Attempt: Wedding Cake?!?!

First attempted wedding cake

It's been a while since I posted something but I’ve been incredibly busy with my condo...I moved out.  Throughout the week I have been packing, mini moves and looking for boxes.  It makes me sad to know these two cake were the last things I baked this place.  I moved on Saturday.  It won’t be the same cooking and baking in another other house. 

Aside from my personal life, this year is the year of weddings for me.  Four good friends are getting marry and the closest wedding will actually be in March!  They only announced their engagement last month!  This will certainly be interesting and fun, I haven’t attended a wedding in years, not to mention that I will be a bridesmaid.  I wonder what’s that like.....never been before..

Now here’s the crazy part, I even offered to make their wedding cake!! I have never made a wedding cake, nor have I ever learn how to make and decorate a wedding cake in my baking class.  by the way, it was over four years ago when I last took a baking class.  I have confident in myself, and I love a good baking challenge.  I went to the store and found all the supplies I think I needed which are, a Fondant Roller, Fondant smoother, already-made fondant, and gel food colouring.  I already have piping tips and piping bags at home so I thought I was SET!

Bought these fake flowers at the dollar store.. playing around with the design

The internet is such a powerful and helpful tool.  I researched and studied with the help of youtube and blog sites on how to build and decorate a fondant wedding cake.  After buying already-made fondant, I realized that marshmallow fondant its actually very easy to make, plus those who made it say its tastier too.  I was convinced, plus it cheaper too!  I didn’t return the fondant I bought cause I wanted to compare it with the marshmallow fondant.  My verdict is that the marshmallow fondant IS easier to make as well as being yummier.  The major difference between the two is:

Wilson’s fondant	Home-made Marshmallow Fandant
Has a sour smell when smell close to the noise	Smells like sugar up close
Very firm and needed to microwave to soften	Soft, like new Playdough
Due to the firmness, difficult to roll thin	Easy to roll
Just taste sweet but slightly doughy	Much tastier, like marshmallow

I made a simple chocolate cake recipe and after that, I crumb coated  the cake with a simple vanilla butter cream and placed it in the fridge for about four hours for the coat to harden.  What is Crumb coating? I now know that it is important to crumb coat when fondanting a cake.  Basically it is covering the entire cake with a very thin layer of icing to seal in the moister and FRESHNESS.  It also keeps the cake from (excuse my home-make term) "crumbing" and falling apart when you apply the fondant over your cake.

Wilson fondant

This was the result of my first attempt.  I honestly did not know how I should design the cake.  The bride gave me complete design control.  I was glad to have full control, but at the same time I was overwhelm with all the beautiful designs I saw on the internet which made it difficult to decided.  I wanted to gather ideas and did not want to copy someone else's design idea.   Eventually I realized that simplicity is the best.  I would incorporate her wedding theme colour, and flowers into the cake.  

I got alittle creative and decided to add a black ribbon.  Great colour contrast but I debating weather or not I want to add anything non-edible to a cake....

Although this cake has blue roses, I am wishing she won’t have blue roses in her wedding (I over heard her saying she will be holding a bouquet of blue roses, her favourite)  they were extremely time consuming and difficult to make.  And if a professional were to judge these roses, they would definitely criticize their shapes.  They don’t look like true roses.  Oh well I need more practices and I WILL definitely do it the bride wishes.  The second cake I made were decorated with calla lilies.  Much easier to make. 

Second Attempt, with home-made marshmallow Fondant.

 The second cake is a vanilla cake filled with mango buttercream.  It was FANTASTIC.  I had 2 slices of cake that night.  It was soooo tasty, I was surprised.  I just followed a basic buttercream recipe, but incorporated Mango Puree.  Excellent result and it was a hit. 

What I learned was that you can't make flowers with marshmallow fondant.  It will not hold it's shape.  I made one and waited 3 hours for it to harden.  never hardened.  I then did a bit of research and found out that I should be using gum paste, a.k.a sugar paste, a.k.a pastillage.  Apparently its easy to shape and it dries quite quick, which also means that you have to work fast!.  I haven't looked for gum paste recipes yet but I have seen it for sale at Bulk Barn.  I'll probably buy it if it cost less. 

 

 

 

 

 

Applying a border of edible silver beads, so pretty!

Fluffy Blueberry Pancakes

Sundays are generally when I make a good breakfast.  What I mean by that is that it’s really the only day of the week that I don’t have work along with my roommate.  I usually eat by myself, when I’m at home even though I cook for the two of us. 

No Frills had their $1 sale and I STOCKED up on Blueberries.  I bought about 10 packs in total!  I like eating them as a snack but I haven’t had blueberry pancakes in years. 

This was a simple recipe I found on Allrecipes.com (http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/fluffy-pancakes/Detail.aspx) so I’m not going to post the recipe.  Again this was a very basic easy recipe and the only difference was that I just added fresh blueberries. 

Oh, I always used real maple syrups and have a slab of butter on top, soooooo GOOD!!

Operation Leftovers: Pizza

I went to a fabulous Greek restaurant on the Danforth, there was so much food, I had doggy-bag the rest.   Now I’m the type of person who always finishes my food at the restaurant and never or rarely pack my leftovers.  Why?, that’s cause I usually always am able to clean my plate, I HATE leaving food behind.  However, this time was impossible for me to finish my meal.  I ordered Pork souvlaki with steamed vegetable and rice, and by-the-way, it also came with a starter greek salad (my favourite type of salad XD)  Finished all my salad and only ate half of my dinner and bagged the rest.   The next day, I knew I was going to have my leftovers for lunch but I didn’t want to just reheat it in the microwave.  I looked in my fridge and thought I would make a Leftover Pizza! (I can be quite clever sometimes)

This was what I had in my fridge, Pillsbury pizza crust, shredded cheese, pesto sauce, and my pork, and vegetables dinner. 

I actually didn't use the Bocconcini in this pic cause my pizza didn't have enough room

I cut up the pork and vegetables.

Spread pesto onto the pizza dough, sprinkled cheese, and piled on my leftovers

Baked it in the oven and voila! Leftover pizza!

 

Individual Chocolate Cake

I apologize for the poor picture, it was taken from an iPhone4

Doesn’t this look nice, and doesn't it look like i spent alot lot of time in the kitchen? I didn’t, just a simple chocolate cake mix, and the help of a mini bundt pan was basically all I used.  What I have here is chocolate cake, drizzled with melted chocolate icing (Betty Crocker) and topped with a scoop of Cookie and Creams ice cream. 

I actually bought this mini bundt pan 2 years ago and this pan had been on my baking shelf staring me in the face for a while.  I always wanted to use it, but for some reason, I just never did.  I’m actually moving soon, so when saw this pan in the cabinet, I told myself that I need to use this mini bundt pan before i move out of my house.  Yes, cake mix, I usually have one of these stored at home, just in case I crave for chocolate cake, this way is fast and easy.  

Yield 12 

Equipments:

Mini bundt pan

Ingredients:

Cake mix of your choice

Ice Cream of your choice

Icing of your choice

That's it!

Directions:

1.       Follow instruction of cake mix on the back of the box

2.       Grease the pan with butter.  This lets the cakes slide out easily when cooked

3.       Put icing in microwave and melt icing

4.       Assemble by drizzling melted icing and toping with ice cream

Looks good and taste awesome!

You don't have to spend a lot of time in the kitchen to create such amazing results.  Don't be afraid of cooking, all you need to do is be creative and you will surely impress your friends and family. 

Cinnamon Rolls Anyone?!?

Chef Michael inspired me once again! I have never made cinnamon rolls before and it looks really hard to make!  Well, another food blogger inspired me first in attempting to make cinnamon rolls, and her name is Bridget and you site is called The way the cookie Crumbles, and she made a pumpkin cinnamon rolls and they looked so yummy!  I then did my research and found an episode from “Chef at Home” and he made cinnamon rolls that looked so easy to make. I couldn’t resist the challenge, and  I find it a lot easier to follow recipes from watching a videos rather than reading recipes. 

The best part was that I had all the ingredients in my kitchen already so I didn’t have to make a special trip to the grocery store.  I was so proud of myself when I made them! Such a sense of accomplishment and my baking skills gained a level! 

Watch chef Michael Smith’s video “Cinnamon Rolls”, he makes it look so easy and from my experience, it really is! This link is the recipe, as well as the video http://www.foodnetwork.ca/recipes/Dessert/Eggs-Dairy/recipe.html?dishid=10482

      

                               

I followed his recipe to the “T” but the only difference was that I cut recipe in half.  The recipe yields 12 but I only live with one other person so by cutting the recipe in half, I get 6 instead.  Much easier for us to finish before they go bad! >_<

Yield: 6

Equipments:

Baking pan

Small pot

Electric mixer

Ingredients:

Dough

½ cup Milk

¼ cup butter

¼ cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

½ teaspoon salt

2 ½ cups flour

1 tablespoon instant yeast ( or ½ package)

2 eggs

Filling

¼ cup butter, room temperature

½ cup brown sugar

1 tablespoon cinnamon

Glaze

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 tablespoons cream

1 cup powdered Sugar

Directions:

Dough

1.       In a small pot, on medium heat,  warm milk, butter brown sugar, vanilla, and salt. DO NOT BOIL DON’T even SIMMER, just warm enough so the butter melts.

2.       In an electric mixer using the paddle attachment, add yeast, and warm melted mixture

3.       Add half of the flour and beat until smooth, scraping down the sides

4.       Add eggs and beat till smooth

5.       Switch to dough hook

6.       Add remaining flour

7.       On medium speed, combine till it forms a ball and the dough no longer sticks to the bowl.  Approximately 5 mins

8.       Put the dough in a bowl, plastic wrap over it and let it rest in a warm place (I left mine on top of the fridge) rest for 1-2 hours and it should double in size.

Filling Direction:

1.       Combine room temperature butter, brown sugar and cinnamon until it forms a paste.

Assembling:

1.       An hour later........ knock the dough down to deflate it

2.       Flour your work surface.  Roll the dough out into a rectangle, should be ½ cm thick

3.       Spread the Cinnamon filling evenly to the entire surface of the dough

4.       Start rolling the dough tightly

5.       Slice the log into 6 (or 8) and place in a creased baking pan

6.       Bake in a preheated 350F oven for 30-40 mins

Glaze directions:

1.       Combine vanilla cream and powdered sugar

Once the cinnamon rolls have cooled down, drizzle glaze all over them!

Your house will smell pleasantly cinnamony!

Squash and Carrot Soup

Soups are some of my favourite food to eat, especially during the winter cause I like to sit on my couch with a blanket and the television on.  I have been making this soup for 2 years now? I actually got my hand-blender from my sister as a birthday present.  This Christmas was the first time I shared this recipe with my family and they really enjoyed it.  My mom grew kabocha squash during the summer and I didn’t notice them until my dad stir-fried it for dinner one night.  I love squash soup and I thought it would be great to serve for Christmas dinner! 

I actually made this soup the day before to minimize the amount of cooking on Christmas day.  It tastes exactly the same, if not better the next day, and all I need to do is warm up the soup.  This Christmas the family celebrated it at my sister’s new house.   It’s always just my sister and I who prepare Christmas dinner while everyone else plays some sort of video game in the entertainment room.     

This is a super easy recipe that I came up myself, and if I don’t have squash handy, I just make carrot soup and it’s just as tasty!

Yield 12

Equipments:

Large pot

Hand blender or stand blender

Ingredients:

1 kabocha squash- peeled, seeded, and cubed

3 Carrots- peeled and chopped

1L Chicken stock

2 cups of water

1 Teaspoon Thyme

1 large Onions- chopped

2 tablespoon butter

Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

This is all the ingredients

you need to make this soup!

Directions:

1.       Melt butter in large pot, 

2.       Add onions and thyme and sauté on medium heat till soft

3.       Add carrots, squash, water and chicken stock

4.       Put lid on pot and bring to boil

5.       Reduce heat to low and simmer for 30- 40 mins or when all vegetables are tender

6.       With a hand blender, blend soup. ( or blend soup with a stand blender)

7.       Salt and pepper to taste

I admit, I had a bowl of soup on the night I made it, couldn’t wait!