The Cake Princess

2012-06-09T07:46:00.000-07:00

Hello All,
This is me:

I am happy, overwhelmed (and relieved!) Wicked Sweet is doing great since its release less than a month ago and I'm planning a book launch for tomorrow, a third one in Fort McMurray on June 20, and a few more surprises during the summer!

Also, check out the reach... Wicked Sweet has been highlighted in the San Jose examiner!

San Jose Examiner. YA Summer Reads.

I hope today is happy, smiley one for you, too!

2012-05-20T15:17:00.000-07:00

Everybody Needs a Rock.

We all need something to hang on to. Something to remind us that we're connected. To each other. Joyous when life is up. Bound even when it hurts.

Snye in Fort McMurray. Rocks for the classroom.

With my friend Shelley, an amazing artisan.

What rocks can remind us of...

I use rocks in the classroom, during artist-educator training and in the window of my office.

They help remind me that I am part of the circle of all things.

They are my souvenirs from far away places. A bit of leftover land that holds memories of a walking meditation.

Or a day at the Snye with a friend.

When you ask someone to write one word on a rock, they choose words that matter because, well, it seems so permanent.

Words on a rock. Forever.

In classrooms, I've used this great book to teach metaphor. We read it all, we think about it and then I ask. What if we put in a different word for rock? A word like friend?

In Rule Number 10, the text says

Could a rock be a metaphor for Love? or Friend?

Don't ask anybody to help you choose.

I've seen a snail pass up twenty rocks
and spend all day
getting to
the one
it wanted.

You have to make up your own mind.
You'll
know.

Two Weeks to Publication!

2012-05-01T05:26:00.001-07:00

Wicked Sweet, a great summer read for kids ages 13 +, will be available May 15 on-line and in great bookstores all across North America...

Here is what Publishers Weekly said in its review yesterday:

Wicked Sweet

Mar’ce Merrell. Feiwel and Friends, $16.99 (336p) ISBN 978-0-312-60749-4

A lot of wheels are turning at once in Merrell’s aptly titled debut, a story of summer romance, betrayals, and revenge that’s best served sweet, which shifts among the narration of four soon to be high school seniors. Driven and future- focused best friends Chantal and Jillian typically embark on ambitious “summer projects” each year, aiming to someday become “neurosurgeons committed to world health.” But this year, Jillian decides that their summer should include boys, too. Friends Parker and Will have a summer project of their own, a “man challenge” that entails getting the two girls to fall for them. When Chantal overhears their plan, fueled by an old grudge against Will and fear of abandonment by Jillian, she seeks revenge on Will with a complicated and secret baked goods– inspired plan. Despite the lighthearted plot, Chantal’s growth through baking and other well-constructed characters should hold readers’ interest. Merrell delves into persuasive family dynamics, finding parallels between the teens’ stressful home lives and the constantly changing emotions, alliances, and motives of each character. Ages 13–up. Agent: Rosemary Stimola, Stimola Literary Studio. (June)

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!