Thursday 27 June 2013

Durian Cake and Matcha Green Tea Cupcakes

 Durian Cream Cake with creamy whipped icing.




Not being a fan of durian myself I would have never attempted this cake unless someone ordered it specifically. The fruit itself has a such a strong odor that every time I opened the refrigerator, I could smell the cake through its container. But it seems like those who love it, really love it, and don't mind subjecting their friends to its pungent smell.


However the cake did turn out stunningly tall and sturdy, and the cream went on smoothly. I even started thinking I wanted to try a slice.


Along with the cake was an order for half a dozen chocolate, green tea cupcakes. These turned out pretty tasty. I made my regular chocolate cupcake recipe and put in a tablespoon of matcha powder into the batter. Then made a matcha  butter cream, by heating up the milk, sugar and matcha powder and  letting cool, before stirring in the butter. ( And a little food dye because it was sort of, "off brown")


I love the look of this cake. I'll defiantly have to try it again with a flavour I'm fond of.



Sunday 23 June 2013

Lemon Meringue Pie

A birthday pie for friend Greg Harron.


 He told me a couple weeks ago lemon meringue was his favourite.


Not being one of the goodies I personnaly like to eat, I've never made one before.  The filling is a two lemon filling, with a 4 egg white meringue on top. Half way through baking I rotated my pie on a cookie sheet so the peeks of the meringue browned evenly.

Friday 21 June 2013

German Chocolate cake

This cake was the first in a long time that I made with the sole purpose of eating most of it myself.
This soft gooey cake is the embodiment of  everything I like in a cake. The recipe is from an issue of CanadianLiving.





The Chocolate sponge is really soft and moist. When it is fresh out of the oven it almost has a mousse like quality.



The cake is filled with pecans, coconut, and has a chocolate ganache as the icing. 


This is my first time covering a cake with ganache and I will definatly do it again. It's easy to work with and is easy to get a smooth glossy finish.






Saturday 15 June 2013

Campfire Cake

This small six in cake was to going camping for weekend.



 It's a chocolate coffee sponge with marshmallow icing in the middle and marshmallow and Rice Krispie Squares on top. 



I didn't put any frosting of chocolate around the outside since it had to go days without being refrigerated.


Overall It turned out charmingly "rustic" looking


Friday 7 June 2013

Chocolate banana Pie

I love chocolate and cream together. Nothing can beat it! 




 This is the second time I've made a Banana Cream Pie with chocolate crust. And I prefer this recipe the best. The bananas were smooth and silky as opposed to slimy.




I'm still on the trail of perfecting crust, so the pie is more like a giant cookie that I left in the fridge over night. 


 The filling is 2 bananas layered on the pie crust, then drizzled with custard and sliced almonds over top.



 Custard Filling Recipe

1 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups 2% milk
2 eggs, lightly beaten
3 tablespoons butter
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 large firm banana


In a large saucepan, combine the sugar, cornstarch, salt and milk until smooth. Cook and stir over medium-high heat until thickened and bubbly. Reduce heat; cook and stir 2 minutes longer. Remove from the heat. Stir a small amount of hot filling into eggs; return all to the pan. Bring to a gentle boil; cook and stir 2 minutes longer.
Remove from the heat. Gently stir in butter and vanilla. Press plastic wrap onto surface of custard; cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

 


After the filling is cooled I topped everything with a generous amount of whipped cream.




mmm...one of my new favourites.




Monday 3 June 2013

Souffle

My first attempt at a vanilla souffle



 The recipe was fairly fast to make and used very few ingredients. I got the recipe from EugenieKitchen. 
I added a little pink food coloring to half the batter but next time I will be brave enough to try different flavours. I can't wait to make a rich chocolate souffle




Recipe

1 tbsp unsalted butter
1 tbsp flour
1/2 milk
1/2 tsp vanilla
pinch of salt
2 tbsp sugar
2 eggs

1. brush butter into ramekin, then duster with sugar 

2.In a small pot, over medium heat melt butter and add flour. Stir until combined

3. Heat up milk in microwave until hot. Remove pot from heat and stir in milk until smooth.

4. Return to heat and vanilla, and salt. Stir consistently until just brought to a boil.

5. Remove from heat and transfer to a small bowl. add in egg yolk and stir until combined

6. In a separate bowl, beat the egg white while slowly adding the sugar.

7. Beat until opaque and forms soft peaks.

8. Add 1/3 of the meringue to the batter made previously and stir until combined.

9. Then add batter to the rest of the meringue and whisk until just   combined.

10. Pour into ramekins and bake at 390 F for 12-15 min until well risen.

11. Dust with icing sugar and serve immediately.