Canada's Baking & Sweets Show

On October 1st, 2011, I attended the first ever Canada's Baking & Sweets Show! As per the show's website:

'Welcome to Canada’s Baking and Sweets Show – the first consumer show of its kind in North America dedicated to those who crave to experience everything that’s decadent and delicious.  It’s a one-of-a-kind event catering to baking enthusiasts and everybody with a “sweet tooth”.
Expect to see, smell, taste and savour the best offerings of Canada’s baking and sweets universe.'

This show was so much fun! The darling Jessica K (aka The Wedding Girl), her lovely sister, Olivia and I were there bright and early on the 1st just in time for the show's opening. We had a great time taking pictures and seeing not only the delicious things you could buy, but the cake competition as well as all of the different baking and cooking tools that you could buy!

This was the show's first time running, and I do think I speak for both myself and the Wedding Girl when I say that I hope that this show happens again next year and that it continues to grow in size and in the number of exhibitors. I think the show was especially exciting for Jess and I because it combined our absolute love of baking with our educational background in Special Events Planning.

The show really had quite a nice mix of vendors selling baked goods (especially for those with allergies and sensitivities), tools and services. I felt that there was a great balance and that the set-up of the show really allowed you to interact with the exhibitors without feeling too crowded.

I personally was drawn to the Golda's Kitchen booth as well as the Bonnie Gordon College of Confectionary Arts' booth! I have always loved going to Golda's and now I'm trying to find a way to save enough money to take a few classes at the Bonnie Gordon school!

Here are some photos of the delicious cakes that were found throughout the show.

 

Happy weekend! 

t

Foodie Find - Chrysanthemum Cupcakes

Video is courtesy of Yoyomax12

How delightfully delicious are these? A friend of mine made these and they were sooooo cute! I hope that one day I have the patience to make them too! 

Enjoy! 

t

Foodie Find - Grass Tip Cake

One of the blogs that I enjoy on a regular basis is 'i am baker'. I came across her post about making cakes with a grass tip and LOVED the rainbow one. I think it's gorgeous and soooooo lovely. 

Check out the link and enjoy :) 

http://iammommy.typepad.com/i_am_baker/2011/08/cake-challenge-wiltons-grass-tip.html

t

Pin-Up Girl Cupcake Cake

This was a cake that I had on order a few week's ago for my sister-in-law's (read: my brother's girlfriend) grandpa's 75th birthday party! I've never had the chance to meet any of her family (except her LOVELY sister for 2 seconds in the middle of the winter at a gas station... It wasn't as sketchy as it sounds) and so not only was I asked to make the cake but I was getting to meet the people who are the reason why I love this gal sooooo much! 

Anywhoo, when Taryn (that's her name!) asked me to do the cake, I was honoured and a little nervous. Then she asked if I could do the cake as a cupcake cake. Now, I'm not sure if you have ever seen a cupcake cake, so allow me to explain. It's a bunch of cupcakes that are all arranged closely together and then iced together so that they are one flat slab of cake. A perfect example of one can be found here (gorgeously cute cake by the by). I've never made one before and I was nervous considering there were going to be a lot of people there (approximately 80) and that this was for her family! But I decided to proceed. 

The decision was made that the cake would have a 1940s pin-up girl on it which brought on a whole other list of worries. How would I get a picture of the pin-up girl on the cake without making her look like an ape with boobies?!?!? Thankfully, my darling friend, Amanda, explained to me how she works through these things and told me about a local bakery that prints sugar sheets for you! 

Anyway, here is the final result of the cupcake cake. The cupcakes are chocolate and vanilla. The cake was made of 20 standard sized cupcakes and 84 mini cupcakes. 

I may or may not have an obsession with rows of cupcakes

Un-iced grouping of cupcakes

Iced as a whole cake :)

The Birthday Boy who proceeded to sing happy birthday to his pin-up girl :)

And now, because I can, here are some photos of the fam while we were up at the party! God, I love these people soooooo much! 

My brother and I... there really can never be too much sibling time! EVER!

Amy, Taryn, Me and Mum!

The Pioneer Woman's Carrot Cake

I LOVE the Pioneer Woman's blog! LOVE IT! Don't usually go 24 hours without checking it! If you haven't been.. GO NOW! (by clicking here). Naturally, I am a little more partial to the cooking section of her blog but the rest of it is amazing as well. 

After having gotten over the slight disappointment with some of the feedback concerning the Detroit Red Wings cake, I knew that for my next order, I needed a different kind of recipe. I needed a recipe that could be made in a sheet cake pan but that would taste delicious and moist and still look good. So naturally, I did a quick search for 'carrot sheet cake' (since the order was for a carrot cake) and was ironically brought to the Pioneer Woman's post for Sigrid's Carrot Cake. There is the most adorable story behind this cake and you should definitely read it on her blog. As you all know, I love the connections that people make to certain foods in relation to people they know and this recipe is no exception. 

Anywhoo, I made the recipe in an 18' x 22' x 1 1/2' cake pan (which I learned was too big to fit in my own oven! Thank you J for letting me take over your kitchen! You're my hero!!!) and baked a double batch of the recipe for about 45-50 minutes. It turned out amazingly and I was so happy. I once again learned the hard way that I can't make a cake from start to finish in one day. I get exhausted and then become irritated and frustrated and I pretty much throw a tantrum like this (click here) (once again, thank you J for not kicking me out of your house that night!!!! <3). Lessons learned and put aside, the cake turned out wonderfully... Super moist, not too overdone and it was enjoyed by all (ULTIMATE CAKE SUCCESS!!!!!).I am a bad blogger because I don't think I took any pictures of the finished cake. I have some process pictures at home but I don't have the finished product (again, please refer to the temper tantrum video found here). I'm so sorry!

BUT wait... there's more! I decided that since the Pioneer Woman says how versatile this recipe is that I would try and turn these babies into cupcakes (who here doesn't know about my love of cupcakes?). A single batch of this recipe will perfectly make 24 cupcakes. I baked mine for about 45 minutes or until they were light-ish brown on top. I'm not quite sure why but the top of the cake always bakes up looking a little lumpy. I personally don't mind it because it ends up looking like it's got oats in it too (it's always a good mind trick to make the brain think it's eating something 'healthy'). Really though, for me it's not an issue because there is always icing on top of the cake so you don't see it. 

And without further delay, allow me to introduce you to the most perfect cupcake of my existence complete with cream cheese frosting! 

I hope you all are having a wonderful week! 

Keep smiling :)

t

Detroit Red Wings Cake

I had a request to do my biggest cake yet... a cake for 60 people!!!! I was intimidated to say the least but agreed because I figured 'what have I got to lose besides a bit of sleep and some of my hair when I pull it out?' On top of it being the biggest cake I've ever made, the person who the cake was for adores the Detroit Red Wings and thus their logo was to be on the cake. Oh Sweet God was I nervous! I even had to ensure that my mum would sit with me while I did the design to ensure that it looked good. Needless to say, despite an issue with a really dense cake, this one turned out quite well (if I may say so myself!). Thanks, Christine, for thinking of me to make this cake!!!! 

Dirty 30 Cake

Here is a cake that I had on order a few weeks ago! It's an 11in x 15in  red velvet cake with a cream cheese flavoured butter cream frosting. I tried out a new 'pretty petal effect' as found on MyCakeSchool.com (here) and LOVED IT! 

Can anyone tell that I'm loving my new camera just a little bit?!?!?

As always, if you have any questions about orders, please don't hesitate to contact me at novicegoddess@hotmail.com.

<3

t

Easter Baking... a few weeks late

I swear these last few weeks have FLOWN by in a blur of work and work and a bit more work and family gatherings and a tiny bit of sleep in there as well. Plus, this coming week, I'm helping out with the musical at the school my Mum teaches at, so needless to say things have been busy! Thankfully, despite it all, I may have managed to pull off a bit of time to get some cooking done too!

I have been wanting to share these things with you for ages now and am only now getting around to them. For Easter, I had decided to finally make some challah bread. I've been wanting to do it for years especially since it is very similar to my Baba's Ukrainian Bapka (a sweet yeast bread, similar to panettone). I have actually gone through the process of making Baba's bapka with her before but I find that lately I've been trying to find similar alternatives that don't quite have the gaps that Baba's recipes do... For example, when I asked how much flour goes into her bread, she told me "it's about 6 to 10 cups of flour". Gotta love a good 4 cup variance! This recipe is truly delicious and I strongly suggest that everyone try it. 

I originally found the recipe on a Radishes and Rhubarb, a blog by one of my babysitting Moms, Allison (see Allison's post about Challah here). When I first decided to try the recipe last year, I ended up forgetting the eggs (one of the most important parts of a challah) but somehow the bread still turned out amazingly. Regardless, this time, I actually remembered the eggs and ended up making a very delicious batch of bread. So delicious that I feel it has rivaled Baba's bread! Not to mention, it's braided!!!! Come ON! How can you not love a good braided bread?!?!? 

In terms of the process, it is the simplest thing ever!!!  Simply toss all of your ingredients into the bowl of your stand mixer, mix for a few minutes and let it rise. Once risen, shape and let it rise again and then bake.  

 

 

 

 On top of having made this delightful bread, and as a little treat to give to my cousins and family on Easter. I made these little cupcakes with some piping, some shredded wheat and melted chocolate and of course, mini eggs!!!!!! 

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter and that the Easter bunny remembered where you lived :) 

Happy Saturday!!!!

Tamara

Food Blogger-cide? Maaaybe! Deliciousness? Definitely!

I have decided to coin a new term: Blogger-cide... Pretty much the equivalent of blogger suicide. Perhaps I should even further clarify it by calling it Food Blogger-cide. Allow me to define this term for you:

Food Blogger-cide - noun - A crime committed by food bloggers when they forget to take both process and completed product food photos. The end result is typically a photo once the dish has been half devoured (sad sad shame!). 

Anywhoo... I have committed Food Blooger-cide. It was my birthday a few weeks ago (hurray for the big 2-5!!!!) and I made my own birthday cake. Now, before you start thinking or saying (I can hear you!!!!) "Oh that poor girl had to make her own birthday cake. Does she not have anyone who loves her who could have made her cake?", allow me to clarify that I had 2 people offer to make my cake, however I decided that I wanted to make my cake. I had been craving to make a cake for a while since I haven't had any cake orders over the last few months and this was the perfect opportunity for me to make a cake. 

I decided that Anna Olson's Banana White Chocolate Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting was going to be the epic cake to celebrate my birthday with some family and friends. I learned the hard way that when making this cake (with 4 layers of cake - 2 x 9-inch cake pan with each cake cut in half) that 1 1/2 times the icing recipe is not enough... However if you find yourself in this bind, whip out some sliced almonds to cover up your slightly less than perfect cake sides. I was a little rushed while finishing the cake and the rest of the meal and welcoming guests that I accidentally forgot to take a picture of the cake before we cut into it. BUT I will recant my statement of total food blogger-cide for the simple fact that now that the cake is cut, you can see the layers and deliciousness in its glory! So here it is, I swear this recipe is delicious and will not disappoint! 

I hope you all have a wonderful week :)

Take care,

t

Another Batch of Red Velvet Cupcakes

I know that I have mentioned my love of red velvet cupcakes in the blog before. I'm sure that I've mentioned that I use Martha Stewart's recipe. And you can never make red velvet cupcakes without cream cheese frosting. This time around, I made them with a little twist: I coloured the cream cheese frosting and made some royal icing flowers to top them off! I couldn't have been more pleased with how they turned out!

Happy Sunday everyone!!!!

T

April's Biscuits

Dear Readers, 

This is a photo of my friends April, Cassandra and I on my 22nd birthday:

April, Cass and I met in university and have been smitten with each other ever since. Our friendship has blossomed amazingly over the years and ironically enough, a good chunk of it has been based on food. All three of come from backgrounds where food is highly regarded and is a means for sharing moments together and this truly has become the backbone of our friendship. April has just returned from a stint in Australia where she was going to teacher's college, continuing to fall in love and working as a teacher. And naturally, upon April's return, we were all reunited over food! We had a delightful brunch at April's house where our darling girl, who is notorious for not really cooking much, whipped up some amazing scones! 

Now, anyone who has been reading the blog for a while now will know how much I adore brunch. It is truly my favourite meal of the day because you can do so many different things. And this summer, I discovered how to make scones/biscuits which I thought were amazing... And then I had April's scones. And as such, my dear readers, I feel that I must share the wonder with you too!!! 

The ingredients are super simple:

• 3 cups of self-rising flour, sifted + approximately another 1/2 cup for kneading
• 300mL sparkling lemonade
• 300mL 35% cream
• 2 tbsp milk

Now here is where things get a little complicated because April's steps for the recipe were like the ones you get from your Granny (or in my case, my Baba). You know the ones... where they can't quite tell you specific ingredients, you're just supposed to know how it's meant to feel? Yup, those cryptic recipes. This one isn't too bad but it's still a little confusing so I'm going to try and add the steps in to make it almost foolproof! 

1. Put all ingredients (except additional 1/2 cup of flour and milk) in a bowl and mix together with a wooden spoon.
2. Slowly add the additional 1/2 cup or so of flour until the dough forms - in this step, try to touch the dough as little as possible. I'm pretty sure I used the back end of my wooden spoon. 
3. Once the dough has formed, flour your counter/board/area that you're going to roll out the dough on and roll out the dough until it's about 1 inch to 1 1/2 inch thick and cut out your scones with your favourite shaped cookie cutter or knife.
4. Place scones on a lined cookie sheet and brush scones with milk. 
5. Bake at 400F for 10 minutes. Rotate pan and bake for another 10 minutes. 
6. Savour in the deliciousness. 

My loves, these scones are so delicious that they can't help but crave to be displayed prominently and gorgeously. And what my scones want, my scones get:

And that my friends is my new love! 

I hope you all are having a phenomenal weekend and that you're all thinking positive vibes for spring to finally emerge (Lord knows I am!)!!!! 

Happy Saturday, 

Tamara