Foray into Food

Jennywennycakes open house!

2012-01-15T12:57:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to let everyone know that I'm having a little open house next Saturday to showcase some of the things I bake for my customers. I'm getting lots of enquiries from recently engaged couples, so I thought this would be the ideal opportunity to show people what I do.

If you're free then I'd love to see you! Stop by anytime between around 12-2pm to sample cakes, cookies and cupcakes with a cup of tea or coffee!

I'm also looking for people to share my kitchen space. Just call us is a great place to start a small catering business, there is everything you might need in a commercial kitchen. I'm specifically interested in people to share on Saturdays, and maybe Friday afternoons.

More Sugar Flowers with PME

2012-01-03T15:01:00.000-08:00

I recently managed to take a quick trip back home. December is a great time to visit as everyone is so excited about Christmas!!

My primary reason for this trip was to learn more about sugar flowers at PME cake decorating school in Enfield, near London. It was a very affordable 4 day intensive course, which was only 250 pounds, which included lunch and as much coffee and tea as we could drink. I didnt realize at the time, but it was part 3 of a 'master sugar artist' course. I may return for the other parts in the future.

We covered so many flowers!

Starting with some unwired flowers we made gerbera with ivy, a rose, and a Christmas rose and poinsettia. They were all on plaques, which could be prepared ahead and then would finish any cake very nicely.

We then started on some more difficult wired flowers. We made 'filler flowers' and buds, then fuschias.

Carnations were next. Apparently the instructor doesnt like carnations, but I really loved them. I'd love to design a cake with some enormous carnation type fantasy flowers dotting the front of it!

We then made some lily of the valley. This was the instructors work, I thought they were so delicate and pretty, and actually not that hard to do, I hope to be making more of these in the future. So cute!

This picture also shows some calla lilies. They were nice and simple to do too.

We also made rose leaves and ivy. I was disappointed that this was one of the last things we got started on, leaves are very important in the design of bouquets, so it was very frustrating that there wasn't much time for these because everyone got so caught up with their other projects. If we'd been taught these early, we could have been working on these in any downtime we had.

This is the display that the instructor made,with a very pretty lily, which was one of the other flowers we worked on.

The other flower we made was, of course, a rose. This is one of the most used flowers in cake design so it was good to have another try at it. I didn't quite get mine perfect, but hopefully with a bit more work I can get the hang of them!

This is one of my sprays of flowers, you can see I'd have been better off had I had some extra ivy to fill it out, and my coloring of my lily left a little to be desired, but its a good start!

My other spray had the prettier flowers, but 'lacked focus'. You can see that my next project will need to be a flower arranging class! It was amazing to see the sheer volume of flowers we managed to produce in 4 days!!

Previous classes I've taken leave you with two flowers over two days, so this was definitely more intense and productive! PME designed this class to help people produce sugar flowers that were actually commercially viable, so they may not always be perfectly correct looking, but good enough for most people.

The other downside with the PME classes is that the only equipment and supplies used are ones that PME sell, so they were either JEM, Wilton or PME. Even if there was a better product, we werent able to use it. This was particularly frustrating when making leaves as I'm used to using a grooved board to roll them out on, which leaves a groove for the wire to be put into.

I've taken a few pictures of other examples from the other students and instructors. It was interesting to see the different color schemes.

Every student on the class went away with something beautiful, so it was a testament to a great instructor that such a complex skill was so well taught.

Having been to many classes with Jacqueline Butler at Petalsweet Cakes, and also a class with Tami Utley, I'd say this was much more intense, and the students were not there to have fun, they were there to learn. Everyone seemed to be feeling the pressure, even though maybe half of us werent professionals. I had to wonder about why they were taking time off work to do something that seemed to be stressing them out so much!

Overall this was a great experience. I got experience of making a ton of different flowers. I feel a lot more confident about trying new sugar flowers, and I already was asked to make some orchids for a cake that they were making at CAKE, so they already came in handy! Here are the bright vibrant flowers they asked for!

2011, What a whirlwind of a year!!

2012-01-01T17:38:00.000-08:00

I'm looking at this vest right now, and I cant believe that I kicked off the year with a half marathon! I hate running! It was a fun experience, but one foot in front of the other, and I did it. Maybe not the fastest (I finished with the speed walkers!!) but I did it! I dont plan on running further than a couple of miles in the future, but you never know!!

February was my grandma's 90th birthday, I was very honored to be able to travel home and create a huge birthday cake for her. I'm so glad she had such a wonderful day, her memory is a little fuzzy sometimes but she was crystal clear and happy that day. Everyone loved the tiramisu flavored chocolate cake too!!

Another treat was a week spent with my brother, mum and niece. We don't get a lot of time together living so far apart, it was very special.

In March, I attended another great class at Roz's Sweet Art Studio with Petalsweet Cakes. I entered a relaxing zen atmosphere for 2 days, and created an anemone and a fuchsia. It was very relaxing, as well as wonderful to learn a new beautiful flower!

April, I did a crazy thing and went to the UK for a long weekend to celebrate my friend's wedding. It basically felt like a ridiculous dream, I stayed in a lovely cottage with all my friends around me, and we celebrated with incredible food and drinks, and just amazing warm weather! I was so glad I got to be there, it was totally worth the jetlag!

We realized we'd not been away as a couple for over a year, so I planned a weekend in Vegas in May for us to relax and enjoy ourselves! We stayed in luxury at the Wynn, and it was really fun to escape from normal life for a weekend!

June I was making more and more cakes, this being one of the bigger weddings, catering for 150 people at Tom Ham's Lighthouse. The event went smoothly and I started to get into my stride. I finally started to feel a little more confident planning weddings and larger events.

July was when I started in the 'Just Call Us' kitchen. This has been a great experience for me. It has been stressful paying for time in advance, trying to work out when I'll need the kitchen and also panicking sometimes to get done in time if someone needs the kitchen after me. But on the whole the experience has been very positive, I've made lots of friends in the kitchen, learned a lot, and its a great kitchen to work in, I seem to get my work done really quickly in there, which helps me to save money! I'm hoping that a few more people decide to use the kitchen, as I prefer to share time, so I hope there are a few more folks with new food ventures in 2012!

August was a very special month, spending time with my lovely niece and celebrating her 3rd birthday. I managed to fit in a trip to Sydney to meet Handi and learn a new technique. I wanted a great cake for my niece too. I actually carried this on the plane as hand luggage and I dont recommend this to anyone. It was a nightmare and I thought my arms would fall off!!

Of course the really huge event in my life was that I gave up my job on August 9th. It was terrifying, but I had a lot of support and I'd made lots of plans, and saved up some money, so I hoped it would work out. So far so good! I haven't really looked back! I still miss some of my colleagues, but I don't miss the work.

September I got my teeth into fruit and vegetable carving. I found myself really enjoying this class, I'd highly recommend it.

October is always a special month, its our wedding anniversary, and my husband announced he'd been invited to speak up in Berkeley, so I decided to make the most of it and go there with him. We had a wonderful few days, the highlight of which was a last minute trip to Chez Panisse for lunch on our anniversary. It was a very special meal.

Of course I cant forget October without mentioning this doozy of a cake! My wonderful customer wanted a 'wow' cake for his halloween party, I knew I needed to step up and practice a new technique I'd learned in Australia and make him a 'mad hatter' I was so happy with how it turned out, although it was extremely nervewracking!!

November came with lots of volunteering opportunities! I was happy to be a part of the Mamas Kitchen Pie in the Sky event, where I made 25 pecan pies to sell. I also helped out the Just Call Us volunteers make another 300. I was ready to say goodbye to pastry for a little while after that!!

I managed to fit a trip to London in December to visit the PME headquarters and do a crash course in sugar flowers. I also earned a posh looking diploma! I dont know about my flower arranging skills, but I'm certainly very happy with all the new flowers I tried making, and the old ones that I practiced! I'll try to blog about this a little more soon!

The year ended on a beautiful note with another wedding. I got to showcase the lovely peonies that Jaqueline taught me, I just loved the vibrant colorscheme, and I was very happy to see some of my friends sharing the kitchen as I built the cake were unable to stop themselves from picking at the offcuts!

Its been a wonderful year, I'm very excited for 2012 and whatever that might bring! Don't ask me whether I'm 'living the dream' when I'm in the middle of a pile of washing up, or someone has just complained on the phone that my prices are too high, but I do have to pinch myself sometimes when I'm whipping up a delicious cake, or making a beautiful cake decoration!

Coco Cookies

2011-12-07T19:17:00.001-08:00

One of the best things about sharing a kitchen is the wonderful people I meet, with such different products and interests.

I have had the great pleasure of sharing the kitchen with these lovely ladies who are working extremely hard on their cookies to produce a healthy, gluten free, vegan, organic and fair trade product.

Coco cookies are made without refined sugar too, so they are great for an afternoon snack that picks you up rather than give you a horrible sugar low.

They are definitely the kind of afternoon snack that I'm looking for, if you're expecting a sugary sweet, buttery cookie, you might be a little disappointed.

They got their FDA approval for wholesale and online orders, so expect coco cookies to be in the stores soon! Meanwhile they are available online.

Disclosure: I got these cookies free from the coco girls, but I wasn't paid for my endorsement!

Cowabunga for Icing smiles!!

2011-12-04T18:29:00.001-08:00

This weekend, I had the honor of making a very special cake for a very special little boy.
I learned about Icing Smiles when they first started, and one of the things I was really excited about when I finally got to a commercial setting was making cakes for their charity.

So when I got the call to action email for little trevor, I was so excited! I was a little un-nerved as I wasnt sure that my cake would match up to the amazing works of art that some of the other cake artists have created, but I was very happy to take up the challenge.

It was a teenage mutant ninja turtle theme, and his favorite was Raphael. I did my best to recreate his face on the cake, then decorated the cake with the weapons of the turtles.

I was very sad to hear that poor Trevor was admitted to childrens hospital the day before the party, so it had to be postponed. Since I'd already made the cake, I offered to deliver it to the hospital so he could have a little party there with his family.

It was so nice to meet him, he was such a cute kiddy, it was also sad to think of all he'd already been through in his few years with 3 open heart surgeries.

I hope that the family will get in touch once he's on the mend and we'll reschedule with an even more fun and elaborate cake for him!

If anyone would like to help Icing Smiles with a donation, or get on the directory for bakers, I'm sure they'd love to hear from you. I know there are plenty of charities out there, but it is so nice to bring a kid such happiness when they have had so much to deal with.

CAKE!!

2011-11-30T06:52:00.001-08:00

I just wanted to take a moment to chat about Cake. Not just cake in general, CAKE, the place that I was interning at. I still pop in there a couple of days a week, I cant keep away. There is a wonderful warm atmosphere there and there is still so much for me to learn!

Cake are the bakery that supplies wedding and party cakes to many of the major hotels and event venues in San Diego, including the Hotel Del Coronado. Their cakes are instantly recognizable as they are over an inch taller than usual. Jen doesnt like to short change people over cake, so they make sure there is more than enough! The most popular flavor is banana truffle, and it is divine! One thing to note is that they only make cakes for parties over 30 people, so keep that in mind when placing an order.

The cakes are also different in the fact that they never use fondant. Cakes are baked from scratch and decorated in buttercream. Modelling chocolate is used for amazing design elements. I've seen princess castles, boats, tequila bottles, and all sorts of other crazy designs! This is never at the expense of flavor. It is so refreshing to meet another baker who feels so strongly that the flavors of the cake is paramount, then the decoration comes second.

The bakery is going to be opening its doors to people and hoping to be more of a neigborhood hangout and coffee bar. They started on the right footing with the wonderful coffees from Cafe Calabria, and of course the baked goods are delicious! Some signature items include the gooey brownies, soft cherry chocolate chip cookies and tangy lemon bars.

To announce their new project they will be holding an open house on Sunday December 4th from 12-4pm. Stop by to taste the coffee, sample some delights, and see the wonderful space down there.

Another place to catch up with the 'fabulous cake girls' is to pop into their stand at the December nights event in Balboa Park.

If you cant make it to these events, just stop into the shop! Its always fun to see what they are working on, and to smell the delightful smells coming from the ovens!

Coffee will be served from 6am every morning.

CAKE
3085 Reynard Way, San Diego 92103
Facebook page

Pecan pies for mama's kitchen

2011-11-26T17:00:00.001-08:00

Mama's kitchen is such a wonderful organization, I was so excited to finally be working in a commercial kitchen so that I could make some pies for their big 'pie in the sky' fundraiser! Bakers all around San Diego craft delicious pies and donate them, and mama's kitchen sell them for $20 apiece to benefit their charity work.

I started by volunteering at the Just Call Us kitchen so that I could learn about making pecan pies from the pros! They made 300 pies and I took charge melting butter. The pie shells were ready made, which made it easier, but it still took all day with lots of experienced volunteers to make them. Its always fun volunteering with Julie, she has a stellar crew of experienced chefs and you'll always meet someone interesting and pick up some wonderful tips in the kitchen while you are working there. You generally find yourself thanking them instead of feeling like they should be thanking you after a day with the volunteers.

Then the next day I started on mine! I had already made all the pastry, which was a huge workout using Rachel's method!

Despite the fact that I'd tested the recipe and I was confident my pies would be good, I did have some trouble. Hand made dough plays all kinds of tricks, it seemed a little thick to cut through on my first batch, so the second time, I made it thinner and it shrank into the shell.

So my contribution was considerably more rustic than the one from the other bakeries. I was very happy to have been a part of this great endeavor and I'm eternally grateful to Darlene for helping me out on a rainy Sunday evening.

Its funny to work with someone who doesnt normally work in an industrial kitchen, she was tasked with breaking 60 eggs into a bowl and it was a mind bogglingly large batch of filling we ended up making!

Thanks also to vintage sugar cube and gemini desserts for contributing towards the ingredients, this made the burden somewhat easier to bear.

Thanks also to Just call us kitchen and Cake for allowing me to use their kitchens and ovens for production!

I hope you all had a nice thanksgiving. After all this baking, I was very happy to allow someone else to cook for us!

My first proper halloween!

2011-11-01T20:18:00.000-07:00

My halloween evenings since moving to this country have generally been spent hiding away with the lights off, we really didn't understand!

The holiday is a little confusing in the UK, there is a lot more 'tricking' than treating, I distinctly remember my mum cleaning silly string off the porch on November 1st.

This year, I decided I would participate. I know people are super paranoid about not giving their children 'home baked' treats, which seems terribly sad to me. I decided to go ahead and bake sugar cookies, and I took advantage of the fact that I rent commercial kitchen space to make them, so they were fully legitimate, and I packaged them up, so hopefully they didnt get thrown straight in the trash. They were sugar cookies, some sandwiched around chocolate ganache and some simply covered in royal icing.

I then tried to make use of my new vegetable carving skills with some pumpkin carving! I didnt go totally crazy, but I wanted something fun, so I went traditional with one, and made a cute kitty with the other.

It was really fun answering the door and checking out the cute costumes! I think my favorite was the little kiddies who were dressed up as a zoo ranger, a chicken and Anne of Green Gables! The kiddies loved the kitty pumpkin, and they were really excited about the cookies, so I'm glad I didn't go the safe route and buy candy! They started calling at 6.30 and they were all gone by 7.30! Next year I need to bake double!!

Detour to Freed's

2011-10-25T07:55:00.000-07:00

On the return from the trip to Las Vegas, I popped into Freed's Bakery. Through some lucky connections, I was able to have a tour of the facilities, and it was truly mind boggling to see the size of production here!

Freed's is a Las Vegas institution, making cakes for many of the big hotels and weddings and with a line out of the door for their famous cookies.

It seemed that in years past there was a small bakery owned by the Freid family on every corner, but in recent times, they have decided to consolidate to one large operation.

Any bakery tour starts with a good look at what is on offer, and the case is just a beauty to behold!

We bought some of the yummy cookies to savor on our long drive back home, and they were wonderful, I especially remember the pecan shortbread and the magic bars!

We started by looking at the consultation suite, where up to 6 couples could discuss their wedding cakes at any one time. Amazing!

The tour continued to an entirely separate area where cakes are 'built', torted, filling added and a crumb coat of icing added.

It was good to see all the fresh ingredients in the fridge, so many bakeries these days rely on shelf stable fake ingredients these days.

We took a look at where the decorators sit, the bakery has 7 talented artists who finish the cakes off with their amazing designs.

We also took a look at the giant rotating convection oven, which just boggles the mind!

The giant hobart mixers all in a line were stunning, it took a moment for me to realize that they were more than twice the size of even the largest mixer I've ever used, and they dwarfed the teeny little hobart mixers that I normally use to make the mousse filling at my internship!

For me it was a window into another world. My dream was that I made cakes for people, which I do now, I dont have aspirations past maybe having my own small kitchen and studio with small fridges that hold beautiful custom cakes that I have created for people, but we'll see what the future holds...

So if you're passing through Henderson on your way back to San Diego, pick up some cookies here to make your journey that much sweeter.

Freeds Bakery
9815 S. Eastern Ave
Las Vegas, Nevada 89183

Bakery Hours: Monday - Saturday 8:00am -8:00pm PST
Sunday 9:00am-6:00pm

Viva Bike Vegas!

2011-10-16T18:49:00.000-07:00

Wow! What an adventure! Im afraid its not all about food today, unless you like hearing about gatorade, energy bars, bananas, oranges and miller lite, which is most of what I ended up eating yesterday! My courageous bike team completed what was my 10th program with Team in Training, and my 9th century bike ride to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

This was by far the hardest bike program, the 'Viva Bike Vegas' was a really gruelling 103 miles and between 4500 and 5100 ft of climbing, the toughest part being a relentless 30 mile slog up into the Red Rock Canyon preserve. Whilst it was beautiful, it was painful continually climbing for that distance.

The true highlight of the day was riding down the Las Vegas strip, which was closed to traffic, and having a 5am cheering crew made up of drunks, and various random people who were still up from the night before!

I was so happy to have finished the ride, but I'm also proud of my team-mates, one of which had only ridden a beach cruiser many years ago and was around my mothers age!

I'm pictured here at the finish with my wonderful mentor, Will, who taught me about the 'goldilocks' method of trying to find a rider who is a similar pace to you and then hanging on to dear life on their wheel so they block the wind for you!

The hill climbing around San Diego paid off, and we continued our tradition of even the fastest riders going back out to near the finish line and riding in together, which was especially gracious when they finished several hours before and were dying for a shower and clean clothes!

I normally sneer at Outback Steakhouse, but the post ride meal provided as part of the registration was a true step up from most organized bike ride, a plate of perfectly seared mahi-mahi, delicious rice and cesar salad was most welcome to recharge my batteries, along with a cold beer!

I think this ride might be one I only try once, the fun start on the strip, the beautiful climb through red rocks, the fun bike path in the middle were great, but the relentless burning heat, and the rather boring middle section through uninspiring neighborhoods was quite tough.

Oh and I should mention the skull on our helmets. Every week, the coaches awarded a team member a purple skull for their bravery the previous week. They wanted to honor everyone on the team for being a warrior so we all had them! It drew quite a lot of attention on the course, with a bloke nicknaming me 'skully' for half of the ride!

On 'not working' ....

2011-10-11T07:18:00.000-07:00

I thought I should check in and discuss how the last two months have been since I gave up my job. I think its pretty obvious that I havent had much time for blogging!! I'm hoping to share a little more of what I've been up to, but first I'll just chat about how life seems to be.

The first week or two back from my trip I really struggled with the stress, and all the stuff I was juggling, but I managed to figure it out a bit and its getting better. I realized that booking kitchen times was stressing me out, so I made the decision to book regular time slots every week and just hope I would have cakes to work on. It turns out 'if you book it they will come'! I get quite a lot of last minute orders, and I'm definitely not resting on my laurels!

I also dropped a dreadful class that was making me miserable. That helps too. I figured out that since I was working for free, my internship could be on my terms, and that has been such a wonderful experience. Cake is a wonderful bakery, and they make truly spectacular looking and tasting cakes. I've been in awe of the wonderful creations, and I've learned so much.

I've also been working on my Etsy shop. I dont get a ton of business, although I wouldnt be able to cope if I did, here are some hamsters for a birthday party that I made!

I entered the carlsbad art splash cake competition, I didnt have time for an elaborate cake, but I did want to create a colorful and large piece to fill out the table with colorful work. The americans probably didnt get this little play on words, but the theme is 'rock around the beach' so I created some sticks of rock around a beach scene. I was hoping to finish a beach theme with a chap on a deck chair with a knotted hanky snoozing under a newspaper, but that fell by the wayside at 10pm when I had to get up at 5am to deliver the 350 cupcakes I had made the previous day!

Something that is a major struggle is the fact that I am 'working' for most of the weekend, so come Monday morning I'm exhausted, and ready for a break, and I do actually deserve one, since most people have been relaxing all weekend and are going back to work, and I've been working.

I'm not sure if there will be whole days off much, but I do need to take some time for myself otherwise I'll just get burnt out. That is something I'm still figuring out!

If you work for yourself, do you have any tips about this?

Fruit and Veg Carving-first class

2011-09-05T14:45:00.000-07:00

I was so happy to finally make it back to classes at Grossmont College. I thought I'd share some of my experiences.

This is from the first carving class. I figured that this would be useful for general dexterity, and may give me cake decorating ideas too. It was a lot of fun, although it can be very frustrating, as Chef Joe is very skilled and makes the whole thing look super easy!
Here he is cutting a chrysanthemum out of a turnip.

We were then taught a simple technique of cutting small flowers out of carrots. I found this infuriating, hopefully I'll get the hang of it with some practice. I can tell we'll be eating a lot of carrots this week!

Chef then showed us a technique with a potato where you carve a straight line, then a diagonal to meet it, resulting in a striped pattern. This looks to be one of the techniques which will be very important.

Thankfully I found this technique a little easier than the carrot one, here's my potato!

Chef then showed off a bit with some more ornate carving of a melon.

The flowers were all combined together to form a bouquet.

Here is the chef's handiwork

And our team's work. I thought it came out very nicely, and it was lucky for me that this was a team project, so my pathetic looking carrots were hidden amongst some much prettier ones!

Aussie Rules?

2011-08-09T12:14:00.000-07:00

I'm writing this on my penultimate day of 'employment' as I start to clean up my bench, hand over my notebooks and start to get ready for my new life.

As I previously mentioned, I'm flying off to Australia to do a class in Sydney and then spend some time with my brother, sister-in-law and niece. So things are pretty crazy!

If anyone has any ideas about stuff I should be doing in Sydney and Melbourne then please give me a shout out!

I'll be back, hopefully a little rested, having learned a topsy turvy cake, and having made a very important 3 year old's birthday cake!

Meanwhile, my thoughts go to the future. Its pretty terrifying not knowing exactly what I'll be doing in 3 weeks time. My college schedule is far from settled, so I cant make any definite plans. This is very unusual and pretty scary for me, but I try to buoy myself with the messages and words of friends and strangers. Everyone has been so supportive, and believing in me, I have to believe in myself. Working for myself is going to be really strange, I can already tell I need to cut myself a little slack, but also learn from my mistakes!

I'm also thinking about this blog, and maybe hoping to invest a little more time in discussing opinions, and maybe not just food. I'll probably move the cake stuff to another blog, where its all rainbows and happiness, and I can be a bit more gritty and honest here. I had a little banter with the wonderful @beasofbloomsbury on twitter, I admire her so much for being so honest and up front and I'd like to see more of that here. Check back and see if I actually have the balls to do it!

Oh and isnt this an awesome sign! I saw it on UCSD campus on a little bike ride recently and had to stop and snap a picture!!

Dollar a dish

2011-08-03T11:03:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to share a great program that will be going on for the month of August, many of our favorite restaurants in San Diego will be participating. All you need to do is eat there, choose the participating dish, and a dollar will be donated to this fantastic program! I'm salivating as I go down the list, there are some really delicious offerings!

The Food 4 Kids Backpack Program at the San Diego Food Bank provides weekend food to elementary school children who receive free school meals during the week, but are going hungry over the weekends when school meals are unavailable. Some of these children are returning to school on Monday having eaten little or nothing since Friday lunch. The program currently serves 800 children in 22 schools. With the continued support of the community we will serve 1050 children in 26 schools in the 2011-2012 school year.

http://www.sandiegofoodbank.org/programs/food4kids/
Here are the restaurants participating! Click on the link above for a more detailed descriptions of the dishes involved.
Chop Sooey choptruck
Devilicious
Corner Cupcakes
FlippinPizzaCA
Food Farm
Mangia Mangia
Ms. Patty Melt
Two for the Road
Blueprint Café
Burlap
Cowboy Star
Croce's Restaurant and Bar
Cucina Urbana
Flavor Del Mar
Flippin Pizza
Kensington Grill
NINE-TEN
Prep Kitchen
Rimel's
Ritual Tavern
Searsucker
Sprinkles
Terra
The Red Door
Wellington
Whisk n'Ladle

Zenbu

Opera Cafe

2011-08-02T15:21:00.000-07:00

I just thought I'd do a little experiment and try that new fangled instagram for my iPhone. You see I had this lovely lunch, and we brought back some delicious macarons, and I wanted to share my little snaps and my thoughts.

I had a ratatouille crepe with salad, and it was a little on the greasy side, but still delicious. My companions both chose sandwiches which they had with Parmesan truffle fries, an extremely generous portion which was gobbled down with gusto!

We took some desserts and macarons back to the office but they didn't last long! A dulce de leche opera slice was consumed before even checking email, and we all tried the macarons, which I thought were very good. I found them to have a pleasing chew and not to be tooth-achingly sweet. I managed to save my mini chocolate desserts until 3, but they were quickly eaten too. Just a wonderful selection.

I'd say get yourself down there asap. Get there a little early to get a nice seat before the lunch crowd shows up or try a Friday evening. I cant imagine anything lovelier than a nice glass of pinot and some beautiful dessert to start my weekend off just perfectly!

Opera is in the Sorrento Valley area of San Diego

A Quick Tart

2011-07-27T16:31:00.000-07:00

I whipped up this super quick tart in a matter of minutes this week and I thought I'd share it.

I didnt have time for baking, and I didnt want to heat up my kitchen, so I just made a quick crust out of chocolate graham crackers, then filled with whipped cream and marscapone and topped with fresh figs, pears and honey.

I was feeling slightly guilty about the pears, they looked so yummy but came all the way from South Africa! I figured that since they were languishing in the cut price section of Fresh & Easy, they would be better eaten than disposed of!

Late Summer Tart
1/2 Box Graham Crackers (I used chocolate flavor)
2 oz melted butter
2tsp honey
1 oz water

4 oz marscapone
4 oz whipping cream
Powdered sugar to taste
1 tbsp marsala wine

3 pears, cored and sliced
6 figs, sliced

Whizz the graham crackers in a food processor with the melted butter, water and honey. Press into a tart pan (one with a removable base) and pop in the freezer.

Meanwhile, stir the marsala into the marscapone and whip the cream to soft peaks. Fold the marscapone into the cream.

Remove the base from the freezer, put the cream into it and arrange the fruit on top. Drizzle with honey and serve.

Cake Decorating Challenge

2011-07-24T16:26:00.000-07:00

I recently noticed a fun challenge on the wonderful 'miso bakes' blog and I had to throw my hat into the ring! I think what will be happening is that she will be announcing a cake decorating challenge each month and people will post their take on it. This is just the sort of thing I need, it is really easy to get trapped in the same boring cake designs and this helps to develop technique, and also to get used to using tools that arent in my standard repertoire.

This was the challenge for this month:
A 6 or 8-inch cake iced with white (or off white) buttercream decorated with pink piping using the Ateco / Wilton #104 rose tip.
Unfortunately I didnt read the instructions very carefully, so my cake is all white! I quickly iced a mango chiffon cake that I was planning to serve for a tasting, and then went about making a pretty design on it. This is swiss meringue buttercream, which is so wonderful for cake decorating as it is silky smooth. You'll notice that the cake is showing through a little, I would have needed to add another coat of buttercream to hide that.

The benefit for me is that this comes out looking very cute, and is a very fast technique, so I can offer people a more affordable option than my usual cakes, since time is money!

Dining around San Diego and a new cake stand!

2011-07-18T15:35:00.000-07:00

I always like to have a picture for my blog posts, so let me introduce my latest cake stand, a square one this time! My husband knocked it together over a weekend and I think it will be a lovely addition to my collection and a very stylish way to display cupcakes!

I also tried a few new (to me) restaurants and was a little underwhelmed. I went to searsucker with some local food bloggers, and the food was ok, but the service wasnt great, they kind of forgot about us, and I found the atmosphere wasnt quite as warm and friendly as some of the more cosy neighbourhood joints I've become accustomed to.

We also tried whisknladle in La Jolla and we had high hopes with some great cocktails, and there was a really nice buzz about the place. We started with a cheese and meat plate, which was fantastic, and way too big for two. My husband chose the burger, which was impossible to eat as a burger was intended, even with his table manners he had to resort to a knife and fork. I tried the scallops, but was a little disappointed at the balance of the dish. There was a sweet porcini sauce on the top and an extremely salty cabbage underneath, and even trying to get a bit of each component didnt save the dish for me. I found this to be another place to 'be seen' and everyone was craning their necks to see all the other diners, and it just wasnt a relaxing experience, especially with a huge batchelorette party going on next door in Karl Strauss. I'd be prepared to give it another try, especially since I've enjoyed lunch at their Del Mar location.

We also recently tried georges again and decided to go all out and experience their dining room and I have to say, it is one of the most memorable dining experiences I've ever had. The plates were like works of art, and each plate was surprising and just delicious at the same time. A truly magical experience, with a price tag to match! We enjoyed a few fun cocktails, then shared the deconstructed fish tacos, a wonderful carrot salad, and some kind of foie gras dish. I think my main was gnocci and my dining partners enjoyed duck and pork, then the dessert was a peach cobbler and a chocolate cake. Full marks!

We continue to enjoy Starlite Lounge the best, a nice combination of good food, with an ever changing menu, fun cocktails and interesting banter with the staff, who put up with our terrible jokes and quips! I never feel like its a competition to see who is best dressed or who is there with who, its just a friendly bar with great food and drinks.

I'm so sorry, I have a few photos, but I'm just not a food blogger who likes to snap away in restaurants, so you'll have to be satisfied with a picture of a cake stand!!

Dessert Buffet

2011-07-13T13:05:00.000-07:00

My friend had a fundraiser for charity, raising money for Crohn's disease, and I offered to make some desserts for it.

The event was held at the recently refurbished Courtyard Marriot in Mission Valley, San Diego.

I included a mixture of desserts for all tastes.

Cherry trifles, a cherry and liqueur soaked vanilla sponge with morello cherries and whipped cream, topped with slivered almonds,

Mocha mudcakes with a whipped kahlua ganache.

'Smores'- handmade graham crackers, chocolate ganache and a torched meringue.

Lemon meringue tarts.

Peach pies with whipped cream

These dessert bars are becoming popular and its always fun for me to 'think outside the cakebox' and make some different treats for people. I hope people order them in the future, I had a lot of fun making them!

New Kitchen

2011-07-10T13:34:00.000-07:00

I thought it would be fun to share some photos of the new kitchen I'm renting to make my cakes in. It was a pleasant surprise that I finished my work much quicker than I expected, which is unusual for me, I may be finally getting a little more realistic with my timing!

It could also be that the kitchen is so well appointed with all the tools and equipment that one could ever need for their various culinary endeavors. Giant muffin pans, lots of bowls, whisks and measuring jugs, food processors, a large kitchenaid professional and a huge hobart mixer!

I haven't needed to use the big mixer, but that will sure make my life a lot easier when I have huge orders! Its really useful for whipping up a giant batch of buttercream, as I get through a ton of that!

The large convection oven turned out to be a little trickier than I thought, it took me several attempts to work out how to switch it on!!

Once I had it working, I found my cakes were beautifully baked. the rejects were destined to be trifles for a fundraiser that I was baking for, so no waste!

Renting a shared kitchen is a great way to get started in a food enterprise, you do need to organise a separate inspection (if you are in the state of California) but it is really nice not having the startup cost of buying all that equipment, and the tricky business of maintaining a kitchen. I'm sure it requires a lot of good will on the part of all the tenants to maintain a good environment.

One of the downsides to this kitchen is that it is pretty warm in the summer, but I've yet to come across a kitchen that isnt, so I think it is a hazard of the trade. I dont like heat in general, but I'm definitely coming to the idea that I prefer the other seasons here in San Diego!

If you order a cake or desserts from Jennywennycakes, you now know where it will be baked!!

Sugar Free Apple Cake

2011-06-27T06:31:00.000-07:00

Finally something healthy! I had someone ask me if I made any sugar free cakes and I've not tried any recipes so I started with this apple cake.

The recipe I found used agave nectar as a sweetner. This is a controversial issue though, various people seem to think that agave is no better than sugar, and it is very similar to high fructose corn syrup. So I was left a little confused about whether this was going to be a useful sweetner for diabetics. Please tell me in the comments if you know more, or have recipes with natural sweetners, I dont like to use splenda.

I do know that it is a little sweeter than sugar, so you can maybe use a little less than you would with sugar, and this cake incorporates whole wheat flour and large chunks of apples, so I think that offsets the sugar spike that you might get.

I thought the cake looked quite nice just as is, but it could be served with a little whipped cream cheese sweetened with honey or agave, or maybe whipped cream. I can see this being a nice afternoon snack for me, I plan to make another in a square pan and cut into squares and freeze.

Whole wheat apple cake (adapted from dinners and dreams)
Preheat oven to 350f, prepare a 9 inch pan with oil and/or parchment

4 medium sized apples, peeled, cored and chopped into 1 cm pieces)
1 packed cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon vietnamese cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 oz (1 stick) butter softened
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla

Sift flour together with baking soda and cinnamon
Beat together the agave, butter, vanilla, salt and eggs, fold in the flour and the apples and pour into the prepared pan.
Bake for 25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Taking things a step further

2011-06-23T11:26:00.000-07:00

I know you've all been watching my little blog for a while, seeing more and more cakes pop up and less and less recipes and food, and I'm finally ready to take my business to the next level.

I've been very lucky in that I've been using some commercial space for a while now, but I recently took a step and signed a lease on a rental kitchen which I'll be sharing with others in the Clairemont area of San Diego.

So now its time to take things to the next step. I'll be hanging up my labcoat at the beginning of August, and maybe wearing a chef coat more often (more likely a t-shirt and jeans!).

I'll be taking a trip to Australia to spend time with my brother and his family, and apparently constructing a princess castle for my niece's 3rd birthday, then I'll return and start as many classes as I can get into at Grossmont College. I'll hopefully get my culinary degree soon. In my spare time I'll be building my business and selling my cakes.

So this is where I need help. I'm moving things forward to the next step, so if anyone has ideas or suggestions on where they think Jennywennycakes should be going, then I'd love to hear them. I've got a good network of friends who I've made cakes for and I'm hoping that the word of mouth aspect will continue and propel my business so that it gives me an income to support myself. Wish me luck!!

My main goal is to continue to use the best ingredients to make delicious treats, I'm happy to use my favorite schaner farm eggs, and I'll hopefully be able to use lots of other local produce.

As I mentioned, I'll be unavailable from August 10th-22nd, but apart from that, please consider me for your next party, wedding or shower event! 'Like' my page on facebook to keep up with whats going on in the kitchen, I'll start updating the flavors I'm baking in the kitchen, so you can swing by and get a 6 pack of cupcakes if you let me know a couple of days ahead!

Oh, and I used that wacky random number generator at random.org to pick a number, and it came up with comment no 9, canine cologne! Yay! I'll be in touch to find out how to get you those guitars!!

These are sad times

2011-06-22T15:37:00.000-07:00

These are sad times people. I just got a frantic email from a friend who is going to a birthday party and wants a cake, and the town that the party is in has no bakeries that use actual real ingredients. They wanted something with strawberries and whipped cream, and there was no-one that could do that for them. All the bakeries use a synthetic product, one version is named 'pastry pride' and is a 'non-dairy whipped product'. Ew.

I hope people realize that the cakes they are buying from the grocery stores and some bakeries are completely full of these disgusting ingredients.

I also refuse to use these. I'm sorry that my cakes can't sit around for days at room temperature, and they will melt in the heat, but they also taste great and are made of actual real things that you and I might recognise as a food product.

Thank you, rant over! I'll be tallying up the comments in the giveaway and choosing a winner at random. Keep watching folks!

Oh and full disclosure, this cake was made during my internship at an unnamed bakery and it is covered with a vile hydrogenated oil, mixed with 'butter flavor' and vanilla and copious powdered sugar. Bakers like to get hold of the old trans fat version as it apparently is easier to use.

My new online store! And my first giveaway!!

2011-06-15T08:37:00.000-07:00

I have so much fun making little cupcake toppers, flowers and cake decorations that I thought it would be a great idea to set up an online shop to get a little bit of money coming in and to have some fun with sugar!

I started listing a few items, I'll be adding more as I get happier with my shipping methods.

As part of my launch, I thought it would be fun to couple this up with a giveaway on my blog, I've always wanted to do one, but never knew where to start!

Just make a comment on my blog and let me know what toppers you think I should be listing on my etsy page! Either check out my flickr page and tell me if you want to see a topper that I've previously made, or give me an idea of something new you'd like to see made of sugar!

I'll randomly select one commenter after noon on June 22nd, and you will receive two dozen toppers of your choice! Make sure it is easy for me to find you!

Dont forget to visit my etsy shop often to look for new items, and remember that I love doing custom orders, so give me a shout!

Wedding Cupcakes at Tom Ham's

2011-06-12T19:46:00.000-07:00

This weekend I had the pleasure of making 24 dozen cupcakes plus a 6" cutting cake for a huge wedding at Tom Ham's Lighthouse at shelter island. It was funny to be back there just a week after my bike team had been training, passing the venue 9 times as we circled the island!!

The bride and groom decided on a simple blue and white theme, and provided a beautiful topper for the cake, which really complemented it beautifully. I added a handmade sugar peony, which I was worried would look fussy, but I think it turned out well.

This was accompanied by cupcakes in four flavors, carrot with cream cheese, lemon with lemon curd filling and vanilla buttercream, chocolate with praline buttercream, and a gluten free orange almond with chocolate ganache.

It was fun coming to set up and finding all the other little details that matched the cakes, with the blue table runners, blue and white flowers all matching the theme.

I was happy to be set up and out of there before any guests arrived. I hope it was a fun party!

Neon Boneyard

2011-06-05T17:10:00.000-07:00

One of the most fun things we did in Vegas was visit the Neon Boneyard, a museum of neon signs dating back to the beginning of the gambling scene in Las Vegas. Its a great place to visit at the moment as the signs are all stacked around the place and you can get really close.

They are slowly getting themselves organised as a museum, so my feeling is that they will have barries up so that you cant get too close to the signs and there will be plaques and signs.

For the moment, the only way you can check out these wonderful pieces of art is to book yourself a tour. I found this to be a really fun way to aquaint myself with the history of Las Vegas and learn a bit about those flashy signs. It was really interesting to learn about what goes into making the signs and designing them.

Sturdy shoes are a requirement, and you're really only allowed to bring yourself, a camera and a bottle of water. No backpacks or tripods.

Oh and dont trust google maps to get you there, it wont. Trust the directions on their website!

At the moment it appears they do tours every day from Tuesday to Saturday at 10am. Be ready for the heat and don't drink too much the night before, really not a fun time with a hangover!!

Nomming in Las Vegas

2011-06-01T13:52:00.000-07:00

I thought I'd share some of the highlights of our recent trip to Vegas, starting at the end with the trip to Peggy Sue's Diner on the way home. I was so happy to find somewhere that wasnt another cookie cutter fast food restaurant, or strip mall sandwich. This diner had so much personality, with a dinosaur garden out back, and so much kitsch memorabilia, it made a really fun stop for us on the journey back to reality from our dreamy trip.

It was also a last indulgence of a burger topped with melty cheese, curly fries and coleslaw. Yummy!

We really enjoyed the food at the Wynn. Here's our giant brekkie from the more casual of the two brekkie restaurants, my favourite, eggs florentine and a delicious corned beef hash, with obligatory 'extra bacon' for the hubby.

His vacations always need to involve bacon for breakfast or it isnt much of a holiday for anyone. After he's had his bacon fix he's much more cheerful!

We also loved this little cocktail bar overlooking the pool at the Encore. I was thrilled that they made a fantastic Pimm's Cup and the dirty martini was pretty good too. Note that we chose to sit in the comfort of the air conditioning rather than outside!!

On the first morning we went to the fancy brekkie place at the Wynn and I enjoyed the signature white chocolate orange french toast. Very delicious, although I do usually regret such a sweet breakfast as I get a massive sugar low afterwards and am groggy for the rest of the day!

We also enjoyed 'Breakfast at Tiffanys' the diner on Las Vegas Boulevard, which was wonderful for people watching!

Bouchon in the Venetian did not disappoint for one dinner, and we were a little underwhelmed with the service at Cave in the Wynn.

I also snuck in a little pilgrimage to Retro Bakery, where I enjoyed a cherry cheesecake cupcake and a chocolate cupcake with salted caramel and a pretzel. After all this food, we found ourselves needing to escape and get some fresh air, Red Rock Canyon was the perfect place to unwind and digest. Its always surprising that such a beautiful place exists so close to the most synthetic place on earth!

Kitchen Remodel

2011-05-25T17:21:00.000-07:00

I can hardly believe it was over a year ago since we started the journey of remodelling our house! We looked around for months for the perfect property, and finally found a place that needed a lot of work. Please excuse my liberal use of the word 'we' when really, I'm talking about my amazing husband, who seems to have been hiding his amazing remodelling skills under a bushel until now!!

The girl living in the house had a huge dog, which stank, and also destroyed the house and garden. Thankfully my husband could see past all that, and he saw the potential in the place.

We completely gutted the place, removed the floor and nearly all the drywall, ripped the kitchen and dining room out, removed the 'garden room' and had an extension built. After 6 months the place was just ready to move in, and now after a year, we're finishing small bits and pieces to make it perfect!

We finally finished the last touches on the kitchen and I wanted to share. Its such a wonderful place to work in.

We decided to work with home depot for our kitchen design, and for installing the cabinets and counters. The cupboards are from thomasville, and very well built, the door handles are made from glass tiles stuck onto ikea handles, and the countertop is silestone.

The appliances are all from Pacific Sales, we chose Kitchenaid and we're super happy, I love the giant microwave, its wonderful having a double oven, and the dishwasher is just a dream.

The floor throughout the house is bamboo, its really beautiful, although anyone with pets and children might find that its not very durable. It does dent easily too.

I chose some recycled glass tiles for the backsplash. They were an absolute pain to install, even with a long weekend, they still needed a further coat of grout to finish the look. If you're considering this, seriously think about the expense/level of work involved in not going the easy route with the tiles on sheets!!

We also added some bluetooth speakers, so we can listen to podcasts and pandora on the iPad, which is also very useful for looking up recipes, etc. The last detail was to add a relaxing green paint to the walls and my dream kitchen was complete!

I'm still getting used to where everything is, I think deep down I know I need to actually take everything out of the cupboards and start again.

There is the perfect space next to the window for a piece of artwork, or a great photograph, we're taking our time choosing that. I'd also like a blind, nosy people strolling past love to crane their necks to see what we're up to in the kitchen!!

Kitchen Design, Cabinets and silestone counters: Home depot

Appliances: Kitchenaid by Pacific Sales

Backsplash-recycled glass tiles by stardust glass , which has now changed to clayhaus ceramics, but still does the same funky round tiles

Bamboo flooring bought from lumber liquidators (installed by my husband!)

An extremely geeky weekend!

2011-05-23T07:25:00.000-07:00

Some really awesome cake ideas have come my way recently, it started with a schoolteacher in Portland enquiring about my periodic table cupcakes. I ended up making her a set of periodic table cupcake toppers for her bakesale! She posted a picture on my Facebook page (www.facebook.com/jennywennycakes) of the finished cupcakes if you want to see, meanwhile here are some pictures before I shipped them.

I then found myself involved with a 'mad scientist' birthday party. I modelled a birthday message out of the elements, I had to cheat a bit with the 'D' and actually made a mistake, since it has an atom number of 1 (duh!) and I made sure that the numbers, elements and colors were accurate to their intended homes in the periodic table. I added flasks around the side of the cake with a measurement of '7', the girls age.

This was accompanied with another 2 dozen cupcakes decorated with labcoats, flasks and a periodic table birthday message.

I then got to work on 'the planets'. Cakes are getting to be higher stakes as the kiddies grow up. This 4 year old is apparently very knowledgable about the planets, and I'll admit I was pretty worried to deliver it! His eyes were so wide they nearly popped out of his head, I'm thinking this was a good sign?! I even added a little pluto to give to him

so he could decide whether it belonged with the other planets.

The cake was a lemon cake with raspberry buttercream, I also had jupiter in cake, the rest of the planets were rice crispy treats.

This was also accompanied with cupcakes decorated with the sun and planets.

Lastly, a super hero themed party. They arent fans of fondant, so I made a banana choc chip cake, filled with cream cheese, bananas and caramel and covered with buttercream with just a few fondant accents. This is a fun option if you prefer to cut back on the fondant

Avocado Frosting

2011-05-13T10:54:00.000-07:00

I tried my hand at another vegan frosting idea. Having found two beautiful avocados in my CSA from Bewise, I decided to put them to use in a sweet way. I'd seen Alton Brown and Joy the Baker use them, so I thought it might be worth a try.

Although I'm a buttercream fan, I cant stand the thought of using anything but real butter for it, so the thought of using margerine was out for me. I'm happy to use tofu, or maybe coconut cream, but I wanted an alternative.

I'd say this was fairly successful, it did sit on the cake, but it refused to firm up enough to pipe into a pretty swirl, and the flavor is distinctly of sweet avocado, which I found unusual. The color is pretty alarming too! My friends at bookclub loved it though, so it was a hit for most people!

It will come in handy for the times I want green, but dont want to dye my frosting!

Avocado Frosting

2 large avocados

1 lb powdered sugar (add to taste)

juice of 1 large lime

Mash up the meat of the avocados then mix with powdered sugar until it thickens. Pipe onto cupcakes

Dont forget! Food Bloggers Bakesale This Saturday!!

2011-05-11T07:27:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to send a quick reminder that I'll be baking up a storm for the Food Blogger Bakesale this saturday, along with lots of other San Diego food bloggers! Please stop by if you have time! They will be there at great news cooking school in PB from 10-2.

I'll be providing my very popular mango macadadamia cupcakes with cream cheese frosting, also some mocha mudcakes with mocha frosting, and I plan to decorate with little fondant flowers.

I hope you'll stop by and try one! All the money goes to share our strength. I dont know if I'll be able to be there for the whole time, but I'm hoping to stop by towards the end for a while to meet all the other San Diego bloggers who are helping to make this happen!

To read more about this event and the other bloggers attending, please see meandering eats blog.

Vegas-Design Inspiration

2011-05-09T21:10:00.000-07:00

We went on a little road trip for the weekend and were lucky enough to be able to stay at the Wynn in Las Vegas.

I was very happy to have some down time and relaxation, but the surroundings got me excited with lots of design inspiration!

My absolute favorite thing was the chrysanthemum flowers at the check in desk. I'd love to create something similar on a cake with the high shine-laquer finish.

I was disappointed that the photos didnt really do them justice.

I was also surprised to find out that they are apparently a funeral flower in Italy, so it would be in very poor taste to put them on a birthday or wedding cake in that country. Wow, you learn something every day!

Random Act of Kindness

2011-05-05T07:44:00.000-07:00

I recently saw a lovely post by 'I am baker' where she wanted to make cookies to cheer everyone up. It was such a success that she had to reach out to other bloggers to help to cheer people up, so I volunteered to help!

I decided to keep it simple with some sugar cookies with inspirational messages. I found it a bit tricky to decide how to decorate them without sounding patronising. Hopefully they will be received in the spirit they were meant!

It gave me a great kick to do something for someone else, I really appreciate the sentiment.

Ok, I'll admit it, I'm a sucker for the royal wedding!

2011-04-29T07:22:00.000-07:00

I managed to find these pictures on Flickr, thanks to Darlene. I just loved the chocolate cake, you just want to dive right in! Having tried this kind of cake, or snack or whatever you call it, I'd say that this would be totally yummy but you'd only need a tiny piece! Chopped up digestive biscuits with nuts and raisins, all held together with a magical mixture of chocolate, golden syrup and butter. Yum!

And one of these days I'll try and get into chef James Foran's chocolate class so I can master the art of chocolate!

I found the other wedding cake a little more over the top and its not really my style, all the fussy piping and jumble of flowers, but very well executed, and so grand for such a great occasion. I wouldnt say no to a piece of fruit cake, I hope this tradition comes back into fashion. Since it lasts for years, you can decorate it at your leisure once it is 'fed' with alcohol and enrobed in marzipan and rolled icing.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Friday, I'm trying not to be jealous of my friends across the pond who are embarking on their second four day weekend in a row!

More pics here:

A beautiful wedding

2011-04-21T21:06:00.000-07:00

What a whirlwind of a weekend! I recently had the enormous pleasure of seeing my dear friends get married on a stunningly gorgeous weekend in the beautiful Suffolk countryside.

The day started with the ceremony in a catholic church, something I'm not really used to, but it was very touching, with a small gospel choir from Paul's school and some lovely readings. Here's an excerpt from my favourite reading:

I Like You (by Sandol Stoddard Warburg)

I like you and I know why.

I like you because you are a good person to like.

I like you because when I tell you something special, you know it's special

And you remember it a long, long time.

You say, "Remember when you told me something special?"

And both of us remember

I noticed that all the kiddies were captivated and found the poem extremely funny. Maybe partly because my friend, John, is a great performance artist, but also because the poem really engaged them!

The bride carried a bouquet which was constructed from antique brooches, very pretty indeed. It should be noted that it was pretty heavy to carry!

Upon reaching the reception, at the wonderful Milden Hall tudor barn, we were greeted by these very dapper gentlemen who gave us a glass of prosecco and rhubarb. We were entertained by some folk music on the lawn and we greeted the happy couple with confetti. We were also served tasty canapes of torta and salmon blintzs The event was filmed in super 8 film by our friend, some of the shots involved a little engineering, like this one where confetti was thrown up in the air for an effect.

I was in love with the venue, a beautiful tudor converted barn, which had a rustic feel but was very comfortable too. We were extremely lucky with the weather, this was not an ordinary April day!!

There were stunning touches all over the site, a very cute illustration of the couple was used to accent the menus, invitations programs etc, and jars of flowers were used all over the reception venue with wonderful scents.

I was so captivated by the jars of stocks lining the dining table, which also had a really heady but not overpowering scent.

The foodies weren't disappointed, there were large plates of antipasti and bread, which we munched on with champagne during the extensive speeches, which were all just lovely and many happy tears were shed. We were treated to delicious comfort food, 'bangers and mash' for the meat eaters and mushroom wellington for the veggies. Dessert was sticky toffee pudding, which did not disappoint. I could eat that dessert every day, I think I can safely say it is my favourite!

The wedding 'cake' was a little unusual too, a stack of wheels of cheeses, which were a very welcome snack after an evening of dancing! The brides sister also made some delicious cakes to accompany it.

UPDATE! here are some stunning photos from the very talented anna marie stepney, the wonderful photographer.

Share our strength bakesale-May 14th

2011-04-19T15:07:00.000-07:00

I'm very excited to announce that I'll be preparing some baked goods along with lots of other San Diego food bloggers on May 14th at Great News cooking school in Pacific Beach from 10-2pm. Marie from meandering eats is organising the sale, if you'd like to be involved, or would like more info.

I hope you'll stop by and check it out and buy some goodies! I'm planning on making some scrumptious cupcakes and delicious cookies.

I'd love to hear what you'd like, so if you are reading this, please let me know what you fancy in the comments!

Also let me know if you'd like to preorder anything, I'd hate for anyone to be disappointed!

I'll announce the week before the sale what I plan to make so keep checking back!

Lakeside Baking Supplies

2011-03-23T12:42:00.000-07:00

I thought I'd share a little known gem in San Diego County, Lakeside Bakery Supplies. They are really a wholesale supply store, so dont expect bells and whistles, and dont expect fantastic customer service. They make their money on huge orders, not the little bits and pieces that bakers like me need!

Having said that, everyone is super sweet there, and they have some great stuff at unbeatable prices. One of the downsides is that you have to think of it then ask them if they have it, it is a warehouse type of store with a counter. Most of the items are in bulk, but I've found them very handy for things like 10lb tubs of Fondx rolled fondant, and also for almond paste at Christmas time.

They also stock bakery boxes, cake circles and everything you need to go into a bakery business, although bear in mind you'll have to plan for storage.

If you are a business they are happy to deliver for minimum orders of $350.

Fun at the cake show

2011-03-20T09:25:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago I entered a cake in the San Diego Cake Show. It was a fun weekend with lots of cake related events, and it was fun to decorate a 'dummy' (styrofoam) cake with no specific purpose other than to make a pretty cake.

I got some great advice from a friend, not to go crazy, just do something small and neat. So I took a little teeny 4" round, and a 6" round and I decorated with white fondant, and a simple bird decoration and made the star of the show a giant peony. I've experimented with this color scheme before and I really like the shocking pink, brown and white. I thought this would be a sweet and understated cake for a baby shower. It was also really simple to transport compared to some of the behemoth cakes I saw!!

Unfortunately I didnt win a prize, there were some truly stunning pieces of artwork there, but it was fun to enter, I got a brilliant goody bag with some great stuff in, including a truly terrifying cake topper, which I would be more than happy to pass on to a good home. I think it might have to wait until my next white elephant comes around!

Happy 90th Grandma!

2011-03-06T14:13:00.001-08:00

l recently popped back home for a week so that I could celebrate my wonderful grandma's 90th birthday, along with all the family. It was so wonderful to spend a week with my mum, brother and niece and then end the week with a party with 35 others to celebrate grandma's 90th.

On all my recent trips abroad, I've had some kind of fragile sugar pieces in my luggage and this was no exception, I had a bright fuschia peony, which I was delighted to find made it all the way home in one piece with only one petal damaged.

We practiced all week singing 'Happy birthday great grandma' with Poppy, and she sang the loudest of everyone! Maybe partly because she had been patiently waiting for several days to eat the birthday cake!

The cake was a dense chocolate mud cake with a marscapone whipped cream and whipped milk chocolate mocha ganache, as I know grandma likes tiramisu, so I used that as inspiration. I was very honored when the event manager grabbed me to let me know that it was the best cake he'd ever had!!

After the candles were blown out, each of the grandchildren read out a verse of a fantastic ode that my cousin wrote.

When Violet Joyce Griffiths was born
her name caused a family storm
With a grandmother’s outburst,
Violet came first
But everyone knows “Joyce” is the norm

An education she set out to get
Being female was not a great bet
Evacuated to Wales, but hard work prevails
She got her degree and off she set

To Africa young Joyce did go
Researching nutrition and farming you know
Then back at home, in her field she became known
The title world expert they did bestow

She has always been an adventurer
Len wooed her out in the Gambia
In their caravan home, through Europe they roamed
With every passing year they grew happier

With three daughters the Doughty family starts
Her sense of adventure to us she imparts
Now four generations, there’s big celebrations
Her love of life is in all of our hearts

She retired then life really got going
Her interests and talents ever growing
Wood carving art, Scottish dancing apart
Too many to keep this verse flowing

For a better role model we couldn’t have dreamed
She’s broken barriers, she’s the feminist supreme
What it’s possible to achieve, if in yourself you believe
We’re so lucky to share her great genes

I wanted to say a big thank you to Jaqueline from Petalsweet Cakes, it was so wonderful to try using one of the peonies I learned to make with her. I'd encourage anyone to take a class with her, she is so serene and well organized, it is a very relaxing way to spend a couple of days.

Hula girl!

2011-02-06T08:02:00.000-08:00

I'm trying to be better about blogging this year, I'm going to aim to post a lot more cakes on here, since that is something I'm doing lots of. Since most of our dinners consist of some sort of roasted veggies and protein, and the occasional pizza, thats not really much to write home about!

Here's a recent favourite, the theme of the party was Hawaii and hula skirts, so I thought it would be fun to give the cake a little hula skirt. I find the doll cakes with a barbie torso jammed into a round cake deeply disturbing, so I was more going for the theme rather than an actual hula skirt.

I accompanied the cute cake with some cupcakes topped with little hula skirts and flowers to complete the theme.

This is a case where the flower molds come in very handy, I have a delightful little frangipane mould, which I picked up in australia, and another flower which approximates to a hibiscus.

For the writing I used the tappit funky letters, they are super cute and much easier to use than the teeny tappits.

Daring baker is back!

2011-01-27T13:10:00.000-08:00

I was determined to continue with the Daring Bakers, they offer me a wonderful opportunity to try recipes I wouldnt normally, and to vary my techniques. When I saw this months challenge, I was determined to fit it into my insane schedule!

I kept things simple, using a chocolate batter as my decoration for the sponge, and using a stencil helped me to keep things easy but to get a polished looking cake. The chocolate batter was spread through a stencil onto a silpat on a half sheet pan.

As you can see, I ended up with two layers of sponge. I shouldnt have scrimped on the sponge, I should have baked a thicker layer, that way I would have filled the mould(or in my case, springform pan!). This also created problems later when I unmoulded, the outside layer of cake kept trying to peel off.

I had a base layer of cake, then I made a layer of whipped chocolate ganache (this was actually left over truffle mixture, which I added 1 part to 1 part of boiling cream, chilled then whipped. I added a further layer of sponge, then topped with more of the truffle mixture diluted with 1/4 part cream to 1 part truffle. It made a delicious cake, everyone was bowled over by the stylish pattern and the flavors. I'll definitely be playing with this idea in the future!!

If you do try this recipe, bear in mind that I used the same amount of jaconde batter, but divided the decoration batter by 5, and still had extra!!

I also get to show off my new super modern cake stand that my dear husband bought for me this christmas, bless him.

Please visit http://www.thedaringkitchen.com/ to see everyone's wonderful cakes, and for the recipe!

The January 2011 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Astheroshe of the blog accro. She chose to challenge everyone to make a Biscuit Joconde Imprime to wrap around an Entremets dessert.

Luck? Do I need luck?

2011-01-22T16:17:00.000-08:00

Got my jersey ready, I'm trying to have an easy day and this time tomorrow I'll be celebrating having run a half marathon! Everyone says that the Carlsbad Half Marathon is the best ever, so hopefully that is true! The weather is certainly going to be wonderful.

Wish me luck! I'm guessing it will be fine, I've done the training and the 12 mile went well, I wont be winning any medals, apart from the great one that the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society give us!

I'm running for lots of people this time, I'll be thinking about a dear friend, Skip Gleavey, I'll be thinking about a 3 year old little boy that one of my team mates is running for, and I'll be thinking of a friend of ours who has Hodgins Lymphoma and appears to be responding well to chemotherapy.

Foray into gardening!

2011-01-16T21:05:00.000-08:00

One big project in our new house is getting the garden sorted. We've inherited a pretty normal San Diego garden, with lawns both front and back.

We allowed those to die back in the summer, so they are mostly weeds, and we're looking for ideas for a replacement. I'd like a succulent garden at the front, and at the back, we'll probably have a deck, and then some terracing with fruits and veggies.

One fantastic resource we have is the Cuyumaca Low Water Garden. Its a beautiful place to visit, with lots of fun activities for kiddies, and a wealth of information on how to create a low water garden.

There are sections explaining how to create rain and waste water collection systems, and on how to irrigate most efficiently, and even advice on lawns, if you insist on having one.

I liked the ideas about vegetable gardens. I know there are tons of bunnies here, so we'll need to have enclosed veggies to stop them nibbling my lettuces! They had a really nice raised bed with a little chicken wire enclosure.

The shop was closed when we visited, but the nursery was open, I saw lots of very reasonably priced plants for sale, we'll be returning in the future to check out the shop and to get more ideas as we embark on our landscaping projects!

I'd highly recommend a visit if you're thinking of changing your garden for some more water-wise choices for your garden.

There are also lots of lessons to help you with your green fingers!

German Chocolate Cake

2011-01-14T18:11:00.000-08:00

When I found out that my coworkers favorite cake is german chocolate cake, I thought it would be fun to make my own spin on it!

I've made this cake before, but I found the cake to be a little dry, and the filling very sweet and gloopy. So I decided to use the basic flavor ideas but change things a bit. In the process, I think I made the recipe a little easier!

Instead of making a custard with egg yolks, I just stirred cream, nuts and coconut into dulce de leche. I think this was still sweet, but it was tempered a little with the toastiness of the nuts and the caramel of the dulce de leche.

I used the luscious chocolate cake from Elise Strauss' Confetti Cakes

German Chocolate Cake

9 inch chocolate cake, divided between two cake tins, and torted (to get 4 layers).

I tin of dulce de leche (I just boil 3 tins of condensed milk for 3 hours in a saucepan)

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 cup coconut

1 cup pecans

Chocolate buttercream

Chop the pecans, toast for around 5 mins, then add the coconut and toast for a further 5 mins. Watch like a hawk!

Heat the dulce de leche and heavy cream in a saucepan and stir until combined. Add in the chopped pecans and coconut. While this mixture is still warm, pipe a 'dam' of chocolate icing, then spread a layer of the mixture inside the dam.

Add a layer of cake, and build up until you have all 4 layers, topping with the remainder of the nut mixture.

Spread the sides with chocolate buttercream then pipe around the outside to clean up the look of the cake.

Happy New Year!

2011-01-12T09:28:00.000-08:00

I'm not doing a new years slew of resolutions, but I am trying hard just to cut myself some slack. I'm hoping to make this the year of not feeling guilty all the time, and of trying to make my life more joyful.

Looking back on the year that has passed, I've learned so much, and done so much and although things didnt quite go as planned, it was a great year.

We hoped we'd sell our house and downsize into a house in a quieter community. The downsizing happened, my husband did a fantastic job, and is still working on making our home exactly as we want it. We like the new neighbourhood, the flatter streets have got me to try something new, running. I'm hoping to finish a half marathon in January, which should be interesting!

I was lucky enough to make two trips to Australia to spend time with my family and my dear niece, Poppy. She's growing up so quickly and is just such a pleasure to spend time with.

As you can tell from the photos, there were lots of cakes. My friends pushed me to new limits, making cars, hats, garbage trucks and all kinds of crazy constructions out of cake! I've learned so much, and I think I've got something that I can produce consistently enough to sell, I just need to finish getting all the structure for a business in place so that I can make sure that I am able to sell my cakes on a part time basis. If you want to keep up with the cakes and my news then be sure to 'like' my page on facebook, www.facebook.com/jennywennycakes although I'm sure I'll have more news here!

Meanwhile, I've been lucky enough to take classes with a friend and wonderful sugar artist, Jacqueline, from petalsweet cakes, who has taught me to make gardenias and peonies, and given me a lot more confidence to construct interesting things from sugar.

It was an enormous pleasure to be involved in making cakes for a dear family who I have known for a while, they had a hawaiian themed wedding and I was really happy with how their display came out.

I also dipped my toes into some catering work, with a large 'farm to table' dinner where I was responsible for the desserts. I had a lot of fun, but it was extremely exhausting. I learned a lot though, and a future event like this might not be so daunting.

I also flew home for a dear friend's wedding, it was a wonderful occasion and I was so happy to be able to make their cake for them.

We finally moved into our new house and I got to enjoy this wonderful new kitchen. The house isnt really finished yet, but its great, and we're really happy here. We still have to put the tiles up for the backsplash but so far its been a pleasure to work in.

I had a lot of fun constructing this 'mountain' cake in November, another daunting task, but it was a fun one, and I thought the bride and groom's matching backpacks made a really cute topper!

I was also lucky enough to make this simple cake for some dear friends. This is very simple but I love the design.

The year ended with a last trip to australia and a really fun birthday cake, expertly baked by my mum, with a little help from Poppy!

Here's to lots of fun in 2011!

Just call us volunteers

2010-12-19T17:28:00.000-08:00

I'm back from oz, here's just a taster of my fun week, here's my niece in front of the 'kissin tree' as she calls it, you can tell she just melts everyone's heart who meets her, it was so wonderful to spend some time with the family.

What I'm really here for is to talk about Just call us volunteers.

I volunteered for them at Thanksgiving and had lots of fun ripping up turkey legs and making mashed potatoes. I found it really heartwarming that these chefs were carefully preparing a dinner for the homeless in San Diego and working hard to make sure it was a great dinner and using their usual care to prepare great food.

I'll be volunteering again on Christmas Day, and I'll be taking them a check. I dont send any christmas cards any more, I look for a good charity and this charity is one of my favourites.

If you're interested in volunteering or donating then please contact Julie or give me a shout. They are hoping for: 'Warm socks and warm gloves. We are hoping for 600 pairs of each. We also need 40 turkeys, 24 hams and 30 Costco size pumpkin and pecan pies.'

Apologies for the hastily put together post, things are full on crazy in the jennywenny household, I'm trying to unpack my case, make lots of goodies for christmas prezzies, help my hubbie remodel the bathroom, and get the house shipshape for my mother in law's arrival on Tuesday, amongst other things!!

Petalsweet peonies!

2010-11-29T21:02:00.000-08:00

As an early birthday/christmas present to myself I booked myself some more lessons with Jaqueline at Petalsweet Cakes. We tackled the peony, and since it was over two days, we were able to try the open and closed peonies.
The open peony is constructed around a set of stamens and the closed is built around a polystyrene ball.

The first task was constructing the petals, you can see how many were needed for this flower, so I got lots of practice in wiring petals. The most important thing to remember is to pinch the petal at the wire to make sure it is fixed. The petals are then laid in an apple tray to dry, and as you can see, there is a right and wrong way!

I also took a picture of the stamens, which were attached to a wire with florists tape in 3 bunches.

For the open peony we used a peach colored sugarpaste, then we used petaldust to color them. I was a little timid at the beginning, it is a bit of a skill to get the color on just so. I may experiment with
airbrushing, but for the moment, these powdered colors looked wonderful, especially once they have been steamed.

For the closed peony we got started on the middle of the flower first, I chose to fold 3 petals together in the center, but jacqueline usually uses 2 and 2, so it looked quite different in the center! We allowed the center to dry overnight, then added layer upon layer of wired petals. It ended up being a huge flower, you'd only need one for a cake, so whilst it is a little time consuming it is all the decoration a cake needs!

I took another picture of the flower from the side, I cant wait for an opportunity to add these to a cake, although they will have to wait a couple of weeks, I have a date to keep with my family in Melbourne, Australia!

Jacqueline is a fantastic teacher based in San Diego, she does private lessons, or if you would like to take a group class with her, bug your local cake decorating shop to ask her to teach there!

Foray into morocco!

2010-10-30T15:51:00.001-07:00

We've been regulars at Kous Kous Moroccan Bistro for a few years now, we love the delicious slow braised meats, and I love the tender shrimp brioche and the tasty harissa soup.

I've been on at Moumen for ages to try and expand his dessert menu, and it ended up culminating in me offering to help out with a chocolate dessert.

So here is my flourless ginger chocolate cake with a white chocolate cardamom sauce to accompany it.

Feel free to stop by and give it a try!

Kous Kous Moroccan Bistro

3940 4th Ave #110

San Diego

http://kouskousrestaurant.com/

Gingerbread Pumpkin Muffins

2010-10-18T17:34:00.000-07:00

I wanted to share this recipe despite my crummy picture on a gloomy day. These muffins were extremely satisfying yet very healthy. The lack of butter was made up for by pumpkin, lots of spices, molasses and dried fruit. I added in some pecans for a nutty crunch, and subbed some wholemeal flour for a healthier profile.

As you may see, there is an unusual off white countertop, yes, I've finally moved into the new house, and the kitchen is truly wonderful. It deserves its own post soon, once I have it shipshape, suffice to say, I'm delighted!

These muffins perfectly fit the fall drizzle and gloomy weather we've been having lately, and the ginger will give a kick to remind you of the tropics. You could even serve with a cider and caramel sauce or a bit of custard to serve as dessert. If you cant be bothered with measuring all those spices, 3 tsp of pumpkin pie spice could be substituted for most of them, add pepper and ginger though!

Ginger Pumpkin Muffins (recipe adapted from Cooking Light Magazine).
Makes 18 muffins
1/3 cup raisins
1/4 cup chopped pitted dates
3 tbsps chopped candied ginger (adjust to taste)
2 tablespoons (or a litle more!) dark rum

1 tsp vanilla extract
2 large egg whites
1 large egg
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup molasses
1 1/3 cup all purpose flour
2/3 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp ground allspice
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/8 tsp ground pepper

1 cup canned pumpkin
2/3 cup low fat buttermilk
4 tablespoons/2 oz butter, melted
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350f or 325 convection

Combine the dried fruit and rum and soak for at least 30 minutes

Whisk together the eggs, sugar and molasses, keep whisking for a few minutes. Meanwhile, sieve together the flour, baking soda, salt and spices. Combine the pumpkin, buttermilk and melted butter. Add the flour and the buttermilk mixture in portions, alternating between the two, mix just until combined. Stir in the pecans and the soak fruit. Scoop into cupcake cases and bake for around 18-22 minutes(5 mins less for convection). Check with a toothpick after 15 minutes and if it comes out clean they are done!

Serve warm with caramel sauce or custard as dessert or eat for breakfast with a cup of tea!

Brummie Wedding Cake!

2010-10-16T12:42:00.000-07:00

What a crazy and fun experience it was making and decorating a cake for my friend in my home country! It was a considerable risk, since I dont know the ingredients, wasnt exactly sure of the location that I would be working in, and I had serious doubts about my ability to pull it off.

Thankfully it all turned out well, my lovely patient long suffering Mum was my sous chef, she also found me a huge and wonderful kitchen, with tons of space, great ovens, a giant
mixer, and a very helpful manager who found us whatever we needed!

We were actually working in the Masonic Lodge's kitchen. I dont know much about what goes on but I do know that they love their meat! The chef was preparing masses of devilled kidneys for a function the following day, and they also made some heavenly smelling steak and kidney pies. I guess that funny handshaking needs a lot of protein for fortification!

Mum was completely amazed by the amount of ingredients we needed as I swept a whole shelf of chocolate from the display at Asda. I normally use callebut chocolate but didnt come across any, so I used a combination of cadbury and green and blacks chocolate with a little galaxy mixed in there.

We got to work on the first day, baked all the cakes in sheets, wrapped them up and then prepared the ganaches. I made a mixture of white and milk chocolate ganaches. These were an excellent complement to a dark mud cake(the bottom tier) and a solid chocolate cake(the top two cakes). We also had to make gallons of chocolate ganache to use as a covering. I'd decided this was going to be the most elegant presentation, and I didnt want to work with new fondant, or worry about buttercream melting.

The next day we came back and cut the cakes to size, then stacked four layers of cake filled with three layers of filling. I carefully measured the cake to ensure it was completely straight, then cut to eliminate any high spots. This is extremely important to produce a neat uniform cake, with a square there are more angles to compare, so just a little bit of a wrong angle looks terrible.

I then crumb coated each cake with a layer of ganache. It was so cold that day that I needed to work very quickly, the ganache started setting almost as soon as I started working! I followed that with another two layers to try and get a smooth finish. This was the trickiest part. I used a bench scraper to get a nice clean line, not as clean as I'd have liked, since the ganache kept setting so quickly, but I had to remember the famous quote 'dont let the perfect be the enemy of the good' which is turning into my mantra.

I stacked all the cakes with plenty of support, then added a fondant ribbon. We heaved a heavy sigh of relief once the behemoth was in the fridge, and went home for a much needed rest!

There were plenty of offcuts of cake left, so I took some home with the chocolate ganache around to my friend's house for dessert and I could tell we'd made a good cake when complete silcence descended upon us until we'd cleared our plates!

The wedding was at the beautiful Highbury Hall, somewhere I'd probably been past a million times but never set foot in! We set the cake up on a dramatic pewter stand and it started to really take shape.

I added the characters and some flowers and it looked great, if a little odd! I'd made all the requested characters, robot, monkey, dinosaur, giraffe, cat and some ninjas, and I decided it would be fun to have two of them as the couple, so added a bow tie to the robot and a little veil to the giraffe.

I also took the other side of the cake as a different perspective and added some sugar flowers that I'd copied from some very blurry pictures of the brides dress.

Everyone was extremely excited by the cake, and it was really fun being able to be a part of my dear friend's day. I did have a little worry, the cake was placed in front of a giant radiator, and I think the insides were a little melty by the time it was served. Thankfully the ganache stood up well to the heat, I dont think buttercream would have survived.

I took the remainder of the ganache and diluted it with cream to make a delicious pouring sauce.

As always with these kind of events, I'll raise a glass (or a cup of tea) to the happy couple, Em and Daz. They were just glowing that day, and I'm so glad that they've found each other, they complement each other perfectly.

The speeches were wonderful, there was so much love in the room for them and support for their union it was really touching. As they return from their honeymoon, I hope they will look back on their day with as much happiness as I do.

Daring bakers make sugar cookies!

2010-09-27T21:14:00.000-07:00

The September 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Mandy of “What the Fruitcake?!” Mandy challenged everyone to make Decorated Sugar Cookies based on recipes from Peggy Porschen and The Joy of Baking.

I was so happy that the bloggers this month chose a challenge that I was planning to do that week anyway! I had a try of the recipe, made loads of cookies and then tried some new icing techniques, as well as decorating some with little fondant mickeys for a birthday party.

I found the recipe was great, although when I tasted a cookie it was on the dry side. I guess you en

d up sacrificing a little of the buttery goodness for a cookie that is super easy to roll out, and that doesnt spread when baking, so I made sure to use lots of icing with a kick of lime juice to increase the flavor.

I tried some different techniques here. Firstly, I tried piping a border around the cookies to make sure the outside of the icing was neat, then I filled in with white icing and used dots or swirls of red icing to create various effects. This was easier than I expected!

With another batch, I added a dollop of the sugar icing, then a cute fondant mickey, with a letter 'c' for the birthday boy!

Make sure to check out the other daring bakers, I'm sure there will be some wonderful designs!!

Slow blogging times

2010-09-17T12:07:00.000-07:00

I've been terribly slow with the blogging lately, life has really got in the way. I've had some great foodie things going on with fun cakes, the ICES conference, and a house remodel. Thats all got in the way! I thought I'd share some of my cakes that I've been making, its been a fun time and I think I've made some progress.

My dear friend is getting married in a couple of weeks, and I've been working hard on my cake skills to make sure I can make her a great cake. Since its going to be square, I've been practicing square cakes. I had a fun time creating this little display with a yo gabba gabba theme.

This 'little mermaid' themed cake was a lot of fun. I dont like doing human characters so I cheated with a cute little birthday candle from Toys R Us and then added lots of my own touches. It was a lot of fun getting the disco dust and shimmering powders out for lots of girly glitter!

I also had a request from a friend to make a 'mighty boosh' cake for her husband. His favourite episode involved a pac-man game, so I thought it would be fun to add that as a border.

It was also really fun to make a wedding cake, always a happy occasion, the bride was super sweet and wanted something really simple. I loved how this came out.

My most recent cake was quite a project! My friend stealthily had to 'borrow' her sons favourite toy for me to take pictures and measurements of, then I set about making this big garbage truck out of cake. I knew it was a success as soon as I got to the party, everyone was very excited with it, especially the birthday boy, I saw a picture on facebook him standing next to the cake with the biggest grin I've ever seen!

I'm really enjoying making these cakes, I'm hoping to start a small side project selling them soon, once I've got a kitchen space organised. If you're interested in my cakes then feel free to follow me on facebook at www.facebook.com/jennywennycakes to hear more, or email me at jennywennycakes at gmail dot com.

That will all have to wait though, I'm jetting off to the UK for a week and I'll have lots of stories about chip butties, curry, and hopefully an incredible wedding cake for my friend!

Foray into 3D cakes with Lauren Kitchens

2010-08-18T18:07:00.000-07:00

Today was one of the most fun days I've had in a while. I managed to get a day off work and sneak out to take Lauren Kitchens' class on making a 3D muppet. The class was held at 'Do it with Icing' in Clairemont, San Diego.

Lauren and Ashley were just the most lovely people, and I'm starting to think that the more people I meet who do great cakes, the more I love the cake community.

She gave us all the basic setup, the supports which would be holding up our cakes, which consisted of a masonite board with some sprinkler parts screwed into it, copper piping and a dowel to hold up the head.

We then set apart carving the little body, which turned out to be the only cake. This was covered in white chocolate to make it smooth.

A head was fashioned out of rice krispy treats, which was covered in modelling chocolate (a mixture of seized chocolate and corn syrup). This is great to work with as you can just keep smoothing it. It is a little difficult to work with when warm.

We carved a mouth out of the head, then put it in the fridge as we finished our bodies and arms, and covered the legs with modelling chocolate.

People did some lovely details here, frilly dresses, labcoats with pens in the pockets!

We then stuck the heads on the bodies and went to work on the faces. This is when things started getting fun, the characters really came to life! The most amazing character was this Gene Symonds, what a hoot! He still retained his muppet features, but was so original!

Everyones characters came out absolutely fantastic, they were all super pleased with them and Lauren and Ashley were very clever at coming around and tweaking our characters, and jumping in whenever we had a problem. I'd highly recommend this class to anyone.

We're also hoping that Linda gets lots more of these types of classes at 'Do it with Icing', definitely call and lobby if there is anyone you're interested in learning from. I'm hoping that James Roselle will be next!

I based my character on my husband, I think he was pretty happy with the results!

Gluten free baking!

2010-07-31T16:37:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine was hosting a shower for her sister and her gluten free connection fell through, so she asked me if I might be able to help out. I was eager to help out and learn more about gluten free baking, although it was a little nervewracking as you have to be extremely careful with cross contamination and surprise gluten sneaking in from unexpected places.

This challenge really gave me a window into the world of someone with a food allergy/intolerance, it is so difficult to make sure that nothing contaminates your food. I can imagine on first diagnosis, one might just lose interest in food as it is just so hard to find something to eat.

To combat this I made sure to clean all my equipment, and I checked all my ingredients. I also opted not to use my mixers, since both could be contaminated with flour, it could puff out while I'm mixing. Bob's red mill is a supplier that can be trusted, so I got my almond meal and the baking mix from them, and I also opened a fresh packet of sugar and new baking powder, cocoa and salt, just to be sure I hadnt contaminated any of them with flour. I also checked the labels to ensure that they hadnt been produced in a facility with wheat, or contained wheat. I was disappointed not to be using my favorite callebut chocolate.

I knew one of the cupcakes that would go really well was the kumquat almond cupcake that I've made a few times now, and I just needed another option.

I came across this lovely sounding recipe from gluten free girl and decided to use that. I had some wonderful sour cherries in a jar, and decided to use those. They worked beautifully, adding a sour component, and keeping the cakes moist.

Something to note with gluten free baking is that the consistency is often very peculiar in comparison to regular baking, and with these cupcakes you'll never get a pretty dome, they will just spill over the top of the cases, so only fill 2/3 full, they will sink a little, but think yourself lucky you have extra room for your frosting! Since it is cherry season, I topped with fresh cherries.

Cherry chocolate gluten free cupcakes (adapted from gluten free girl)

150g bittersweet chocolate or choc chips
300g unsalted butter
260 g sugar
5 large eggs
150 g bob's red mill biscuit/baking mix
20g cornstarch
20g grams cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
200g sour cherries (from a jar, drained)
50g dried sour cherries

Preheat the oven to 350f

Melt together the chocolate and butter in 15 second increments in the microwave. Mix in the sugar.

Meanwhile, whisk together the baking mix, cornstarch, cocoa powder and salt.

Whisk the eggs until frothy, mix together with the chocolate mixture and whisk. Add the dry ingredients, mixing until combined, add the cherries, then scoop into cupcake cakes, making sure not to overfill.

Bake for around 25-30 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.

Cherry Buttercream
500g sugar
250g egg whites
500g butter
75g sour cherry preserves
5ml lemon oil
5ml vanilla

Whisk together the sugar and egg whites over boiling water until the temperature reaches 160f. Place on a stand mixer and whisk until cool and fluffy. Cut the butter into chunks and add slowly while mixing on medium. When the butter has been incorporated and the frosting is silky smooth, add the preserves, lemon and vanilla, whip for a few minutes until combined.

Living the dream with a farm to table dinner

2010-07-25T19:53:00.000-07:00

I had the enormous honor of working with Julie at Dining details on the desserts for a dinner at Bewise Ranch. I saw the dinner advertised since I get my veggies from them on a weekly basis and I offered to help with the desserts. After some communications we did a tasting and I showed up the day before to start the prep.

I knew that it would take a while to get things done for 150 people, but I just didnt realise quite how long, I spent a long 4 hours working away, trying to find things in the kitchen, making my pastry dough on ice, since it was nearly 100 degrees in the kitchen, and finding that making several quarts of pastry cream is a lot different to a pint or two!

I then returned the next day to make my pies, and assemble the trifles.

The part that really got me was making the peach pies. Each pie had a little fan of chopped peaches arranged elegantly in the tart shell. Since we only had muffin pans, there was a little bit of miniturization required, and I started to rue the suggestion I'd made. Even more galling, they looked extremely 'rustic' at the end of the baking process, and it was a bit disappointing.

I was much happier with the trifles I made. This dessert made sense on this scale, since it was just a case of cutting circles of cake, drizzling with sherry, adding a little compote, pastry cream, doubling up the layers, piping a little cream, sprinkle of praline and a few blueberries and I was done.

Something that made the job more difficult is that I only had a small corner of the kitchen to work in. If I was to do this again, I'd definitely find a time when the kitchen was nearly empty, and then I can spread out and get things done efficiently, and get out of everyones way.

I learned:

Commerical kitchens can be very hot in the summer, this adds to exhaustion!
Things always take much longer than you expect

Scaling is difficult for large numbers, make more than you possibly expect and calculate carefully

Making food for people is hard work

Some things need fast hands, and some things(like pastry cream) require patience and slow cooking, there is no way to speed things up, remember how much time you're saving by not having to do it twice!!
Carefully think through your preparation and make sure that you can produce consistent results, making 1 or 12 desserts is easy, making 150 exactly the same can be hard, also consider making desserts on a different day, they must always be the same.

On the same note, precise recipes are important, and must be tested carefully, consider that scaling them up can change results.
It is important to consider efficiency, I should have reworked the peach pies so that I could get them done in less time

Most of your work in this industry will be doing calculations, working out how to make money out of it, and washing dishes. You'll be surprised how little time you'll actually end up creating masterpieces! I'm not even going to start on the business side of things!
Attending some kind of culinary school, whether its the CIA or your local community college actually is useful, in my opinion. You get a handle on how commercial kitchens work, you learn about proper technique, and its much easier to hit the ground running when you do make your debut in a kitchen.

Anyone have any more tips to share?

I certainly will be going back to my day job with a new outlook! It is a fairly serene atmosphere in a lab, we do have deadlines, but for the most part, everything takes as long as it takes, and we just have to be patient and careful with our work.

I really enjoyed the atmosphere at the kitchen of Dining Details, everyone was extremely helpful and polite and it was wonderful seeing food treated with such respect. The dinner that they conjured up for the people at the farm was absolutely incredible. If I had an event coming up, I wouldnt hesitate to book them right away. Julie also has a company that does childrens meals, Chickpeas, and it was wonderful to see the little packets brimming with delicious veggies and healthy food instead of the insipid sandwiches that I often see given to children these days.

Sherry Trifle with Lemon, Thyme and Blueberries

2010-07-18T21:28:00.000-07:00

This weekend was a big one for me, I worked with dining details to make desserts for many, many people at a farm to table dinner. I thought I'd share the recipe here, and then in my next post I'll share some of my experiences on my first paid pastry job. I know so many people who feel like working in the culinary industry would be a dream come true, so I'll share a little of my 24 hours 'living the dream'! It was a blast, but I wont lie, it was one of the hardest days of my life. There is no such thing as late with catering, you have to be done in time. Very stressful! Anyway, I thought this dessert came out very well. It can be served in little verrines, like at the party, or I've served it in little clear plastic wine cups. Be very careful when adding thyme to the compote, it can be overpowering.

Sherry trifle with lemon, thyme and blueberries developed with Julie at Dining Details
Joconde
3oz almond meal
2 oz powdered sugar
1 1/4 oz cake flour
3 eggs
3egg whites
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
1 1/4 oz sugar
1 1/4 oz butter melted
Sift together the almond meal, powdered sugar and cake flour
Beat egg whites with cream of tartar, adding sugar slowly until the eggs reach medium peaks.
Whisk the eggs into the flour mixture, fold the egg white mixture in followed by the butter. Be sure to make sure the butter is integrated, but don’t overmix.
Bake on a parchment lined half sheet pan at 350f convection for 5-7 mins until light brown (conventional oven 375 for 10-15 mins)

Lemon Pastry Cream
1 cup (235 mls) whole milk
1 cup (235 mls) heavy cream
4 large egg yolks
2 large eggs
6 tbsp (75 grams) sugar
Zest 2 lemons and juice 1 lemons
Mix the cream, lemon zest, milk and sugar and simmer.
Whisk together the eggs
Slowly pour half of the warm milk mixture into the eggs, whisking vigorously. Pour the egg mixture back into the milk, whisking. Whisk in the lemon juice and simmer until the custard coats the back of a spoon. Pass through a sieve/chinois to remove any lumps and the lemon zest. Cool for 4 hours or overnight.

Blueberry Compote
2 cups blueberries (10 ounces)
1tbsp thyme infused simple syrup
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons cornstarch
Mix together the sugar and blueberries and heat until gently simmering. Whisk together the lemon juice and the cornstarch and simmer for a couple of minutes until thickened. Cool.

Almond praline
2 cups sugar
1 cup slivered almonds
Salt to taste
Heat the sugar in a small saucepan until melted, watch it carefully in the pan, swirling until it becomes amber. Add the almonds, mix quickly and pour onto a silpat, spreading out as much as possible.
Assembly:

Cut small circles of the jaconde, put into the shot glass, drizzle with sherry, then add a layer of blueberries, a layer of the pastry cream, then top with a little whipped cream, chopped praline and a few fresh blueberries. For the event I repeated the cake, compote and pastry cream (soaking the cake before assembling).

Food 4 Kids

2010-07-16T15:18:00.000-07:00

This is a really excellent program. Families who are having trouble coming up with enough food for their kids usually do ok while school is on, most schools provide some sustinence, breakfast and lunch, but in the summertime the kiddies are left high and dry. This program helps with that by giving them backpacks filled with food.

The 2010 “Food 4 Kids” fundraiser has three (3) main components:
• Monetary Fundraiser: A fundraising site has been set up on firstgiving.com/food4kids to allow interested individuals to make monetary donations, add comments and keep track of the fundraiser’s progress. All donors are eligible for prizes donated by local restaurants and businesses which will be awarded by random drawing at the end of the event. Inquiries about the First Giving fundraising page or the prize drawing may be directed to Alice Robertson at aliceqrobertson@gmail.com.

I am very happy to be involved in this part of the program, I will be donating a cake or some cupcakes (or I will make something ship-able if someone is out of town!) to whoever wins my prize!

• Backpack and Food Drive on August 21 at Little Italy Mercato: On August 21, a food and backpack drive will be held at the Little Italy Mercato. Members of the community are asked to bring neutral backpacks (as in no logos and preferably black or red) and kid-friendly non-perishable foods (such as applesauce, cereal, fruit cups, mac ‘n cheese, pretzels, etc., and other healthful foods) to the Little Italy Mercato between 9 AM and 1 PM, where Food 4 Kids volunteers and Food Bank personnel will be on hand to collect them. Inquiries about this event can be directed to either Alice Robertson at aliceqrobertson@gmail.com or Caron Golden at caron@goldenwriting.com.

• Dollar-a-Dish Program: August 1 – August 31: A “Dollar-a-Dish” event is set to run throughout the month of August at participating restaurants. These restaurants will select one of their best selling menu items and will contribute $1 to the Food 4 Kids program for every order of that dish sold during the month of August. At present, 30 restaurants have signed on to participate including: Alchemy, Bencotto, Café Chloe, Cosmopolitan Restaurant, Cowboy Star, Croce’s, Cucina Urbana, Dining Details (Catering,) Gaglione Brothers, George’s at the Cove, Hilton Garden Inn - Del Mar, JRDN, JSix, Kensington Grill, Lotsa Pasta, Nine-Ten, O’Brothers, Pizza Fusion, Playa Grill, Ritual Tavern, Royal India, Sessions Public, Soleluna Café, SoNo Trading Company, Starlite, Stingaree, Terra, The Red Door, Urban Solace and Zenbu. Inquiries about the Dollar-a-Dish event may be directed to Caron Golden at caron@goldenwriting.com.

For more information on the San Diego Food Bank and their Food 4 Kids Program please visit http://www.sandiegofoodbank.org/programs/food4kids/, or to donate visit http://www.firstgiving.com/food4kids

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/food4kids?ref=ts

The butcher and the vegetarian

2010-07-13T14:37:00.000-07:00

As soon as this book came out, I knew I had to read it. I hang on Tara's every word on her blog, Tea and Cookies, so I knew I was in for a treat, word wise, but also it is a topic that is very dear to my heart. The butcher and the vegetarian is a book I recommend everyone reads.

When I refer to my diet, I just say I dont eat meat. I became a vegetarian at the age of 14, after a particularly harrowing project where I wrote an english essay about animal cruelty. I guess the people with the posters got to me. My mum's delicious sunday roast finally sent me over the edge, I just couldnt eat another mouthful. Somehow the huge hunk of meat, which seems so much closer to the animal than a burger or some innocent nuggets made me realize that I just couldnt take any more.

I have slowly re-introduced fish over the last few years and I've always eaten eggs and dairy, but it leaves me with all sorts of moral confusion. I think on principle I would eat the odd piece of grass fed, free range meat, but when it actually comes down to it, I just cant stand the thought of chewing on a hunk of muscle.

Reading this book was incredible, as Tara explained many of the same feelings about meat as I have. Forced by medical worries, she found herself trying to reintroduce meat into her diet, but ended up with a freezer full of meat that was just so much more hassle than a bowl of beans and rice, or noodles and tofu. I know this would be exactly what would happen to me!

This is a really good read, and it explores nicely the dilemmas that I feel everyone should consider when they think about whether they want meat in their diet, and how much they should be eating. I feel strongly that the animals should have the utmost respect and should be treated the best way possible before they become our food.

These idyllic farm pictures from Wales are nothing like the reality of most farm animals lives, I dont think most people like to admit that, but it seems that, especially in the US, price comes before everything, and people are content to eat animals raised on feedlots, eating food that was never meant to be eaten by those animals, the byproducts of these productions becoming toxic waste.

I understand that there are problems, people below the poverty line dont get to stand around in wholefoods debating another dollar per pound of whatever fancy cut they are considering for dinner, but poisoning our land and possibly ourselves cant be the answer can it?

*Pictures from my october trip to the UK including the totally awesome Gene Simmonds sheep!

Island Style Wedding

2010-07-03T16:11:00.000-07:00

This weekend I had the enormous pleasure of making a big showy display of cupcakes with a cutting cake for a guy that I've known for a while. He was our honored team-mate on our bike team, and I've ridden on teams with both his parents, so it was great to be involved in his wedding cake and to see him so healthy and happy.

The couple wanted a hawaiian theme to their wedding and it was more on the tasteful side, so I learned to make frangipane flowers and got some moulds to make little frangipane flowers and hibiscus for each of the cupcakes.

I was so happy with how well this theme came together, it all looked really professional and the flavors were just divine. It sounded like they were all gone with no leftovers so that is a success!! I can never find a general consensus on how many cupcakes should be provided for guests, my intuition tells me around one and a half per guests as some people often take a couple!

There were four flavors, mango macadamia with mango buttercream, chocolate mocha mudcakes with poured chocolate ganache, guava chiffon cakes filled with guava, and topped with guava buttercream and a delicious hummingbird cake packed with pineapple, coconut, pecan and banana, topped with cream cheese. The cutting cake was the mango macadamia flavor.

This cake is a wonderful cake, the original recipe is for strawberry, but I've made it with mixed berries, and it worked very well with mango and macadamia. Keep in mind that this is an extremely rich cake!

Mango Macadamia Butter Cakes adapted from Sky High Irresistable Triple Layer Cakes by Alicia Huntsman and Peter Wynne

Makes around 24 cupcakes

2 1/4 cups cake flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
6 ounces (1 1/2 sticks) soft unsalted butter
1/2 cup mango puree
4 egg whites (100g)
1/3 cup milk
1 diced mango
1 cup chopped toasted macadamias

Preheat the oven to 350f and prepare cupcake pans

Sift the flour into a mixing bowl with the sugar, baking powder and salt and mix briefly. Add the butter and puree and beat for a couple of minutes until fluffy.

Meanwhile, whisk together the milk and the egg whites, adding to the batter in 3 additions. Mix for another 20 seconds until combined, then add the madadamias and diced mango, mix just to combine.

Scoop into cupcake wrappers until 2/3 full and bake for around 20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Top with your choice of topping, I used a standard swiss meringue buttercream with mango puree added, and topped with a fondant flower!

Daring bakers flying spaghetti monster pavlova!

2010-06-27T20:28:00.000-07:00

Wow, I guess my dessert makes a statement. By way of explanation, I plated this super early in the morning, maybe my brain wasnt totally into the game yet!

The June 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Dawn of Doable and Delicious. Dawn challenged the Daring Bakers’ to make Chocolate Pavlovas and Chocolate Mascarpone Mousse. The challenge recipe is based on a recipe from the book Chocolate Epiphany by Francois Payard

The pavlova consisted of a chocolate meringue, a marscapone pastry cream, and a marscapone ganache.

I absolutely adore pavlova so I was super excited. My first thought when I saw some pictures was that it looked like dog poo, I was a little un-nerved but I thought 'I can do this'! I think if I had added some seasonal fruit, it would have really improved this dish, I ate the leftovers with figs, and it was wonderful!

Time got the better of me, what with all the stuff going on in my life, so I decided that I would make the components, but it was very last minute.

I was pretty disappointed with this dessert. I was disappointed in the recipe, for instance the pastry cream, which was really supposed to be a drizzle, was supposed to be made with 6 egg yolks, which was just ridiculous, and the whole recipe seemed to be about 3 cups of marscapone, which is pretty out there. I reduced the pavlova recipe by 2/3, the pastry cream to 1/3 and the marscapone ganache to 1/2.

The flavor was also a little disappointing. I overcooked the pavlovas, since I made them as tiny little mini meringues, and the marscapone cream was pretty underwhelming.

After this review, I'm not sure that you would want to give it a try, but do go and check out all the other inventive ways this dish was created on www.thedaringkitchen.com

I really appreciate the opportunity to grow and learn with the daring bakers, this was just one challenge that was underwhelming. I look forward to a new challenge next month!!

Born Round

2010-06-18T05:02:00.000-07:00

I recently read the memoir of Frank Bruni, reviewer for the New York Times (amongst other things!). I found it a really interesting read, learning about his wonderful family and dear mother.

Over the entire book his weight fluctuates wildly as he desperately attempts to control his urges around food.

The most poignant episodes to me were times when he ended up baling on dates because he was so disgusted with himself and his weight, it seemed so sad that he gave up on companionship and love because he hated himself and his weight so much.

There were tales of bulimia and all kinds of strategies to keep himself trim and scary binges of pizza, cheesesteaks and ice cream.

It was sad to read about his mothers struggle with her weight, and maybe how she taught him to be wary of food as he grew up.

Learning more about the work of restaurant reviewers is a nice reminder that it really isnt that fun a job, eating out at least 7 nights a week, trying to grab enough willing diners who dont mind sharing their meals with you, and dealing with over-anxious restauranteurs who are desperate for a good review.

The main revelation from the book for me came when he lived in Italy, and he realised that the reason these people were a normal size was because of their portion control. They ate small portions of real food. Just like Marian Nestle and Michael Pollan have been trying to tell us!

It really struck a chord with me since I've always had trouble around food, knowing where to stop. I'm lucky, I'm not horribly obese, but I'm always on the chubby side of normal. I think the problems started as a small child, I was a little overweight and I was encouraged to cut back a little. I've never experienced that intense pleasure that Frank Bruni describes when he binges, and for that I'm very grateful.

Maybe I'm lucky, I generally just have a little more to eat than I need, I exercise as much as possible, and I eat lots of fruit and veg, and wholegrains to keep myself full, so I may even be healthier than some of my skinnier counterparts. I have to be relatively strict, I only eat out once or twice a week, I never go to fast food restaurants, and I avoid most processed food.

It also got me wondering, am I more normal than I thought? I always thought I was a bit strange with my continued thinking of what I'll be eating next, maybe looking forward to something for a whole week. Maybe most people think like that, and constantly have to keep check of their eating to keep themselves at a healthy size?

Its just so sad to me that so many people suffer so much with something that is supposed to be one of lifes greatest pleasures. At no time in history more than now have people been so large, we've somehow lost all proportion of how much, and what we are supposed to eat. Are we beyond saving?

I'd love to hear any/all opinions in the comments section!

Sugar Gardenias

2010-06-08T21:22:00.000-07:00

I recently had the enormous pleasure of taking a one-on-one class with the immensely talented Jaqueline Butler of Petalsweet Cakes.

Of course I had a giant list of things to learn, but she knew what we could fit in and even that was very ambitious. We settled on some sugar gardenias. I love these flowers, so I couldnt wait to recreate them in sugar. I also wanted to make sure that it was a fairly quick flower that I had a chance of being able to replicate in a short enough time to be worth my while, and to be something that isnt easy to get fresh.

Jackie is extremely thorough, patient and well organised. She sets everything out carefully before starting and it was a good lesson to me to make sure I have plenty of room and try to work cleanly and neatly.

Of course they were a lot trickier than they look, but we slowly worked and I finished the class with a full flower, two smaller flowers, 3 lovely glossy leaves, and some buds. I also had a huge shopping list of things to buy!

I learned some very important techniques that I can apply to lots of other stuff, using the colors and lustre dusts, the laquer to get glossy leaves, and making and rolling out gumpaste and shaping petals for a realistic flower.

I'm sure Jackie would be more than happy to hear from anyone who would like to take her lessons, she's based in San Diego, so give her a shout if you'd like to learn from her! She also has a facebook page, its always lovely to see her creations.

Smores

2010-06-05T16:52:00.000-07:00

I found these little treats so delicious I just had to share! It really is worth making the effort to make your own graham crackers, they are totally addictive!

I took a graham cracker recipe from culinary in the desert, next time I'll probably roll them out a little thinner. It really helped to use a pizza cutter and cut them before they went in the oven, and then again before they cooled to make it easy to separate them.

I then topped with a little chocolate ganache, which is just 1 part boiling cream to 1 part good chocolate, combine then stir occasionally until the chocolate is melted and chill a little until the consistency is thick enough to stay on the crackers. 100g of each should be plenty.

I then topped with home made marshmallow from this recipe on the food network and got my torch out to brown the tops, my favourite thing to do in the kitchen!

These treats are going to round out a dessert platter for a wedding I'm involved with at the beginning of next month. There will be a plate for each table containing lemon tarts, choc chip cookies, peanut butter cookies, these and some mini cupcakes!

The next thing I'd like to try with this recipe is making larger cookies, covering with ganache and decorating with fondant, I think that would be a super delicious and cute party favor! Here are some similar sugar cookies I did, I think graham crackers would be delicious!

Daring Bakers tackle a Croquembouche

2010-05-27T02:40:00.000-07:00

The May 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Cat of Little Miss Cupcake. Cat challenged everyone to make a piece montée, or croquembouche, based on recipes from Peter Kump’s Baking School in Manhattan and Nick Malgieri.

For the recipes, head on over to the daring kitchen and give it a try!

I really enjoyed this daring bakers challenge. I was so happy that it was something I could accomplish in just under a couple of hours too! I baked off the profiteroles, and whipped up some pastry cream in the evening, then made caramel and constructed the croquembouche the next day.

It felt like a very fancy dessert, the techniques are classic but simple and I'll definitely be trying to perfect my technique by making this again soon!

I did find that the dough was way too runny, you can see my profiteroles just spreading on the baking sheet, I think my eggs must have been bigger than the ones used in the original recipe. I also think that milk is a nice addition instead of water, these were extremely eggy pastries! After reading some of the comments it seems I was not alone. I'll be using another recipe in the future.

The pastry cream came together nice and quick, my only change was omitting the sugar and adding a can of dulce de leche for a delicious spin on classic pastry cream.

The really tricky part was the assembly. I dipped each pastry into the molten caramel to construct and ended up with a few little burns on my finger. Any attempt to use tools resulted in a big mess. I think maybe constructing layer by layer would result in a safer construction, and also a little less caramel, these were difficult to eat with a thick layer of caramel on them!

Thanks so much for the challenge, I will definitely be revisiting this one!

If anyone has any advice for playing with spun sugar, I'd love to hear about it!

Soups Stocks and Sauces, another Grossmont College Class

2010-05-14T20:37:00.000-07:00

I just thought I'd talk a little about the class I've been doing every Tuesday evening with chef Kim at Grossmont College. Its called 'Soups, Stocks and Sauces' which sounds a little dry, but it really is the foundation for all other cooking.

It was an extremely enjoyable class, made even more enjoyable by my team, we were all a little older, and really wanted to do our best, so we were always very happy with our dishes.

The class started with a lot of boiling of bones to make stocks. This wasnt so interesting for me as a vegetarian, but it was useful to know the principles in case I do ever plunge back into a truly omnivorous diet again.

We moved onto reductions, vegetable stocks and soups, and then some tomato sauces.

There was an investigation into the fine art of making a roux, and we made white, blond and brown roux and then used it in various applications.

Next were healthy hot and cold soups, some delicious vichysoisse, gazpacho and curried soups.

We explored chowders and bisques.

Then came the tricky hollandaise and beurre blanc. Divine but scary to see the amount of butter in there!

It was really fun to delve so deeply into flavors and seasonings and to test our palletes against other peoples, and to learn these basic techniques. The complete snob in me was excited to be officialy educated in 'the mother sauces' so I can sound all poncy at any chosen occasion!

I will definitely keep some of the things I learned in class close to hand, many of the reductions we made were truly delicious and add a depth of flavor that will be really useful for my cooking, in particular some of the reductions we did.

If anyone is interested in signing up for any classes then pop on over to the Grossmont College website. Classes fill up almost immediately and there are some pre-requisites. This class required you to take 'Basic Culinary' which is another reason why it is so pleasant, everyone in the class had already been through a semester of knife skills, breaking down chickens and general classes.

The last picture is our final exam. We made consomme, beurre blanc, red pepper coulis, a corn chowder and hollandaise sauce and we aced it with an A!

Cupcakes cupcakes!

2010-05-09T19:26:00.000-07:00

I thought I'd share some truly delicious cupcakes I've been creating recently. They arent terribly intricate or new recipes but I thought they were truly delicious combinations that I might mention.

The first is a black forest cupcake. I took my favorite chocolate cupcake recipe, from 'Confetti Cakes' by Elise Strauss. Its lovely and moist and rich from the sour cream.

I found some tart morello cherries in a jar at Trader Joes, scooped out the middle of the cupcakes and popped a couple in. A little drizzle of kirsch would probably go well here too. I then whipped some cream with a little sugar and topped the cakes with delicious valhrona pearls, chopped almonds and a sour dried cherry.

I think I'll be using more whipped cream toppings, its a lot lighter than buttercream and I much prefer the flavor. The only down side is its not as durable or long lasting, the cakes really need to be gobbled up in a few hours.

The other delicious cupcake I wanted to share was a chocolate hazelnut praline cupcake, I took the same delicious, moist chocolate cupcake, took a little scoop out, then popped a little nutella in the middle. I then topped with a praline buttercream, which is a little bit of a pain to make, but seriously the most delicious buttercream I've ever tried! The praline buttercream recipe comes from one of our daring bakers challenge from the filbert gateau, which was a truly delicious treat!

With such a decadent filling, I used a little lighter touch to pipe the buttercream with a new technique.

The third cupcake I've made recently is a lighter one too, a guava chiffon cake, I adapted from a strawberry chiffon cake on Jen's website , just subsituting guava for strawberries. I filled with a strawberry and topped with just a little vanilla buttercream for people who want something on the lighter side. With strawberry season upon us, this is a delightful summer treat.

Fish Taco Tour!!

2010-05-08T22:39:00.000-07:00

What a fun way to spend an afternoon! The folks from Chevy have a really fun program where they collect a bunch of local food bloggers and writers and go on a tour of the towns 'best of'. Other fun events have included street food in San Francisco and cupcakes in LA.

We were treated to the best fish tacos in San Diego, lots of fun!

We were also shown the range of the chevy vehicles and encouraged to drive them. I was a bit scared to be honest, but I wish I'd given the 'bitchin camero' a go, it did look very cool! They were all fun as a passenger, although I did have a hard time climbing in the giant suburban!

We were also shown the 'On star' system which was pretty cool. It would be nice to know if I ever got in a bad scrape that I would just press a button and there is someone there, or automatically if the airbags deploy.

Here is the very fun sdhipmomma driving the suburban!

Our first stop was at South Beach Bar and Grill. The boys seemed to think this was the best, it was certainly the biggest and there was lots of flavor!

It was pretty rowdy and crowded in there too!!

We then made our way over to Shelter Island and the San Diego institution, the Brigantine. They only have one type of taco, the pollock fried taco, and that came in a corn tortilla (the only one of the trip).

This looked like a nice restaurant, somewhere I would love to bring my grandma, with a lovely patio with the nice cool breeze.

The third destination, Bluewater Grill, was the busiest and they werent able to seat us, so we went 'street style' and had our tacos out with the vehicles. This was my favourite, the tortilla was freshly toasted, and the salad tasted clean with a marinated mahi mahi.

Appetites flagging, we headed over to the World Famous in PB. The view is just stunning, right on the beach, and you cant beat that! The tacos were ok, we had a fried shrimp and fried fish, and after all that fried food, I was pretty full, so maybe didnt give it my best shot.

I'd certainly be happy to visit any of those places again, and it was really fun to meet more San Diego foodies, and to be re-acquainted with others. I dont have that many 'foodie' friends, so its nice to sit with a bunch of people and not feel like a freak when discussing fine details of a particular cuisine.

After chatting to Caron Golding and Candice Wu, I reminded myself I must get more involved with the Slow Food movement, and actually try and show up to some of their wonderful events. I also have a long list of restaurants to try!!

Roasted Veggies, Halloumi and Bulgar

2010-05-05T21:52:00.001-07:00

This is one of my favourite dishes, and better still, it gets the husband approval. Its also healthy, which is great, lots of whole grains. Although I'll try and tap out a recipe, its extremely adaptable to whatever you have on hand. I make a variation most weeks based on some sort of grain, eg rice, bulgar, pearl barley, quinoa, random roasted veggies, some sort of bean, and lots of flavor.

This time I used a delicious bulgar wheat product that I found in north park produce. It cooked up pretty quickly, maybe 15 minutes. I put a teaspoon of better than bouillon in there for flavor. Meanwhile, I had some diced veggies which I roasted up. This time there were red peppers, mushrooms, asparagus, zucchini and onions.

I fried some cubes of halloumi cheese(also available at north park produce, somewhat similar to paneer, doesnt melt like regular cheese), chopped olives an avocado and some parsley.

I dumped everything in a bowl, then deglazed the roasting pans with a little white balsamic vinegar and lemon juice to balance everything out. mmmmm

Cakes cakes cakes!

2010-04-30T14:36:00.000-07:00

I guess one of the reasons I havent had much of a chance to blog is that I've been so busy making cakes for friends! I've been able to get lots of great experience in, but it doesnt leave much time for anything else!

I thought I'd share some of the fun stuff I've been up to.

This was a fun little set up for a 1 year old birthday. I finally discovered the magic of the glue gun, which was just wonderful for putting pretty ribbon on my cake stand!

A friend's son turned 3 and he requested a 'cat in the hat' cake. I was very happy with this tall hat cake, and modelled 'thing 1' and 'thing 2'. I even had alternating layers of vanilla/red velvet cake inside to match the fondant, which apparently went down very well. The birthday boy stuck to eating the characters!

I had my first try at a flower pot cake, this was really fun to do, I added some cake crumbs for soil.

Another set up I was quite proud of was this spiderman party. I hand modelled spidey and popped him on a fondant spider web. It was accompanied with some cupcakes topped with spidey themed toppers!

There have been lots more but I wouldnt want to bore you, feel free to click on my flickr page for more, and to keep up with how I'm doing with my cakes, you can 'like' me on facebook at www.facebook.com/jennywennycakes

Daring Bakers-Sticky Toffee Pudding worth waiting for!

2010-04-28T21:48:00.000-07:00

I was so determined to get this recipe in under the wire! Pudding is what we brits are famous for, I just couldnt possibly let this one pass me by! I thought about pudding and I just couldnt get my favourite out of my mind, sticky toffee pudding! I recall eating it at my friend's wedding last October and it nearly brought tears to my eyes, I was so full but I had to really work hard to stop myself from licking up every little bit of the caramelized brown sugar sauce!

It seems that most of the recipes I've come across are for a baked pudding although I think the original roots of the pudding may be as a steamed suet pudding. I didnt have any suet on hand and I dont eat meat, so I substituted coconut oil, which I felt had similar properties.

I added a little lemon to the recipe, lemon zest in the cake and juice in the sauce, I loved the little zing in there.

I really loved this cake, I think butter would work just as well as coconut oil, and the individual pots steam pretty quickly, I cooked them for 30 mins but I think 20 mins would have been just perfect, since it was on the dry side. Of course the fantastic sauce made up for any dryness!

Here is a recipe from channel 4 in the uk if you want to try a baked recipe.

It was fun getting to use my 'Dairy Book of Home Cookery-new edition for the 90's'!!

Sticky toffee steamed pudding (makes 4 large servings or 6 small ramekins)

4oz dates, chopped and soaked with 1/2 cup hot water and 1/2 tsp baking powder

4oz flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 oz panko breadcrumbs

zest 1 lemon

3oz sugar

3 oz coconut oil (can be replaced with butter or suet)

1 egg

2 oz milk

Mix the dry ingredients, whisk the egg, combine all the ingredients then spoon into 6 greased ramekins. Steam for 20 minutes. Serve warm.

Toffee Sauce

100g butter

100ml cream

1 cup brown sugar

juice of 1 small lemon

Heat the sauce until the sugar is fully dissolved and simmer for a couple of minutes. Add the lemon and stir to combine. Serve warm.

The April 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Esther of The Lilac Kitchen. She challenged everyone to make a traditional British pudding using, if possible, a very traditional British ingredient: suet.

Delicious Failures!

2010-04-18T21:43:00.000-07:00

So there I was whipping and whipping a meringue topping for my smores cupcakes and nothing was happening. Either my proportions were wrong or there was a tiny amount of fat, but I never got any billowy clouds of meringue.

Since I hate to waste anything, I turned my failed meringues into a success by folding in coconut, almonds, dried tart cherries, a little vanilla and almond essence. They were very well received at my bookclub!

We read 'The Survival Club' and it was a very interesing book. The basic principle that it seemed to keep returning to is that survival is often based on the determination of the person and that the mind is a very powerful thing.

Coconut Almond Cherry Meringues

2 egg whites

1 cup sugar

2 tbsp corn syrup

2 tbsp water

1 cup coconuts

1/4 cup slivered almonds

1/4 cup dried cherries

1/2 tsp almond essence

1 tsp vanilla essence

Preheat the oven to 325

Whip up the egg whites, sugar, corn syrup and water.

Fold in the remaining ingredients

Bake for around 20 minutes until the macaroons are starting to brown

Wait until fully cooled before removing from the sheet.

Nom

Scoop walnut sized scoops onto a parchment covered baking sheet

Culinary Garage Sale

2010-04-12T12:50:00.000-07:00

As I was browsing for appliances in Pacific Sales yesterday, I came across a chef demonstrating the ovens and she mentioned a really fun event being put on by 'Les Dames D'Escoffier' which I thought I'd share. Just make sure you give me first dibs on the good stuff!!

Renovations

2010-04-06T09:47:00.000-07:00

So one of the reasons I've been really quiet lately is that we bought a house! It needs extensive work done, one exciting part of that is a new kitchen. I was really happy to find a house with a horrible kitchen because it meant we just needed to rip it out and start again. There are lots of little things about our current kitchen that we dont like, tile counters for instance, but its quite cute and there is nothing bad enough to mean an entire refit.

We're in the planning stages, although everyone has advised getting ikea cabinets, we think we might go for the more solid american ones, that way this kitchen should last a really long time. We like the silestone counter tops, and I'm thinking cream colored cabinets and a sand/limestone colored countertops. Another big decision is the oven configuration. I think we'll go for a wall oven and separate cooktop.

Many people have mentioned the usefulness of drawers, so we're planning on having all the lower cabinets either as drawers or cupboards with drawers in, much better use of the space. It looks like I'll have lots of bookshelves on the other side of the kitchen with a little cubby under the window that I can sit at and dream about cakes!

There will be a central island, where the sink is now, which will probably have a couple of stools underneath for chilling and maybe eating. We're also planning to move the door from the left hand side to the right.

Any opinions anyone has are extremely welcome!!

Daring Bakers Orange Tian

2010-03-29T20:44:00.000-07:00

Things have been just so ridiculously hectic for me that I really didnt think I could finish the challenge this month, but I really didnt want to get kicked out of the Daring Bakers, so I read through the recipe, realized I had all the ingredients and it was pretty quick to put together.

I really enjoyed this little dessert, lovely flavors, and it was something I've not come across before. One thing that is a bit tricky is getting a base that is easy to break into, I had a bit of trouble getting my spoon into it! I'd maybe make the cookie a little thinner in the future.

The orange caramel was a very interesting flavor which I think I'll be using for my cakes in the future.

I didnt use gelatin in the whipped cream, and I happened to have a jar of kumquat marmalade that I recently made, so I just needed to make a few cookies, whip up some cream, make a little caramel, supreme some oranges and bob's your uncle!

The 2010 March Daring Baker’s challenge was hosted by Jennifer of Chocolate Shavings. She chose Orange Tian as the challenge for this month, a dessert based on a recipe from Alain Ducasse’s Cooking School in Paris.

Please visit the daring kitchen for the recipe and more daring baking!

I'm back! I brought some cakes!

2010-03-22T21:10:00.000-07:00

Oh gosh, its really been a whirlwind few weeks in the jennywenny household! I had a wonderful time in Australia seeing my family, and playing with my adorable niece, then I drove up to central california to do a wonderful century bike ride. More about those trips later, I thought I'd share some delicious cupcakes that I made for bookclub.

The great thing about these is that they are dairy free and gluten free. Be careful to check that your ingredients and equipment arent contaminated with any dairy or wheat!

Flourless kumquat almond cake- adapted from Planet Cake by Paris Cutler
Makes 24 mini cupcakes (maybe around 10 cupcakes)

110g kumquats, frozen
2 eggs
150g almond paste (can be subbed with 100g almonds and 50g sugar)
50g superfine sugar
½ tsp baking powder

Preheat the oven to 350f

Microwave the kumquats for 3 x 30s. Squeeze and remove the pips. Put in a food processor and process until smooth.

Add the eggs, followed by the almonds and the sugar, then process until smooth. Add the baking powder and process, then put into the baking cups almost to the top.

Bake for 12-15 mins for the small cupcakes, 20-25 minutes for the larger ones, check for done-ness with a toothpick.

To continue the dairy free, I melted some dark chocolate with coconut oil and a little orange oil for flavor and drizzled it on the cakes, topped with orange zest.

Tiramisu Cupcakes

2010-02-27T12:35:00.000-08:00

I'm so sad, I just didnt have enough time to get the Daring Bakers Challenge done. I guess my full time job, training for a century bike ride, and trying to raise $3000 by making cakes for friends for charity all caught up with me. There have been way too many late nights, and not enough leisure.

Thankfully I'm taking off for Australia this weekend to see my lovely family, so I'll at least get a bit of a break!

I recently made these tiramisu cupcakes, and since the Daring Bakers made a delicious tiramisu, I thought I'd share a spin on it. I'll try and revisit the challenge when I have more time, which will be soon, after March 13th when I finish my bike ride.

If you want to see real Tiramisu then check out what the other Daring Bakers got up to.

Tiramisu Cupcakes-makes 1 dozen cupcakes, or 3 dozen minis

Vanilla buttercakes

90g butter

110g sugar

2 eggs

1/2 tsp vanilla

150g self raising flour, sifted

40ml milk

Preheat the oven to 350f

Cream the butter and sugar together, beat in the eggs, one at a time, then the vanilla. Stir in 1/2 the flour, then the milk, then the rest of the flour, just until combined.

Scoop into cupcake wrappers and bake for 18-20 mins until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the middle. Cool.

Kahlua syrup

50g brown sugar

100ml water

50ml kahlua

Heat sugar in water until dissolved. Add kahlua and drizzle on cupcakes.

Marscapone cream

250g Marscapone cheese

1/4 cup (40g) icing sugar

1 tablespoon madeira/sherry

3/4 cup (180ml) heavy cream, whipped to medium peaks

Whisk together the cheese, sugar and madeira, then fold into the cream. Pipe onto cupcakes and shave chocolate onto them to finish

An inundation of kumquats!

2010-02-21T06:34:00.000-08:00

My friend at work brought a heaving bag of kumquats in and I quickly had to work out what to do with them all before they started going off. I put them in the fridge immediately, then a few days later I got to them. Never keep kumquats out of the fridge, they will go off in a day or two!

I set about preserving a load of them, thanks to garrett, those will be delicious in a few weeks on salads, brightening up greens and maybe some stews.

I then made a big pot of marmalade.

I candied some of them, which was a massive pain, but very pretty.

The lovely molly, of orangette gave me an idea for another cup of them, marmalade cake. It also used up some of the giant stash of almond paste I had in the fridge from christmas.

I deviated so far from her recipe that I thought I'd share! This was such a quick cake to make, had a lovely crumb to it and was a nice change from all the boring chocolate and vanilla combos I've been making for other folks!

If you dont have almond paste, then you can use around 6oz ground almonds, which have been slightly toasted, and an extra 1/2 cup of sugar.

Kumquat Marmalade Cake

1 cup stewed kumquats (chop, remove seeds and heat for a few minutes)

12 oz almond paste

1 cup sugar

2/3 cup olive oil

3 large eggs, whisked lightly

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

Preheat Oven to 350f

Throw the almond paste and kumquats in a food processor. Pulse until combined. Add sugar, then turn the processor on and drizzle in the olive oil. Add the eggs and salt, process.

Add the dry ingredients and pulse a few times until combined.

Pour into a lined 9" cake tin and bake for around an hour, until a toothpick comes out clean, check after 45mins.

Serve decorated with candied kumquats on top and whipped cream with a little lemon zest and a touch of sugar.

Sweets for my sweet

2010-02-13T22:15:00.000-08:00

Unfortunately, my sweet wouldnt be the least bit interested in these delectable treats since he doesnt have a sweet tooth, but I've been baking up a storm for my fundraiser for my upcoming bike ride, so this is what lots of other sweethearts will be getting, a delicious raspberry chocolate almond cupcake with a whipped raspberry chocolate ganache. Mmmm. Perfect for valentines!

Lots has been happening around here. I decided to create a facebook fanpage for my cakes, since I've had so much fun with them. Become a fan if you'd like and you can catch up with all my adventures in cake making!

I've been so busy I havent had a minute to think, let alone share fun recipes and information so my poor little blog has been sitting here waiting. Hopefully things will calm down soon, but the next few weeks will be a whirlwhind, what with training and fundraising for my bike ride, skipping over the pacific to see my dear brother in Melbourne (hopefully sneaking out to meet other cake enthusiasts!) and then the bike ride in Solvang I've been training all this time for.

I say I think things will calm down, but I know they wont. Thankfully I thrive on being busy and I'm pretty happy these days!

My New Years Resolutions

2010-02-04T12:08:00.000-08:00

I thought I'd mention how I was doing with my New Years resolutions. Of course I joined up with many other people in trying to lose weight, and its been a steady decline, resulting in around 5lb lost in the month of January. I've promised myself a big shopping trip when I make it to 10lb as my clothes are horribly 'daggy' (as the Australians would say) and I need a change!

My other resolutions were to take a photo each day, here's a little collage of them. I've put them all on my flickr page to share. That has gone very well, I'm really enjoying being creative, and its really helped me with living in the moment, and seeing beauty in everything around me. Thanks to the lovely Barbara for getting me started on this!

A third resolution was to be more sociable. This has gone really well too, I've met up for lunch with a fellow cake enthusiast, jacqueline, I've joined the San Diego Cake Club and attended their meeting and I've been to a party with a bunch of people I'd mostly only met online. Each of these interactions has been extremely rewarding and has reminded me that I do like meeting new people, so hopefully this will continue as the year goes on.

If anyone else is interested in joining the San Diego Cake Club, meetings are held at 'Do it with Icing' in Clairemont, on the first Monday of the month. Its a great way to meet other cake enthusiasts, they also have demos, so its also a good way to learn and share.

Daring bakers-Gluten Free Nanaimo Bars

2010-01-27T02:09:00.000-08:00

The January 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Lauren of Celiac Teen. Lauren chose Gluten-Free Graham Wafers and Nanaimo Bars as the challenge for the month. The sources she based her recipe on are 101 Cookbooks and www.nanaimo.ca.

This month the daring bakers went gluten free, which is a great thing as I've not experimented much with the various flours that are around for gluten free baking.

I didnt manage to get all the different flours involved this time, I got a baking mix which had a similar combination of flours(bob's red mill gluten free baking mix). Since I dont normally use them in my regular baking it seemed like a bit of a waste. The mix worked very well, I replaced the separate flours and the baking powder with it.

The mixture was very odd in consistency, and pretty runny, so I decided to add 1/2 cup oat bran. I was very happy with this addition, and I really liked the flavor in the bars. It should be noted that some celiacs dont eat oats, and it is important to look for a gluten free product.

These delicious graham crackers were mixed with a combination of cooca, butter, almonds and coconut for a decadent base, a custard/buttercream layer was added, followed by delicious chocolate. These were cut into small squares and devoured by my bookclub. I was in a hurry, so they were a little messy, not the perfect squares that other daring bakers created. An overnight rest in the fridge is really crucial.

I dont know that I'll try this recipe again, its a little rich, but it was an interesting window into the world of gluten free baking, and into a delicious little canadian treat!

Visit the daring kitchen for a recipe and links to other daring bakers, or even try getting involved in the daring bakers yourself!

Cupcake decorating party!

2010-01-24T20:19:00.000-08:00

Cupcake decorating parties are something that scared me to bits, but someone asked me to help out at a party, and I thought it would be fun to give it a try and it went very well!

I really enjoyed hanging out with my friends kids who were 'helping' me make decorations for a wedding cake, so I had an idea of what would be fun for them.

What I learned was that they were extremely excited by sprinkles and M&M's and that they did like to roll out fondant and cut shapes. I just have to learn how not to laugh at their mutant cyclops bees. Hmmmm.

It can be an extremely messy affair, I was very happy that it wasn't in my house, it was held in a community area of the complex, the table was covered, and I brought lots of parchment sheets so that I could easily clean up after each child.

Another consideration is to make sure that the parents are happy with what the kiddy is eating, they generally end up with more frosting/sprinkles in their mouth than on the cake. Its maybe a good activity for after the meal (if there is a meal).

They did enjoy making one cupcake for now, and one to take home, so I made sure to stock up on little takeout boxes(super cheap from smart and final).

I bought a pipe from home depot and cut it into small pieces to use for rolling out the fondant. It was useful to have confectioners sugar on hand to stop things sticking!

This day brought me closer to my goal, I'm trying to raise nearly $3,000 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society any way I can and the family were kind enough to give me a donation for my troubles! I'm also making cakes and treats for anyone who wants them!

Weight loss update down another pound! Slow but steady! I realised that my evening meals had been getting bigger and bigger and I've been mindful of how much I'm eating and that is helping!

Healthy appetites, soba noodles

2010-01-18T19:42:00.000-08:00

I was shopping in Trader Joes and I came across this interesting package, I'm really having trouble coming up with ideas for delicious healthy meals, so this looked perfect!

It comes with a package of noodles, sauce mix, sesame oil and a sprinkle mixture of sesame seeds and seaweed, a healthy sized portion for around 4 people.

I stir fried some veggies in the sesame oil, added some marinaded tofu, and then prepared the noodles as per the package instructions. Tasty and filling! I was left with another 3 lunches for work, or a dinner for us on a weeknight, so it was cheap, cheerful, healthy and delicious!

I added some crunchy lettuce mixed with a little dressing that I whipped up with low fat mayonnaise, wasabi, honey and rice vinegar on the side.

Much as I'd love for Trader Joes to hand me free stuff, I actually went and paid for this, I just thought I'd mention it as many of us are trying to lose a little weight, and

looking for healthy, quick options.

Another weigh in and another healthy recipe, quiche

2010-01-16T17:40:00.001-08:00

Oh dear, I've been a lazy blogger, I dont seem to have a lot to talk about since I'm trying to be healthy!

I did want to discuss this quiche, I've made this several times and I actually prefer it to an eggy quiche, which is good, since eggs seem to give me a terrible stomach ache of late.

Looking back, I realise that I've mentioned this recipe before!

I think it deserves a repeat performance though. This time I strayed pretty far away from heidi's recipe! This is a particularly forgiving recipe, the important thing is to add lots of flavor since tofu can be bland. Sundried tomatoes, olives, mushrooms, a little veggie stock and caramelized onions are all great ideas. I also mentioned last time that much as I love heidi, I think I must be more of a whirlwind in the kitchen since I can usually whip this up in around 30mins active time plus 30 mins baking time.

Since pastry isnt terribly great for the waistline I was careful to roll it really thin, and also use one part whole wheat pastry flour to one part all purpose flour. This time I used butter so its not really vegan any more.

Eggless Quiche adapted from 101 cookbooks
your favorite savory tart recipe, baked blind
Olive oil
1 onion, chopped finely
2 tbsp sundried tomatoes
2 cloves garlic
1 bunch of greens (I used kale)
1 tsp better than bouillon stock

1 package firm silken tofu
1 tsp rice wine vinegar
1 tbsp nutritional yeast
Salt and Pepper

Cook the onions and garlic with some olive oil until nice and caramelized, add the washed and chopped kale and the sundried tomatoes and sautee for around 5 mins. Add salt and pepper, stock and set aside.

Put the tofu, nutritional yeast and vinegar in a food processor and process until smooth then add the greens mixture and pulse a couple of times to mix.

Place in the tart shell and cook for around 30 mins, cover the pastry with foil to prevent burning.

10 in 10 progress:
I've lost another pound! Total loss of 2lb! I've also had a great time on the bike team and I went up a group, plus I managed an extra repeat on torrey pines hill. I'm really enjoying my exercise these days...

Plum Frangipane Tart

2010-01-10T14:43:00.000-08:00

I recently received some plums in my CSA and they just languished in my fridge and I couldnt think what to do with them. I also had a huge tub of almond meal that I bought, thinking it would come in handy to make marzipan for christmas. Bookclub seemed the perfect occasion to make a nice tart, using some of my almond paste, and the plums.

This tart is so pretty and easy. I made the pastry the jamie oliver way, although he says to press the pastry into the tart pan, and I think it is far easier to roll it out, that way you can get it nice and thin and delicate.

This is definitely not something to be eating giant pieces of with all the butter and sugar, but is definitely a nice treat if you can make yourself just have a small piece. I found that bookclub was the perfect opportunity, since it would be shared.

Plum and Frangipane Tart

Short crust pastry crust, baked blind I used this recipe

100g Almond Paste

16g Sugar

1egg

50g Butter

20g Cake flour, sifted

6-8 plums, or 2 pears if preferred

Cream the almond paste, sugar, butter and egg, then add the flour and mix until combined. Smooth the paste on the bottom of the crust until even, then arrange slices of plums on the top.

Put foil around the crust of the tart to make sure it doesnt burn.

Bake for around 30mins at 350f until the frangipane is slightly browned.

10 in 10 update!

2010-01-10T14:29:00.000-08:00

I'm supposed to update how I'm getting on with my healthy eating and weight loss project and I'm a little late! Here's a picture of a pretty fruit plate for inspiration!

The first week has gone really well. I've found myself just getting back into a good routine, and I've tried to start using www. sparkpeople.com to track how much I'm eating to make sure I'm on track and keep myself accountable.

My weight seems to fluctuate by a couple of pounds from day to day, so its hard to tell whether I'm actually losing weight, but I think it seems to be constistently slightly lower than it was last week. I'll continue to try and weigh myself daily to get a good sense of what is going on.

My hairdresser really inspired me this week, she's 8 months pregnant so she's carrying a lot of extra weight and she just cant wait to have that extra weight that she's carrying around gone so that she can move around more easily and feel less fatigued. I know being pregnant is very different, but I think its a good thing to keep in my mind, that I will feel so much more comfortable if I lose 20lb.

The exercise is going well, I managed to go to the gym twice, train on my bike 2 days, have a rest on friday and then did a 55 mile bike ride with the team in the beautiful hills of san diego county.

Weight loss: 1lb Total weight loss: 1lb

Super Quick and Easy Dinner! Spaghetti Squash and Meatballs

2010-01-06T20:03:00.000-08:00

Since my dinner looked so crappy, I thought I'd share a photo of my pretty cat! I've decided to take part in the 365 project and take a picture every day. I'd love to take loads of time over them, but I think a lot of the time it will be a quick snap with my phone. Here is the set if you'd like to check them out! The lovely barbara got me started on this, thank goodness for twitter!

Anyway, what with all this faffing about with photos, you'll need a quick idea for dinner, this is also super healthy and delicious!

Spaghetti Squash with meatballs -serves around 4

1 large spaghetti squash

1 large tin marinara sauce (I love trader joes low fat version)

meatballs (I used trader joes meatless meatballs)

grated cheese

Timing will vary depending on your microwave.

Microwave or steam each half of the squash until cooked, about 2 x 4 mins each half.

Place the frozen meatballs into the squash, cover with sauce and microwave for another 2 x 4 mins.

Cover with grated cheese and grill until bubbly.

If you dont have a microwave you can steam the squash, then put the meatballs and sauce in, cover with cheese and then pop in the oven at around 350f for around 45 mins.

10 in 10 and a healthy recipe!

2010-01-01T19:57:00.000-08:00

Thanks so much to Recipe Girl for kickstarting hundreds of us into getting healthy this new year!I've recently had a very indulgent time, with family staying in September, a trip to the UK in October, our wonderful vacation in Hawaii in November, holiday indulgences, as well as some fatigue and general malais which has left me feeling pretty exhausted and bloated. Whether its a medical issue or not, the facts are plain, I have some weight to lose, so here I am, admitting it to the world!

I've got a horrible feeing I'll need to document everything I eat. This seems to be the only way to keep myself honest, as otherwise I'll be nibbling things left right and center. I'll also need to follow recipe girls lead and get a giant packet of chewing gum and chew gum if I'm making cakes or treats so that I'm not nibbling on things the whole time.

I'll be back next Friday with an update on the weight loss, and every Friday for the next 10 weeks. I'll be participating in a century bike ride in solvang in March, so the added health benefits will also transfer to a much more fun bike ride! This nicely ties in to the 10 week challenge, as its actually the last week!

Here are my goals:

Lose 20lb

Get back into my nice clothes comfortably

Get faster on the bike
As I tidied up all my crap that was all over the place, I came across a recipe for katsu curry, which I really loved eating at wagamama, so I thought this would be an excellent sauce that I could have with boring veggies and tofu to spruce them up. It was delicious, it even made my nasty tofurkey from christmas taste palatable!!

This sauce is usually paired with breaded and fried chicken, although I think it will be great with all manner of veggies/meat etc.

Apologies for the ugly photo, this is pretty ugly but tasty, which seems to be a theme for some of the healthier fare!

Katsu Curry Sauce adapted from urban drivel/wagamama

1 tbsp Butter
small onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 apples, cored and chopped (leave skin on for healthy fiber)
16oz water
2 tsp better than bouillon not chicken stock
2 bananas, chopped
2 tbsp honey (taste before adding, add to taste, I found the sauce a little on the sweet side)
1 tbsp ground turmeric
1/2 tbsp curry powder
2 tbsp ketchup
1 tsp ground pepper

Sautee the onions in the butter for a few minutes, add the garlic, then the apples and cook a little more, then add the other ingredients and simmer for around 15 minutes until soft. Blend the sauce with a hand blender. If it seems thin, add a tablespoon of cornstarch in some water and heat until thickened.