Life is Just A…
...Bowl full of cherries. That's right, I said it. You know why that's such a great metaphor? Because there's nothing better than a bowl full of fresh, bright, juicy deep red cherries. Can you tell I really like cherries? Yes, they are one of my favourite fruits.
I imagine the pit has something to do with the cherry/life metaphor too. Maybe something like, you take the bad with the good. With life though, unlike cherries, you can't just spit out the pit. It doesn't work like that. What you can do is try to move on after life's little pits and make the most of the delicious cherry flesh because sooner or later you finish that bowl of cherries and you want to have something to show for it.
You get what I'm driving at here right? Life is short. Life is sweet. Life is cherries.
So in celebration of life and my favourite spring fruit here are some cupcakes I made for you. No pits though. Promise.
Cookie + Cake = Lee’s Carrot Cake
Don't you just love birthdays? Even someone else's birthday. Actually especially someone else's birthday. I know everyone says this and doesn't really mean it, but truly I love giving presents way more than receiving them. More than that, I love to make someone feel special. I love the thrill of planning little surprises to catch them off guard or keep them guessing. I love to make people smile.
That must be why I love to bake so much. It's got to be one of the best ways to make people instantly happy. How can you not smile when you bite into a freshly baked Lemon Blueberry Streusel Muffin, a chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie or a Hazelnut Brown Butter Cupcake? Ok well maybe you wouldn't smile as you bite into it. That would be messy. But after there would be a definite smile cracking those crumbly lips.
I also love that mumbling cacophony of off beat voices when you get to that certain part the birthday song where everyone says something a little different. Happy birthday dear... It gets me giggling every time.
But I digress.
It was Lee's birthday last Monday and I wanted to make him something he would love. Carrot Cake is his favourite so that was a clear winner, but I was itching to do something a little different, something more. He was telling me recently about birthdays from his childhood and these Jeanne's Bakery cakes from Winnipeg. Apparently they have a Shortbread cookie layer on the bottom so that got me thinking. Carrot Cake with a Snickerdoodle Cookie Crust and Cream Cheese Icing. Yes. That's the ticket. Because my favourite person deserves only the best.
Delicious on a Dime.
I love slapping people in the face with my mad design on a dime skills.
They admire my kitchen utensils and I'll be so proud to announce, "Aren't they nice? I got them from this little store called Dollarama. Maybe you've heard of it."
Or someone will compliment my skirt and I'll be all too pleased to play the guess-how-much-it-cost game. I always win at that game.
Or I'll get asked where I bought my necklace or the framed print on the wall and I'll answer proudly, "I made it myself."
I'm not cheap. I'm thrifty. There's a huge difference. When I go shopping and I see something that I like but it's a little pricey I'll more often than not think, “That's nice but I could totally make that myself for half the cost.” So I do and I love it. I love seeing a beautifully decorated vignette in a magazine then pull it off in my own living room with Ikea furniture and thrift store accessories. I love seeing a trendy new style from a fashion show then whipping it up myself with clothes and accessories diligently sought out and bought at a fraction of the designer cost.
The same goes with food. No where does it say that to make delicious and equally fabulous gourmet food you have to shop at ridiculously overpriced grocery stores or markets. I shop at Superstore and I often buy discounted No Name, no frills brands. I am no food snob, that's for sure. I also find it strangely exciting to plan recipes as inexpensively as possible without sacrificing quality.
This Caramel Corn is perfect for that. It's made with ingredients that most people already have stocked in their cupboards. It's pretty surprising what you can make with a little sugar, corn syrup, butter and water. Then you add some popcorn, nature's Ramen noodles, and that's an amazing snack.
Good Pie to Say Goodbye.
I have fond memories of my Grandparent's house. It was always so immaculately clean, decorated with sophistication and smelled of leather, perfume and Old Spice. Dinners at my Grandparent's were always something to look forward to. They would serve jello and whipping cream with dinner then afterward we'd play pool downstairs in my Grandpa's workshop and studio. I used to drink Pepsi out of green Coke glasses at their tiny marble bar in the corner of the basement and feel so fancy swinging my legs on a stool that was too high for me. The comedy and tragedy theatrical masks at the bottom of the stairs would always have to be taken down prior to my visits because they'd frighten me to tears. I used eat oatmeal and tomato soup then proceed to crawl under the table of the booth style kitchen nook so no one would have to slide down the seat and get up to let me out.
A few years ago my Grandma died and quite recently my Grandpa followed her. I never got to say goodbye to either of them so I thought I'd make them a sweet little tribute. One of my Grandma's most famous desserts was Grasshopper Pie and I remember as a child knowing for certain it was made with real grasshoppers encouraged by the unwaveringly serious insistence of my Dad and Grandpa. Once I tried it of course I knew different. It's still a family favourite dessert and now a favourite with Lee and Sable, the newest additions to my family.
This is for you Grandma and Grandpa. I miss you. I hope wherever you are, you'll be going dancing tonight.
Jonesing for Jones.
Have you ever had a craving for something you just couldn't ignore? A nagging, overwhelming insurmountable need for a specific thing that couldn't be sated any other way than to ravenously devour the thing in question.
For me, recently at least, that thing was Jones Soda. If you've never had this particular brand of soda pop I suggest that you do so. Now. For reals. They have countless flavours made of pure cane sugar to indulge your taste buds and yet, frustratingly enough, they can't be found at most stores. No, the kind folks at Jones Soda Co. make it tricky. Occasionally you can find a flavour or two at your local 7 Eleven or corner store, but usually you have to go to those speciality gourmet candy shops to get the better selection.
I'm not a real soda pop connoisseur, not even a real fan. The fizz gives me hiccups. Rather annoying inconvenient hiccups. But for Jones Soda and their large repertoire of flavours I'll brave the involuntary spasms. My current favourite is good old fashioned Cream Soda. It tastes like cotton candy and that's just fine. The close second is Berry Lemonade.
So why not make a cake out of my favourite soda pop? And not just any soda pop cake, a marbled cake with two of my favourite flavours rolled into one. Just a word of caution. If you don't like cakes that are pretty high up on the sweet spectrum then I would not recommend this. But if on occasion, like me, you have the need to eat sugar by the spoonfuls then, by all means, please make this cake.
Spring Has Sprung, The Grass Has Ris…
...I wonder how this pie is. To answer your question, pretty flipping awesome.
Did you miss me?
It won't happen again. I promise. I've been doing quite a bit of spring cleaning. Doesn't it feel satisfying to clean? No? Just me? You don't get a certain rush out of scrubbing something so shiny you can see your reflection in it? Or mopping the floor so clean you could eat off it? Or maybe vacuuming every square inch of the floor? Or organizing all 76 fridge magnets into uniform size descending lines? Well I do. And seriously, 76. I counted them.
I'm not sure who decided spring was the appropriate season to clean your head off, but it seems to make sense. Maybe it's something about opening up all the windows and pushing back the curtains that makes you see every last speck of dust and disorganization that somehow alluded your discerning eyes all winter. Maybe it's because spring is the season where everything begins again, grows and transforms, so why not mirror that on the inside right?
I have all these gardening plans this summer that I am so excited about. I've begun planting herbs in peat moss pots inside to transplant into my very own soon-to-be-built herb garden. That way I can make fresh pesto with my own basil and cut chives into sour cream like my mom always did. More often than not when I want to make pesto the supermarket is all out of the fresh kind so I actually buy the diced up stuff sold in a tube. I won't complain about the convenience, but I don't mind dicing it myself when I can be sure it's fresh instead of feeling like I'm squeezing toothpaste into my garlic, parmesan and pine nuts.
Enough about me. I know you're really just waiting for me to shut up so you can hear about that amazing Boston Cream Pie. It's my way of saying sorry for the abnormally long blogging intermission. Now back to our regular scheduled programming.
The Custard Thickens.
I consider this dessert a pivotal personal achievement. I've been putting it off for a long time now since a certain incident involving custard. Very stubborn custard. It was just awful. I don't like to talk about it...
...Ok you twisted my arm.
So it was New Year's Eve and I wanted to make something fancy to celebrate. We bought a shrimp ring and veggies with dip, I made sweet and sour cocktail meatballs and a layered salsa dip. There was just the dessert left to contend with. My mother started making this Angel Icebox Dessert for family functions years ago and it quickly became a family favourite even rivalling my Oma's coveted Cherry Delight. I thought I'd give it a try. How hard could it be right? Famous last words.
So there are three different layers. I didn't have the time or patience to make my own meringue nests or pavlovas so I bought some. Don't judge me, I'm impatient. Next is the whipping cream. That's easy. Then comes the custard.
Up until now I had never made custard and it was a little intimidating to say the least. Despite that I set aside my fears and soldiered on. I followed the recipe exactly. Six eggs yolks. Check. Sugar and salt. Check. Flour. Check. Scalded milk. After a googling what that even meant, check. Vanilla. Roger.
As I was stirring my custard in my makeshift double boiler feeling pretty darn happy with myself I'd come this far I realized to my horror that it wasn't thickening. Why was this happening? What had I done wrong? Were the custard gods punishing me for some significant sin? I read and reread the recipe dozens of times finding no evidence to my fault. After 45 minutes of tedious stirring to no avail I decided to refrigerate it and hope for the best.
Nope. Not even a little thickening. It was custard soup. That just won't do.
So my mother got a frantic phone call that day. Apparently the freshness of my eggs was questionable having bought them from a supermarket and not straight from the hen. I also should have used whole milk instead of 1% like I normally do.
Just Whip It…
...Whip it Good.
No seriously.
I'm sure you've tried those store bought shortbread cookies before. Then you must remember how they're so dense, crumbly and heavy. Well be prepared for a change in the winds. And what a wind. A wind that brings deliciously light, melt in your mouth soft and adorably pink little shortbread cookies. That's my kind of wind.
I think the secret is in the whipping. It aerates the dough and makes it light and fluffy, two words that you would not normally use to describe shortbread. So with all those air bubbles in it the dough rises a little even though there are no actual leavening ingredients. There's another way you've never thought of shortbread, am I right?
Speaking of store bought cookies, I don't think I can bring myself to eat anymore. I tried it last weekend. I wasn't planning on baking anything, but I had a craving for some chocolate chip cookies. I got those President's Choice Decadent Cookies. Let me tell you, decadent they are not. Bleh! They're just so dry, crumbly and, I don't know if I've been spoiling myself lately with oodles of sugar, but they just were not sweet enough.
Here's a good cookie test. If they're still sitting in the cupboard after a week you know you have a bad cookie. When I make a few batches of my Chocolate Chip Cookies, no word of a lie, they are gone within a day. That's a good cookie.
I made exactly four dozen of these Cherry Shortbread Cookies yesterday and today I'm missing half. I may or may not be responsible for a dozen of those disappearances. Ok yeah, I am.
Lesson Learned.
Up until a couple days ago I had never baked a cheesecake. You could still say I've never baked a cheesecake... successfully. They're tricky little buggers, those cheesecakes.
Nobody's perfect right? Right.
I'm not here today to show off pictures of my pretty cheesecake and swoon about how amazing it turned out. I could have concealed those cracks with some candied orange peel or sauce. I could have adjusted the contrast of the browned edge of the cake to make it appear less overdone in photoshop. I could have pretended to do everything right when, in reality, I did the polar opposite. But I won't. That would be a lie and I try not to lie to you.
Instead I'm here today to serve as a lesson. Instead of telling you everything that I did wrong, I'm going to tell you how to do it right. I'll make sure to put these lessons to good use once I've overcome my crushing cheesecake failure. But hey, it still tasted good.
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