June 25, 2010

THE DINO CAKE!

I realized I never recapped Sean's thank you cake--oops! So, earlier in the week, wedding cupcake week that is, I had decided that I would try to make a two-layered, fondant-covered cake. I kind of just wanted to see whether or not I could do it sans a cake decorating cake. I took on the challenge on a Monday night simply because my parents usually have dance class on Mondays (ballroom dance) and it's best to bake with an empty kitchen.

So I began by baking the cake...a strawberry and toasted coconut cake baked in two 6" round cake tins. I let the layers cool and then evened out the top with a knife. I tasted the discarded pieces to make sure the cake was good. Thumbs up!

Between the two layers of cake was a layer of organic strawberry preserves and then a layer of vanilla bean coconut rum buttercream on top of that. Mmmm. I then placed the second cake round on top and crumb-coated the cake with buttercream. I then stuck the whole thing in the freezer to solidify a little bit. (I read that tip in a cake decorating book.)

At this point it was kind of late and I had to work the next day so my cake wasn't covered in fondant until 48 hours later. Yep, that's right...I left it alone for two days in my cake stand. Cake neglect, how shameful! Wednesday was pretty much the only day I had available to cover my cake in fondant and I only had a 90-minute window after work. It kind of resulted in disaster. I was rushing and stressed out and though you can't see it from the photos, there's a minor disaster in the back.

I finished decorating the cake and completed the little dino detail almost a full week after the cake was made. Phew, it's a good thing the cake still tasted fresh when Sean and I ate it. To make the dino, I loosely followed the instructions from A Baked Creation.

The star of the cake (check out his scary teeth!):Flower piping around the cake:Ruffly border to keep the dino from falling off the edge:Aerial view:Sean let me cut the cake:Here we go:The first slice (it's always a little ugly):
Sean's prettier slice:It looks like Pac-Man:A look inside:Dino guarding his cake:
Look for more cakes in the future...maybe. I have to find more people willing to eat more cake!

June 20, 2010

A CHOCOLATE MINT TEASER...

What do you do with a carton and a half of heavy cream, two bars of Lindt dark mint chocolate that is about to expire and a pint of strawberries?

Well if you're me, you make mint chocolate graduation cupcakes with strawberry mousse frosting:More to come tomorrow...goodnight folks!

June 19, 2010

FOOD RECAP

Wow, so behind! Let's begin... 4th...Friday (I can't believe I'm more than two weeks behind!) Lunch was leftover shaved asparagus pizza:along with watermelonand blueberries, cherries and pineapple:=== 5th...Saturday No food photos from Saturday because I spent all evening making sugar flowers. === 6th...Sunday No photo Sunday, continued making sugar flowers === 7th...Monday Lunch was homemade pizza with shaved asparagus, lardons and mushrooms. So freakin' good! Along with salad from the garden: and blueberries and cherries:Dinner was 'You're So Cheezy' Savoury Oats, recipe courtesy of Angela from Oh She Glows. I made a few tweaks, excluding the bouillon cube (I never have those in my house) and using organic vegetable stock instead of water. I also didn't have the "little black dress of seasonings" so I used dried thyme, oregano and something else I can't remember now. As you can see, I topped mine off with Mary's Crackers and sauteed broccoli.
It was delicious but I couldn't finish it all: I also had a big salad and a couple slices of pizza four hours later:
=== 8th...Tuesday Lunch was a couple leftover fried organic drumsticks:along with Catelli Smart macaroni with dad's tomato sauce and broccoli:Fruit consisted of blueberries, cherries and strawberries, aka Trifecta of Antioxidants.=== 9th...Wednesday No photo Wednesday. Actually, I forgot to take photos of my lunch because I was running late for work but never fear, because lunch the next day was the exact same. === 10th...Thursday Lunch was a sandwich thin with goat cheese, TONS of dried dill and a slice of smoked salmon:along with watermelon: and the Trifecta again:=== 11th...Friday Friday was wedding cupcake day. Food was consumed, I just don't have any photos of it. Consumed was a subpar Montreal smoked meat sandwich from Montreal Steames in Oshawa along with fries (that were shared with Sean) and a Coke. I also had some watermelon, several tastings of buttercream and whipped chocolate ganache, cupcake bits here and there. Later in the evening, at Sean's house, Sean attempted to make this Irish eel dish consisting of fresh eel, lardons and onions:It was way too fishy for my taste so I let Sean eat it. I grabbed a Caesar salad at the local grocery store and we headed to Corey and Bryanne's house and watched The Road. === 12th...Saturday No photo Saturday. I wanted to relax after the wedding cupcake aftermath. === 13th...Sunday I only have two photos, showing the same thing but they're worth it. Check out my new bowl:
If you guessed that that's Barbamama from Barbapapa, you're right! But no prize for you, sorry. You can only imagine how excited I was to see a bunch of Barbapapa bowls and mugs (plus a placemat and scale) at Magic Pony in Toronto. Way too excited and way too expensive to buy everything so I settled on a bowl and a mug (Barbapapa himself). I spent the rest of the day with Sean. We headed into the city to grab a couple of grilled cheese sandwiches from The Grilled Cheese in Kensington Market (I can't remember what I had but it came with roasted red peppers, red onions and mushrooms and Sean had the Dill-Licious) and then dumplings from Mother's Dumplings nearby. Sean and I split an order of boiled pork and chive dumplings as well as an order of steamed pork and pickled cabbage (whole wheat wrappers). We both preferred the pork and chive ones more. Both meals were good but eating only half my sandwich would have been a better option since I left Mother's Dumplings feeling totally and utterly stuffed! === 14th...Monday Lunch was quickly made in the morning: scrambled eggs with lardons and mushrooms and a sandwich thin (unpictured):along with watermelon:and cherries and blueberries:Dinner was steamed chicken with basmati and green beans:Can I just say that I hate my dad's green beans? He uses so much oil to cook them. It's extra virgin olive oil but still! We go through so many bottles of that stuff, it's ridiculous! After dinner I made pretzels. Check 'em out:
=== 15th...Tuesday First breakfast was who-knows-what but second breakfast was instant oatmeal, as per usual, but I thought I'd include a photo since I haven't done so in a while:Hahhaa, all done! Lunch was the same egg scramble from the previous day but with two pretzels instead of the sandwich thin:The same fruit came along for the ride, watermelon:and blueberries and cherries:Dinner was egg thread and asparagus soup with broken up pieces of Catelli Smart spaghetti:along with a couple of baked free-range chicken wings from The Meat Market in Stouffville that Sean picked up for me the night before:=== 16th...Wednesday The day started off with a pretzel:And then lunch came along and I had a whole lotta leftovers! First up was leftover egg thread and asparagus soup with a couple of pretzels:
along with leftover wings: Fruits included cherries and blueberries:And of course, what you've all been patiently waiting for--my Barbapapa mug...Ain't he cute? I think it's great that he's pink and the dad, while Barbamama is black and the mom. That's Starbucks' Refresh tea inside my mug. I was drinking the tea because I had a major migraine (the first in almost four weeks) and I thought it would help. Shortly after that mug o' tea, I went to bed and fell asleep for 11.5 hours. === 17th...Thursday The day started off with another pretzel, this time one coated with dried dill:Second breakfast was my best oatmeal combination yet, instant oats (with ground flax, chia seeds and Lindt sea salt) but also with strawberries and fresh mint:Seriously, best combo ever! There's a woman who brings fresh mint to work sometimes and I broke up several springs, wrung them together a bit and then tore them into small pieces. Lunch was mushroom and Catelli Smart broken spaghetti soup (we were out of eggs) along with more leftover wings: and watermelon:and strawberries and cherries:=== 18th...Friday No photo Friday! I can't really remember a lot about Friday except that pre-dinner at my house involved some watermelon and a couple golden kiwis. Real dinner was pho with Sean. === 19th...Saturday Get ready for lots of pics! I took photos of everything I consumed today except for one pretzel and a carton of Vita Coco pineapple. Here's my breakfast...get ready for awesomeness. I braved the 31C temperature to bust out some oatmeal just so that I could use this:
That's right...it's a panda mug! And guess what...
the little panda peeking out is actually a spoon! So ZOMG cute! I couldn't stand it and neither could Sean because he's the one who bought it for me at Magic Pony last weekend. Lunch was courtesy of my mom: rice noodles with shredded carrots and pork:
After lunch, my parents and I checked out the pavement at Shops at Don Mills (we want similar pavement for our driveway and back patio and want to see how it is in real life) and I went on a small shopping spree at Anthropologie. All kitchenware of course, including two aprons which will be showcased in the future. Dinner features most of the stuff I bought at Anthro: Strongbow (hard cider), chicken in red rice soup, basmati and chinese broccoli:
Close-up of the bowl I bought:
Plus the drinking glass. I really like it because it's opaque at the top and transparent at the bottom:
About an hour later I decided to indulge for dessert and had a small serving of Coldstone Creamery's Coffee Lover's Only in my new mug (another Anthro purchase):
I got Sean a similar mug with his initial but in a larger and less feminine version. === And that's it. Phew! I can't believe I just went through more than two weeks' worth of food. Well almost. I know there were quite a few dinner shots missing. Let's hope a back-up like that doesn't happen anytime soon.