Valentine Fun in the Kitchen with the Kids

 

The kids treated me this morning with breakfast in bed.  How awesome is that??  They made it all by themselves.  As such they then hit me with the reason for the buttering up of Mom.  “Can I make cupcakes?” from one “Can I make lollipops?” from another.

So.  My day was set.  We started with a little trek to my favorite baking store as I needed a few things to get this started.

So here we are.  Sprinkles, molds, cupcake cups, baggies ready to go.  Got a little lazy and going with box cakes.  I do however change the way I make them so they actually don’t taste boxed.  To adjust the recipe instead of using water, substitute buttermilk (plus a smidgeon more), add a package of Vanilla instant pudding, and whole eggs instead of egg whites.  It gives the cake more substance.  Use oil as directed.
The cupcakes turned out great!!  The candy??  Not so much.  Discovered after two attempts and burnt candy that my candy thermometer is not exactly accurate.  Once we got that sorted out we successfully made both watermelon and grape varieties of lollipops.  I also skipped the “kit” stuff and used.
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup corn syrup
1/2 cup water
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
To make the hard candy.  Combine the sugar and cream of tartar.  Pour corn syrup, sugar mixture and water into a medium saucepan.  DO NOT stir once it has boiled.  If you get crystals on the sides of the pan, use a wet pastry brush (natural bristles only) to wipe the edges.   let boil on medium low until the temp reaches 285-300 degrees.  Test your candy for hardness by scooping out a little bit and dropping it into ice cold water. 
Add your colouring and flavour after you’ve removed the mixture from heat and it’s stopped bubbling.   Pour into molds.
Photos from our adventure today.
DD making the cupcakes.



Mama’s girl for sure!!!
Now onto the Candy.

Tortierre - A Christmas Tradition

I'm not sure how my Polish Grandma ended up making the traditional French Canadian Christmas dish, and my French Canadian Grandma made the Italian pasta but that's how life played out.

This one is really quite simple though.  Most of this I do to taste so it's better to start with less spice and add as desired to your own personal taste.

Ingredients:
3 lbs lean ground pork
1 tbsp butter
1 large or two medium potatos shredded
1 large onion (totally pulverized)
2 teaspoons allspice
pepper to taste
1 tsp cinnamon (optional)
6 pie shells (uncooked)


Pie dough
5 1/2 cups pasty flour
1 lbs Tenderflake Lard
1 tsp salt
(cut lard into flour/salt until well combined using a pastry cutter)
1 egg
1 tbsp vinegar
water.
Take a measuring cup, gently beat the egg, add vinegar and up to the one cup mark with very very cold water.  Slowly pour into dry mix using enough only to moisten the dough until it sticks together into a ball.  Divide into six equal portions and wrap for later.  If needed refrigerate for 1/2 hour.


For the filling.

Melt butter in a large skillet, add onions until they've turned clearish.  I literally pulverize the onions in a mini chopper.   Add the ground pork until well cooked.  Add the shredded potato and mix well.   Add the allspice and pepper and mix well.  Add enough water to totally cover the mixture and let simmer for a few hours allowing the potato to thicken the mixture.   Add more allspice, pepper, and cinnamon to taste.

One Mixture is thickened divide equally into prepared Pie shells.  (I will admit I used to cheat and use ready made pie shells).  Cover with dough and pinch the edges.  I always cut an M into my to indicate meat pie so I can freeze them and pull them out when the craving hits and I don't end up with an apple pie (which wouldn't be a horrific thing either but hard to substitute as an actual meal).  

Bake at 425 degrees F until edges are golden brown and pie dough cooked.   I usually undercook mine just slightly again so I can freeze and just pop into the oven to reheat without the pie dough getting burned during reheating.

That's it.  So now we have our traditional "Pierogy" recipe  Grandma's recipe  posted from last Christmas and now my same Grandma's Tortierre recipe.  I'll be working on a Danish Soup recipe next

Cream of Broccoli Soup. Simple, and scrumptious.

Wouldn't you know it, as I'm about to post last month my modem fried and we were offline for awhile. (and I went on Vacation).

Without further adieu...the easy cream of Broccoli soup I was about to post a few weeks back. 

I love Broccoli, and I actually don't like soup that much but this one...oh yeah!!!!

Ingredients

1 large potato
3 cups broccoli, cut up into smaller bits
1 shredded carrot
1 onion diced
4 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup cream (approx)
2 tbsp butter


In a large pot melt butter, add onions and saute until soft, add the chicken broth followed by all the vegetables.  Simmer for about 1/2hr -45 minutes until broccoli and potatos are soft.   Two options now.  Transfer the contents into a food processor or use a hand blender to puree the soup.   I use a hand blender (less mess!!).  Add the cream and simmer for another 1/2 hour or so.  Salt and pepper to taste.

Top with some shreded cheddar cheese or parmigean cheese and serve.

SHE's BACK!!

Just wanted to give everyone a head's up that I'm back and will be posting some excellent recipes shortly.  (today as a matter of fact)

Sorry for my absence for so long friends and followers.  I dedicated the summer to relaxation, family, and fun with very little cooking involved.  Lots of salads though!!

Coming up this evening.  Simple yet scrumptious cream of brocolli soup to warm your soul and delight your palate

Super Moist Chocolate Cupcakes with Ameretto Almond Buttercream Icing

In honour of Mother's Day today I made an old family favorite.  This recipe was passed from my Grandmother, to my mother, to me.  It was always my favorite birthday cake and I figured I'd make these today to honour my mom and grandma.

This recipe was said to originate back in the depression when eggs were a luxury.  I've posted the recipe before as Chocolate Mayonaisse Cake.

Cupcake Recipe

1 cup mayonaisse

1 cup water

1 tsp vanilla (I used almond extract this time to change it up)

2 cups flour

1 cup sugar

2 tsp baking soda

4 Tbsp sifted cocoa

Mix dry ingredients together in a seperate bowl.  In the mixer bowl combine mayonaisse, water, and vanilla.  Slowly add the dry ingredients and combine well.

Line cupcake tin with muffin cups and fill 2/3rds full.  Bake at 350 degrees for approx 18-20 minutes.  Toothpick test at 18 minutes.

Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack.

Ameretto Almond Buttercream Icing

3/4 cup butter softened and whipped

3 cups icing sugar

1-2 tbsp whipping cream

2 tsp Ameretto

1/2 tsp Pure Almond Extract

Whip butter until very light.  Add icing sugar one cup at a time whipping completely between additions.  Add whipping cream, whip again, add extract and Ameretto again whipping well.  Continue whipping until desired constistency. 

Pipe onto cupcakes after they have cooled completely with a large star tip and icing bag.  These cupcakes are incredibly moist and not too sweet.

Cinnamon Crepes with Fruit

I know I've been away for some time now.  Life has a way of taking over sometimes and I needed a break from the kitchen to take care of some renovations and a holiday.  Renos are still on the go but I've been hankering to get back into the kitchen.

I loved crepes as a kid and still do.  I tried to make them once many years ago and I blew it. They kept falling apart, I couldn't flip them...it was a disaster.  I'm not one that accepts failure very well so this morning I decided to try and rectify my previously failed experiment.

It worked!!  First I attempted to use a large skillet.  That didn't go so well, again, falling apart, I couldn't flip it.  I moved to a smaller pan I have and that worked wonders.  Things I learned.  The pan needs to be fully hot.  A good spray of Pam cooking spray is essential.   I flipped them with ease and they were delightful. 

My kids love Nutella (and I do too).  Once cooked I layered them between plastic wrap, which worked perfectly.   The kids helped themselves, spread some nutella on them, fresh strawberries, bananas and a table of YUMMMMMMs followed.   I also cooked some apples with some brown sugar and cinnamon and that was equally good but the nutella combo was the hands down hit.

Without further adieu the recipe.  I found one on the Food network website but altered it a little bit as the consistency was too thick and I didn't want a lot of rise so I reduced the baking powder componant.  My altered recipe is as follows.

Cinnamon Crepes
1 1/2 cups flour (all purpose)
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking Powder
1 cup buttermilk
1/3 cup skim milk
2 eggs
2 tbsp melted butter
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Combine all dry ingredients in a mixing bowl.   In a seperate bowl combine all the liquid ingredients.  Slowly add the dry ingredients to the liquid whisking well  until till completely smooth.  (You may need to add a little more liquid).  Be sure the consistency is smooth and pourable.

Let it sit for about 10 minutes.

Heat a nonstick frying pan (approximately 7 inch diameter) on Medium high and coat with a spray oil.  Pour 1/4 cup of batter into the center of the pan and swirl to coat the pan bottom.  Cook for about 2 minutes.  Carefully lift the edges of the crepe with a spatula all the way around.  Shake the pan to move the crepe a bit and use a large spatula to flip. Cook for one minute and slide onto a plate, cover with plasic wrap and continue along until you are finished.

Toppings:
Fresh Strawberries, Banana, Apples, Rasperries.
Nutella

Spread some nutella on the crepe, place strawberries and banana, roll up the crepe and there you have a tuttie fuity crepe.

My first Paid cake

I never intended to bake or cook for money, but I'm getting more and more requests to do so.  This is especially true about cakes.  I finally acquiesced a few weeks back and agreed to make a cake for the kids acting union (the credit union they opened specifically).  I was hesitant to do so because, while I love making cakes, if I goof up something when it's just for us I don't sweat it too much. 

When someone is paying for something I generally demand perfection.  It came out alright and everyone seemed happy.  I was happy with everything but that damned paperclip.

I was really kind of under the wire for timing.  I was ahead of schedule but kids drama, and issues pretty much wiped out my yesterday.  Long story there but it meant I was behind the 8 ball.

Anyhow.  This cake is 40" x 30".  It was huge!!  The biggest challenge was getting it out of the house through the front door. 

I made 8 sheet cakes using a Martha Stewart recipe.  I adjusted it a little bit but was very close to hers.  I'll post the recipe tomorrow when I'm not falling down exhausted.

Buttercream icing using my own recipe.  The paperclip is rice krispie treat, over wooden skewers.  What it was supposed to do was lay flat on the left side and stand up where it looks like it's been taken apart.  That was the plan.  The rice krispies to be covered in grey fondant and covered in luster dust.

First the rice krispies weren't behaving, then the fondant was a disaster.  I have never screwed up fondant but boy did I do a good job of it this time.  I had some black fondant and thought I could cover it with the luster dust and still get the silver effect.   I picked up the wrong luster dust and it was useless. 

Running out of time left me with no alternative but to lay the whole thing down and cover it with buttercream.  Not ideal, not the nice smooth finish I wanted on it but at least it was the right (ish) colour.  

If I hadn't had to deal with family issues yesterday I would have solved this issue but such as it is I ran out of time.

The cake itself is delicious.  I hope in the end they are pleased with the result.  I'm a little dissappointed in it but all in all considering the situation it looks okay.   Fortunately they knew I'm not a professional cake maker so there we are.