world has been living poor since I've been born. Those TV commercials with the sticky-outie-stomach babies? They are real. And it's not like all those poor people live in one place. They live all over the world. I used to think they must be miserable, all of them. But all the other people in the world who can't go to Blockbuster and rent dvds and go home to watch them on their blu-ray and high def TV are not unhappy. That doesn't make sense. They probably play red rover at night. Or sing campfire songs. Or tell scary stories. They might even be more happy when it's TV time because they're doing something together.

Am I the only one who feels like the recession is encouraging a whole lot of whining?

So...this is what I was thinking about when I pulled together the ingredients for this week's cake: I don't want to have to BUY anything. I figured there would be something I could use. And I found it. Black bananas way at the back of the freezer. (The skins turn black when you put the bananas in the freezer). So I left the bananas out for a couple of hours to defrost and then I got to making a banana cake. It was the moistest cake I've made in months. And loved by recessionistas and tired of hearing about the recession girls alike!

Recession Banana Cake.
(Enough cake for a crowd or a small family over three or four days!)
From Dorie Greenspan's Baking cookbook.
Ingredients

3 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup of unsalted butter (salted butter will work or you can use 1/2 margarine, 1/2 butter)
2 cups of sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 large eggs, room temperature
4 ripe bananas (or frozen, then defrosted) total: 1 1/2 cups of banana mash
1 cup sour cream or plain yogurt

To Do:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Generously butter and flour a 12 cup Bundt pan.
Whisk the flour, baking soda and salt together in a small bowl.
With a stand mixer (paddle attachment) or a hand mixer, beat the butter until creamy. Add the sugar and beat at medium speed until pale and fluffy. Beat in the vanilla.
Add the eggs one at a time, beating for 1 minute after each.
Reduce mixer speed to low and mix in bananas.
Now, add the dry ingredients.
Now, all the sour cream or yogurt.
(Oh... it doesn't look pretty, but it will come around in the mixing.)
Scrape the batter into the pan.
Bake for 65 to 75 minutes, or until a thin knife comes out clean.
Dorrie Greenspan suggests checking the cake after 20 minutes and if it's browning too quickly, cover it with a foil tent.
Transfer the cake to a rack and cool for 10 minutes before unmolding.

A lovely little lemon icing:

3/4 cup of powdered sugar mixed with the squeeze of a lemon. (2 teaspoons or so). Make it thin enough to drizzle over the top. Sweet Delish.

Friday Night Cake. Carrot Cake Love.

2009-09-08T07:14:00.001-07:00

I know if you're eating a piece of cake you're not really going for healthy fuel, but could cake with carrots in it be considered maybe 50% good for you?

My mother sneaks in healthy ingredients to food I love. Spaghetti sauce has an orange tinge from a pound of pureed carrots. My peanut butter sandwiches come with lumps of bananas. A bowl of ice cream has crunchy fiber cereal as a topping. Disgusting, I know. But I'm used to it, it's been that way all of my life.

I've been thinking about how we get used to things. I am used to Jillian calling me every night and asking what I'm going to wear the next day. Some days she'll bike over because she wants to borrow from my closet. (With six brothers, there's no clothes sharing at her house.) I look forward to Friday nights when we bake a cake and watch a movie. We only eat two pieces then; we save some for breakfast, some for all those brothers.

BFFs are about all the little things that we can depend on them to do. I know that Jillian will wait for me before she goes to the lunchroom and she knows that I will drive her home after school. This is friendship love. Dependable. Consistent. Kind. Caring.

When you're eating this Carrot Cake Love, think about your BFF. Tell me about her. What secret ways are you nice to her and vice-versa? When did you meet? What makes her the best BFF for you?

Carrot Cake Love. (Recipe from Baking by Dorie Greenspan)

Ingredients

2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon salt
3 cups grated carrots (about 9 skinny ones, 4 fat ones)
1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts or pecans
1 cup shredded coconut (sweet or not, either way delicious)
1/2 cup moist, plump, dried raisins or cranberries (optional, I didn't put these in)
2 cups sugar (I used 1 1/2 cups sugar because I added applesauce, see below)
1 cup canola or sunflower oil (I used 1/2 cup oil, 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce)
4 large eggs

To Do:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease and flour a 9 x 13 inch pan
Whisk flour, baking poweder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in one bowl. In a second bowl, stir together carrots, nuts, coconut and raisins.
With a mixer, beat the sugar and oil (and optional applesauce) together on medium speed until smooth.
Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each.
Reduce the speed to low and add the flour mixture, mixing only until the dry ingredients disppear. Gently mix in the carrot love ingredients. Pour the batter into the baking pan.
Bake for 40 minutes. Check with a thin knife. Any batter coming back? Now check with a little press of your forefinger, does it bounce back? If batter shows up or if your finger leaves a little dent that doesn't spring back...set the timer for five minutes more. Check. The cake should take no more than a total of 50 minutes to bake. Remove. Cool. Make frosting.

Frosting

8 ounces (one large brick) of cream cheese (ROOM TEMPERATURE)
1 stick (8 tablespoons) of butter (I used 1/2 a stick) (ROOM TEMPERATURE)
3 3/4 cups powdered sugar
1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice or 1/2 teaspoon lemon extract
1/2 cup more of shredded coconut (optional)

To Do:

Beat up the cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add the sugar one cup at a time, beat in the lemon juice and stir in the coconut. Yum; it's done!

Friday Night Cake. G rated Coconut and Rum Cake.

2009-08-17T16:24:00.000-07:00

The first 14 A very scary horror movie I saw without my parents, I sat next to Paul. Even though I was in the ninth grade and apparently all ninth graders have held hands and kissed boys by then, I hadn't.

Well, that's not all together true. I mean, I had played a game of spin the bottle and I had held hands once in the sixth grade with a boy I broke up with an hour later, but holding hands during a movie and then kissing in the slow parts (between killings), was all new to me.

Paul had never said more than five words to me for the first two months of the ninth grade even though most of our classes were together. I thought he was shy or just a jock or I don't know, disinterested in talking to me. It's not like we did a whole lot of talking during the movie anyway. And we didn't, like, kiss non-stop, just a few times.

So...you can understand that after Saturday night was over and the group of us split to go home, I had no idea where Paul and I stood. I didn't think we were dating. Didn't you need to say something like, "That was fun, let's go out next weekend" to be dating? When Monday morning came, he didn't talk to me then, either. I assumed that I was a scary-movie-hold-hands-and-kiss kind of date, not a girl he wanted to date regularly.

So...when Dave asked me out on my first "real" date I said, yes. It was miserable. He took the cheese off his pizza before he ate it. His dad had to drive us to the pizza place and pick us up. And when he dropped us off at the house, and Dave and I were standing at my front door, he turned off the car's headlights. So we could have privacy. OMG. I waved good-bye and slammed the door behind me. But the date wasn't the worst part. That, I discovered on Monday morning.

On my desk was a cartoon of a witchy-looking woman holding a knife and, sitting with his back to her, a curly-haired rendition of Paul. The caption: Backstabber.

I read it, stood up in the middle of the teacher's lecture, threw the cartoon in the garbage and sat back down. The class erupted in laughter. They were all in on it. I didn't speak to anyone for weeks. And no one spoke to me. As if whatever I said didn't matter. As if I'd made some long-term commitment that I didn't understand in that movie theater.

Thankfully, the only long-term commitment this delicious rum cake will require is about an hour of your time. And, trust me, you'll have a far sweeter time eating this during the scary movie than holding hands with Paul!

Rum Cake Recipe: From Dorie Greenspan's wonderful book!
Ingredients:

2 cups of all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt
1 cup canned unsweetened coconut milk (stir well before measuring)
1/2 stick (4 Tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces
4 large eggs, room temperature
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 teaspoons dark rum (optional, but a delicious addition)
3/4 cup shredded coconut (unsweetened or sweetened) toasted or not.

To Do:

preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Butter a 9 to 10 inch Kegelhopf or Bundt pan
Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together.
Pour the coconut milk into a small saucepan, add the butter and heat untl the milk is hot and the butter melted. Remove from the heat, but keep warm.
With a stand mixer (paddle attachment) or a hand mixer, beat the eggs and sugar at medium-high speed until pale, thick and almost doubled in volume, about 3 minutes.
Beat in the vanilla and the rum.
Reduce the mixer to low and add the dry ingredients, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed and stopping just when the flour disappears.
Keeping the mixer on low, add the coconut, mixing only until it is blended, then steadily add the hot milk and butter. When the mixture is smooth, stop mixing and give the batter a couple of turns with a rubber spatula, just to be sure that everything is mixed through.
Pour the batter into the pan and even it out.
MAKE THE RUM Glaze once you put the cake into the oven.
Bake for 60 to 65 minutes, or until the cake is golden brown and a thin knife insrted deep into the ceter comes out clean. Transfer the cake to a rack and cool for 10 minutes before unmolding onto the rack.

Rum Glaze:

1/3 cup water
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 dark rum

To do:

Stir the water and sugar together in a medium saucepan over medium heat until the sugar milts, then bring to a boil. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the rum. Pour the syrup into a heatproof bowl and let cool.
Place the rack over a baking sheet lined with wax paper and , using a thin skewer, cake tester or thin-bladed sharp knife, poke holes all over the cake. Brush the cakes with the syrup, working slowly so that the cakes sop it up.

How to make a Big Sky Puff Pancake

2009-08-14T12:23:00.000-07:00

Holy Crap. Have you ever seen a sky like this?

Okay. For those of us whose parents are saying that a "staycation" is just as good as a vacation or that a weekend getaway can be as lovely as a resort, well... I'm here to tell you the only people they're convincing is themselves. Nevertheless it is my job to bring you something positive along the lines of "we don't have much money, but we have each other."

Here is the sky from a day's drive from where I am in the mountains. The color of that field really is neon yellow. Like the highlighter I will use way too much of when school is back. It's called Canola (used to be named Rapeseed- wonder why they changed that name huh?)

Yes the drive was only as exciting as my ipod and the DVDs I was watching, but stopping here was, even I had to admit, beautiful.

And I got to stay with a favourite relative who lives in a far off little town. But she bought a beautiful plant just for my arrival:

How about a flower like this?

But the absolute best part of this weekend getaway/staycation/save-money-and-stay-with-the-relatives-instead-of-a-posh-resort was the breakfast! And I know it's not cake, but it's got cake in the title: it's a Big Sky Puff Pancake. It can also be called Clafouti. I've tried a few versions of this delicious cake (there's a Julia Child recipe with cherries in it), but this one is plain and eggy and all poufy and it's so delish, you'll want it for breakfast the next day, too!

I promise, promise, promise this one is a keeper! As for my vacation, I'm really hoping there is a resort in my future. If not, I'll gain 10 pounds from the relative's cooking!

Ingredients:

2 cups flour
6 Tbsp. sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups milk
6 eggs
4 Tbsp. butter

To Do:

Heat oven to 425 degrees.
In medium bowl, combine flour, sugar, salt, milk, and eggs and beat with wire whisk or eggbeater until smooth.
Place butter in a 13 x 9" pan and heat in the oven until butter sizzles, 2-4 minutes.
Remove pan from oven and tilt to coat bottom with melted butter.
Immediately pour batter into hot coated pan.
Bake at 425 degrees for 22-26 minutes, until pancake is puffed and golden brown. Remove pancake from oven; serve immediately.

TIP: I usually add 2 teaspoons vanilla to the batter, because I love vanilla.
Serves 6.

Friday Night Cake. Florida Pie. Lime and Coconut Dreams

2009-08-13T19:41:00.000-07:00

A Summer of Cake Snobs.

I am a snob when it comes to cake. And...because I love all sweet things deliciously homemade, I don't bother with any baked thing you can buy at a grocery store.

This summer, I have converted more than a handful of people into being cake snobs, too. And it's creeping over...soon we will be cookie snobs, pie snobs, maybe even rice pudding snobs. (Honestly, who could eat that stuff from the grocery store- have you read how many preservatives are in that!)

If Jillian were at my side right now she'd say, Stop! You're being you. Tone it down.

Right. I get that people don't want radical. They want me to say Betty Crocker mixes and frosting from a can is a reasonable substitute. It isn't. (Sorry Jillian). Okay, sometimes you can get away with buying a graham cracker crust instead of making one (as in the recipe below) or maybe you want to throw some Oreo cookies in your frosting, but that's the limit. The limit: part of a dessert can be storebought, but not the whole thing!

I only have a small story from my life today. It is the story of a fat girl vs. a thin one. Actually she isn't all that fat, maybe a little overweight and I'm not really thin, I'm average, but the title of the story is better if it's FAT vs. THIN. Lots of drama.

There I am, on the hill at Williamson's Lake, and I'm uncovering my wonderful Dessert of the Day- the lovely Florida Pie- when Babs (oh God, it's an awful nickname that her mother gave her, something about a best friend from high school) approaches me. She's got her bikini on and there's more than a muffin top- she's got an extra large bagel hanging around her waist.
"You're not giving me any of that."
"Okay."
"No. Really. You know it's probably 15 points, one of those pieces."
"I'd give it a 100 points," I say as I lick off the knife.
"Weight Watchers. I'm on the quick start." She crosses her hands over her ample belly. "I've lost 7.2 pounds so far."
"You shouldn't eat it then."
"Why not?" She puts her hands on hips. "They're my points."
"Why are you mad at me? You're the one on a diet."
"Isn't there any way I could just have one bite?"
"Of course there is, just eat one bite. But you better hurry. People will be asking for pieces soon and there won't be any left."
"All right, one bite."
"Do you want me to say no or do you want me to give you a bite?" (Let's be clear. I do not want to be responsible for a gain instead of loss at the weigh in.)
"I want a bite."
"Just one then? Or a whole piece?"
"Just one."
I take a plastic spoon and dig through all three layers. It's the biggest one bite I can manage on a spoon. "Now," I say. "Make sure and let all the flavours lay on your tongue, swallow it slow. Maybe one bite will be enough."
"Oh...it's got coconut and lime in it. Oh...it's so good." She closes her eyes. Her mouth spreads happiness.
"Enough?"
"Yeah. But give the rest away, fast, okay?" Babs heads up the hill. Later, I see she's doing laps. I think she wants to earn some points for a bite of tomorrow's delectable.

You'd think with all the cake-making and eating I do around here I'd be depressed that I don't fit into my swimsuit anymore. However, the very act of making the cake seems to satisfy some of my sweet tooth- one slice of cake or delectable dessert is often enough for me. And if I eat it slowly and let the flavours mingle and dance on my tongue, I eat less. Plus cake making takes away my stress. Follow a recipe, craft a superb ending and all the other worries I have whip out of my head with the first whir of the beaters.

The tips for this great pie:

It has three layers of yumminess inside it's crust: 1. a coconut cream layer 2. A lovely lime filling and 3. The meringue top.
Make sure you start this early in the day: various layers will need to cool and you freeze the pie.
This is not a difficult pie to make. The time it takes is worth the VOILA! at the end.

Florida Pie.
How can anything this delicious have so few ingredients?
Ingredients:

1 9-inch graham cracker crust, fully baked and cooled (homemade or store bought crust)
1 1/3 cups of heavy cream
1 1/2 cups of shredded sweetened coconut
4 large eggs, separated
1 14 ounce can sweetened and condensed milk
1/3 cup fresh lime juice (5 regular limes)
1/4 cup of sugar

To Do:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Put the cream and 1 cup of the coconut in a small saucepan and bring it to a boil over medium-low heat, stirring almost constantly. Continue to cook and stir until the cream is reduced by half and the mixture is slightly thickened. Scrape the coconut cream into a bowl and set it aside while you prepare the lime filling.
Working with a stand mixer, with a paddle attachment or a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the egg yolks on high speed until thick and pale.
Reduce speed to low and beat in the condensed milk. Still on low, add half of the lime juice. When it is incorporated, add the remaining juice, again mixing until it is blended.
Spread the coconut cream in the bottom of the graham cracker crust, and pour over the lime filling.
Bake the pie for 12 minutes. Transfer the pie to a cooling rack and cool for 15 minutes, then freeze the pie for at least for 1 hour.

To finish the pie with meringue.

Preheat the broiler
Put the 4 egg whites and the sugar in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan and heat over medium-low heat, whisking all the while, until the whites are hot to the touch.
Transfer the whites to a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, or use a hand mixer in a large bowl, and beat the whites at high speed until they reach room temperature and hold firm peaks.
Using a rubber spatula, fold the remaining 1/2 cup coconut into the meringue.
Spread the meringue over the top of the pie.
Set the pie under the broiler until the top of the meringue is golden brown.
Return the pie to the freezer for another 30 minutes or up to 3 hours before serving.

Friday Night Cake: Espresso Cheesecake Brownies.

2009-07-24T09:44:00.000-07:00

I need to cool down this rant.

I always hated when my mother told me that if a guy was a jerk towards me, he secretly liked me. When Will scraped his boogers against my arm in the third grade, that wasn't an act of I-Love-You. Maybe he wanted my attention, but more likely he wanted the admiration of every boy in the class. I am not afraid of anything, he must have thought, not even getting into trouble for terrorizing Chantal. Under his terror, I became the girl who shrieked easily, the one who stepped carefully in or out of a room, the one who found dark movie theaters and parking lots far too scary to navigate alone. I was a splendid brain with a nervous system that peaked out all the time.

And the teachers didn't help nuch. They rolled their eyes and talked about how all boys are like that. Excuse me; all boys do not place the hearts of their dissected fetal pigs in a box and give them to a girl (me) on Valentine's Day. Principal Hall said on February 15, "Will may have gone too far this time." May? You think?

It wasn't until the security cameras focused on the school parking lot caught him following me to my car, crouched down and shuffling between bumpers, that the principal started to understand that Will did not have an average crush on me. When they caught him behind a black Honda Civic, they discovered a knife attached to his leg. He claimed it was for protection, but they suspended him anyway. And I've heard he's going to anger management classes. Apparently the "arrest" was heated.

If Jillian is reading this right now, I apologize. I know I have promised to drop the whole Will thing. I know I have committed to never reliving the events of the past 8 years under Will's torture, but this is a blog. And blogs are for venting and ranting. And people like to read about all the awful things that have occurred. I am obligated to my readers to be honest.

And readers, the truth is I think Will hates me and, potentially, all girls. It will probably take hours of a paid-professional's time to figure out exactly why and even more hours to attempt to fix this bizarre attitude that has translated into so much misery for me. Perhaps people will pray for his soul. Perhaps they will wonder if it was him who poisoned their cat. All I know is that I am right. And I like to be right.

I'm telling you this story to warn you to follow your gut instinct. Mean boys are not secretly in love with the girls they torture and if they believe that they are, their view of love is real messed up.

With all this heaviness of thought and philosophy, the heat of ranting is overwhelming. I need to cool down. And so I share with you the coolest Combination Brownie I've ever made. It's brownies with coffee-flavoured cream cheese. Authentic love at first bite. The only bite a lover should be giving his lovee.

Espresso Chocolate Brownie Bites!
Think of iced cappuccinos and frozen lattes and deliciously hot things served cold on a sunderful summer day. This recipe is delectably bold in expresso flavour and deliciously sweet-creamy- the chocolate pizazz that will last long after the curtain call on the last bite!
Note 1: There are lots of steps here but the recipe is not difficult. And it's definitely worth the work.
Note 2: This recipe is from Dorie Greenspan's book Baking. If you love to bake and you don't own this cookbook, save up your bottle deposits to buy it. It's wonderfully delightful.

Ingredients:
For the Brownies

1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into five pieces
4 ounces bitterweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
1/3 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the Cheesecake:

1 1/2 teaspoons epresso powder
1 Tablespoon boiling water
8 ounces of cream cheese, room temperature
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1/4 cup sour cream
1 Tablespoon all-purpose flour

For the Topping:

1 1/4 cups sour cream
1/2 cup icing sugar

To Do:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9 inch square pan, dust with flour and tap out excess. Put the pan on a baking sheet

For Brownies:

Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.
Set a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Put the butter in the bowl, top with the chopped chocolate and stir occasionally until the ingredients are just melted- you don't want them to get so hot that the butter separates. Remove the bowl from the pan of water.
With a whisk, stir the sugar into the chocolate mixture. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Whisk in the vanilla and beat vigorously for a few seconds. With the whisk or a rubber spatula, gently stir in the dry ingredients, mixing only until they disappear into the batter.
Set aside while you prepare the cheesecake.

For the Cheesecake:

Dissolve the espresso poweder in the boiling water. Set aside to cool.
In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment or using a hand mixer, beat the cream cheese on medium speed until completely smooth. Add the sugar and beat for 3 minutes or until well incorporated.
Beat in the vanilla and the espresso mixture.
Add the eggs one at a time, beating for 1 miute after each addition, then reduce the mixer speed to low.
Add the sour cream, followed by the flour. The batter will be smooth.

To combine:

Give the brownie batter a few stirs and pour three quarters of the batter into the perpeared pan.
Smooth the brownie layer and pour the cheecake batter over it, tilting the pan as needed to even the batter.
Dot the top of the batter with spoonfuls of the remaining brownie batter. (Dorie suggests you swirl. I didn't. Loved the result.)
Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until the brownies pull away from the sides of the pan and the cheesecake layer is beige in the center and lightly browned around the edges. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool to room temperature.
When the brownies are completely cool, refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or until thoroughly chilled.

For the Topping:

Warm the sour cream and sugar in a saucepan over very low heat, stirring constantly until sugar is dissovled. (just takes a couple of minutes).
Remove from the heat and pour the topping over the cold cheesecake layer.
Return brownies to refrigerator and chill for at least another hour.

Dorie's note: The easiest way to cut this dessert is to run the knife blade under hot water, wipe it dry and cut the cake into quarters. Remove the quarters from the pan, and again using a warmed-and-dried knife, cut each quarter into 4 pieces.

How to: weather a storm.

2009-07-19T06:48:00.000-07:00

Summer brings the worst storms.

Dust stampedes. Tree branches splinter and daredevil drop. Hailstones clatter like a chorus of hammers on a bed of nails.

I didn't sleep much the night of the storm; the heat smothered the breeze and the lightning took out the power of my fan to keep me cool. Sirens sounded at repeated numbers on my clock: 1:11 a.m., 2:22 a.m., 3:33 a.m., 4:44 a.m.. My eyes flipped open and I wondered at the significance.

It didn't help that I'd watched the movie Knowing (Nicholas Cage) as the storm gathered strength. Black sky loomed outside as ominous as the movie end.

Is it true that nothing is random? Can some things be determined and some things random or is it only one or the other? These are not good questions for 1:11, 2:22, 3:33 and 4:44. They're the sort of questions that make you question your sanity.

It made me think of my worst days last year when I thought I would never have a best friend again, when I stayed awake all night. What if I'd known that I had no control, that the result was already planned and organized? Would I have stopped worrying? Would I have slept more? And would that have meant I wouldn't have learned how to bake cakes? And who would I be now? Maybe you can only see determinism in the past- when the connections are clear. The future always looks to me like randomness that I'm forcing into a pattern. Do I have my whole life plan wrong? Maybe I shouldn't even have a life plan. See what I mean about summer storms?

So I awoke this morning, determined (no pun intended!) to do something good with my day. Goodness is the kind of thing that makes any day brighter. And of course, the cake goodness comes with extra sweet powers of invitation to happiness.

Here then, is my Determinism Cake. Sure ingredients that will not fail to bring a smile to your face. The layer of white cake is both spongy and sweet, the lemony pudding in the bottom is authentically flavoured and simultaneously, delightfully, tart and sweet.

Determinism Cake (AKA Lemon Pudding Cake)
Ingredients

1/2 cup unbleached flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 1/2 buttermilk
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (about 3 lemons)
2 teaspoons freshly grated lemon peel
2 egg yolks, lightly beaten
4 egg whites
pinch of salt

To Do:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly oil the square glass baking dish (8 1/2 X 8 1/2) and place it in a larger baking pan. (I use a 9 X 13) You'll be pouring boiling water halfway up the sides of the square baking dish- this is to make the pre-determined magic happen.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and 3/4 cup of the sugar. (If you really love sweet, you can either a. add 1/4 cup more sugar now or b. (my personal favourite) sprinkle 1/4 cup of sugar onto the batter before baking!)
Stir in the buttermilk, lemon juice, the grated lemon peel, if using, and the egg yolks and set aside.
With an electric mixer or stand mixer, beat the egg whites and salt until the whites are stiff. Beat int he remaining 1/2 cup of sugar.
Gently fold the egg whites into the batter.
Spoon the batter evenly into the glass square baking dish. (Now is the time to add the 1/4 more sugar sprinkled on top of the batter- if you want a little sugary crunch goodness!)
Pour boiling water into the 9 X 13 baking pan to reach half-way up the sides of the glass baking dish.
Bake for 35 to 45 minutes until puffy and golden.

This dessert has only 200 or so calories per serving and 2.6 mg of fat. Not bad at all if you care about these sorts of things.

Friday Night Cake. Melting Fruit, Brown Sugar Crumbles and Luxury Cake

2009-07-17T07:54:00.000-07:00

I have a confession to make.

An aside: Who doesn't confess when they write a blog? After all isn't that the point of reading blogs? To find out what's inside the heads of the writers? It's a bit like reality television without the awful camera angles and the inability of the participants to edit their stupid comments.

Back to my confession.

Fruit, to me, is an ingredient. Not a whole food all on it's own. I don't thrill at the idea of biting into a fresh apple. (At the very least it needs to be sliced an put on a plate before I want to eat it.) A dozen raspberries picked off the canes is enough for me. Give me a banana and I'll tell you it needs to be sliced and added to something: a smoothie, a bowl of cereal, on top of ice cream or under a blanket of semi-sweet chocolate.

It's not that I don't appreciate fruit in it's plain jane state. It's that I love it more when it's dressed up and ready to go out for a party. Throw a little mascara on that peach before you hand it to me. Give those blueberries a strand of pearls and a dash of perfume and, then, I'm ready to share the love.

Tonight's Friday Night Cake is for all the BFF's who love fruit warm and melty, perfectly sugared candy without the preservatives. Throw a little ice cream on this baby and you've got a dessert that's farm-fresh with sultry highlights. Could be trouble if you're with the wrong kind of person.

:)

Melting Fruit, Brown Sugar Crumbles and Luxury Cake
(based on the cranberry upside-downer cake in Baking, by Dorie Greenspan)

Ingredients:

1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 sticks (14 tablespoons) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup minus 2 Tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
2 cups (3 large) of peaches- fresh, peeled and in thin, long slices.
1 handful of raspberries- fresh or frozen (do not thaw)
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/3 cup milk

To Do:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Put an 8 X 2 inch round cake pan on a baking sheet.
Whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.
Melt 6 Tablespoons of the butter in a small saucepan. Sprinkle in 6 Tablespoons of the sugar and cook, stirring, until the mixture comes to a boil.
Pour this evenly over the bottom of the cake pan, then scatter over the nuts and top with the peaches and raspberries. Set aside.
In a stand mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment or a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the remaining butter (8 tablespoons) on medium speed until smooth. Add the remaining 1/2 cup sugar and continue to beat until pale and creamy, about 3 minutes.
Add the eggs one at a time, beating for 1 minute after each addition and scraping down the bowl as needed.
Pour in the vanilla.
Reduce mixer speed to low. Add half of the dry ingredients, mixing only until they disappear into the batter.
Add in the milk, then the rest of dry ingredients, mix until just mixed.
Spread the batter over the fruit, smooth the top with a spatula.
Bake for 40 to 45 minutes. Remove from the oven and run a blunt knife between the sides of the pan and the cake. Carefully turn the cake out onto a serving platter.

SO YUMMY!!!

I've been thinking...

2009-07-08T15:46:00.000-07:00

It's raining. I don't like to go out in the rain unless it's intentional like if Jillian phones and says let's go down to the river and watch the rain fall on the water or we wear our oldest clothes and go for a bike ride on the trails and, later, laugh at the mud tracks on our backs from the spray. And then we'll have hot chocolate with marshmallows.

No such phone calls from Jillian today, so I lit a candle and thought. I wanted Jillian to phone today. I wanted to have a reason to do something other than stare at a candle burning, move fake sand around with a little metal rake and rearrange the rocks that were packed in this little wooden box. What I wanted, I've decided after an hour or so of contemplation, was to feel important. Important enough that Jillian would think of me and then call. But she didn't. It would have been a miracle if, say, Mr. Extraordinary called me. Clearly, I'm not expecting a miracle today.

The thing is, I think we all want to feel important, but maybe on different scales. Celebrities are addicted to feeling important- especially ones like Paris Hilton who has enough money that she doesn't need to earn money by being important. And the Olsen twins. They want to be important for something other than looking exactly like each other and being cute when a director says, "Action!" They have started their own clothing line so they can earn a reputation for something that they think is important. Bono wants to use his celebrity to keep people from starving in Africa- maybe he's, like, attempting to confer his importance on someone else, then?

And what about Jon of J & K + 8? He's a jerk, really, for screwing it all up, but I think it all started with him wanting to be important for something other than being the dad of sextuplets and twins. Did you see him on the show clearing out the forest for the playhouses? He was so ticked off that Kate didn't want the houses back there. He was desperate for something to work out the way he expected, wasn't he?

In our world here in a small town in the middle of everywhere and nowhere at the same time, we want to be important, too. We have skateboarders, hockey guys, girls who dye their hair a different color every month, a massive group of grade 10 kids who wear basically all the same clothes so they'll be important at matching each other. And of course all this thinking got me to examining me. What do I want to be important at? Well, I think it changes over time. And I've created a graph for today. I call it Chantal's pie chart of importance. (I wanted to call it a cake chart but I was worried not all of you would get it!)

The words on the chart that look fuzzy are reprinted under the chart:

RED: Best at being Jillian's best friend
BLUE: Top Student Overall
LT. BLUE: Best at Physics
GREEN: Best at Baking Cakes
YELLOW: Best at hiding during hide-n-seek.

What would your pie would look like?

Friday Night Cake. The Solo Chocolate.

2009-06-19T10:46:00.000-07:00

Sometimes my life is all about me. Okay, maybe most of the time and I just want to deny my self-interest for 90 percent of my life minutes.

Why is that?

If I went to my mother's therapist he'd tell me I am always trying to be the good girl. And the good girl is giving, thoughtful, and always a good listener. And I do try to be the good girl, but it's hard, you know. When Jillian and I are alone for a couple of hours, I confess it all- everything I'm afraid of and all the things that drive me crazy. I would never walk around telling everyone what I really think- no one would like me.

I've been thinking about Calixa. She didn't pretend anything so that I would be her friend. It's a bit freaked to think a cupcake is a box of poo, but she was herself. Is that complexity bad or good? Or is it neither.

My head hurts from life complex.

I want Mr. Extraordinary, but it appears he's absorbed in his own life.

I don't want Mr. Nearly Extraordinary, but because I dated him once he's like a wart on my foot- he makes me ugly and I can't burn him off easily.

If I could just have what I want, I would be happy. I can see you smiling. You know the truth that starts my headaches, don't you? Getting what you want isn't the answer, it's accepting what you get and finding some kind of happiness in it.

Argghhh. I need sweetness. Not a lot, though. I require an amount small enough for a little luxury, but not too big that I'm feeling like I need to run 30 sets of stairs.

And here's the answer: From Bite-size desserts by Carole Bloom. I know it's technically not cake, but it's chocolate and it's creamy and delightful. I can guarantee comfort and self-love with the smallest of portions.

Toasted Coconut-Chocolate Pudding

Ingredients:

1/3 cup plus 1 Tablespoon sweetened shredded coconut
3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, (62% to 72% cacao), finely chopped
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
1 Tablespoon plus 1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch, sifted
pinch of salt
2 large egg yolks, at room temperature.
1 1/4 cup milk, divided into 1 cup and 1/4 cup
3/4 cup heavy whipping cream, divided into 1/2 cup and 1/4 cup
1 Tablespoon unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

To Do:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put the eight ramekins (2 1/2 by 1 1/2 inch round) or you can use one two-quart dish or even martini glasses since you won't be cooking the pudding in the oven. The oven is only used to toast the coconut.

Toast the coconut in a cake or pie pan for 3 minutes. Stir and toast 3 more minutes, until light golden. Remove from oven and cool. Reserve 1 Tablespoon for garnish.
Melt the chopped chocolate in a double boiler over hot water or in a microwave-safe bowl on the lowest power, 30 seconds at a time.
Whisk together the sugar, cocoa powder, cornstarch and salt in a 2 quart mixing bowl until well combined.
In a small bowl, beat the egg yolks with a fork and add in 1/4 cup of the milk. Add to the cocoa mixture and whisk until smooth.
Bring the remaining 1 cup of milk and 1/2 cup of cream to boil over medium heat.
Remove the pan from the burner and slowly add it to the cocoa mixture, whisking until smooth. (You're trying to incorporate the egg yolks here without cooking them into scrambled eggs with chocolate pudding.)
Pour the whole mixture back into the saucepan and stir constantly over medium heat until the pudding thickens.
Remove the saucepan from the heat and stir in the butter until melted. Add the vanilla and melted chocolate and stir until blended. Stir in all but the extra 1 Tablespoon of toasted coconut.
Divide the pudding evenly among the ramekins, cover loosely and cool to room temperature. Tightly cover with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator, about 2 hours. Confession- I have eaten these before they chilled. Still fabulous!

Garnish: whip the rest of the cream. Add a dollop of cream and a sprinkle of toasted coconut.

The dangers of secret deliveries.

2009-06-14T06:12:00.000-07:00

Calixa, it turns out, is more complex than I thought.

I packaged the cupcake in a take-out food box, clean of course, with the VN coffee cupcake resting on brilliant purple tissue paper so the frosting wouldn't smoosh up the sides. I biked over to her house- 15 blocks and up hills from mine- but I parked a block away. The ditched bike was to avoid later recognition. My plan was to talk on my cellphone past her house, and act distracted when I strolled up her walkway. I'd leave the cupcake box on the front step and hang up the phone, look around and act like I suddenly realized where I needed to be and then go off again. I was an actor playing the scene in my head. Except that I set the cupcake box down on the front step and as I turned to leave, the front door opened.

"Hiya!" The orange leg warmers were obvious.

"Uh..." I had never drafted a plan B.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm just...um..." In thinking up an excuse, I looked directly at the cupcake box.

She looked down, rocked the box with her toe. "You're leaving dog shit in a box or something?"

"What?" Dog poo? Who leaves dog poo at a person's house.

"Or worse. It's some guy's crap in a box. One of those asses from school, right? They put you up to it, didn't they?"

"No. It's a cupcake. What guys?"

"You made it into the shape of a cupcake?"

"It's a real cupcake."

"Why didn't you just give it to me if it was real?" She was mad. Genuinely pee-od. I wouldn't be surprised if she spit at me. I probably should have just left, but my desire to be right took over.

"It's supposed to be anonymous. It's a gift."

"You're a stalker?"

"No. I just like to bake. And give it away."

Before I even had my sentence out, she shook her head. Her hair was stringy and needed some deep conditioning on the ends. "I don't want it. Take it back."

"I..." I considered opening the box, eating the cupcake right in front of her. I'd prove that it was real, that it tasted good, that if poison was involved, I was willing to take the hit, too. But that was ridiculous. I didn't have to prove anything. "I'm not taking it back. Maybe you could give it to someone else."

"Right. So I can be responsible for someone else's suffering." I searched her eyes for some glimmer that this was all a big joke and she was about to start laughing. They were narrow and authentic. She was fricking serious.

"Calixa. It's just a cupcake." I turned away and walked down the path wishing my bike were closer. I shook my head, showed my pity for the poor, confused girl. I guess that was what broke her.

I heard her footsteps behind me and I froze. She was coming after me. I didn't run. I didn't turn to fight. I covered my head with my arms and crouched down. I know how to survive in a storm. It wasn't that bad, though. Just a cupcake box to the head.

At first, I wanted to call Jillian and tell her everything. But I've decided to keep it a secret for awhile. I would say that Calixa is crazy, but I think it's fairer to say she's complex. Who knows what happened before she came to our school. And, better, what guys is she talking about? I want to know who wants her to have a box of excrement and why.

So...GFF...I'll keep you posted.

Friday Night Cake. Vietnamese Coffee Cupcakes.

2009-06-12T11:42:00.000-07:00

Ned is no longer a pain in my existence. It's nothing I did, though, so I can only thank karma or The Randomness.

Rumour has it that Mr. Nearly Extraordinary was found in the parking lot in an embarrassing situation that I can't go into details about here. The result, though, is Ned has sequestered himself in self-imposed rehab. He walks the halls staring at the floor. His force field allows him to bounce off lockers when guys "bump" into him. He appears to know how it works; live through it until torture lights shine in someone else's eyes.

In high school you're either in or you're out. And the insiders view the outsiders with relief. Thank you, Lord, I'm not her. The in-crowd people, (those girls who swarm in groups and the guys who are constantly texting to determine who is going to have the party), they believe that the outsiders wilt like flowers begging for water.

The outsiders though, are busy creating a life. Sure, some are at home plotting how to get back in to the crowd they miss, but most others are wildflowers, finding a way to travel around the rocks and sprout up elsewhere.

I know about outsiders. I have been one. Off and on. It's how I discovered cakes. But you probably know all about that.

I've met a new outsider. Calixa. New girls are by definition on the outside, but Calixa will probably be an outsider for life.

Here are the top 10 reasons why:

Her signature color: Orange. It's just too bold for our school.
Her clothing: Bright. Mixed patterns. Orange leg warmers even when it's hot.
Her hair: Ponytails. Too many. Weird locations. Fringe is too jagged. At our school, fringe is straight across.
Her fingernails: Short. More than one color at a time.
Her shoes: Boy sneakers, ballet flats, kitten heels. Where does she shop?
Her hello: The way she says "Hiya". Karate is a fringe event at our school.
Her Personal Space Barrier: She stands so close, you can see her silver fillings.
Her Teacher Persona: She uses their vocabulary, takes them on if she disagrees. At our school, we thrive on the social life, not the educational component.
Her Nervous Habit: She twirls. We do not have I Think You Can Dance tryouts between classes or...ever.
Her Friendliness: Unlike Ned, she doesn't seem to realize she's an outsider. She's friendly to everyone as if she is part of their group. They all know it's an act and they're taking bets on what will break her.

The weirdest thing about Calixa, (okay, I admit her name is pretty weird), is that I like her. She's everything I wouldn't like. Too bold. Too loud. Too much. But I could never be friends with her. I could, however, send her a cupcake. Just a little something to give her hope. But it would have to be anonymous. And VERY sneaky. Everyone knows I make cakes. But I'm good at sneaking. Superb, really. I'll let you know on Wednesday how I've done it.

In honor of Calixa, I've crafted a cupcake outside of its environment: A Vietnamese Coffee Cupcake with Sweetened Condensed Milk Frosting.

It's one of the finest I've ever made. The cake is PERFECT! The smell is divine. And I know what I've said about powdered sugar icing, but this one is delish because of the cream cheese and the sweetened condensed milk add-ins. Trust me. You'll love it. Substitute strong brewed coffee for the vietnamese brewed and it will still be delish. I tried it both ways. They were each great.

This cake is outside its environment because Vietnam does not have a cake culture. There are few ovens so people do not make them at home. But did I tell you it's delicious?? I found this recipe at Eat My Cupcake blog. I used Vanhouten cocoa powder and followed the directions exactly. Easy Peasy. I challenge you to craft your own and find an outsider to give it to...

Sugar B's Vietnamese Coffee Cupcakes
Makes 12 standards or 24 minis

INGREDIENTS

1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup Cafe Du Monde or Trung Nguyen coffee with 2 spoonfuls of condensed milk
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar1 large egg, at room temperature

TO DO.
1. Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350°F.

2. Line a standard 12-cup muffin pan with paper or foil liners.

3. Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a bowl.

4. In a measuring cup, combine the milk and brewed coffee.

5. In a medium bowl, using an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat the butter and sugars together until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes.

6. Add the egg and beat until combined.

7. Add the flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with the coffee mixture in 2 additions, beating on low speed until just combined; scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.

8. Fill muffin cups.

9. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean, 16-20 minutes.

10. Cool the cupcakes.

Condensed Milk Frosting

INGREDIENTS

8 oz. cream cheese
3/4 stick of softened butter
1 c. of powdered sugar (to taste)
2 tablespoons of coffee extract or brewed coffee
2 spoonfuls of condensed milk

DIRECTIONS
1. Use mixer and mix all.

2. Spread the love.

3. Enjoy

How to: Make a Swiss Meringue Buttercream Frosting.

2009-06-08T05:51:00.000-07:00

Making Over the Ordinary.

I've gone over a million times what I should have said to Mr. Nearly Extraordinary:
Go to _.
_ off.
You're a _ .
None of them are very imaginative; insults are something you have to practice to be good at them.

I've thought of ways to seek revenge.
Hidden cameras.
Food with meancing ingredients- over-the-counter medications that will cause bathroom emergencies.
Not only is this list short and also lame, it's beyond my level of mean.

If I told my mother, which I would never do, she'd say I should ignore Ned and all others who find me worthy for their insult entertainment.

Jillian said she heard that Ned really likes me, that he's trying to get my attention. Jillian, I said, I am not interested in a dating situation that requires psychological intervention. She laughed. She said the easily panicked part of me is almost as good as the just-say-no side of me. She's proposed going to a party next weekend. A party that will help me redefine my image. I asked her if Mr. Extraordinary is invited. She says it's at his house! My week then will be spent thinking about how to get to this party without my mother finding out, what to wear and seven remarkable questions I can ask that will turn me from brainy nerd to smart and cool.
To celebrate the making-over of ordinary, as promised, here is the amazing frosting recipe:

Okay, so it's a bit trickier than your basic American buttercream (soft butter beaten with powdered sugar), but a Swiss Meringue Buttercream is like wearing Loubiton heels instead of Walmart specials. I'm not being overly dramatic here; there is a huge difference!

I know many of us have been raised on frosting from the grocery store shelves, but you have to stop and think about what's inside that frosting that makes it shelf life nearly as much as the half-life of Carbon. Honestly. Do you think you just pee out all those chemicals? Okay. Enough. I've gone off topic.

The Taste: SMB tastes like a buttery, sugary whipped cream without the heavy "ack" in the back of your throat. It whips up easy and it holds its shape beautifully. It is best served at room temperature.

The Ease: SMB is easy enough for an amateur baker to handle. I promise. What is most important is to have all of the ingredients ready before you begin and at the right temperature (the butter must be soft)

The Drama: Your tasters will ask you how you did it, where did you find the recipe, what gift have you been given to create something so light and tasty.

The Final Advice: Give up the store bought and walk away from the bags of powdered sugar. You won't need them. You're going to create art from pure ingredients and love in your heart for SMB.

Swiss Meringue Buttercream

Ingredients

4 large egg whites
1 cup sugar
2 cups unsalted butter, cubed, at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

To Do

Put the egg whites and sugar in the clean, grease-free bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and stir together until the sugar is blended into the egg whites.
Place the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and stir frequently until the sugar dissolves and the mixture reaches 140 to 150 farenheit. (I timed this and it took 2 minutes exactly. I did not have a thermometer, either.)
Transfer the bowl to the mixer and beat on high speed until the meringue and the bowl are cool to the touch.
Add the cubed butter gradually, mixing after each addition until fully incorporated and scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Blend in the vanilla. The buttercream is ready to use or may be tightly covered and stored in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

Repairing Separated Buttercream.
Separated buttercream will appear lumpy and greasy. Buttercream usually separates because it was too cold when it was mixed. This can be easily fixed by warming up the bottom of the metal mixing bowl over hot water and whipping the buttercream at the same time. This will warm up the buttercream and will bring it back together.

Friday Night Cake. Very Vanilla Cupcakes.

2009-06-05T09:03:00.000-07:00

GFF, my life is in shambles. Ned, Mr. Nearly Extraordinary, the first-date disaster of Monday's post, has been a stupid ass all week. I told him on the phone I couldn't go out with him again and he's acting like a baby. He makes up stories about our date and tells them to me. His memories have been sifted through a filter that removes his idiot moves and paints anything I said or did with radioactive dye.

Example from earlier today:

Ned approaches me at my locker. I scan the hallways to see who will witness this exchange. Crud. Mr. Extraordinary is at the water fountain. Oh, no, he's looking up. I cringe. Please don't let Mr. Extraordinary think I'm with Ned.

"Chantal." First observation: Ned has his hands in his pockets. "I'm remembering pepperoni. Yours. Stacked on the side of your plate."

"Ned. Why are you doing this?" Second observation: Ned rocks back on his heels. Glances around as if he's on duty waiting for back-up. "You're acting like a loser."

"It's a game, isn't it Chantal. Isn't all of this a game?"

"You're so...obscure. Do you think this is going to get me to go out with you again?" Final Observation: He drops his chin, throws back the clump of hair that he's taken to combing forward. Some kind of desperate MTV TV look.

"And then, you looked at me, eyes glazing over with desire. You said, 'I like to eat my meat at the end.' "

He erupts in laughter. And the volume increases because it isn't just him laughing, it's the people all around us. I slam my locker door shut, make my way to the stairwell, and then outside. I'm sure I hear footsteps behind me and I see what I think might be Mr. Extraordinary's flashy nike shoes. I don't slow down though. I don't look back. Humiliation looks like this on me: blotchy red face, watery eyes, premature wrinkling at the mouth and a sadness that can't be missed. Not Miss Extraordinary girlfriend material.

Clearly, it's another weekend spent watching Food TV, doing homework and avoiding all forms of messages from anyone. This Week's Friday Night Cake is not chocolate because it isn't about desire. It's vanilla because it's about needing a comfort. Vanilla mends humiliation like hot chocolate warms you up on a snowy day. Vanilla says, Girl you are sweet, you are worth a dollar more than anyone gives you credit for, and you have a good heart.

This Vanilla cupcake recipe is from More from Magnolia recipes from the World-Famous Bakery and it's sweet with a perfect crumb interior. I topped it with a Swiss Buttercream that will be Monday's how to post. But you could top it with any basic Vanilla buttercream and still be feeling love. Notice: The cupcakes in the picture are mismatched. Like Ned and Me.

Magnolia's Vanilla Cupcakes by Allysa Torey

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups self-rising flour (substitute 1 1/2 cups cake or all purpose flour + 1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder and a dash of salt- it still works great!)
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened.
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

To Do:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
In a small bowl, combine the flours. Set aside.
In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter until smooth. Add the sugar gradually and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Add the dry ingredients in three parts, alternating with the milk and vanilla.
Do NOT over beat.
Use your rubber spatula to give a good once over, making sure everything is incorporated (sometimes the sugar lumps)
Spoon batter into cupcake liners, fill them about 3/4 full.
Bake 20 to 25 minutes, or until the cake tester inserted into the center of the cupcake comes out clean.

How to: Salvage a Failed Cake.

2009-06-01T08:25:00.000-07:00

AND...How to Salvage a Dating Failure.

Well. Plan B: find a Mr. Nearly Extraordinary was not a good plan.

Let's call Mr. Nearly Extraordinary Ned. I was in the band hallway, sent by Mrs. Ping (my math teacher) to deliver Mr. Ping (the band teacher) a message. I was directed to wait for the return message. Why they can't e-mail these messages or talk on the telephone intrigues me- are they a small-town version of Mr. and Mrs. Smith?

I must have been thinking about couple chemistry and undercover work and well, probably my mind drifted to thinking about Mr. Extraordinary.

"Hey Chantal, are you joining band?" It was Ned. Blonde wavy hair that resembled a golden retriever that needed grooming more than Prince Charming, but his eyes were sort of sparkly. Blue, maybe, or green. I don't remember except that they weren't brown. Mr. E's eyes are brown.

"Me? Band? No." And he just waited in front of me as if he knew I was going to say something more. Something interesting. I did my best. "The flute is too girly, the clarinet is too reedy and the trombone – Too long."

Ned thought that was some part of funny. He laughed so hard his hair sh00k. I looked in on Mr. Ping. He was still working on his reply. I. Was. Trapped.

"Hey," Ned obviously knew how to seize an opportunity. "How about if we go out for pizza on Friday night. Or is pizza too cheesy for you?"

"No. I like pizza."

"I'll come by your house. 6:30."

"Um..."

"Chantal. It's only pizza. And I won't make you play any instrument you don't want to." He threw out a goofy grin. And then this little pistol gesture as he walked away. With a cocked eyebrow. God. At least I would have lots to laugh at over pizza.

I know, reader, that you have figured out that this date was a miserable failure. How does a guy who peels the cheese off his pizza and hold it above his head while nibbling at it from underneath sound? Like an immature 12 year old? How about a guy who quotes, endlessly, Futurama and Simpson's episodes? How about a guy who talked all about his instrument on the way home. The Trombone. So long.

So...you want to know how I salvaged this date. Mostly I've decided that I need to find out from all potential Mr. Extraordinaries what television shows they like to watch, going out for pizza is an absolute necessity so I can discover any aberrant eating behaviour and, I don't think I can date a musician. Ever. I mean, you can correct me if I'm wrong, but they think of their instrument as an extension of themselves. Literally. Weird.

But I laughed on this date and rolled my eyes, especially when Ned wanted to know if he should take the long way home, through the back roads. Doh!

Now that we've got my miserable date out of the way, I can tell you all about what to do with your miserable cakes when they fail. First, the rules.

1. You must cut away the edible part of the cake. (leave behind the gooey center piece or the hard-as-oyster shell edges) Slightly dry cake we can work with or a little overly moist; anything on the extreme end of the continuum has to go into the garbage.

2. Taste the cake. Make sure that the reason it failed is NOT because you forgot the sugar or some other essential ingredient. You can only do something with the failed cake if it's edible.

3. You have to stop crying to be creative. Opportunity knocks on your door everyday, (that's what my dad says), and you have to be willing to turn the handle.

Some Ideas for Cake Parts.

Recipe Number 1: Trifle: English Tiramisu with cake instead of ladyfinger cookies and English touches like custard creme and fruit and lots of whipped cream. You could even try to make my quick, easy Tiramisu Trifle:

Ingredients:

Cake bits. (chocolate or vanilla will work best. If your bits are exoticly flavoured, you might try a different recipe) You'll need the equivalent of 1 9" round cake or 1/2 of a 9 x 13" cake pan.
2 cups of cooked chocolate pudding. (1 box of cooked pudding or 2 of the instant) I don't make instant pudding from the box, but you could use it here if you're in a rush which you probably are because who plans to have her cake fail?
1/2 cup of super strong cooled brewed coffee OR 1/2 cup of Kahlua, coffee liquor. The liquor is definitely the tastier choice but if you'd don't have any around and no parent to go buy some in a hurry, just brew the coffee- twice as many grounds as usual.
2 cups of whipping cream. Whipped until stiff. I don't use cool whip either, but if you're in a pinch it will work.

To Do:

Cut the cake bits into rectangle pieces that are about 1 inch on each side (bigger or smaller is okay, but you have to start somewhere in a recipe). Place these in a medium-sized serving bowl.
Drizzle the super strong coffee or liquor over the cake.
Layer the pudding. (if you use vanilla pudding, you might want to make a quick chocolate sauce from 1/2 cup of chocolate chips and 4 Tablespoons milk microwaved on low setting until melted. Stir every 30 seconds. Add more milk if necessary. This emergency chocolate sauce is wonderful as a layer over the vanilla pudding, but completely unnecessary if your pudding is chocolate).
Layer the whipping cream. Sprinkle with a bit of cinnamon for a sparkle-in-your mouth taste.

Recipe Numbers 2 through 4.

Ice Cream Torte. Repurpose your cake into crumbs by crumbling the edible pieces into a bowl. Take out a loaf pan, line it with wax paper. Layer cake crumbs and softened ice cream into three layers, ending with ice cream. Perhaps a very thick version of emergency chocolate sauce (see above) could be layered inside as well. Freeze. When ready to serve, let the loaf pan thaw for about 5 minutes, turn it upside down on a plate, peel off the wax paper and VOILA: A Torte of Love.

Liquor Love. Divide the cake pieces between individual serving martini glasses or bowls. Drizzle the cake pieces in any sort of liquor that is complementary. Coffee/chocolate, lemon/vanilla, Amaretto/chocolate or vanilla, you get the idea. Add a scoop of plain flavoured ice cream (vanilla would be my choice). Top with whip cream and serve.

Cake Sandwiches. Use cookie cutters or biscuit cutters to create shapes of cake. (have two shapes for each serving but the shapes don't have to be identical). Place the bottom shapes on the individual serving plates. Drizzle with hot fudge sauce or a caramel sauce. Add a layer of whip cream or a scoop of ice cream. Top with the second shape. Dust with powdered sugar. Drizzle again or not. More Whip cream or not.

Friday Night Cake. Bittersweet Chocolate Five-Spice Cupcakes.

2009-05-29T06:52:00.000-07:00

Bittersweet Day.

So Mr. Extraordinary was here last night. At the kitchen table. And in the living room. Next to me on the sofa. But not in a reclining position – no, bent right over his Physics text book. He read formulas instead of practicing them on me; you know, the formula to send invisible invitations through eye contact. (Hot Thought + Visualization + Extended Eye Contact= Invitation)

He was here to study Physics. That's all. I helped him with his formulas. And, really, that was it. Problem solved. At least his problem. Mine lives. I still want what I want. But I'm thinking of moving onto finding a Mr. Nearly Extraordinary or maybe a Mr. Really Hot and Smart.

There's no better way to imagine a future Mr. Anyone than while baking a cake. This is a Friday night cake for complex thinking with subtle yet sophisticated flavour. I think that's like me on my best days.
Bittersweet Chocolate Five-Spice Cupcakes.
from bite-size desserts by Carole Bloom

Ingredients:

2 Tablespoons (1/2 ounce) unsweetened Dutch-processed cocoa powder. I love Van houten.
3 Tablespoons boiling water
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract, divided (some for cake, some for frosting)
4 ounces (8 Tablespoons, 1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup (3 1/2 ounces) granulated sugar
2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature, these are farm fresh, given to me MBJ.
10 ounces bittersweet chocolate (70 to 72% cacao content), finely chopped, divided (for cake and frosting. I used Green & Blacks Organic 70%
1/2 cup (2 1/4 ounces) cake flour
1 1/4 teaspoon five-spice powder, divided (for cake and frosting) (you could use 1 teaspoon cinnamon and 1/4 teaspoon cayenne as a substitute)
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon fine-grained sea salt
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

To Do:

Heat the oven to 325 degrees. Line either the mini-muffin pans with mini-cupcake paper baking cups or use the regular-sized ones. I made the mini-ones.
Spoon the cocoa powder in a small mixing bowl. Add the boiling water and stir until it forms a smooth paste. Add 1 teaspoon vanilla and stir.
Beat the softened butter with a mixer until it is fluffy, about 2 minutes. Slowly add the sugar and beat until creamy, about 1 minute. One at a time, add the eggs (if you didn't warm them to room temperature, soak them in hot tap water for a couple of minutes) Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl a few times with a rubber spatula during the beating. The mixture may look like it's going to fail (all curdled) but it will come together. Add the cocoa paste and mix until smooth.
Melt 4 ounces of chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl on low power for 30 seconds at a time. Stir in between. You don't want it hot, you want it just melted. If it's very hot, let it cool to lukewarm before proceeding.
Over a medium-sized bowl sift the cake flour, 3/4 teaspoon of five-spice powder and the baking powder. Add the salt and stir.
Fill each cupcake paper 3/4 full.
Bake for 16 minutes (I know seems like a long time for those wee cupcakes, but it did take that long!) or until a toothpick in the center comes out slightly moist.

Bittersweet Chocolate Ganache Frosting.

Place the remaining 6 ounces of chopped chocolate in a medium-size bowl.
In a small saucepan, warm the cream over medium heat until it boils. Pour it over the chopped chocolate. Let it stand for 30 seconds to 1 minute, then stir together using a rubber spatula until very smooth. Add the 1/2 teaspoon of five-spice powder and the 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla and stir. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill until thick but not stiff, 30 minutes to 1 hour. (mine took 30 minutes)
Whip the ganache in the bowl of an electric stand mixture with the flat beater attachment or with a hand-held mixer on medium speed until it holds soft peaks, about 1 minute. DO NOT OVERBEAT. You will end up with chocolate cement.
Use a small offset spatula, a rubber spatula or a spoon to spread the top of each cupcake with ganache frosting. (This is a bit like spreading fudge!)

There you go GFF. More Cake Love for All.

How to: test a cake for doneness

2009-05-25T14:45:00.000-07:00

The Continuation of my non-dating life and How to Test a Cake for Doneness:

He texted me.

On Sunday. Yesterday.

Physics. Can you help?

Mr. Extraordinary wants to study Physics together. He needs help? He doesn't miss class. He sits near the front. He pays attention. Is this a test? Some kind of hidden invitation? Maybe he has to hide his true motives from Daphne. He is too kind to tell her that her shallowness is unappealing. He wants to let her down easy.

Think of the possibilities of couple study-time. This could be the countdown to my fantasy date. But I haven't heard from him again.

I waited 1 hour and 17 minutes to text him back. I can help. Monday or Wednesday.( I could help on Tuesday, too, but I thought I should let him think that maybe I had other important things to do, too.)

Did I mention I hadn't heard back from him?

I keep checking my phone. No texts. And I'm checking facebook, too. And I reminded my mom that she has to pick up all call waiting beeps. I just wonder if Daphne got to him, made some kind of date with him for every night this week.

While I wait for him to text me back, I think. I think about cake. About tests of all kinds. Maybe even testing a cake for doneness. Here, then, is what I know:

A recipe will tell you bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the cake tests done.
What happens if it's not done enough? Your cake is a gooey mess in the middle.
Over-done? The edges are dry and crispy and the middle is a bit dry. Not appetizing.
This means that DONE is a specific condition. Kind of like Mr. Extraordinary's invitation needs to have a date and time attached to it for it be a kind of date.

Here are some techniques for testing cakes:

Tests for Cakes

A toothpick plunged half-way down in the center of the cake will come out either clean or with only a few crumbs clinging to it. If there is gooey batter or many wet crumbs on the toothpick, return the cake to the oven and continue baking. Remember to set the timer again! I usually check after 3-4 minutes if the cake isn't quite done when I first test it.
You may also use a very thin knife to do the same test. I always use a knife if I'm making a deep cake- bundt cake or tube cake. If it's gooey, put it back in for a few minutes. If it's not, get it outta there and put the pan on a cooling rack so the cooking will stop as soon as possible.
When a cake is done, the edges will begin to pull away from the sides of the pan. Do not base your decision to remove the cake only on the edges. You have to do the toothpick/knife test or the index finger test as follows.
Using your index finger, touch the cake lightly in the center. If the cake feels springy and the indentation fills up when you remove your finger, the cake is done. This isn't as reliable as the toothpick/knife test until you've made a dozen or more cakes. The more experience you have, the easier it gets to test for doneness.

Like many dates go wrong even though you don't plan for them to dissolve, many cakes are not cooked enough or are cooked too much. Next Monday, I'll have a post on how to salvage a failed cake and eat dessert anyway! I just hope I'll have good news to report on study-time date aka fantasy date with Mr. Extraordinary.

Friday Night Cake. Nigella's Choco-Hoto-Pots

2009-05-22T12:25:00.000-07:00

Some Friday nights are the beginning to a depressing weekend. My dejection is all about rejection. I know, I know. It's just a guy. It's so high-school. Adolescent. If you this is sounds like pop-depression- all chorus and no substantial lyrics- and you don't want to hear my crush story, I can take it. You can skip the details and go right to the recipe.

Okay, here it is. It's Friday and Mr. Extraordinary hasn't asked me what I'm doing this weekend, he hasn't been hovering near my classroom when I walk out and, just my shitty luck, I overheard someone tell someone else exactly where my Mr. Extraordinary is going to be on Saturday night. I could accept it if he was leaving town or had some family thing like his grandma's birthday. But this is a horror show. He's going out with another girl. Daphne. I swear that is her name. Does she have a sister named Velma? Is Scooby-Doo there, too? Mr. Extraodinary, my sources have leaked, is taking Daphne to a movie. Definitely first date kind of thing, but still, it's the beginning of the end of my fantasy date. And, I hate to sound bitter but there is nothing special about this girl. Except that she just broke up with someone else and I guess she's now available.

My whole week is now wasted. I whitened my teeth and bought a new lip gloss on Sunday. From Monday to Thursday I circled through the school to pass by his locker. Again ans again. I got up 30 minutes early to straighten my hair. I made eye contact at least twice each day and he looked, really looked, back. Did I mention that Mr. Extraordinary has a gorgeous smile? I was sure there was something there. But instead of a 3 hour private spa day tomorrow before our date, I now have three more hours to study physics.

I am in critical need of consolation and only one thing will make my pain fade. Chocolate. But for this aching heart and other aches I'm not going to talk about on-line, a Snickers bar will not be enough. Jillian's coming over to share my chocolate and my misery. She doesn't know about the rejection yet, in fact I haven't told anyone about Mr. Extraordinary. Her advice will be that I need to say more than, "That Physics test was hard." "Some guys," Jillian will tell me, "wait for you to show interest."

Chocolate Courage, then, will be the theme for the weekend. And the perfect recipe is from Nigella Lawson, the queen of chocolate for an aching heart. Her choco-hoto-pots are perfectly easy to make. Just wait long enough for them to cool so they won't blister your tongue.

Choco-Hoto-Pots
Ingredients

Butter for ramekins (I have also made this in muffin tins, though scooping them out is a bit challenging)
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 stick (4 ounces) unsalted butter (I've use salted when it's all we have)
2 large eggs
3/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 cup white chocolate or dark chocolate chips (the original recipe calls for white chocolate chips but I prefer the dark)

To do:

Place baking sheet in an oven preheated to 400°. Butter four 2/3-cup ramekins and set aside.
Using a microwave oven or double boiler, melt together the semisweet chocolate and the butter. Set aside to cool.
In a separate bowl, combine eggs, sugar and flour. Stir in cooled chocolate mixture, and mix until blended. Fold in white chocolate or dark chocolate chips.
Divide mixture evenly among ramekins and place on baking sheet. Bake until tops are shiny and cracked and the chocolate underneath is hot and gooey, about 20 minutes. Scoop it right out of the ramekin.

How to: Bake Cake in a Jar.

2009-05-18T16:46:00.000-07:00

Weird. I know it's weird. And sort of grandma-like because grandmas are the people who put stuff in jars- jam, pickles, relish. And when they hand over a case of canned stuff they say, "Bring me back those jars so I can fill them again." At least this is what my friends tell me about grandmas.

My grandma was not a woman who canned anything. She had ten kids and I don't think she was prepared to have one. She was an only child adopted into a farm family and she probably should have been a princess or an artist with her own room and nothing to listen to but quiet and the sound of her own voice.

I didn't spend much time with her, she was busy still raising her youngest children when my mother took me to her house. I was just one more child. Not the first granddaughter. Not a celebrity. But you can get by in life without a grandmother who dotes on you, buys you nice gifts, and wants to bake pies and cookies and cake with you. That's the really great part of this life. You can make up for not having a grandmother by doing grandmother things. Like baking cake in a jar.

It's very easy. And the results really are delicious! But the best part of baking cake in a jar is that it is so easy to give away. And the recipients are surprised. They laugh. They say things like, "this is crazy." And it's all fun. Like I imagine afternoons with a grandma might have been.

Cake in Jar.
Size of Jar: Pint- about 250 ml.
How to do it:

Mix up any cake batter that you love. (except for Angel Food cake or flourless cake- those won't work!) You can buy cake mix from the grocery store. (I would never do this, but you can.) For mine, I made a buttermilk spice cake. Recipe to follow.
Grease the inside of the jars as if they were a cake pan. One spray of a cooking spray or a wipe of wax paper with butter.
Pour the batter into the jars (I used a large silver serving spoon) but only 1/2 full. Do not fill to the top. Do not fill almost to the top. Leave at least 1/2 space in the jar for the cake to rise while baking. (Okay, if you screw this up, your cake won't be ruined. Mine was still good, but I had to cut all the tops off the cake before I could add the lids!)
Bake as directed by the recipe, BUT start checking the cake 10 minutes early. Mine was done at 5 minutes before the baking time of a regular cake.
During the last 15 minutes of the cake's baking time, boil 2 cups of water in a kettle or in the microwave. Place the sealer lids in a medium mixing bowl. When the water has boiled, pour the water over the sealer lids. The sealer lids must be sterilized and hot when you put them on the lids of the jars so that the rubber will seal safely.
When the cakes are done, (the top springs back when you press it lightly or a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean) carefully remove them from the oven (use two gloved hands!) and place on a doubled-over towel on the counter. (Prevents the slip and crash to the ground when you're putting on the lids).
Now...to seal. Run a dampened, clean cloth around the tops of all the sealer jars to make sure that there are no crumbs or baked-on cake batter sticking to the area where you'll put your lid. Carefully take a lid from the sterilized water and place it on the top of the first jar. Screw a ring- the one that's provided- over the lid and the jar. You're done.
Once you have the last cake in a jar finished (a basic cake mix makes about 10 jars of cake) you will hear a popping sound. That's the delightful noise of a lid sealing a jar shut. You'll be able to tell if your jars are sealed by simply pressing the center of the lid. If it is sucked in tight, it won't spring back. If one doesn't seal- make sure it's eaten in the next two days. Sealed jars of cake can last up to 10 days. Store in the refrigerator. (I've read reports that they last 2 weeks, but I've only gone 10 days of storage in the refrigerator)

Serving suggestions. I ran a knife all around the edge of my canning jar and "dumped" the cake onto a plate. I sliced it into rounds and served it with some homemade jam. It was delicious. You could also serve it with cream cheese or make a frosting and let your guests spread their own. Powdered sugar is fine as well as the old fashioned eat-it-out-of-the-jar-with-a-fork routine.

Note: I read on the internet that women send these cakes in jars to their loved ones serving in Afghanistan or Iraq.

Safety note: Canning jar manufacturers do not advise this cooking method.

Friday Night Cake. Buttermilk Spice Cake.

2009-05-15T08:10:00.000-07:00

Buttermilk. Spices.

Hmmm... the ingredients sound more like Playtex or Wonderbra than Victoria's Secret and Blush.

However, this cake does have something special. It's got a fragrance that is part cinnamon bun, part sweet vanilla. The texture is soft and springy. The taste is definitely sophistication, not practicality. Really, it has everything a girl wants to project- sweet, wholesome, with a lovely surprise of spice.

This is a Friday Night Cake to share with a guy friend you want to get closer to- studies show men love the smell of vanilla and cinnamon buns.

Easy to make- Yes!

Buttermilk Spice Cake, The Recipe: from The Moosewood Restaurant Book of Desserts

Dry Ingredients:

3 cups of unbleached pastry flour (I used All purpose, unbleached and removed 1 Tablespoon of flour for each cup- a total of minus 3 Tablespoons.
2 Teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 Teaspoon ground Allspice
1/2 Teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 Teaspoon ground ginger (I doubled the ginger because I love it.)
1 1/2 Teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup dried raisins or currants (I didn't put these in. I just wanted cake, not fruit and cake)

Wet Ingredients

3/4 cup butter (use the real thing if you can- it does make a difference)
1/2 cup white sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar (light or dark doesn't matter)
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/2 cups buttermilk (I use the 1.5 % instead of the more fat version)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract.

How to make happiness happen:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter or oil the cake pans and dust with flour (you can make two round pans or a 9 inch X 13 inch or cupcakes with this recipe. It's up to you!)
Combine the dry ingredients, stir in the raisins or currants if you're going to use them.
In a separate bowl, cream the butter, sugar and brown sugar until smooth and light. (about 1 minute on low, 2 minutes on med. high.)
Add the eggs, buttermilk and vanilla. Cream until smooth (3 minutes or so...)
Stir in the dry ingredients.
Pour into the cake pans and bake for 35 minutes. (If you're making cupcakes, test at 20 minutes and every 5 minutes until they're done). Test the cake to make sure it's done. If not, add 5 minutes and test again. If you made a layer cake, cool the cakes in the pans for 5 minutes, run a knife around the outer edges of the cakes, and turn them out onto a rack to cool for about 30 minutes.
Frost with a little cream cheese delicious frosting. The Recipe will be posted here soon!

How to Choose a Recipe!

2009-05-10T19:17:00.000-07:00

Picking a recipe is like deciding whether to date a guy with prince-charming-potential but an unknown break-up record.

Example:
BFF Jillian says hottie guy "Z" is interested.

"Z?" "Z?" "Who has he dated?"

"No one. Well, maybe he danced with Sarah at the grade 9 dance."

"He's not gay?"

"He says he wants to go out with you."

"Maybe there's something really wrong with him. He doesn't want to take me out."

"He does."

And that's it. Same with the recipe of your dreams. You read the title. Wow, looks great. Then the ingredients. Not bad. Onto the instructions. Seems easy enough. But, you wonder, is this the cake for me? It sounds too simple- shouldn't I sift something a few times? Or you think there's too much oil or not enough chocolate.

How is a girl to know a recipe, like a hot guy without a record of girls, (and a ballad of is-it-true rumours) is worth her time?

Here are my favourite tips for successfully choosing a recipe:

Ignore the title. One of my favourite cakes is named "wacky cake". I am far too cultured to think that any cake with wacky in the title is going to be good. But the cake is...great!
I avoid gimmicky ingredients: coca cola, mayonnaise, tomato soup- I'd rather use my basic eggs, flour, butter and sugar and leave behind the extra fat, sugar, additives, and preservatives.
I read the lead-in descriptions to give me clues as to whether the cake and my objective are the same. For example, from Allysa Torrey's More from Magnolia Bakery, the into to her Devil's Food Cake says,
"This is the same recipe we've made in my family for every birthday since the beginning of time, and the same cake we serve at the bakery."
Hmmm...I think, this is one for me to try. And I did try it. Twice. The first time it ended up a little dry, the second time I put a bit less batter in my pan (I made one cupcake and two layers) and I REALLY watched the time and checked the cake every minute for the last five minutes of baking and it was perfect.
I look for ingredients I have used before successfully and I know I love. Recipes that call for lots of vanilla (more than a teaspoon). Unsweetened chocolate instead of cocoa. Buttermilk. Spices like cinnamon and cardamom. All purpose flour instead of cake and pastry flour. (This was true of my first attempts at cake baking, but now I'm not as afraid of cake and pastry flour!)
I generally use cookbooks as opposed to the net. BUT, if I'm on-line (allrecipes.com is a favourite). I absolutely check the ratings and read the reviews for adjustments other people have made with success or not.
I choose from cookbooks with a track record of success. Moosewood cookbooks are vegetarian and their baking is terrific- often rustic and creative, I haven't had a failure. I have a Better Homes and Gardens cookbook given to me by my grandmother "Old Fashioned Baking" that hasn't let me down. The Cake Bible (Rose Levy Berambaum) has been reliable but it's a little advanced for the true beginner (too many choices). My all-time favourite right now is Dorie Greenspan's Baking, from my home to yours. I'll post more on cookbooks later.
I look for instructions that seem straight forward. I am familiar with lots of baking terms and techniques and I'm not afraid to try something new, but if a recipe seems to have more than one thing I haven't done before- I avoid it. There are too many good recipes without frustration to subject myself to an afternoon of, "Now, what am I supposed to do?" Blech. Save the learning of a technique for a day when you don't have anything else to do. Or take a class. Or bake with your grandmother or friend's mother.

So those are my tips and tricks for choosing a recipe. As for a guy? Well, I observe them for awhile before I agree to go out with them. If they accomplish the basic things, make eye contact, laugh at real jokes and not just ones that cut someone else down, talk without mumbling, generally have manners, I usually give them a try. I like the idea of taking a risk and seeing what happens. It's similar to loving to bake.

Okay, GFF, bake and date with careful consideration and a bit of risk. Discover your happiness.

AND... if you've got a recipe or date choosing tip to add: post now.

Friday Night Cake. Downy Yellow Butter Cake.

2009-05-08T08:38:00.000-07:00

Kathy Pratt was the reason for my worst Friday night of the 10th grade.

My best friend Jillian couldn't come over because she'd left at noon to babysit her flu-inflicted brothers -- aka The Triple Threat and Double Trouble -- while her mother went to work.

I closed my locker door, hefted my Lug bag of textbooks on my shoulder and made my way to the door, alone.

"Hey, Chantal, busy tonight?" Kathy Pratt, all red hair that frizzed from losing too many fights with her straightening iron, stood in front of me. Her eyes had that please, please, please look in them. She'd been bugging me for weeks to get together, because, she claimed, she needed help on her chemistry lab book. "I'm gonna fail if I don't get some help."

"I..."

"Please. I'm begging you." She chewed at her pinky nail and I noticed all of her fingernails had been chewed to the nub. This was a girl on the edge.

"Okay. Okay." I relented. Jillian would be proud of me. She sometimes said I needed to try to make friends with other people.

Kathy rode the bus home with me. While I set up for Chemistry studies on my kitchen table, she texted everyone to tell them she was at my house, studying Chemistry.

When I told her we could either have sliced apples and peanut butter for a snack or air popped popcorn, she texted everyone to tell them that.

When I told her that teaching her was impossible, because she didn't stay focused long enough to learn, she texted everyone to tell them that I said she had ADHD.

"I never said that," I said.

Again, they all found out. When I told her to leave, she took a picture of me shutting the door in her face with her phone. It was on facebook within the hour.

I called Jillian to tell her that Kathy was an immature junior high student in a grade 10 student's body and she said, "Yeah, And?" Clearly I'd missed the signs. But let my disaster be your warning.

How can you avoid Kathy disasters like this in your life?

Of course I have a few answers; Jillian says there is no one better at answers than me.

1. Avoid girls like Kathy with obvious troubled mental health symptoms such as over processed hair and fingernails chewed down to quick.

2. Make sure your snacks are delectable, not nerdy. A cake would be superb.

3. Leave studying Chemistry for Sunday afternoon. Who wants to study on Friday night after a whole week of school? Unless you're me and you like to get it out of the way ASAP.

And here is tonight's Delicious Cake recipe.

I've researched about a dozen cookbooks and even more websites and blogs to bring you today's great cake recipe. I decided on The Cake Bible as my recipe source this week. Rose Levy Beranbaum is the author: "The cake combines the soft texture of white cake with the buttery flavor of butter cake."

Soft, buttery texture. Mmm... doesn't that sound terrific.

I guarantee you, it is! (Rating Scale: 1 to 5, 5 is the highest.)
texture: 5
moistness: 4 (best if eaten the day it's made!!)
sweetness: 4 (this one is a subtle sweet)
overall flavour: 5 (the vanilla taste is noticeable and delectable)

DOWNY YELLOW BUTTER CAKE

Ingredients:

6 large egg yolks
1 cup milk
2.25 teaspoons vanilla
3 cups sifted cake flour
1.5 cups sugar
1 Tablespoon + 1 Teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
12 Tablespoons unsalted butter (MUST BE SOFTENED-I try to take it out in the morning and by bake time it's soft)

To Do:

Preheat oven to 350 farenheit
In a medium bowl lightly whisk yolks, 1/4 cup milk and vanilla.
In a large bowl combine the dry ingredients and mix on low for 30 seconds to blend. Add the butter and the rest of the 3/4 cup milk. Mix on low until the dry ingredients are moistened.
Increase to medium speed (high if you're using a hand blender) and beat for 1.5 minutes (90 seconds). This step, Rosy tells me, aerates and develops the cake's structure. Scrape down the sides preferably with a pink silicone spatula. I have about a dozen of them!
Gradually add egg mixture in 3 batches, beating for 20 seconds after each addition. Rosy says this will incorporate the ingredients and strengthen the structure. I feel like we have a brain meld right now.
Scrape the batter (it will be very stiff- just plop it in small spoonfuls and smooth it out after) into the pans and smooth with a spatula. (Two nine inch by 1 1/2 inch cake pans greased, bottoms lined with parchment or wax paper and then greased and floured.Bake 25 to 35 minutes. OR (FOR cupcakes. The cupcake liners will be 1/2 full. Makes 24 cupcakes. Bake for 18 to 22 minutes)

MUST READ: If your cake pan is more than 1/2 full, you MUST REMOVE some of the batter. Too much batter and your cake edges will cook before the middle does and it will sink like a mattress with a real heavy person in the center. It will still taste good (mine did!), but it will definitely sink.

Frost with a delicate, not overpowering in the taste department frosting. Not chocolate. (Whenever I'm at a cupcake store I see that the vanilla cupcakes with chocolate icing are always the last to go!) I would opt for something to go with the season:

spring/summer- fruit of some kind or maybe lime/mint or lemon/basil

fall/winter- spice/pumpkin/apple butter/orange marmalade

I'll be posting recipes for all of these flavours of frosting as we go on. Keep looking under the categories section for links to more goodness.

Bodacious Bread Pudding.

2008-12-21T05:16:00.000-08:00

Mastering the making of Bodacious Bread Pudding is definitely an achievement worth calling up five friends to share it with you. That's because bread pudding is a heartache. You're in love with it, yet when you attempt to craft it yourself, it's a miserable time. A blind date with ingredients that have so much potential, but you're all in the wrong place at the wrong time. But there must be an exception! A moment when love rises through the aroma wafting from the oven? When taste buds dance?

Recently, I had the bread pudding at Lavo, a new restaurant in Las Vegas and I fell in love. It was perfection on a plate. The ingredients and the technique were meant for one another. Now, I'll attempt to help you along in the making of a great bread pudding.

The best bread puddings are more cake than pudding. They are marvelously moist and full of flavour. One reasonable serving satisfies as a dinner and dessert. If you've ever tried to make it, you probably know the pitfalls- All breads are not created equal. The ratio of pudding to bread may defeat you. Here's how:

the bread you start with is too moist so the whole thing ends up doughy. Bleck.
the bread is too boring. Whole wheat sandwich bread or white wonder bread makes for mediocre bread pudding. If the cookbook, chef or blogger says you can use any bread- try a different recipe.
All great bread puddings require a serving of sauce. The best are a caramelly sort of sauce with a shot of some libation for a flavour boost. The worst are a bland cream sauce that only adds sugar and fat to the bread pudding. Really, if you serve it with ice cream, does a white sauce make sense?
Bread mountains. The biggest disaster I ever had was chunks of bread that stuck up from the saucy bits. The dried out as they baked, creating hard-rock bread mountains that scraped the skin off the roof of my mouth when I chewed.
Baking Time. Too long and it's dried out, too short and it's gooey.

I wish I could offer you a fail-proof recipe for bodacious bread pudding. One of my favourite recipes comes from Nigella Lawson, who you know is an inspiration for me! Her Croissant Bread Pudding is divine. And the you-tube video of her making it sends me into a fit of giggles. When she opens the oven at the end and she's in her black silk pajamas! And then, she swirls her fork into the croissant and caramel goo and moans a bit! She's so wonderful.

Here's another recipe I tried with some success.

Use brioche. You can make your own pretty easily with the recipe from the Artisan Breads in Five Minutes a Day book or you can buy it at a bakery. Either way, I think you'll be in love.

Bodacious Bread Pudding
Ingredients

1 1-pound brioche or egg bread loaf, crusts trimmed and reserved, bread cut into 1/2-inch cubes
8 large eggs
2 cups whipping cream
2 cups whole milk
2 cups sugar
1/4 cup Frangelico (hazelnut liqueur) or amaretto
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract

To do

Place bread cubes in 13 x 9 x 2-inch baking pan.
Whisk eggs, whipping cream, milk, sugar, bourbon or frangelico, vanilla extract and almond extract in large bowl to blend. Pour over bread cubes.
Let stand 30 minutes, occasionally pressing bread into custard mixture.(you don't want any crusty mountains!)
(Can be prepared 2 hours ahead. Cover and refrigerate.)
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Arrange reserved bread crusts on baking sheet and bake until dry, about 10 minutes. Cool. Maintain oven temperature.
Transfer crusts to food processor and grind until fine crumbs form.
Sprinkle 1 cup crust crumbs over top of pudding. (sprinkle on some cinnamon!)
Bake until pudding is set in center, about 40 minutes. Cool slightly. Serve warm.

Add a wonderful caramel sauce!
Basic Caramel Sauce
Ingredients

½ c. white sugar
½ c. brown sugar
½ c. heavy cream
¼ c. butter
Vanilla Extract.

To Do:

In a smaller saucepan, combine all four ingredients and bring to a boil. Do not overcook.
You need to cook the sauce just long enough to bring it to a boil, but not too long or otherwise it will harden upon cooling.
Remove from heat and add 1 teaspoon of vanilla. Cool and serve with the bread pudding.

Experimenting- Caramel Sauce Recipe

Cinnamon Caramel Sauce: Add 1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon.

Coffee Caramel Sauce: Add 1 Tablespoon of brewed coffee.

Brandy Caramel Sauce: Add 1 Tablespoon brandy or bourbon.

Brandy/Cinnamon/Coffee Caramel Sauce: throw in everything listed above!

Why make it homemade?

2008-12-19T05:26:00.001-08:00

If cupcakes can look this good when you buy them from a bakery, why make them at home?

It's a question I ask myself sometimes when the kids want another batch of cupcakes and I'm on a deadline. And sometimes the answer is, I'll stop by the bakery (we're lucky to have a specialty cupcake bakery in our city) and pick up a 1/2 dozen for $15. I'm a bit reluctant to hand over that cash for something I KNOW I can do myself.

Here is a photo of my latest splurge. I can't take a photo of our taste test, but I can tell you the results.

Frosting:

Lemon- 3 out of 4 stars. (not tangy enough)
Chocolate- 2 out of 4 stars. (passable but with nothing to make our tongues do flips)
Strawberry- 4 out of 4 stars. (Wow! The fresh strawberry flavour was outstanding.)

Cake:

Texture- 3 out of 4. (definitely light, but moistness was an issue)
Flavour- 3 out of 4. (certainly good, but not GREAT.)

It ended up being a nice (oh, how I hate the passive-aggressive nature of that word but it fits here) treat.

When we make cupcakes, we're just as critical as when we taste the store-bought. However, since our goal is to improve on flavour, texture and overall taste experience, the personal responsibility factor makes the critique more of an experiment than a testing of disappointment.

That's why we make homemade. And also to save $. And we also love to bake. And we also have baking egos that need stroking. And maybe we were a little too hard on the store-bought. It's a curse among bakers I suspect.

Why do you make homemade? Have you ever bought a cupcake somewhere else and thought it was divine? Where, when and what flavour?

A Perfect Kid's Birthday Cake.

2008-11-21T06:19:00.000-08:00

Not only is this a cake for a Perfect Kid, my son B., it's a marvelous Birthday Cake to make and eat. It's so easy, even an 10 year-old can make it- for his 11th Birthday! Just to be clear, I didn't force him to make his own birthday cake, but I didn't refuse the offer. As you can tell from the paint can in the background of the photo, I've been painting and not just walls. We're renovating the kitchen, a project that began in early September and if we're done by Christmas I'll be overjoyed and gobsmacked!

This isn't the prettiest of photos, but reality isn't always beautiful. I realized I hadn't shot any pictures of the cake until day 3 after it had been made. Out of sight- in the freezer- out of mind.
One of the magnificent things about this lovely cake is that it takes so little effort to put together and it keeps for days and days. Though the number of steps seems long, each step is quick. It is a complete birthday wonder- both cake and ice cream combined. The chocolate sauce is an addition we choco-lovers insist upon.

Here is the recipe:
Ingredients

CHOCOLATE CAKE

1 cup flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup warm water
1 egg
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 Tablespoon Vanilla (that's not a typo)

ICE CREAM LAYER

2 litres of your favourite flavour of ice cream (B. used strawberry. Peppermint would be a lovely Christmas flavour. Oh, but wouldn't Mint Chocolate Chip make you cry with happiness?)

WHIPPED CREAM
Cheat if you must with Cool Whip, but for real flavour and delight, use

1 1/2 cups of whipping cream
3 Tablespoons of sugar
1 Teaspoon of vanilla extract

To Do

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Grease the 9 X 13 baking dish with butter.
Put the flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt into the sifter and sift into a large bowl. Stir in the sugar. Use a whisk for fun.
In a separate bowl, using the fun whisk, beat the water, egg, oil, and vanilla until blended. Pour the egg mixture into the flour mixture and stir together with the whisk just until blended.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 20 minutes. ALLOW THE CAKE TO COOL.
When the cake is cool, remove the ice cream from the freezer. Set it on the counter to soften for 15 minutes.
Drop large glops of ice cream over the top ove that cake and spread them out to create a thick layer of lusciousness.
Cover with plastic wrap and freeze. (I have been known to throw the whip cream on it now and serve it, but it is nice to have the ice cream very frozen- 3 hours or so).
Whip the cream with the sugar and the vanilla. 3 minutes will get you to the small mountain peak stage.
Take out the cake. Spread clouds of whip cream. Sprinkle with sanding sugar, crushed candies or some other edible delights!
Cut into 12 squares and serve immediately or store in the freezer. I like to set the cake out for 15 minutes or so before I serve it, if I refreeze it. It's even better when the whipcream and the ice cream begin to melt.

Mate Cupcakes- a gift.

2008-11-15T08:38:00.000-08:00

Yerba Mate Cupcakes are invention solely for a son I love and his workmates in Shipping and Receiving. C. brought home a kilogram of Yerba Mate imported from Brazil. It's an herb and not of the wacky tobaccy (as D. would say) variety. It does have a unique property that endears it to the Ship/Receive department: it's full of an ingredient that mimics caffeine. It's usually brewed in a cup like tea and shared among friends. If you want to know more about Mate, try the wikipedia link.

If you want to bake a lovely cupcake that has a dried-leafy ingredient with an energy boost component: Here's the recipe. It's a vegan cupcake because the ship/receive department likes their sweets to be non-animal related.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup soy yogurt
2/3 cup almond milk (use rice milk if you're allergic) To Make your own: try this link, the recipe works. It also tastes great in rice pudding.
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup canola oil
1/4 teaspoon almond extract (or omit for allergies)
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3 Tablespoons of Yerba Mate herbs or if you grind them in a grinder to get the leaves down to a powder, use 3 to 4 teaspoons of powdered yerba mate.
1/4 teaspoon slat
3/4 cup granulated sugar

To Do:

Preheat oven to 350 and separate the little cupcake liners, drop them into the cupcake pan.
In a large bowl, whisk together the yogurt, almond or rice milk, vanilla, oil and almond extract, beating well to blend in yogurt.
Sift in the flour baking powder, baking soda, mate powder or leaves, salt and sugar.
Fill liners two-thirds full and bake 20 minutes or until toothpick in the center comes out clean.

The Frosting: My vanilla vegan with almond milk as a substitute for the soy milk. And a little almond extract added in- maybe 1/4 teaspoon.

Veggie Cake for the ones you love.

2008-11-13T07:56:00.000-08:00

Cake Love for the ones you love starts with vegetables. More specifically, Beets.

Veggie cakes have been around for generations, this recipe is based on one a friend's great-grandmother passed down to her. Once you get past the idea of vegetables in cake, you are open for loving this one. I made this cake for no reason other than it was time for a cake. Beets are among the most hated vegetables on my husband's list, but he never resists a slice of this cake. To be fair though, we've never told him what's inside.

Cooking the beets is easy: wash the dirt off of them, put them on a doubled up piece of aluminum foil with six inches of extra foil on each side, drizzle a teaspoon of canola oil on top and wrap the foil over the beets in a squarish-sort of package. Bake these beauties in the oven for 40 minutes or until a fork can be inserted easily into the little beet bodies. Cool them. Take them out of the foil and under a steady stream of water, wash off the skins. They come off so easy. And don't worry, beet juice doesn't stain counters. Just wipe it off.

Like so many things that are good for you, beets don't send out a visual image of love. They are more like the ugliest cat in the world: still worthy of love!

Now, for the recipe:
Ingredients:

1 cup butter or margarine, softened, divided
1 1/2 cups packed dark brown sugar
3 eggs
4 (1 ounce) squares semisweet chocolate
2 cups pureed cooked beets
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

To Do:

In a mixing bowl, cream 3/4 cup butter and brown sugar. Add eggs; mix well.
Melt chocolate with remaining butter (I do this in the microwave 1 minute at a time on power 4); stir until smooth. Cool slightly.
Blend chocolate mixture, beets and vanilla into the creamed mixture (mixture will appear separated).
Combine flour, baking soda and salt; add to the creamed mixture and mix well.
Pour into a greased and floured 10-in. fluted tube pan.
Bake at 375 degrees F for 45-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack. Cool completely.
My friend's grannie dusted it with confectioners' sugar. I am way too much in love with frosting for just a little sugar!! Any great chocolate frosting will do. Or you can try my lovely sour cream chocolate frosting. Recipe to come soon. And I'll put a link in here!

Finding Rosa. Finding A Matching Cupcake!

2008-09-26T12:22:00.000-07:00

Cupcake Success. Caterina Edwards, my friend, mentor, writing babe group member and among the finest of baristas, launched her latest book- Finding Rosa last night.

Of course, I was among the crowd of over 75 people in attendance and so, too, were 125 of my latest creation of mini-cupcakes.

Literary events can be quiet affairs at best and as boring as the longest of winter nights. Caterina, however, paid tribute to her mother's story and her own with an Italian themed and flavoured buffet, and two outstanding performances of Italian songs by a superb soprano. The Transalta Arts Barn lobby was a large and interesting creative space for the crowd. Sharon Bunardchuk of Audrey's Books was an integral part of the evening's events from selling books to a lovely introduction of Caterina to clearing up plates afterwards.

I baked the cupcakes on Wednesday at June Smith-Jeffrie's place since my kitchen is undergoing renovation. This is her great yellow bowl! We talked our way through six mini-cupcake batches and suffered a near disaster on the second to last. We'd inadvertently turned the oven off after batch three and when the timer went off on batch 5 the cupcakes remained uncooked. How to salvage this situation? Turn the oven back on and leave the cupcakes in until they're done! They turned out fine. A little less domed on top, but the texture was great. And that says so much about the following recipe. It's foolproof, even if you're not.

In a side note, my plumber today ate one and said, "This is the best cupcake I've ever tasted." No more testament is needed.

Mocha Espresso Cupcakes:
Ingredients

1 cup soy milk
1 teaspoon apple cider
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon chocolate extract (these work without this extract, but it does make a subtle difference. A delightful sub-text.)
1 cup flour
1/3 cup cocoa, I use Fry's
2 Tablespoons Espresso Powder (I buy this at a kitchen specialty store. I've also gotten my local decadent coffee location to grind espresso beans very, very fine.)
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

To Do:

Preheat oven to 350. If you're making mini-cupcakes you can purchase small paper liners at specialty or craft stores. I didn't use the papers for ease of eating by a crowd.
Whisk soy milk with the vinegar in a large bowl and allow it to curdle. (you're making vegan buttermilk substitute)
Add the sugar, oil and vanilla and chocolate extracts to the milk. Beat until foamy.
In a separate bowl sift (I know, it seems onerous, but it makes a difference!) the flour, cocoa powder, espresso powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
Add the dry ingredients, in two batches, to the wet ingredients and beat till no large lumps remain. Note: I often use only a whisk for this whole recipe
Pour the batter into liners, filling 3/4 of the way.
Bake 18 to 20 minutes for regular size cupcakes, 13 to 16 minutes for the mini version.

The BEST Frosting...

2008-09-18T09:23:00.000-07:00

The BEST...I promise!

There are few things that humans can promise one another. My 18 year old son, Cam, told me yesterday that he feels worse breaking a promise than he does not making one in the first place. I would have to agree, but I also know that I make promises all the time. It's how I manage to write everyday. Dedication to all sorts of activities in my life makes me feel vibrant, productive and alive.

As a self-admitted and recovering perfectionist, I not only make promises to myself (from what I won't eat to how many words I'll write in a day), I hold people in my life accountable to their word. This can make relationships difficult if the person in question is not wholly committed to whatever he or she has offered to do. Even if the non-performing person had every great intention, if he/she does not follow through, I feel let down. Expectations can be dangerous.

Perfectionists like me have to learn not to take this kind of disappointment personally. We also have to remember what a wise family therapist counselled me once: "We are human beings, not human doings".

What do you do when you feel caught into the trap of doing, doing, doing? Me? Some days I read for hours, but usually I change my task to something that helps me to feel successful. A walk, an hour at the gym, or a few hours baking. The bonus for my family, of course, is that they get to taste the results.

If you indulge your inner baking diva, I PROMISE this frosting recipe won't let you down.

White Chocolate Frosting
This is the recipe for the BEST frosting I've ever tasted on a cupcake. I've made it a dozen times (many, many times for my Cupcakes of Hope), but I'm posting it now because I have been adapting it lately and it can work for the top of any cake! I promise!

The recipe:

1 1/2 cups of butter (I use a 1/2 margarine and 1/2 vegan shortening for vegan cupcakes)
6 Tablespoons of Milk or soy milk (I've never tasted the difference!)
9 ounces of white chocolate, melted in microwave (2 mins. @ power 5 or over a double boiler) Hint: I buy Callebaut in bulk at the grocery store and weigh it there!
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract (or cherry, or chocolate or whatever flavour you like!)
3 cups of sifted powdered sugar
OPTIONAL: 1 Tablespoon of any liqueur you like

To Do:

Make sure that the butter is room temperature. If you remember, take the milk out and let it warm, too, but this is not absolutely necessary.
Beat the butter until it's soft and whipped (1 minute or so)
Add the milk (it takes a long time to incorporate, but that's okay)
Add the melted and COOLED (absolutely necessary!) white chocolate and beat until it's smooth.
Add the extract(s) and the liqueur
Beat in the powdered sugar.

For perfectionists (Or girls who make lists and rewrite them more efficiently):

If the frosting seems too runny, add more powdered sugar, I've added up to 1 1/2 cups when I've used liqueur with no adverse effects.
If the frosting seems like it just won't hold up (it's not stiff enough), put the bowl and the beaters in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Beat again. I had to do this once when the white chocolate wasn't cool enough. The frosting was still perfect!
This frosting is perfect piped onto cupcakes. I buy plastic cake decorating bags from Michael's (you snip the tip of the bag off, insert a decorating tip and fill with frosting, twist the bag and squeeze) but I've also made my own with a ziploc freezer bag. The piping tip: the most modern look is a large, smooth tip- Michaels or a kitchen store will have them.

Sweet Success

2008-08-25T09:22:00.000-07:00

Sixty miles in three days is much longer, harder and slower than I previously believed!

But...(drum roll, please) We Walked It All!!

It was an amazing feat for me, but for my sister with a week-old torn MCL injury in her right knee, it was a miracle. She walked with a half-stride for 9 hours on day 1, 9 hours on day 2 and 7 hours on day 3 (the course was slightly shorter to account for the closing ceremonies). Would I recommend this event? Yes, with a warning: if you don't train, there is a high probability that you will not make it to the finish line each day.

But enough about dire warnings, here's the insider track on the fun stuff:

You will never again be cheered and honked at each time you cross an intersection. Dozens of people line the route in various locations to give you popsicles, tell you you're brave, thank you for walking for their mother, their sisters or them. It is among the most emotional and worthy three days I've lived. Plus, look at these tents!!

I recommend walking with someone you want to listen to for 3 days because basically, all you do is talk, eat, shower, stretch and complain mildly. As for eating, this was a treat. Every few miles there was an eating station with fruit and treats for the salty or sweet lover and gallons of Gaterade and water.

The stops were manned with the nicest people who wanted us all to be successful. They themed each stop, too, so that you felt like you were progressing, an important mental assist.

My sister may have wanted me to talk to this flamingo at lunch instead of her. She was off finding some anti-inflammatory meds right after lunch on day one.

So many parts of our event were surreal; yoga in the sunset with a woman named Crystal who was sure she felt our Mom's light and energy flowing between us, showers where the water was cool going on our heads and necks, but hot flowing off our legs as it carried away the surface heat from our skin, and Jerry who was cheering not only for his daughter's success but ours, too. (He was on the course several times each day, shouting things like, hey it's 10 degrees cooler today than it was yesterday. You can DO this! I wonder if he wasn't a high school teacher or a basketball coach or a man who lost his wife.)

To close off this post, I'll show you the picture that we took at the end after hundreds of people cheered us across the finish line. I hope you will find inspiration here to do something crazy like bake 300 cupcakes to raise money for something like this or climb your own metaphorical mountain of good will in your own way. The Karma is cool. And the color pink is very flattering, don't you think?

What is your Good Will mountain?? I'd love to know.

Cupcakes to End Breast Cancer

2008-06-26T20:44:00.001-07:00

To Honour our Mom
My sister and I will close the 3,000 mile gap between Edmonton and Cleveland this summer to walk for hope in the Cleveland Breast Cancer 3-Day with the Cleveland VA clinic team. We lost our mom, Judy Warner, to breast cancer far too early. She was only 55 years old.

For all the daughters.We hope that walking with the Breast Cancer 3-Day will give voice to the daughters who struggle to know their place in the world once their mothers have gone. We hope, too, that more daughters will speak of stories of early detection and innovative treatments that saved their mother's lives.

As many of you know, the entry fee for the three day walking event is $2,000. I have saved $700 of my teaching money this year and I plan to raise the rest of the funds through cupcakes. I believe that cupcakes have the potential to change the world, one sweet bite at a time. I intend to prove it.

These are extraordinary cupcakes!
WHY?

1. They are made in small batches to ensure quality (and because I only have one mixer!)

2. Vanilla Vamp and Chocolate Chill (both with a smooth, luscious White Chocolate Cherry Frosting) are Lactose-Friendly, Nut-Free, and VEGAN!! (that's right, no butter, eggs or milk) But, they taste absolutely fantastic. You will be amazed at the flavour. I promise!

3. Made from the finest ingredients bought at my local health food store. (Except for the vanilla sugar which I make myself, and the cherry extract).

4. All proceeds (and that means all) goes to the charity. (I will cover the cost of the ingredients or, if my local health food store sponsors me they will receive some publicity they cannot buy, good will among the demographic of women who shop at their store!) I hope to raise several thousand dollars.

Where can you buy and how much do they cost?

Half dozen: $12.00
or
Baker's Dozen (13): $25.00

You can specify all chocolate, all vanilla or 1/2&1/2
Delivered to your home or office in Edmonton. Sorry I can't mail them!

e-mail me at marcemerrell@gmail.com

Or if you'd just like to donate: here's the link: Donate on-line

Mothers Day 08

2008-06-19T14:05:00.001-07:00

Okay, the picture isn't great, but the combination of brioche french toast, dried cherry compote, double creme sauce and whipped cream was a delight for my taste buds.

It was Mother's Day brunch 2008, a gift from my children to me and from me to them. They drove the 5.5 hours from Edmonton to the Banff Centre for the Arts to see to stay in my room, hang out a bit with the other writers, but mostly to celebrate Mother's Day.

Perhaps you've figured out that I think my children are remarkable. On Mother's Day it's assumed that the occasion is all about honoring mothers, but I like to think of it as more than that. To me, it's honoring all the relationships with a woman who nurtures. I am uncomfortable with the spotlight on me even on Mother's Day. I like to share it.

My children complained when they were young as all children have complained and, indeed, I complained that there was no day exclusively for kids. My response was the same as my mother's, "That's because every day is kid's day." And this is true. In my life as a mother, if my children need me, the day moves as necessary in their universe. Some days this is a celebration of kids, some days it is a grueling 24 hours. That we survive all of the days, the kids and I, is cause for celebration, especially on Mother's Day.

I have the good fortune to have five children, two children from my first marriage, two step-children and a son from my current marriage. I am not able to separate who I was before my daughter was born when I was 21 with who I am now. I remember images from a past before children and through my first five years as a mother when we hadn't met my step-sons and my husband. But now, we are, all of us, inextricably bound after 15 years of being a family.

And these are the best years so far. As the oldest four find their position in the adult world and the youngest finishes the fifth grade, I am more a guidance counselor, a mentor, than the strict disciplinarian. (Although we still incorporate a chore chart!) My writing life has taken the spotlight as I experience a series of successes that demonstrate I'm discovering how I work. My family is discovering how to work around me. What a blessing it is.

In honour of my Mother's Day Brunch, I've included a glorious recipe for French Toast. Please enjoy it, and think of how you celebrate nurturing women in your life and how you are nurtured by the ones who love you.

Delish French Toast:
French toast is all about the bread. My favourite? Challah or Brioche. (I've also had a wonderful Poppyseed Brioche at the New York Bagel Cafe in Edmonton.)

Ingredients

2 eggs
1 cup milk
dash salt
1 Tablespoon of sugar or maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract or ground cinnamon
Butter for the pan
8 slices of bread

To Do:

Warm griddle or skillet over medium-low heat. Preheat oven to 200 degrees f.
Beat the eggs lightly in a wide-brimmed bowl, stir in milk, sugar or maple syrup, vanilla or cinnamon.
Melt 1 teaspoon of butter on the skillet. When it is hot, dip each slice of bread in the batter; good bread or stale bread will soak up more batter than package white bread.
Turn the bread once or twice in the egg batter and place on the skillet. Cook until nicely brown, about 3 minutes per side.
Serve immediately or keep warm in your oven for 20 minutes.

My Quality Assurance.

2008-06-19T14:04:00.001-07:00

Meet two of my quality assurance staff. Callie and Cameron Hickey are full-time consultants on call 24/7, at least when they're not at work or school. We have regular one-on-ones, over coffee, dinner or dessert. Some of our sessions last minutes, others hours. They are two people who make my writing honest.

"I don't think a teenager would use a word like that," Callie might say.

"When I think about it Mom," Cameron has said, "The main character would be so angry, he'd actually do something, not just walk away. He isn't the walking away kind of guy, is he?"

Having two people who know my characters as well as I know them is a remarkable thing. I can speak about my characters as if they are alive and my children understand the place I'm coming from. Yesterday my daughter and I had a brief conversation (not writing related) on the phone. Before she hung up, she said, "Okay, Mom, have a good day playing with the people you're creating in your head." And she wasn't mocking me. She might have been a bit envious because she was in an office environment and I was on the deck in the sunshine, seemingly in a state of leisure. Clearly she's reached a level of acceptance.

The evolution of my children from the complex mother-child relationship to this level of involvement in my writing life has been similar to the awakening of summer in the north, the consistent adjustment of temperature and cloud cover with a general level of warmth and sunshine permeating over time. How this has impacted our relationship is the subject of my next blog, a belated Mother's Day tribute to my children and my mother.

Do you have Quality Assurance staff in your life? Who is it? How has this person/persons impacted your writing?

Cupcake Quartet.

2008-06-19T14:02:00.001-07:00

We chose our cupcakes based on taste, but I loved the result: a wonderful contrast and compatibility of colours. I loved too, the way the pink in the frosting of the cherry chocolate cupcake echoed the pale shade of Callie's (my daughter) shirt.

It's serendipity- a fortunate discovery by accident. I think it may be cliche to think of writing as a serendipitous experience, it certainly isn't entirely accurate in my case. I do discover things along the way, connections between character and symbol and theme that surprise and delight me in the same way these four cupcakes inspired me. However, I am more a person who believes writing is closer to a spiritual experience than an accidental one. I'm not solely in the Julia Cameron camp, (though her book The Write to Right is one of the first that helped me claim my status as a writer), where God writes through a writer, as if she is channeling his words. I also don't believe that the writing process is all a razor blade through the vein and bleeding out every memory, emotion, hurt. A mentor of mine, Tim Wynne-Jones said at a Writing With Style workshop at the Banff Centre for the Arts, "If it's agony, pure hell, than it isn't writing. It's something else."

I fall in the middle of the extremes as a writer-as-storyteller, acute observer and open vehicle for the experiences that drift through during the writing. I absorb into my writing the energies from the people around me, the literature I consume, and the universe. Place is integral to what I write as it holds a pre-history of the story that reflects onto the characters and the events that occur.

A fine example of this kind of storytelling (strong sense of place, acute observation and fascinating connections) is Lydia Millet's How the Dead Dream. A truly inspiring book, it is one of the best I've read all year. I sat in chilling bath water last night to finish the last 20 pages! (interestingly, I would never have picked it off the shelf because of the cover, but I read a review of it and put it on hold at the Edmonton Public Library.)

I don't intend to compare myself to Millet except to say that I aspire to her greatness. We all need heroes and mentors in our field of study.

I have them for cupcakes, too. The four cupcakes you see above were among the best I've tasted from a specialty bakery. I've blogged about the bakery in Banff, the last post actually. So...if you're there and you're feeling peckish or you think you might be in a few hours, buy a cupcake or four. You won't regret it.

Cupcakes, Writing, Banff.

2008-06-19T13:16:00.000-07:00

I was away for a very long time at an intense writing studio with scant baking ingredients and, to be honest, little interest on my part to bake. During my five week intensive, I replied to e-mails this way: "I'm sorry I haven't continued this discussion for several weeks, but I am being consumed by my art."

I know you must be thinking I indulged in the melodramatic. Consumed by art? However, I experienced another world, a place where what mattered most was thinking and writing and thinking about writing, and writing what I thought. Perhaps you've had this experience in a university or college setting but I have not.

It turns out that besides creating sentences from words, I also made friends from time spent in close community. Many of us have vowed to keep in contact for a long time. But like all promises made at the end of an intense friendship, the glue that binds may not withstand months apart and real world obligation.

This is the writing life I've loved, the engagement of ideas and fellow writers. If you are a writer without a community, you MUST find one. Start today through a writer's guild or a group with school, take the risk and exchange pieces of work. You will grow in ways you cannot know now and, maybe, one day you will be at the Writing Studio at the Banff Centre. Then, you'll be able to walk into Banff to the Cozy Cave Bakehouse and buy one of your fellow writers a cupcake on her birthday.

This Chocolate Divine Cupcake was for Vancouver Poet Liz Bachinsky. She is a terrificly witty woman and her poetry is AMAZING. (Complex, gritty, playful, heart wrenching) The night I heard her read, I wanted her to be my friend. She has many friends and admirers. Her latest collection was shortlisted for the 2006 Governor General's Award. Here's the link:

Home of Sudden Service
by Elizabeth Bachinsky
Roberts Creek, BC: Nightwood Editions, 2006, ISBN 0-88971-212-3
"Elegant poetic forms collide with the colloquial in a startling collection of punk rock villanelles and delinquent sonnets. . ."

Flat cakes: pancakes you'll love on Sunday mornings!

2008-04-26T06:35:00.000-07:00

It starts out simply enough. I'm just going to make a few pancakes for breakfast. And then, the complication sets in, because I don't do much that's simple. I like complex. I like messy. I like the wow factor when the guests sit down to the table. I suppose I like to be a food star.

This is the difficulty and the blessing I have with writing. I always want to tackle more than my current ideas. I strive for connection to setting, theme, overall, an ethereal reading experience where the reader knows the work is great, but it seems effortless. Hm... I don't always get it right. In fact, I'd say I have flashes of brilliance. I've also had moments where the work is not coming together and I've considered ending my writing career. Any writer, I think, will talk of those moments. Frustration is believing, but not seeing, yet.

So...I am off to the Banff Centre for the Arts tomorrow for six weeks of intensive work in the Writer's Studio, a program for emerging and mid-career writers to work with some of the best published authors in the country. My goal is to extend my brilliance over a few paragraphs to a few chapters, to move myself along the continuum of great writing. But...will I bake? I think I will have a few opportunities. I'm taking some ingredients with me because I'll have access to an oven. And I have been a baker for as long as I can remember.

My baking life started when I was very young. I baked brownies and cakes from boxes with an old-fashioned looking woman on them. I also made pancakes from a box that pictured a dark-skinned woman wearing a bandanna on her head. I thought I was baking, but as I got older and tried food at great restaurants and bakeries, I knew there was something more. Cookbooks became an obsession I'll talk more about in another post. I will tell you this: I baked something different every night for dessert- for months. Creating something so delicious from a little hard work and ingredients became a way of defining myself, setting myself apart.

Here then, is the best banana pancake recipe I've ever tasted in my life. Anywhere. If you don't try these, you're missing out!

Banana Pancakes.
Ingredients:

1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all-purpose unbleached flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
2 Tablespoons sugar
1 cup buttermilk or plain yogurt
2 Tablespoons melted butter or oil
1 large egg
3/4 cup mashed bananas
caramel sauce- optional, chopped almonds- optional
whipped cream- optional

To Make.

Combine flours, baking powder, soda, cinnamon, sugar and salt in a large bowl.
Mash the bananas in a second bowl. Whisk in the buttermilk, butter, egg.
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Stir until barely moistened.
Fry pan over medium heat: brush with a little oil or butter. Add a healthy scoop of pancake batter (1/4 cup). Flip the cake when you see bubbles rising and breaking on the pancake edges. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes on the other side, until brown. Serve with caramel sauce, extra bananas, whipped cream, chopped almonds, a dash of cinnamon. YUM!

Makes 6 bigger pancakes (enough for 4 people)

The Cake Princess: Dreamy White Chocolate Decadence

2008-04-13T13:45:00.000-07:00

Sometimes, (always, if we're the optimistic sort), we have a saving grace, a redeeming quality among the bad: a bad attitude, a horrible day, or a lousy cupcake recipe that tastes like doughy under-sweet fudge cake.

I've experienced plenty of days when I'm sure I never thought of a saving grace, probably didn't even remember it existed. The days when a rejection letter from a grant committee or an agent or editor have been the worst. On those days, I wander from my office to the tea kettle, the hem of my robe dragging through toast crumbs. I pretend to write, conjure myself into writing position- fingers poised, brain on- it's no use. I can't concentrate. Except on the thing that scares me the most. I'm just not good enough. I may never be good enough.

How do I get through rejection? I avoid talking about it to anyone except my husband because I know he'll tell me to take the long view. (I certainly tell my writer friends a few days later, but almost never on the day the letter arrives.) I let myself cry, but not for long. I take a walk. Eat chocolate. Drink tea. Read Anne Lamont's Bird by Bird. Again. I cook an easy supper of comfort food- macaroni and cheese or eggs and toast. I read the kids a great bedtime story. I go to bed early. I tell myself the same thing that I tell my children, a good night's sleep helps almost any problem get smaller. And it does.

This Dreamy White Chocolate Decadence Frosting comes to the rescue every time. It is surprisingly light and elegant without that powdered sugar taste that reminds me of grocery store cakes from my childhood, all sugar paste and cheap margarine. Topped with sprinkles from Dean and Deluca, this cupcake has a little crunch and a big wow. (I'm not going to give you the recipe for the cake- it was that tasteless. And I tried it twice!)

Dreamy White Chocolate Decadence Frosting
Ingredients

1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, softened
6 Tablespoons milk
9 ounces white chocolate, melted and cooled. (lindt, not callebaut baking)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups sifted powdered sugar

To Make:

Beat butter until creamy. Three minutes. (Medium sized bowl, medium speed of mixer)
Add milk slowly. Beat until smooth.
Add melted chocolate. Beat for 2 minutes.
Add sugar. Beat on low speed until creamy. YUM!