Wheels and Lollipops

Frosting for the Cause

noreply@blogger.com (Wheels and Lollipops) — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 13:50:00 PST

Last November I came across the project called Frosting for the Cause, their aim is to gather bakers from around the world to raise funds to find a cure for cancer - one day at a time. Baking for a cause, especially cancer well, there were no second thoughts I immediately registered.

It seems that everyone knows someone that is either a survivor of cancer or one that lost their life to it. I made these cupcakes to honor two brave women that are survivors and my cousin Joanne who lost her battle to Colon Cancer in 2003 she fought a brave fight and not a day goes by where she is not missed.

I made lemon cupcakes with a vanilla bean frosting, apologies for not including a tutorial but I did these today when I was home with my two kids and well the idea of cupcakes had them a little over excited I was lucky to just get them out of the oven.

Yellow Cupcakes

Makes 12 regular cupcakes or 48 mini cupcakes

Ingredients

3/4 cup unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks), at room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon fine salt
1/2 cup milk, at room temperature
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 large eggs, at room temperature, separated
1 teaspoon lemon zest

Directions

Place a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 375 degrees F. Line the muffin pan with paper cupcake liners.

In a standing, combine the butter and sugar and mix on low speed until just incorporated. Raise the speed to high and mix until light and fluffy, about 10 minutes. (Occasionally turn the mixer off, and scrape the sides of the bowl down with a rubber spatula.)

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. In a small bowl, whisk together the milk and vanilla, and also set aside.

Add the egg yolks to the creamed butter one at time, waiting for each one to be fully incorporated before adding the next.

Reduce the speed of the mixer to low. Alternately, add the flour mixture in 3 additions and the milk in 2 additions, waiting for each to be fully incorporated before adding the next (scrape the bowl down occasionally). Add lemon zest to the batter.

Raise the speed to medium and mix briefly until a smooth batter is formed. Transfer the batter to a large bowl.

Thoroughly clean the bowl of the mixer and put the egg whites inside. Whip the egg whites on high speed, using the whisk attachment, until stiff peaks are formed.

Working in 3 batches, using a rubber spatula, fold the egg whites into the batter, until just incorporated. Divide the batter evenly among the cups in the muffin pan. Bake, rotating the pan once, until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center of the cakes comes out clean, about 30 minutes.

Remove the cakes from the oven and cool in tins for 10 minutes before placing on wire rack

Vanilla Butter Cream Frosting - Adapted from Martha Stewart

Makes enough for 30 cupcakes

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
6 to 8 cups confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup milk
Seeds from one vanilla bean

Directions

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter until smooth and creamy, 2 to 3 minutes. With mixer on low speed, add 6 cups sugar, milk, and vanilla; mix until light and fluffy. If necessary, gradually add remaining 2 cups sugar to reach desired consistency.
For the pale yellow icing, I used the Wilton gel coloring 'Yellow' and a pink heart chocolate candy. A MATER tip B8 was used for the frosting

French Fridays with Dorie: Spicy Vietnamese Chicken Noodle Soup - Uncensored

noreply@blogger.com (Wheels and Lollipops) — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 14:47:00 PDT

Before I explain my uncensored part, I need to say a very big thank you to those that supported me in the Project Food Blog 2010 Challenge. Your support meant the world to me and still does, it means that what I'm doing here is not going on deaf ears. So thank you once again :)

So, back to uncensored part ? Well as I've mentioned several times during this blog, I'm not a professional photographer, I do not edit my photos though I do try to make an effort to take great photos it just does not alway work out. I'm a mom that works and well most my meals are made at night so hence the use of flash. The dishes on the weekends tend to fare a bit better.

So the photo of my soup is the real photo that was taken Wednesday night just before we sat down to eat.

French Fridays with Dorie is a coming together of foodies like ourselves who happen to be fans of Dorie Greenspan, in all there are about 900 of us who will be cooking through her book "Around my French Table". This week's recipe was Spicy Vietnamese Chicken Noodle Soup. This is my first recipe for the group but the third from her book and I have to say that I've been thrilled with all of them. Hubby was hesitant when he saw the book, his first phrase was, 'Oh another American writing about French food" , given his reaction after the 4 dishes I think he has retracted his statement. Though I have to say it was a bit strange to be making French dishes where the listing of ingredients had been Americanized, I found myself having to say no its this sort of potato or apple etc.

I made the soup for dinner this past Wednesday, it looked easy enough to be put together quite quickly after a work day or in my case my day off with my kids. The recipe which can be found on page 98-100 on first impression looks daunting due to the list of ingredients. However ,to be very honest it took me all of 5 minutes to put together before the chicken went in for 15 minutes. In the interim I solved two fights about toys, changed a diaper, took out a load of laundry and put another in. Then the hubby called and said that he was stuck at work, no problem I took out the chicken, covered the soup and turned off the stove. Took this time to pick up toys, solve another fight and read a story to them. Hubby finally showed up ( don't worry I had already fed the kids), he put the kids to bed while I made the noodles and finished dressing the soup.

By this time, I'm starving, I yell at hubby to bring the camera so I can take a picture. I start taking a few photos only to realize that my lens are twisted ??? How did this happen ? Hubby looks at the soup and the different herbs on the table and says OK :) The OK is then followed by "Excellent" at least 3 times (when this word is used repeatedly in French you know you have a winner). He was right the soup was delicious, the fresh herbs really added a fresh flavor and most importantly it more or less put itself together.

When I started this blog , the aim was to show that YOU CAN make delicious meals while doing a multitude of different tasks and dishes like this help keep me on the straight path!

I can't wait to make the next week's dish.

Bon Appétit

PFB Challenge # 3 - A Fall Inspired Tasting Menu

noreply@blogger.com (Wheels and Lollipops) — Sun, 03 Oct 2010 16:01:00 PDT

First of all, a very warm thank you to all that voted for me in the previous challenge. Words can't express how thankful I am for your support.

Challenge #3 – Luxury Dinner Party

… the challenge is to hold a party for your friends and family (at least four guests, you can include yourself in the 4 person count). Whether you’re an experienced host or an entertaining newbie, get creative and host a luxurious dinner party where your guests will discover new tastes and exotic flavors.

Luxury ? When I first read about the challenge and saw the word Luxury, several thoughts came into my mind on what the definition of luxury is. For many it can mean something very refined, elegant, rich, over the top, for others it can mean the ultimate in comfort food , THE opportunity to splurge on what we normally avoid. For me I side with both definitions and thus realized that I needed to think some more. It was while I was researching possible dishes that my definition of Luxury vis a vis this challenge hit me. Today, thanks to hot houses and transportation we can pretty much find all fruit and vegetable products year round. We complain that the strawberries that we buy in November have no taste when its normal that it has no taste, its not the season. How often do we content ourselves with what the season has to offer us? Its true that when we are "confined" to seasonal products our choice of recipes are narrowed down. Its funny really, because "seasonal products" are bursting with flavor, their nutrients are at its prime and they tend to be cheaper than out of season products.

With that principle in mind I decided to showcase some of the products currently available in our market Chestnuts, Chanterelle Mushrooms, Apples and Monkfish to name a few. The menu for the dinner would be a tasting menu or a menu de dégustation. I chose to make two entrées (first course) , two main dishes and two desserts. The menu is very much a reflection of French gastronomy.

Part of this challenge required us to have a dinner party with a minimum of 4 guests, naturally I invited one of my dearest friends however the day before the dinner she called to say that her nearly 2year old daughter was diagnosed with hand, foot and mouth disease- highly contagious ! Did I also mention that another part of the challenge was to give advice on planning and hosting a dinner party ? Murphy's Law, things can go wrong to even the most perfectly planned event. My son happened to be sitting in front of me when she told me this and only then did it dawn on me. I had forgotten to invite someone! My son.

Yes, yes I complain that he's a picky eater and can't bear to eat fruit or cheese but compared to other 4year olds that I know, he is quite the gourmet. He's been exposed to a multitude of dishes and flavors and surprisingly enough likes most of it. To be able to offer our son his first tasting menu is a luxury in itself which made the party even more special. My daughter Claire made her appearance at the cheese plate.

Tips on preparing a tasting menu.

A tasting menu by itself can be a very overwhelming task, the key is to choose the dishes carefully and if possible dishes that can be made in advanced and assembled the day of the party. For this menu, the chocolate mousse, soup, risotto, apple sauce were all made the day before. The morning of the party, I made the batter for the madeleines and put it to chill as it needs to rest before it bakes. I also did the chestnut cream , polenta and assembled the risotto and turnovers. The only dishes that needed cooking were the beef, foie gras and the fish which went straight into the oven. While we were having the cheese course I popped the turnovers into the oven. The madeleines which are better served warm went into the oven right after.

Choosing Wines

No tasting menu is complete without wine. Try as much as possible to stick to the same country as the dishes that you are preparing. This will not only complement your dishes but it will serve to complete the meal. In general, red meats go better with heavy reds such as a Bordeaux, Pomerol, Saint Estèphe etc. Reds from Bourgogne which tend to be lighter and compliment poultry dishes. Both whites and red complement cheeses this really is a question of personal taste.

Most importantly, relax and enjoy the party. If your guests see that you are relaxed they will follow your lead.

Pre Dinner

No party is complete without it...

My little gourmet

Veloute of carrot with Chestnut Cream

Garlic, Thym Chanterelle Mushrooms with polenta

Roasted monkfish and potatoes served with caramelized shallots

Beef fillet and warm foie gras with a black fig reduction (served with risotto)

Époisses

Little hands

Chocolate Mousee / Apple Turnovers

Café / Madeleines

Voting for Challenge #3 begins on Monday 4th October on Foodbuzz

Project Food Blog 2010: The Classics - Rouladen & Kartoffelklösse

noreply@blogger.com (Wheels and Lollipops) — Sun, 26 Sep 2010 13:24:00 PDT

First of all, my deepest thanks for those that voted for me during the first challenge.
For this second round of Project Food Blog 2010 the challenge is to tackle a classic dish from another culture that is outside our comfort zone or that we are less familiar with. The goal is to keep the dish as authentic as the real dish.

I talk fast and I read fast in both English and French so when I read the challenge details I was naturally excited at the thought to make a classic dish - but then after re-reading the paragraph I realized that it had to be OUTSIDE my comfort zone. This was going to require some thought. If we back track a little, I'm originally from Trinidad & Tobago an island the size of Rhode Island in the Caribbean. My mom made dishes with her spin from around the world so I was already acquainted with certain dishes; I attended university in Atlanta where I had the good fortune to be surrounded by students from a myriad of countries all of whom were quite proud to show me their cooking skills.

While living in Atlanta I met not only my hubby but also one of my dearest friends - Peter who is German. We had lots in common including a healthy appreciation for good food; however we always circumnavigated any discussion about German food, until one day I asked him to make me a German dish; he hesitated for a while and months passed. After months of pestering he said ok and made me a dish called Rouladen with Potato dumplings. Definitely not an explosion of flavors but it was delicious his company was great it was a memorable night.

Fast forward to the challenge, I thought of Peter and then of my current situation, in my team at work there are several Germans, all of whom I appreciate greatly and for me it was a natural decision that I make a German dish for this challenge. True, the level of complexity is low but the key would be to recreate a feeling that I had after having dinner with Peter, and the excitement that one of my German colleagues had when I told her what I was doing.

German food may not be fancy but it is comforting, and on a cold, dreary rainy day like today, it was a dish that was most certainly welcomed. We naturally served this with a German white wine.

Rouladen is a meat roll usually consisting of bacon, onions, mustard and pickles wrapped in thinly sliced beef which is then cooked. Kartoffelklösse or Potato dumplings are slightly softer than traditional dumplings but they have a higher ratio of potato to flour.

Rouladen

6 slices top round
3 slices lean bacon
1 onion, finely chopped
3 garlic dill pickles, finely chopped
2 tbsp. butter
mustard, salt, pepper, corn starch
1 - 2 cups water

Season beef slices with salt and freshly ground pepper. Thinly spread mustard on top of each slice.
Divide bacon, pickle, and onion slices on one end of each slice.
Roll up slices, tucking the ends in and securing with skewers, wooden cocktail picks, or thread.
Heat butter in skillet. Brown rouladen well on all sides. Do not crowd rouladen in skillet, or they will not brown nicely. Do in small batches if necessary. Add extra butter if needed.
Once all rouladen are well browned, add 1 - 2 cups of hot water, gently stirring up browned bits. Return all rouladen and any accumulated juices to skillet, bring to simmer and cover for about 1 1/2 hours
Remove rouladen. To thicken gravy, combine about 1-2 tbsp. corn starch in a little cold water and stir gently into cooking liquid until slightly thickened.
Season gravy to taste with salt and freshly ground pepper. If you wish, add sour cream to the gravy.
Remove skewers, picks, or thread to serve rouladen with their gravy.

Kartoffelklösse

Kartoffelklösse are traditionally served alongside a Roast with gravy or with Sauerbraten and Rotkohl. Leftover potato dumplings can be enjoyed the following day thickly sliced and sautéed in butter.

1 kg / 2 lbs of starchy potatoes
2 teaspoons of salt
¼ teaspoon of freshly grated nutmeg
½ cup of plain white flour
1 egg

Scrub and rinse the potatoes well and place in a large saucepan of cold water. Bring the unpeeled potatoes to the boil, add salt and simmer the potatoes for around 35 minutes or until they are just tender. Drain the potatoes and cool them slightly -just enough so that you can handle them. You should now be able to peel the skins away from the flesh of the potatoes with your bare hands. Once all the potatoes are peeled, cut them into even-sized pieces and refrigerate until cold. The potatoes can be prepared the previous day, if desired.
Mash the potatoes with a fork or mashing tool in a large bowl. Mix in the salt and freshly grated nutmeg. Add half a cup of flour and mix to combine. With your hands knead the mixture in the bowl until a smooth soft dough forms, add more flour by the tablespoon if the dough remains sticky. Combine one beaten egg with the mixture.

In a large saucepan of salted simmering water, almost boiling, poach the completed dumplings in batches of 4 to 5. Do not place more than 4 to 5 dumplings in the pot at any one time - to prevent them from sticking together or touching during cooking, which could cause them to fall apart!
Cook the dumplings for 10 to 15 minutes or until the dumplings rise to the surface. Remove and drain each of the Kartoffelklösse with a slotted spoon into a serving dish. Keep the dish covered to conserve heat while the remaining dumplings are cooked.
(Serves 4 to 6)

PFB Challenge # 1 - My Family, My Blog

noreply@blogger.com (Wheels and Lollipops) — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 13:59:00 PDT

What is PFB ? Project Food Blog is the first-ever interactive competition where thousands of Foodbuzz Featured Publishers are competing in a series of culinary blogging challenges for the chance to advance and a shot at the ultimate prize: $10,000 and a special feature on Foodbuzz.com for one year.

The first challenge is to define yourself as a food blogger and why you should be the next food blog star?

What defines me as a food blogger ? The same thing that makes me stay up until 2am and then get back up again at 6am - my family.

When I decided to start my blog, the one person in the world that knew about it was my hubby , the same one that keeps all my secrets and knows what my deepest dreams are. Instead of scoffing at me for wanting to join the sea of bloggers that already exists he said "Great idea, go for it, you will be great !" Was he aware that he was agreeing to eat slightly warm food as the plates needed to be photographed first? , that some of our menus would be dictated by some of the challenges that I would take part in, that we would spend most of our 7th wedding anniversary at the very first Paris CupcakeCamp? With his blessing that I would be spending sacred hours of our time either in the kitchen or behind the computer ,my blog was born.

I love food, I always have. Most would say that its normal considering the fact that my mom is an excellent cook. I have very fond memories of us always having something new and different to eat, my mom is famous among her nieces and nephews for her cooking and after looking at her in the kitchen it was normal that some of it would rub off on me. Most kids when they want something are on their best behavior, me, I would make dinner as a surprise or a cake. One of the things that eases me when I'm stressed or tired is to browse cookbooks (paper or online) to get ideas for meals, dishes, to create an experience , a future dinner - this calms me :)

After having kids, I was and still am adamant that my kids have the same food background that I had, that they know what fresh fruits, vegetables taste like and that they know what a whole fish looks like. My son is not a fruit lover, he hates fruits period, BUT he knows what all of their names are and how you eat them. He can tell you the names of cheeses that he can't stand to look at but he knows what they are. Does this make me proud ? Yes, he knows the names and the smells and with time he will grow to like it but my recompense is that I feel as though what we are doing makes a difference.

Like so many other mom's out there, its hard to ensure that our kids eat balanced home cooked meals, that birthdays and specials occasions are celebrated with the pomp and style that they deserve. My goal of this blog is not only to share my love of cooking but that it IS possible to be a working mom , have a career and still prepare delicious meals on a daily basis. By no means is it easy but it is doable.

Why should I go forward ? No fancy answers, only the fact that I love preparing meals for my loved ones, that I enjoy sharing my passion with men and women across the world and that we can contact via the Internet. For me one of the ways that I show my love for my family is by the food that I prepare and this is what makes me the blogger that I am.

**Judging will be open from Monday 20th September.

La Rentrée & resolutions

noreply@blogger.com (Wheels and Lollipops) — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 14:02:00 PDT

September marks the 6 month anniversary of this blog, to say that the last 6months have been easy is an understatement, have I enjoyed it - without a doubt ! I started this blog as a way of sharing my love for food with fellow foodies and as a way to challenge myself in the kitchen.

There are many things that I pride myself on and the most important is my commitment to providing fresh, healthy and delicious meals to my family and friends. I am a mom that works outside of home, looks after two little ones, a house (well condo) and tries to remain sane. There are many days that I wish for extra hours in the day just to get things crossed off my list. Friends think that I'm a super mom for doing what I do, my response is No, this is who I am. What fuels me ? The response is quite simple really -I do not want to fill the stomachs of my family, but instead I want nourish them, and for my fellow foodies you know its not the same thing. My other motivation ? My hubby, who stays up late with me as I type my posts, who encourages me when I really don't feel like taking pictures, gives me ideas for posts, brings me freshly brewed tea - you get the idea :)

Like many others, I look at the food universe that we belong to and think how can I ever make a dent and then I look back on the last 6months and think of the challenges that I've succeeded on, the friends that I have met, the personal victories that I have had and then I realize that the most important benefit of all is that I'm doing something for me :)

September in France is most affectionately called ' La rentrée" which means back to school/work however its not JUST going back, its a time for resolutions and re-evaluating the year. I guess this is what happens when you take 4 weeks off ( average summer holiday).Some of my food resolutions are:

Update this blog more often
Hunt out those local farmers on the open market
Continue to build on the traditions that my hubby and I are making with out kids that involve food
Loose some of the weight that I've gained because of this blog :)

The last few weeks have been perhaps the most exhausting of this year, the after effect of a very good holiday ?

However today is my "rentrée" :) the blog is back in session !

What are some of your "rentrée" resolutions ?

August Daring Bakers Challenge - Ice Cream Petit Fours

noreply@blogger.com (Wheels and Lollipops) — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 14:00:00 PDT

Pineapple Ice Box cake ....No this is not a picture nor a post about pineapple ice box cake but it was the first cake that I ever ate that was cold and had cream on it at least to my recollection. If my mom is reading this she may correct me. The cake was made by my aunt who was considered 'The' baker in our family she baked for all the holidays and basically whatever other occasion she could find. There was always something sweet to eat at her house. I'm not sure on what occasion she made this but I remember being captivated by it. She's no longer with us but her baking skills are still missed.

Like many others I always had the choice of my birthday cake, as a child it was all about the character as I got older it was about the taste. For my 17th birthday my mom decided rather last minute that I should have friends over for my birthday and I of course thought that it was a great idea. That said we had to get the menu and dessert done rather quickly and the cake that I chose was the pineapple ice box cake.

When I saw this month's (August) Daring Bakers challenge I immediately thought of my pineapple ice box cake. Luckily for me I chose to make this the one week in August where we had warm temperatures and right before we left on holidays. I'm happy that I made it before because we got back Saturday night to chilly temps after having two weeks of glorious sunshine and warmth. Now that that everything has been packed away I'm finally sitting down to post.

The August 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Elissa of 17 and Baking. For the first time, The Daring Bakers partnered with Sugar High Fridays for a co-event and Elissa was the gracious hostess of both. Using the theme of beurre noisette, or browned butter, Elissa chose to challenge Daring Bakers to make a pound cake to be used in either a Baked Alasa or in Ice Cream Petit Fours. The sources for Elissa’s challenge were Gourmet magazine and David Lebovitz’s “The Perfect Scoop”.

I chose to make 4 individual bundt cakes and then one loaf cake instead of a sheet cake as the recipe mentioned. The center I filled with the vanilla ice cream and topped with a dark chocolate ganache. As we were leaving on holidays I thought this was a better compromise as we made a few petit fours for us and then we took the loaf cake with us on holidays. The cake was incredibly moist and the beurre noisette definitely gave it that nutty taste. We served this accompanied with a glass of Mas Amiel (2003) a sweet dessert wine that complimented the beurre noisette and the chocolate ganache.

Recipes:
Vanilla Ice Cream
1 cup (250ml) whole milk
A pinch of salt
3/4 cup (165g) sugar
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise OR 2 teaspoons (10ml) pure vanilla extract
2 cups (500ml) heavy (approx 35% butterfat) cream
5 large egg yolks
1 teaspoon (5ml) pure vanilla extract
1. Heat the milk, salt, and sugar in a medium saucepan until the liquid steams. Scrape out the seeds of the vanilla bean with a paring knife and add to the milk, along with the bean pod. Cover, remove from heat, and let infuse for an hour. (If you do not have a vanilla bean, simply heat the milk, salt, and sugar in a medium saucepan until the liquid steams, then let cool to room temperature.)
2. Set up an ice bath by placing a 2-quart (2 litre) bowl inside a large bowl partially filled with water and ice. Put a strainer on top of the smaller bowl and pour in the cream.
3. In another bowl, lightly beat the egg yolks together. Reheat the milk in the medium saucepan until warmed, and then gradually pour ¼ cup warmed milk into the yolks, constantly whisking to keep the eggs from scrambling. Once the yolks are warmed, scrape the yolk and milk mixture back into the saucepan of warmed milk and cook over low heat. Stir constantly and scrape the bottom with a spatula until the mixture thickens into a custard which thinly coats the back of the spatula.
4. Strain the custard into the heavy cream and stir the mixture until cooled. Add the vanilla extract (1 teaspoon [5ml] if you are using a vanilla bean; 3 teaspoons [15ml] if you are not using a vanilla bean) and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled, preferably overnight.
5. Remove the vanilla bean and freeze in an ice cream maker. If you don’t have an ice cream maker, you can make it without a machine. See instructions from David Lebovitz

Brown Butter Pound Cake
19 tablespoons (9.5 oz) (275g) unsalted (sweet) butter
2 cups (200g) sifted cake flour (not self-rising; sift before measuring) (See “Note” section for cake flour substitution)
1 teaspoon (5g) baking powder
1/2 teaspoon (3g) salt
1/2 cup (110g) packed light brown sugar
1/3 (75g) cup granulated sugar
4 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1. Preheat the oven to 325°F/160°C and put a rack in the center. Butter and flour a 9”x9” (23cmx23cm) square pan.
2. Place the butter in a 10” (25cm) skillet over medium heat. Brown the butter until the milk solids are a dark chocolate brown and the butter smells nutty. (Don’t take your eyes off the butter in case it burns.) Pour into a shallow bowl and chill in the freezer until just congealed, 15-30 minutes.
3. Whisk together cake flour, baking powder, and salt.
4. Beat the brown butter, light brown sugar, and granulated sugar in an electric mixer until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing well, and then the vanilla extract.
5. Stir in the flour mixture at low speed until just combined.
6. Scrape the batter into the greased and floured 9”x9” (23cmx23cm) square pan. Smooth the top with a rubber spatula and rap the pan on the counter. Bake until golden brown on top and when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 25 minutes.
7. Cool in the pan 10 minutes. Run a knife along the edge and invert right-side-up onto a cooling rack to cool completely.

If its any indication, we are not big ice cream /cake fans but this was subtle enough that I can see myself making this again once warmer weather returns....which given current forecasts may not be any time soon.

Bon Appétit

August - Daring Cooks Challenge - Pierogis

noreply@blogger.com (Wheels and Lollipops) — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 21:26:00 PDT

The August 2010 Daring Cooks‟ Challenge was hosted by LizG of Bits n‟ Bites and Anula of Anula‟s Kitchen. They chose to challenge Daring Cooks to make pierogi from scratch and an optional challenge to provide one filling that best represents their locale.

My first thoughts when I read what this month's Daring Cooks challenge was that, this would be a perfect dish for winter but for summer ? Determined to turn this into a summer compatible meal I decided to lighten up the filling and pair this with a salad for dinner. The hosts for this month added an optional challenge to this dish - adapt the filling to complement our location. For me this would have been France and the thought of a cheese laden dish did not scream summer to me.

But that's where my joker comes in :) I live in France but I'm originally from Trinidad & Tobago and of East Indian descent. This was going to be the domain that I would work on for the filling. Aloo Pies are traditional Trinidadian Indian street food fare, it's essentially a fried bread like dough stuffed with potatoes. The potatoes are mashed with onions, roasted cumin and scotch bonnet peppers this what gives the "pie" its taste. The pie is most often served with Tamarind (tambran in Trini speak) sauce on the side (as seen in the photo above).

For those not familiar with the fruit Tamarind its indigenous to Africa but via human transportation it made its way to South America and the Caribbean. The pulp which by itself is quite tangy is what is most often used to make condiments. In Trinidad the two most popular uses are either as a sauce or as a sweet called a Tambran ball.

Photo courtesy Wikipedia

The Verdict: This was the first time that I had ever attempted a dish like this and have to say I was quite pleased with my efforts. I think that I prefer it served as an appetizer or with a salad as a main dish. However the different fillings for this is endless and I already have a few playing around for a potential dinner party.

Russian Style Pierogi taken from the Daring Cook's August Challenge

Makes 4 generous servings, around 30 dumplings Traditional Polish recipe, although each family will have their own version, this is Anula's family recipe

Dough Ingredients:

2 to 2 1/2 cups (300 to 375 g) all-purpose (plain) flour
1 large egg
1 teaspoon (5 ml) salt
About 1 cup (250 ml) lukewarm water

Place 2 cups flour in a large bowl or on a work surface and make a well in the center. Break the egg into it, add the salt and a little lukewarm at a time (in my situation 1/2 cup was enough). Bring the dough together, kneading well and adding more flour or water as necessary. Cover the dough with a bowl or towel. You‟re aiming for soft dough. Let it rest 20 minutes.

Potato Filling adapted from The Naparima Girls Cookbook

2 medium potatoes
1/2 small onion finely chopped
1/2 tsp ground geera (cumin)
1/2 tsp scotch bonnet peppers (We like this spicy but reduce if you need less heat)
Salt & Pepper

Peel and boil potatoes in salt water until tender
Mash potatoes with either a fork or potato masher
Season filling with salt, black pepper, hot pepper, onions and ground geera (cumin)

Reserve ensure that filling is at room temperature before filling pierogis

Assembling Pierogis

On a floured work surface, roll the dough out thinly (1/8” or about 3 millimeters) cut with a 2-inch (5 cm) round or glass. Spoon a portion (teaspoon will be the best) of the filling into the middle of each circle. Fold dough in half and pinch edges together. Gather scraps, re-roll and fill. Repeat with remaining dough.

Cooking Pierogis
Bring a large, low saucepan of salted water to boil. Drop in the pierogi, not too many, only single layer in the pan! Return to the boil and reduce heat. When the pierogi rise to the surface, continue to simmer a few minutes more ( usually about 5 minutes). Remove one dumpling with a slotted spoon and taste if ready. When satisfied, remove remaining pierogi from the water.

For this dish, I lightly browned the piergois in butter, not only for presentation but it did "crisp" the dough a little which gave it a nice texture.

The Tamarind sauce pictured is a commercially prepared sauce that I bought in Trinidad.

Bon Appétit

Summer salad

noreply@blogger.com (Wheels and Lollipops) — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 15:41:00 PDT

This dish takes what is sometimes referred to as the "Man Salad' and turns it into a refreshing summer salad. At the market one Saturday morning the three things that caught my eyes, were a beef steak tomato, avocados and lovely white peaches hmmm I was determined to make this into a dish.

On the menu that night I had marked down Steak salad. In this house it means that its made with using entrecôte or Prime Rib. Once its grilled its thinly sliced and served in a salad with varying toppings - tomatoes, haricots verts (string beans) avocados basically whatever got our attention that morning at the market. Steak usually shows up on a Saturday as I don't like to keep beef in the refrigerator longer than one or two days as freezing steak takes away some of the flavor- but I digress.

I also love guacamole and salsa :) Do you see what's starting happen to here ? Yep, I decided to combine the white peaches, avocados and white onions with cilantro, lime juice and hot scotch bonnet pepper (I am after all an Island girl). The beef steak tomatoes just needed to be thickly sliced and sprinkled with fleur de sel and fresh pepper - perfection ! The steak was splashed with Worcestershire sauce, salt & fresh pepper and then grilled to medium rare. The salad was as always washed with care and then spin dried by the hubby, he made his vinaigrette and carefully tossed the salad until every leaf was coated. A general reminder that steak needs to rest for approx 10mins after cooking so that juices can be redistributed and remain tender. Presentation ? The gently tossed salad was topped with slices of steak followed by the tomatoes and then the salsa.

The hubby's verdict ? Delicious, needs to be made again, refreshing in short he liked it :) We served the salad with a chilled rosé from Corsica.

Bon Appétit

Tian de légumes

noreply@blogger.com (Wheels and Lollipops) — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 14:45:00 PDT

Tian de légumes is perhaps one of the most typical dishes from Provence. Traditionally its made in a clay dish called a tian hence the name. Like many dishes of this type the list of ingredients that comprise "THE" tian can easily be discussed way into the night. There is quite a debate on if potatoes should be included in this dish the purist will frown at this idea, however I have seen some add slices of cheese in between the veggies during the last 10mins or even adding parboiled rice at the bottom of the dish.

From what I've read and discussed with those in the know the original list is made up of Aubergines, Tomatoes , Onions and Courgettes (Zucchinis), not surprisingly the vegetables that are most common to this region. Of course, there is always a healthy addition of Herbes de Provence and garlic.

Ha ! Another mythic ingredient - Herbes de Provence, the standard mixture can typically include, savory, fennel, basil, thyme (dominant herb), thyme flowers and Majoram only to name a few. Like all blended spices, everyone has their own mixture. Interestingly enough Lavender is only added in American mixtures but is not used in the French 'base'.

In all honesty we don't make this dish very often as my son is not the veggie lover poster child. He loves, peas, carrots, haricot verts (string beans) and corn anything else will warrant a scream from him. However the rule in the house is that you eat what is served for dinner or at least try it. That said I try to make dishes that he will eat and avoid throwing several "new" veggies at him in the same week. Before you ask, no he did not enjoy this but he tasted it :)

There is no hard set recipe for this dish, it all depends on what kind of dish you make this in. For what its worth I don't have a "tian" but I do plan on getting one , one of these days :) The list of ingredients are up to you, the idea is to use the freshest ingredients that you have. It's a very simple dish so the flavors really come and can make or break this dish.

List of Ingredients:

Aubergines - try to get small ones about the same circumference as the tomatoes, it will help enable everything to cook at the same time. The quantity is again up to you and the size of the dish you are using. I love aubergines so I tend to use 2 for a 1 1/2 quart oval dish which will serve approx 4-6.

Tomatoes- for this dish I used about 5
Onions - 2 or 3 small onions
Courgettes (Zucchini) - about 2
Garlic -2 cloves
Olive Oil - 3 tablespoons
Salt & Pepper
1 tablespoon herbes de provence

Peheat oven to 300°F or 180°C
Cut garlic in half and rub the bowl with the cut garlic, after grease dish with 1 tablespoon of olive oil
Slice the tomatoes, onions, aubergines and courgettes approx the same size
Alternate the veggies by placing one of each to slightly overlap and then starting again
Sprinkle with salt, pepper and herbes
Drizzle with remaining olive oil
Bake until the vegetables are carmalised approximately 50 mins.

Can be served either hot or warm. We like to eat it accompanied with a green salad tossed with my hubby's vinaigrette.

Bon Appétit

Classic Sour Cherry Pie with Lattice Crust

noreply@blogger.com (Wheels and Lollipops) — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 03:00:00 PDT

I love cherries, I think they are my favorite taste of summer. Growing up in Trinidad, we had a myriad of fruits available however there were only certain fruits that I loved and still do such as mangoes, pineapples and watermelons. We do have cherries but they are different variety to what we get here in France (and even the US when I lived there) , they are more on the tangy side but so very delicious. I think the last time that I ate cherries in Trinidad was at my grandmother's house. It seems like yesterday but in reality it was over 20 years ago, I'm sure if I were to eat them again they would not be able to compare with that memory that I have.

A few years ago 2008 to be more precise I bought a copy of Bon Appétit from W.H. Smith on rue de Rivoli , its one of my favorite magazines and I buy it whenever I see it. I had seen this Cherry Pie recipe in there (its the cover recipe) and would longly stare at it. For some reason I did not make any of the dishes featured in that magazine that year nor the next. This year however I'm slowly working my way through the magazine and on Bastille day I decided that I was going to tackle this recipe and make my first ever pastry crust.

The recipe calls for pitted cherries, the tips section of the recipe had a great tip for people like me that do not own (gasp) a cherry pitter. What's the secret tool ? Chopsticks ! That's right, you use the widest end of the chopsticks and push through the center of the cherry, the seed will pop right out! The drawback is that there may be a certain amount of cherry juice that splatters everywhere but once you get the hang of it this happens less. The great thing about this is that the hubby can get involved and help to speed up the process by using the other chopstick. I just saved myself about 20 euros.

I made the recipe pretty much as is, the only difference was that I did not use sour cherries so I used a little more lemon juice and decreased the amount of the sugar that was called for.

The verdict: Wow ! I was really pleased with the way this turned out, the crust was just right, light and flaky. The filling was the perfect combination of flavors and the cherries were the stars of the show.

My hubby even said that the crust resembled that of his grandmothers can't get any more praise that that :) I plan on playing around with this crusts with other fillings, we have an overabundance of nectarines right now so .....

Printer Friendly Version

Classic Sour Cherry Pie with Lattice Crust Bon Appétit | June 2008
Yield: Makes 8 servings
ingredients
Crust:
2 1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
5 tablespoons (or more) ice water
Filling:
1 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
5 cups whole pitted sour cherries or dark sweet cherries (about 2 pounds whole unpitted cherries)
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice (if using sour cherries) or 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (if using dark sweet cherries)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 tablespoon (about) milk
Vanilla ice cream
preparation

For crust:
Whisk flour, sugar, and salt in large bowl to blend. Add butter and rub in with fingertips until small pea-size clumps form. Add 5 tablespoons ice water; mix lightly with fork until dough holds together when small pieces are pressed between fingertips, adding more water by teaspoonfuls if dough is dry. Gather dough together; divide into 2 pieces. Form each piece into ball, then flatten into disk and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes. Do ahead Can be made 2 days ahead. Keep chilled. Let dough soften slightly before rolling out.

For filling:
Position rack in lower third of oven and preheat to 425°F. Whisk 1 cup sugar, cornstarch, and salt in medium bowl to blend. Stir in cherries, lemon juice, and vanilla; set aside.
Roll out 1 dough disk on floured surface to 12-inch round. Transfer to 9-inch glass pie dish. Trim dough overhang to 1/2 inch. Roll out second dough disk on floured surface to 12-inch round. Using large knife or pastry wheel with fluted edge, cut ten 3/4-inch-wide strips from dough round. Transfer filling to dough-lined dish, mounding slightly in center. Dot with butter. Arrange dough strips atop filling, forming lattice; trim dough strip overhang to 1/2 inch. Fold bottom crust up over ends of strips and crimp edges to seal. Brush lattice crust (not edges) with milk. Sprinkle lattice with remaining 1 tablespoon sugar.
Place pie on rimmed baking sheet and bake 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 375°F. Bake pie until filling is bubbling and crust is golden brown, covering edges with foil collar if browning too quickly, about 1 hour longer. Transfer pie to rack and cool completely. Cut into wedges and serve with vanilla ice cream.

Bon Appétit

Double Chocolate Cupcakes

noreply@blogger.com (Wheels and Lollipops) — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 15:00:00 PDT

White chocolate cupcakes with a dark chocolate frosting AND a surprise inside !

Now that's some serious expectations for a cupcake !

For some reason on Bastille day (July 14th) this year I was in a baking mood and decided that not only would I make cupcakes but that I would also make a Cherry pie (can you guess what the next post will be on?) in addition to dinner that night. Did we really need all these temptations hanging around the house - No , not really my hips certainly don't BUT I had plans for the cupcakes so that was not the issue.

For those that follow the blog, you probably know by now that I'm a big fan of Rose Levy's Beranbaum 'The Cake Bible', I have yet to try a recipe and be disappointed by it. Granted thanks to her I am now meticulous about my baking. This time I decided to try out her recipe for a White Butter Cake, the difference here is that the butter is cut in half to traditional butter cakes but that the fat content would come from the white chocolate and it was this that would give the texture to the cake. Skeptical ? I was, but decided that what did I have to loose right ?

Delicious !!! The cake has a velvety crumb and the cocoa butter in the cake give it that rich taste but its definitely more 'sturdy' than the White Velvet Cake . The next question was what do I pair this with ? I'll be really honest here, for the Paris Cupcake Camp I made Martha Stewart's Dark Chocolate Frosting and had at least 3 cups remaining. The instructions in her book said that the remaining frosting could be frozen for a month. The only instructions was that it needed to come to room temperature before and then a quick mix to incorporate all the ingredients. I was impressed, the defrosted frosting had kept its taste and sheen from the day it was made. It made making cupcakes that much easier. Normally I'm an advocate of making everything the same day to guarantee that freshness but I could not see myself throwing away all this frosting.

I know, you want to know the surprise. Raspberries ! My hubby on my son's request bought raspberries from the market and we had an entire box remaining. For family members reading this, no Alex still does not eat fruit but we keep calling his bluff. Alex loves confiture, so I thought that I would insert a raspberry into each cupcake and if he should ask I could always say it was confiture. No, the 4 year old caught on to me and refused to eat it. However it provided an excellent contrast to the cake and frosting.

A lemon butter cream would also be delicious on these cupcakes maybe with a lemon curd filling.....making a mental note of this.

So what happened to the cupcakes ? I took them to work the next day , gave some to our kids nanny and we kept one or two around.

White Chocolate Whisper Cake
Adapted from Rose Levy Beranbaum’s The Cake Bible

Printer Friendly Version

Makes 24 cupcakes

6 ozs or 170 grams fine quality White Chocolate
4 1/2 or 135 grams egg whites
8.5 ozs or 242 grams milk
1 1/2 teaspoons or 6grams vanilla
3 cups or 300 grams sifted cake flour
1 cup plus 3 tablespoons or 240 grams sugar
1 tablespoon plus 1 1/2 teaspoons or 22 grams baking powder
3/4 tsp or 3 grams salt
9 tablespoons or 128 grams unsalted butter

Preheat the oven to 350F or 176C

In a double boiler melt the chocolate over hot (not simmering) water, stirring frequently. Remove from the water.
In a medium bowl lightly combine the egg whites, 1/4 cup milk and vanilla
In a large mixing bowl combine the dry ingredients and mix on low speed for 30 seconds to blend.
Add the butter and remaining 3/4 milk.
Mix on low speed until the dry ingredients are moistened.
Increase to medium speed (high if using a hand mixer) and beat for 1 1/2 minutes to aerate and develop the cake’s structure. Scrape down the sides.
Gradually add the egg mixture in 3 batches, beating for 20 seconds after each addition to incorporate the ingredients and strengthen the structure.
Scrape down the sides.
Add the melted chocolate and beat to incorporate
Scrape the batter into the prepared pans and smooth the surface with a spatula. The pans should be about half ful.
Bake for 20 - 25 minutes unil a tester inserted near the center comes out clean.

Dark Chocolate Frosting adapted from Martha Stewart “Cupcakes”

Printer Friendly Version

Makes about 5 cups

1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon boiling water
2 1/4 cups (4 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar, sifted
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 pounds best-quality semisweet chocolate, melted and cooled

Directions

Combine cocoa and the boiling water, stirring until cocoa has dissolved. With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat butter, confectioners' sugar, and salt until pale and fluffy. Reduce speed to low.
Add melted and cooled chocolate, beating until combined and scraping down sides of bowl as needed.
Beat in the cocoa mixture.
If not using immediately, frosting can be refrigerated up to 5 days, or frozen up to 1 month, in an airtight container.
Before using, bring to room temperature, and beat on low speed until smooth again.

Bon Appétit

Cioppino !

noreply@blogger.com (Wheels and Lollipops) — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 05:03:00 PDT

It seems that of lately my posts start with an apology on the time lapse between posts, and this one is no different. I am often in awe of fellow bloggers ability to keep blogs lively on a weekly basis, I remind myself that I work 40hrs a week, have two kids under 4 and a family life so its normal if weeks go by without any sign of life, but that does not always ease my anxiety.

Like any good film, there is a behind the scenes shot, blogs are mentally prepared, photos are taken and then ... well then I wait until close to midnight when the guilt is to big to bear and I start typing. For example this particular dish was made in June almost a month to this post.

This particular dish Cioppino originated in San Francisco more precisely in the North Beach area in the late 1800s by Italian fishermen. What goes into a Cioppino ? Well basically whatever is fresh that particular day and is most often a combination of crab, clams, shrimp, scallops, fish etc. The seafood are cooked in a tomato/wine broth and served with hot buttered bread.

This dish has been playing in my mind for years now, and I've never really gotten around to making it. So when we decided to celebrate my father in law's birthday I thought that this was the perfect occasion to try it out. The weekend we made this, the weather here in Paris was HOT, but as its a light stew where the seafood is the the star we decided to go ahead. It was actually a perfect choice, everyone took their time eating the seafood and the broth just kept everything moist. A good chilled white wine enhanced the meal.

For the stew I used, Scallops, Prawns, Gambas and Cod. The idea is that you use the freshest of seafoods which means that this stew will evolve each time that you make it. For the fish the preference is to use a firm white fish that will not disintegrate during the cooking process. I served this with toasted slices of baguettes rubbed with a garlic clove.

Cioppino Gourmet | March 2002

Printer friendly version

San Francisco–Style Seafood Stew

Yield: Makes 6 servings

Active Time: 45 min

Total Time: 1 1/2 hr

Ingredients

4 large garlic cloves, minced

2 medium onions, finely chopped

1 Turkish bay leaf or 1/2 California bay leaf

1 teaspoon dried oregano, crumbled

1 teaspoon dried hot red pepper flakes

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 cup olive oil

1 green bell pepper, cut into 1/4-inch dice

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 1/2 cups dry red wine

1 (28- to 32-ounces) can whole plum tomatoes, drained, reserving juice, and chopped

1 cup bottled clam juice

1 cup chicken broth

1 (1-pound) king crab leg, thawed if frozen

18 small (2-inch) hard-shelled clams (1 1/2 pound) such as little necks, scrubbed

1 pound skinless red snapper or halibut fillets, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces

1 pound large shrimp (16 to 20), shelled (tails and bottom segment of shells left intact) and deveined

3/4 pound sea scallops, tough muscle removed from side of each if necessary

1/4 cup finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh basil

Garnish: shredded fresh basil leaves and small whole leaves

preparation

Cook garlic, onions, bay leaf, oregano, and red pepper flakes with salt and pepper in oil in an 8-quart heavy pot over moderate heat, stirring, until onions are softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in bell pepper and tomato paste and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Add wine and boil until reduced by about half, 5 to 6 minutes. Add tomatoes with their juice, clam juice, and broth and simmer, covered, 30 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

While stew is simmering, hack crab leg through shell into 2- to 3-inch pieces with a large heavy knife. Add crab pieces and clams to stew and simmer, covered, until clams just open, 5 to 10 minutes, checking every minute after 5 minutes and transferring opened clams to a bowl with tongs or a slotted spoon. (Discard any unopened clams after 10 minutes.) Lightly season fish fillets, shrimp, and scallops with salt and add to stew, then simmer, covered, until just cooked through, about 5 minutes. Discard bay leaf, then return clams to pot and gently stir in parsley and basil.

Bon Appétit

Cupcake Camp Paris 2010

noreply@blogger.com (Wheels and Lollipops) — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 15:09:00 PDT

Oui, oui Cupcake Camp Paris 2010 and what is it ? It's an ad-hoc gathering to people to share and eat cupcakes in an open environment. For the first time this year, it was held in Paris this past Sunday more precisely at Bistrot Vivienne in the 2nd arrondisment and was hosted by Cat Beurnier aka Little Miss Cupcake and Bryan from Where is Bryan? & Merce and the Muse

There were over 50 bakers (amateurs and professionals) who made more than 1600 cupcakes for more than 200 people - are you impressed? The event lasted about 4 hours and there was not a cupcake remaining. I have to say that it was the first time that I've seen an event like this. People lined up, yes lined up outside the bistro to pay their 10€ (all proceeds went to the charity Rebuilding Haiti Now) for the right to access the venue, have a drink and savor the cupcakes. I should say that Sunday the weather was glorious and any Parisienne would tell you that on a day like that you flock to the park, a terrace but not indoors to a bistrot - that alone should say something.

The cupcakes were out of this world, sadly I only got to taste one cupcake as the crowds were just to thick to battle through, but it was a feast for my eyes to see all the beautiful cupcakes. I've often said that I'm by no means a professional baker and this even just proved it ! For the day I chose to make three varieties :

Margarita Cupcakes


Double Fudge Chocolate with Chocolate Frosting


Red, White & Blue

It was definitely a memorable experience and though I did not get to meet up with many fellow bloggers on the day, its been great getting to know them via their blogs and photos of the day. I did not get to take pics as the fans were swarming over the cakes, but I will leave you with some of the shots taken by my fellow bakers.

Stay tuned for Cupcake Camp 2011 !

And we're off !- From IslandGirl4ever2

From IslandGirl4ever2

From: Josephine L


From IslandGirl4ever2

And last but not least, my three biggest fans all on the same picture (not all facing the camera) :) Special thanks to my hubby for spending part of our 7th wedding anniversary at the event ! - Thank you Mary a/k/a LadyMissMBA for this photo.

White Butter Cupcakes with Swiss Meringue Buttercream

noreply@blogger.com (Wheels and Lollipops) — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 14:51:00 PDT

No, not the famous 48 cupcakes that I've been mentioning in previous posts but instead a first try on making cupcakes from the White Velvet Butter Cake by Rose Levy Beranbaum and pairing it with a Swiss Meringue Buttercream. I've been eying this cake recipe for a while now for the simple reason that it contains no eggs.

When I first ordered The Cake Bible I was overwhelmed by reading the recipes and once I started making them I realized that they actually saved time and I was guaranteed a perfect cake each time ! Yes, Yes you heard me right. Rose Levy Beranbaum is a advocate for weighing all the ingredients and after doing it with each recipe its now become standard practice , I can bake the cake and KNOW that it will be perfect.

You are saying you don't have time? From when I start to when I put the cake in the oven it takes me about 20mins and that involves weighing everything. Your best friend should you decide to do this should be a digital scale.

The Swiss Meringue Butter Cream recipe was the same one that I used to make my son's birthday cake and I loved it paired against the chocolate butter cake (again from the Cake Bilbe). However against the white butter cake, it overwhelmed the cake and all that you tasted was the butter cream which just weighed down the cake. The cake on its own was perfect, soft and delicate with a slight ivory color.

They were appreciated by the hubby and my son as well as some of kids that live in our condo building so all was not in vain :)

White Velvet Butter Cake by Rose Levy Beranbaum

Printer Friendly Version

Serves 12

4 1/2 large egg whites or 135 grams
1 liquid cup milk or 242 grams
2 1/4 tsp or 9 grams of vanilla
3 cups or 300 grams of sifted cake flour
1 1/2 cups or 300 grams sugar
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon or 19.5 grams baking powder
3/4 tsp or 5 grams salt
12 tablespoons or 170 grams unsalted butter

Preheat oven to 350°F or 180°C

In a medium bowl lightly combine the egg whites, 1/4 cup milk and vanilla.

In a large mixing bowl combine the dry ingredients and mix on low speed for 30seconds to blend. Add the butter and remaining 3/4 cup milk. Mix on low speed until the dry ingredients are moistened. Increase to medium speed (high speed if using a hand mixer) and beat for 1 1/2 mins to aerate and develop the cake's structure. Scrape down the sides. Gradually add the egg mixture in 3 batches, beating for 20seconds after each addition to incorporate the ingredients and strengthen the structure. Scrape down the sides.

Scrape the batter into the prepared pans and smooth the surface with a spatula. The pans will be about 1/2 full. Bake 25 to 35 mins or until a tester inserted near the center comes out clean and the cake springs back when pressed lightly in the center. The cakes should start to shrink from the sides of the pans after the removal from the oven.

Let the cakes cool in the pans on racks for 10mins. Loosen the sides with a small metal spatula and invert onto greased wire rack. To prevent splitting, re-invert so that the tops are up and cool completely

Makes: Two 9-inch by 1 1/2-inch greased and prepared cake pans

Bon Appétit

International Incident Noodle Party - Asian Noodles with Pan-Seared Flank Steak

noreply@blogger.com (Wheels and Lollipops) — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 13:11:00 PDT

My friend Jeroxie over at Addictive & Consuming started these International Incident Parties, where every month there is a new theme spanning the cuisines of the world. This month the theme was noodles. We love noodles here and I'm always curious to try new recipes. To see what others have done on the same theme click here. You'll notice that I'm late on posting but between working and being a mom and a wife well :)

My goal for this challenge was to attempt to make egg noodles myself, however I chose to make this recipe on the same day that I promised a friend that I would make 48 cupcakes for her daughter's birthday party.

That said, I ended up using commercial noodles not the same I know but time was definitely not on my side on Saturday, I however found a great recipe over at Epicurious for Asian Noodles - can't guarantee that its an authentic recipe but what I can say is that it was quick and very tasty !

Asian Noodles with Pan-Seared Flank Steak Bon Appétit | October 2000

Printer Friendly Version

Yield: Makes 4 servings

1 tablespoon plus 4 teaspoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon honey
1/8 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper
1 8-ounce piece flank steak

2 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 teaspoons oriental sesame oil
1 1/2 teaspoons minced peeled ginger
2 garlic cloves, minced

Nonstick vegetable oil spray
1 9-ounce package fresh angel hair pasta or 9 ounces thin spaghetti
~~2 medium carrots, peeled, cut into matchstick-size strips~~ I used Broccoli instead but used 2 heads
~~4 ounces fresh snow peas, trimmed, halved diagonally~~
1/3 cup thinly sliced green onions
5 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

Mix 1 tablespoon soy sauce, honey and crushed red pepper in glass pie dish.
Add flank steak; turn to coat. Let stand at room temperature 1 hour or refrigerate up to 4 hours, turning occasionally.
Whisk 4 teaspoons soy sauce, rice vinegar and next 4 ingredients in large bowl for dressing.
Spray large nonstick skillet with nonstick spray; heat over medium heat.
Add steak and cook to desired doneness, about 5 minutes per side for medium-rare.
Let cool 10 minutes. Meanwhile, cook pasta in pot of boiling salted water until almost tender.
Add broccoli; cook until vegetables and pasta are just tender, about 2 minutes.
Drain.
Transfer to bowl with dressing.
Add onions and 4 tablespoons cilantro; toss. Season with salt and pepper.
Thinly slice steak crosswise. Arrange steak atop pasta, spooning any juices over.

Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon cilantro.

Bon Appétit !

The Daring Cooks June Challenge - Vegetable Terrine

noreply@blogger.com (Wheels and Lollipops) — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 01:13:00 PDT

Our hostesses this month, Evelyne of Cheap Ethnic Eatz, and Valerie of a The Chocolate Bunny, chose delicious pate with freshly baked bread as their June Daring Cook’s challenge! They’ve provided us with 4 different pate recipes to choose from and are allowing us to go wild with our homemade bread choice.

When I saw the choice of pâtés I was not very thrilled, don't get me wrong I quite enjoy pâté and living in France there is one for all tastes. I'm aware that there are ingredients such as liver and other parts involved but choose to err on the side of ignorance and forget. So my choice was easy, I chose the vegetable terrine and for the bread - what else but a baguette.

I know what you are saying to yourself, where is the terrine ? Yes I can understand your confusion but as I mentioned in my blog descriptive, this journal is about my successes and failures. My thoughts reading the initial recipe was that there was too much liquid and that the terrine would not set up, I was right for my case (I stated "my case" as everyone else in the group produced beautiful terrines) and when the time came to unmold well you see what happened.

The recipe in itself was delicious , perhaps to heavy on the white bean layer but truly a very refreshing summer dish. My only success was the baguette which I was happy with as it was my first attempt.

I enjoyed this challenge, because I believe that cooking should be fun and let me tell you the hubby and myself had a good laugh when the terrine collapsed so it was a success !

I will try a pâté the next time, but perhaps a mushroom variation that falls more into the true category of a pâté.

If you are interested in trying one of the recipes at home please click on the appropriate link below:

Recipe Sources:
- Three Spice Liver Pâté: adapted from Ravenous Couple, which was inspired by White on Rice Couple.
- Chicken Liver Pâté: slightly adapted from Stéphane Reynaud’s Terrine
- Tricolor Vegetable Pâté: from Bon Appétit Oct 1993 on Epicurious
- Trout and Shrimp Pâté: unknown (handed down to Valerie from someone, who got it from someone else, etc.)
- French Baguette: from King Arthur Flour

Bon Appétit

Salade de chèvre au miel (Salad with goat's cheese and honey)

noreply@blogger.com (Wheels and Lollipops) — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 14:49:00 PDT

A few weeks ago on one of the first sunny days here in Paris, a good friend and colleague convinced me that we should go out and have lunch on a "terrace". You need to understand that once the first rays of sunshine hit the Parisians all flock to the nearest terrace to soak in the rays with a rosé or other beverage.

As any self respecting person living in France we knew that we needed to leave early to get that much coveted spot. We were fortunate we were able to get two seats on the terrace at a somewhat 'trendy' restaurant. Luckily for us this is also a stone's throw away from our office so the gods were smiling on us this day. Its trendy because of its location, in part a stone's throw away from the famous avenue Montaigne (designers row) and right next door to the Europe 1 (radio station) studios, so from time to time its quiet common to see some famous faces.
The salad special of the day was chèvre au miel - translated it was a green salad with vinaigrette, chèvre , thin slices of smoked duck, potato and sun dried tomatoes with the crowing touch being a liquid honey drizzled over the chèvre and smoked duck.

I have to admit I'm not a fan of ordering salads in restaurants as I'm most often disappointed. Why ? My hubby makes a great green salad with his own vinaigrette. Nothing fancy but its always very tasty and the advantage of being at home is that we know our ingredients. Too often in restaurants the salad is just put together with what's available and as a result the taste is often not present. However this day, I said why not ! and I was very pleasantly surprised. In fact so pleasantly surprised that I decided to recreate it at home that weekend.

In my version there are two modifications, our vendor at the market was out of smoked duck as so was the supermarket so I substituted dried ham from Bayonne (Pays Basque country), the original recipe had steamed potatoes, I thought that the potatoes were not necessarily needed and as such left it out - no one was wiser.

The great thing about salads is that you are free to choose your quantities in function to your likes, I've tried to list the measurements but bear in mind that these are approximative.

Salade a de Chèvre au Miel ( Salade with goat cheese and honey)
Printer Friendly Version

For two servings -

1 small head of Romaine lettuce cleaned
1 medium goat's cheese - I used a Chabichou a a traditional soft, unpasteurized, natural-rind cheese with a firm and creamy texture. Its traditionally aged for 10 to 20 days. However you can use whatever medium goat's cheese that you can find
3-4 tablespoon of liquid honey - I used the Acacia variety as this is most common and the taste is quiet neutral
Approx 15 slices smoked duck - I used the French equivalent to Prosciutto - Jambon de Bayonne and used 3 slices per person
100grams or 3ozs of Sun dried tomatoes
Vinaigrette - I could give you the hubby's recipe, but then I would have to destroy you, soooo use a vinaigrette that's not too heavy on the mustard and you'll be fine.

Preparation

-No hard and fast rules here, the main and essential part is that you completely dry the salad, if the leaves are wet the leaves will wilt and the dressing will not stick. We like to mix in the dressing first and make sure the salad is well tossed before adding the rest of ingredients.

-Once you have assembled the salad, with a spoon drizzle the honey over the cheese first and then over the smoked duck or prosciutto

Bon Appétit

Asian Flank Steak with Sweet Slaw

noreply@blogger.com (Wheels and Lollipops) — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 14:05:00 PDT

in short......AMAZING !

Living in France the only way that I can get the US version of any cooking magazine is to go to W.H. Smith which luckily is not very far and well I get my fill on my favorite magazines and books. I was looking through my collection the other day and saw that I have every Bon Appétit December/January issue (a result of my trips back to Trinidad, transiting through Houston or New Jersey) with only a sprinkling of random issues. The June 2008 issue with its Cherry Pie remains my favorite cover and is permanently in my magazine box. Something about the blue background and cherry pie just makes me feel very at home.

Well as part of this issue there was the recipe for Asian Flank Steak with Sweet Slaw a dish that I had been eying for several years and never really getting up the nerve to try it. Perhaps it was the cabbage that held me back , not sure but I decided that I was making this dish for Mothers Day ! The dish was a perfect balance of taste and textures, even the hubby was in awe! The marinade for the beef has now become a "go to " for me, simple and packs lots of taste.

That Saturday morning at the market, our favorite fish mongers had the most beautiful Gambas, I had to have them :) The hubby ignored the price and said sounds delicious ! I decided that this would be the perfect finish to my Mother's Day dish.

I had a great day was very much spoiled by my kids and hubby, I made cookies for my kids and some others that live in the building , then on to a dinner with a delicious bottle of wine and cookies and expresso for dessert - a perfect end to a great day.

Grilled Asian Flank Steak with Sweet Slaw Bon Appétit | June 2008

Printer Friendly Version

Yield: Makes 4 servings
Active Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour

1/4 cup soy sauce
5 tablespoons vegetable oil
5 teaspoons minced peeled fresh ginger, divided
1 garlic clove, pressed
1 1 1/2-pound flank steak
3 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons seasoned rice vinegar
2 red jalapeños, thinly sliced into rounds
5 cups thinly sliced Napa cabbage (about 9 ounces) * Living in France this was not accessible but I did use a regular cabbage and was not disappointed*
3/4 cup chopped green onions, divided
preparation

Prepare barbecue (medium heat). Mix soy sauce, oil, 3 teaspoons ginger, and garlic in resealable plastic bag. Add flank steak and seal bag; turn to coat. Let stand at room temperature 30 minutes (I marinated mine for 2hrs, I thought 30mins was not enough for the cut of meat), turning occasionally.

Stir sugar and vinegar in small saucepan over medium heat until sugar dissolves; remove from heat. Add jalapeños and remaining 2 teaspoons ginger. Place cabbage and 1/2 cup green onions in medium bowl.

Pour vinegar mixture over and toss to coat. Season with salt and pepper. Let stand while grilling steak, tossing occasionally.

Grill steak until cooked to desired doneness, about 6 minutes per side for medium-rare. Transfer to work surface. Let rest 10 minutes. Slice steak thinly against grain. Sprinkle 1/4 cup green onions over slaw.

Grilled Gambas

I did not do much to the gambas, as wanted the taste to come through and not compete with the meat so lightly seasoned with salt, pepper and olive oil and then put it on the grill until cooked. Be careful to not overcook as you loose some of that delicate taste.

Strawberry Shortcakes

noreply@blogger.com (Wheels and Lollipops) — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 13:41:00 PDT

For me one of the signs that winter is finally behind us are when strawberries start appearing on the market. In France there is a special variety called the Gariguette a variety predominately found in the south of France, they are typically smaller than the traditional strawberry and just a little more sweeter.

Of course, like the famous Christmas story, visions of strawberry desserts start swimming around in my head and perhaps the most classic of desserts - The Strawberry Shortcake recipe popped into my head. One of my favorite desserts as its not very sweet and the mixture of the shortcake (think cross between scone/biscuit), fresh chantilly (whipped cream) and strawberries are a edible version of spring.

This dessert is perfect to do in advance, the shortcakes can be made up to a day before and kept in a well sealed container. Any more than a day and they become too dry. The strawberries can be done in the morning and put to "marinate", the whipped cream can be done up to a few hours before, any more and the cream may fall.

An American Place Strawberry Shortcake PARADE | June 2000

Printer Friendly

Makes 6 servings

Shortcakes:

2 cups all-purpose flour
3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
5 tablespoons sugar
6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
3/4 cup heavy cream
2 mashed hard-cooked large egg yolks
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Filling:
3/4 lbs or 340 grams - strawberries, cleaned and halved (quartered, if large)
2 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons Grand Marnier

Chantilly (Whipped Cream)

7ozs or 200 grams of confectioner's sugar (sucre glace)

4 cups of heavy cream

Preparation for Shortcakes

1. Preheat oven to 375°F or 180F Lightly butter a baking sheet.

2. Sift the flour, baking powder and 4 tablespoons sugar into a bowl. Add the butter, using fingers to work it quickly into the flour until the mixture resembles fine crumbs. Add the cream and yolks; stir with a fork until the dough just holds together.

3. Knead the dough on a floured surface until it is just smooth. Do not overwork. Roll the dough out 3/4-inch thick. Using a floured 2 1/2- or 3-inch cookie cutter, cut out 4 rounds. Gather the scraps, reroll; cut 2 more rounds.

4. Put the 6 rounds on the prepared baking sheet. Brush with the melted butter and sprinkle with the remaining tablespoon of sugar. Bake in the center of the oven for 12 to 15 minutes, until the biscuits are golden brown and firm to the touch.

Preparation - Strawberries

For the filling, mix berries, sugar and Grand Marnier in a bowl. Chill.

Preparation - Chantilly

To get the best results there are three steps that should be carefully followed:

The cream should be at least 30% fat
All elements used to make the chantilly should be cold, ideally place in the refrigerator 1 hour before
Start slowly to whip the cream slowly building up speed, this is to "fix" the cream and to prevent it from falling

In a salad bowl (cold) add the cream and whip in a clockwise movement to incorporate as much air as possible into the cream. Whip until it reaches the consistency of whipped cream.
At this stage add the sugar (ideally confectioner's sugar as the grains melt easily into the cream) and continue to whip until all is incorporated.
Keep covered in the refrigerator until ready for use

Assembly

Carefully split the shortcakes in half. Heap the bottoms with strawberries. Dollop with the whipped cream, then replace the biscuit tops. Serve immediately with remaining chantilly cream on the side.

Bon Appétit

Mini Crab Quiches

noreply@blogger.com (Wheels and Lollipops) — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 14:23:00 PDT

L'heure de apéritif or hors-d'œuvres can be a tricky part of a meal it all depends on how casual or formal you would like to go and of course should flow with the rest of the meal. I have a love/hate relationship with this portion of the meal, I love the fact that its an opportunity to to test new recipes in a mini format or take something out of the ordinary and present in a completely different way to surprise your guests.

For me this part of the meal sets the stage for what's to come. Don't get me wrong there is nothing wrong with the salted crackers / olives that are found on most tables but even the most simplest of menus can benefit from a little 'pizazz. The 'hate' part, I tend to go a little crazy and choose things that take up way too much time (ask the hubby) for what my hubby calls a fleeting moment - but what a delicious fleeting moment.

A few weeks ago my in-laws came across for lunch and I had been instructed to make a 'simple' lunch, my hubby just smiled at me when he relayed what his dad had said and in my mind I said sure something simple :) In light of these instructions I decided to forgo the entrée (appetizer) and just do apéritif / plat (main dish) / frommage (cheese)/ dessert.

This was one of those instances when I decided to take something so very simple - a quiche- and turn it into something special. In France mini quiches can be found everywhere and at a very reasonable price. I decided to do make mine and added crab meat to a modified quiche Lorraine recipe. Modified ? Yes , I added some freshly grated Gruyère cheese, traditionally quiche Lorraine does not have cheese in it, contrary to popular belief and I replaced the bacon with the crab meat. Again, following on my 'simple' directions I cheated and used a pre-made Pâte brisée (pie crust).

Mini Crab Quiche

Printer friendly version
Makes approx 24 mini quiches

5 eggs
30 cl Crème Fraiche
50g crab meat
Gruyere cheese
Jalapeño
Lime Juice
Chives
Cilantro
1/2tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp olive oil
1 pre-made pie crust (pâte brisée)

Preheat oven to 180c or 350f

Heat a skillet with olive oil over medium high heat
Add jalapeno and saute for a few seconds until fragrant add crab meat, lime juice, chives and cilantro
Mix well and then season to taste with salt and pepper
Remove from heat and cool
Mix together eggs and crème fraiche in a bowl using a fork.

Do not beat the eggs, using afork mix the two together so that everything is well mixed.Beating the eggs into a frothy mixture will make your quiche rise and give it more of an omlette consistency, what we are looking for is more of custard feel.
Season with salt and pepper
Roll out pre-made pastry and using a cookie cutter cut circles the diameter of a muffin tin
Line each muffin tin (grease with butter) with the pastry
Sprinkle crab mixture into each case and then with the grated cheese
Fill with quiche mixture
Bake for 20mins
Serve at room temperature

What's for dinner ?

noreply@blogger.com (Wheels and Lollipops) — Sun, 30 May 2010 05:24:00 PDT

I just realized that its been at least two weeks since I last posted our weekly menu. Shame on me ! No excuses really only that time has not been my friend recently. Today is Mothers Day in France and a perfect opportunity to say thanks to all Mom's. No doubt the best job in the world with rewards that exceed any monetary value. A special thought goes out to my mother in law today, no doubt a very hard day for her.

So, how am I spending my day? Well after being spoiled by my hubby and kids this morning we had a great brunch and I'm baking cookies for some of the kids in our condo building. Princess dresses for the girls and ice cream cones for Alex (his choice). Dinner will be simple tonight and serving with an exceptional bottle of wine (future post).

Saturday: We were at my in-laws for dinner
Sunday: Grilled Asian Steak with Sweet Slaw (I've been eying this recipe for a few years now ever since it appeared in the June 2008 Bon Appétit magazine)
Monday: Grilled snapper with cilantro rice
Tuesday: Tuna Sandwhiches (yes this has become a ritual - this is what happens when mom works late on a Tuesday night)
Wednesday: Lemon Fettuccine with Broccoli and Pancetta- again from the June 2008 Bon Appétit Magazine
Thursday: Grilled Chicken with Haricot Verts
Friday: My son's new favorite dish - Tacos

Bon Appétit !

The football theme continues with...Cookies

noreply@blogger.com (Wheels and Lollipops) — Sat, 22 May 2010 09:42:00 PDT

As part of the 'big package' that I sold to my son, I mentioned that we could do football (soccer) t-shirts. He's very much interested in the French Ligue 1 football championships and knows all the teams and their t-shirts. Needless to say this was an easy sell as it combined his two favorite things for the moment, football and cookies.

Being the perfectionist that I am :) I started a few days early because I of course as any other mother wanted things to be flawless. Dorie Greenspan's Sugar Cookies were made and the frosting prepared for them however Alex on accident knocked over the box that was holding over 4dozen cookies, he was heartbroken when he realized so back to square one :) His party was on Saturday so I finished baking a new set of cookies the Friday afternoon and my hubby and I stayed up until 2am decorating the cookies.


T-Shirt Cookies

The cookies went into the party bags that we gave out to the kids, I'm not a fan of the sugary candy that they put into the bags and instead wanted to share something that was personalized and homemade.

Cookie Goody Bags

GRANDMA'S ALL-OCCASION SUGAR COOKIES
Adapted from Dorie Greenspan's - Baking From My Home to Yours

Printer Friendly Version

Makes about 50 cookies (depending on diameter)

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon double-acting baking powder
1 stick plus 2 tablespoons (10 tablespoons; 5 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Sugar or cinnamon-sugar, for dusting (optional)

Whisk the flour, salt and baking powder together and keep close by.

Working in a mixer with the paddle attachment, if you have one, beat the butter at medium speed for a minute or so, until it is smooth. Still beating, add the sugar and continue to beat for about 2 minutes, until the butter is light and pale. Add the egg and the yolk and beat another minute or two. Reduce the mixer speed to low and steadily add the flour mixture, mixing only until it has been incorporated. In fact, because this dough is best when worked least, you might want to stop the mixer before all the flour is thoroughly blended into the dough and finish the job with a rubber spatula. When mixed, the dough will be soft, creamy and appealingly malleable.

Turn the dough out onto a counter and divide it in half. If you want to make roll-out cookies, shape each half into a disk and wrap in plastic. If you want to make slice-and-bake cookies, shape each half into a chubby sausage (the diameter of the sausage is up to you - I usually like cookies that are about 2 inches or more across) and wrap in plastic. Whether you're going to roll or slice the dough, the packets must be chilled for at least 2 hours. (Well wrapped, the dough can be refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 2 months.)

Getting ready to bake the cookies: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Have two lined baking sheets (page 000) at the ready. For these, I prefer to bake a single sheet at a time. You can fill both sheets and keep one sheet covered in the refrigerator while you bake the other.

If you are making slice-and-bake cookies, use a ruler to mark off 1/4-inch intervals on each roll of dough. With a sharp thin-bladed knife, slice the dough into rounds and place the rounds on one of the baking sheets, leaving about 1 1/2 inches of space between each cookie.

If you are making roll-out cookies, work with one packet of dough at a time and roll the dough between sheets of plastic wrap or wax paper to a thickness of 1/4 inch, lifting the plastic or paper and turning the dough over often so that it rolls evenly. Lift off the top sheet of plastic or paper and cut the cookies - I like a 2-inch round cookie cutter for these. Pull away the excess dough, saving the scraps for re-rolling, and carefully lift the rounds onto the baking sheets, leaving about 1 1/2 inches of space between each cookie. (This is a soft dough and you might have trouble peeling away the excess or lifting the cut outs. If so, cover the dough, chill it for about 15 minutes and try again.) After you've rolled and cut the second packet of dough, you can form the scraps into a disk, chill, roll, cut and bake them.

Bake the cookies, one sheet at a time, for 9 to 11 minutes, rotating the sheet at the mid-point. The cookies should feel firm, but they should not color much if at all. Remove the pan from the oven and dust the cookies with sugar or cinnamon-sugar, if you'd like. Let them rest 1 minute before carefully lifting them onto a rack to cool to room temperature.

Storing: The cookies will keep at room temperature in a tin for up to 1 week. Wrapped well, they can be frozen for up to 2 months.

Royal Icing by Brown Eyed Baker

4 cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons meringue powder
6 tablespoons water
***I usually add 1/2 tsp of lemon juice to the icing as I find that the Meringue powder slightly changes the taste***

Mix all ingredients on low speed for approx 10 minutes. Add more water if depending on the consistency that you are looking for.
A great step by step tutorial can be found here: Brown Eyed Baker's Tutorial for Shaped Cookies

Birthday Cake and the Perfectionist Mom

noreply@blogger.com (Wheels and Lollipops) — Sat, 22 May 2010 02:37:00 PDT

Heavy title I know, but my son recently celebrated his 4th birthday with his first real party where he invited his friends. His original theme was Toy Story but the new Wilton pan was not coming out in time for his big day and because he's such a big football (soccer) fan I decided to sell him on the Football theme - football field for the cake, t-shirt cookies etc.

Football (Soccer) Birthday Cake

The cake base was simple, two rectangular cakes using the recipe Perfect All American Chocolate Butter Cake Recipe from the Cake Bible - Rose Levy Beranbaum . I have to admit that this particular chocolate cake has become THE recipe for chocolate cakes around here. Its very light with a rich chocolate taste that literally melts in your mouth.The cake itself stays moist for a week after baking and the recipe itself is very easy to assemble.

For the filling and frosting I decided to try a Swiss Meringue butter cream for the frosting as it is not as sweet as a traditional butter cream and for frosting it holds peaks and shapes beautifully.The recipe came from Martha Stewart and it was everything it said it would be and more. The one 'hic' that I had with this was that it did not (at least with me) take the gel coloring very well and even though I added a fair amount of green it remained a light green as opposed to the dark grass green that I was looking for. Perfectionist mom was slightly disappointed (Ok a lot if you ask my hubby) even when my son was screaming look it a football field how cool :). I used the same butter cream to fill the layers and honestly apart from the color hitch that I had I was blown over by this frosting.

Last cake related hitch of the day ? I had ordered two sets of goal posts and candles for the cake, only one came in the delivery so the cake looks slightly unbalanced.

Perfectionist mom (which should be the title of this blog) was a little deflated but after remembering that cakes like this are not the norm in France I knew that I would still "look good" , the kids and parents were all pleased with the cake and most importantly of all - Alex was thrilled with his cake which was the aim :)

Perfect All American Chocolate Butter Cake by Rose Levy Beranbaum
Printer Friendly Version

Serves 12
1/2cup + 3 tablespoons or 63 grams - Unsweetened cocoa (dutch processed) *** I use Valhorna cocoa
1 cup or 236 grams - Boiling water
3 large eggs or 150grams (weighed without shell)
2 1/4tsp or 9 grams of vanilla
2 1/4 cups + 2 tablespoons or 235 grams of sifted cake flour
1 1/2 cups or 300 grams sugar
1 tablespoon or 15 grams baking powder
3/4 tsp salt or 5 grams
1 cup or 227 grams unsalted butter

Preheat oven to 350F or 180 C

In a medium bowl whisk together the cocoa and boiling water until smooth. Cool to room temperature.
In another bowl lightly combine the eggs, 1/4 of the cocoa mixture, and vanilla.
In a large mixing bowl combine the remaining dry ingredients and mix on low speed for 30seconds to blend.
Add the butter and remaining cocoa mixture. Mix on low speed until dry ingredients are moistened. Increase to medium speed (high speed if you
are using a hand held mixture) and beat for 1 1/2minutes to aerate and develop the cake structure. Scrape down the sides.
Gradually add the egg mixture in 3 batches, beating for 20seconds after each addition to incorporate the ingredients and strengthen the structure. Scrape down the sides.

Scrape the batter into the prepared pans and smooth the surface with a spatula. The pans will be about 1/2 full. Bake 25 to 35 minutes or until a tester inserted near the center comes out
clean and the cake springs back when pressed lightly in the center.

Let the cakes cook in the pans on the racks for 10minutes. Loosen the sides with a small metal spatula and invert onto greased wire racks. To prevent splitting, reinvert so that the tops are up
and cool completely.

Swiss Meringue Buttercream adapted from Martha Stewart's Cupcakes

Printer Friendly Version

Makes 5 cups

Ingredients
5 large egg whites
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
4 sticks of butter or 453 grams unsalted butter
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Directions

1. Combine egg whites, sugar, and salt in the heatproof bowl of a standing mixer set over a pan of simmering water. Whisk constantly by hand
until mixture is warm to the touch and sugar has dissolved (the mixture should feel completely smooth when rubbed between your fingertips)

2. Attach a bowl to the mixture fitted with the whisk attachment. Starting on low and gradually increasing to medium-high speed (if using a hand held mixer beat on
high speed, whisk until stiff (but not dry) peaks form. Continue mixing until the mixture is fluffy and glossy, and completely cool (test by touching the bottom
of the bowl - about 10 minutes)

3.With mixture on medium- low speed (medium high if using hand held), add the butter a few tablespoons at a time, mixing well after each addition. Once all butter
has been added, whisk in vanilla. Switch to a paddle attachment (a hand held mixer works fine as well) and continue beating on low speed until all air bubbles are eliminated, about 2 minutes. Scrape down sides of bowl with a flexible spatula, and continue beating until the frosting is completely smooth. Keep buttercream at room temperature if using the same day, or transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate up to 3 days or freeze up to 1 month. Before using, bring to room temperature and beat with paddle attachment on low speed until smooth again, about 5 minutes.

4. (Optional) To tint buttercream, reserve some for toning down the color, if necessary. Add the gel-paste food color, a drop at a time. Blend after each addition until desired shade is achieved.

Stacked Red Chili Enchiladas

noreply@blogger.com (Wheels and Lollipops) — Sun, 16 May 2010 03:40:00 PDT

A little late in posting in general on the blog but we had a loss in our family that had me out for a while. This posts comes via The Daring Cooks Challenge, the challenge for May was to make Stacked Green Chili Enchiladas, however finding green chili's in Paris was a challenge in itself !

Stacked Red Chili Enchiladas

Needless to say after a pleasant discovery of the three sites dedicated to Mexican cooking I was able to find most of the ingredients. The one ingredient that I could not find was the green chili so I had to substitute Ancho chili's in its place, in its fresh form its called a Poblano Chili.

We love Mexican , Tex/Mex food here so even the hubby was excited to hear what this month's challenge was. We took the opportunity to invite our next door neighbors, the husband is French and his wife is an American originally from Houston, Texas. Who says, enchiladas, also says Salsa, Guacamole and Margaritas ! what dinner can go wrong with a start like that.

The red chili sauce came from Homesick Texan's site for Stacked Enchiladas and it was perfect (if I do say so myself) the reviews were good and I've been asked to keep the recipe for a next time. I generally like things spicy and could have added some more peppers but as we had guests I decided to keep things a little more low key. It was also my first time having them stacked and maybe its just a habit but I prefer them rolled though they did look quite impressive on the plate.

The next time I make this dish I think I'll make the corn tortillas myself, this was the original plan but the site that I ordered from was out of Masa Harina so look out for another post on this !