Homemade gourmet bread

A loaf of bread, a jug of wine, and thou.

~Omar Khayyam

This week I embarked on making my own bread. I had staked out a couple of different recipes and was really undecided on which one to use. so I consulted my bread expert, Sophie. As long as I've known Sophie she's always baking something, especially bread. I've seen her whip up a batch of bread in minutes using not much more then a bowl, loaf pan and her hands. Sophie gave me her older sisters favorite recipe that she's been using for ages, and it was amazing.

The bread came out so full of taste... I didn't even know bread could be so flavorful!

And while it was still piping hot we all had a slice with butter, Wow!

All I know is I am SO thankful that I don't have Celiac Disease, because to not be able to enjoy this gluten rich bread would be so depressing!

I can't wait to start exploring with more breads, I've even gone out and bought tons of yeast and flour so I can come up with my own variations of different gourmet breads. The one I might try next is chocolate cinnamon raisin ! Yum!

I'm really into site like King Arthur Flour , and epicurious.com recently! So hopefully that means more yummy blogs to come! :)

Hope you've all had a great week!

Happy Easter! Easter eggs

Large, naked raw carrots are acceptable as food only to those who lie in hutches eagerly awaiting Easter.  ~Fran Lebowitz

I trust you all had an excellent Easter or Passover. I was very busy that week. I came home from an international flight, prepared an Easter brunch for some family & extended family. We had ham, bacon, sausage (all really healthy stuff), a onion ham and two cheese quiche, baked beans, roasted potatoes and sweet potatoes, pancakes, pea soup & Mimosas. 

It was delicious! For dessert we had coffee, tea, apple crisp, and homemade french Canadian sugar pie! I'm not going to lie, Thank God  we have many couches, and a spare bedroom, because our guests all had to lay down after that much food. Ha! We had a fantastic time. The piece de resistance that day was my Easter favors I made for everyone. If you live in Canada or have ever visited Canada you might have heard of Laura Secord. It is a gourmet chocolate shop that you can find in most malls. At Easter time, they have about a 3 inch long, and 2 inch thick Easter egg filled with a sweet & salty thick filling- it's to die for. It's so rich that you have to cut it in slices and portion it out for a couple of days! Here's my version of the Laura Secord Easter egg:

I tried to break down the recipe and match Laura Secord's egg exactly! It was pretty dead on, and tasty!

Our guests were all shocked at the end of the evening when they got to take one of these home with in a gift bag with Easter ribbon!

Do you have any yummy, go to Easter dessert recipes?

All about Cupcakes

“Friends are like cupcakes in my pantry of memories.”

- Anonymous

This week I experimented a bit with flavor. After making Cookie dough Truffles (see previous blog), I made Vanilla bean cupcakes with some rich 'Bourbon' vanilla bean I had recently picked up on a trip to Germany. I also added some lemon zest, which made them very aromatic. I tried a new recipe, and they came out a little more dense then what I'm used to (I really like a light & fluffy cake) but that's par for the course when trying something new! 

Even though the cupcakes were a little dense, I would definitely make them again because they were so yummy! They tasted exactly like a cupcake I one had at Petits Gâteaux for my birthday last year!

The concept for the 3 different designs was as simple as this, I had a dozen cupcakes and three different design ideas I wanted to try! Ha Ha!

First I started with the 'Birthday' cupcake:

The Idea here is fairly simple. These would be great for any kind of party or celebration. The pink on white makes them whimsical and makes me think of my birthday parties when I was a little  girl! The pink decorating sugar is very girly, but the decorating sugar could be any color. For example, if it were green they would be great for St. Patrick's Day! The point is that they are simple and tasty without being too over the top!

Next, 'Not Your Typical Fairy Cakes' cupcakes:

A Fairy Cake is what the British & sometimes Irish call a cupcake... especially when they're really cute! :)

These little blue cupcakes were just another way to use my way yummy icing with blue gel coloring! Getting back to the icing, I have never had icing this good before. Growing up with a mom who is a pastry chef, buttercream icing in our house was as common to find as water! And maybe because of that, I hated it! When I moved out, one of the first desserts I made was slathered in a 'tin' frosting, and I loved it! Since then when making most things I always stuck to tin frosting, but when trying to decorate cakes/cupcakes you need something a bit stiffer- here's where the buttercream icing comes in. Yuck! Not anymore, though! I came up with my own delicious recipe for buttercream icing. It is buttery yet sweet and smooth! It's amazing! You will just have to try it I guess!

Lastly, Chocolate fudge buttercream:

Since I'm not the biggest fan of chocolate, I'm not the best judge of these cupcakes. So i'll just tell you what my husband said about them. "They tasted fresh, and were delicious! The frosting was light, fluffy and flavorful, it's consistency was like chocolate mousse, but with more flavor!"

I finished off the chocolate puff of frosting with a shaved dark chocolate from Belgium! The frosting recipe also had some rich melted chocolate inside!!

I really love making cupcakes! They always make people happy!

!!

Also today, as I announced on Twitter, I was at the printer finalizing my business card! I'm so excited, by next week my box labels and business cards should be ready! I wanted to give you all a sneak peek at it:

If your wondering, the name 'Madeline' comes from a cartoon that I used to watch when I was little. The cartoon was about a little Parisian orphan who lived in Paris and was always getting into trouble! Because of this cartoon, I have always wanted to have a daughter named Madeline and my husband assures me that this will never happen. Not because we are not having children, (because we are clearly having children) but because he's never been partial to that name! Ha! 

Also, 'Madeline' also comes from the cookie/cake 'Madeleine' !!

Until next time, I hope your all having a fabulous week!

xo

As Promised, Cookie Dough Truffles!

"There are four basic food groups: milk chocolate, dark chocolate, white chocolate and chocolate truffles." - Author Unknown

These truffles have been begging to be made for about three weeks, since about Valentine's Day! If you remember I had 3 desserts planned for Valentine's Day, but since (right now) we are only two at home, it would have been way too much food. Once in awhile we get this adorable little raccoon named Phillippe that comes by for a snack and ends up polishing off any of our left over sweets, but most of the time we are just two!

So one by one I made the desserts, but staggered them out one week at a time. I started with Cake Pop 'Kisses' for Valentine's Day, then Nutella Sandwich Cookies the next week, and finishing this week with Cookie Dough Truffles!

I found this recipe fairly simple and it only took about 45 Minutes to make them (not including chilling time which is about 3 hours). That's not bad for a dessert that can be frozen and unthawed anytime you have guests over, it's actually a time saver! Ha! I still have to practice chocolate coating things in a double boiler, so far the 'two fork method' seems to be working... but there's got to be something simpler... Will get back to you on this!

I wish I could have shared them with all of you, because the cookie dough taste is immense! Even as a person who doesn't like chocolate, I liked these!

I'm not too sure what I'm going to bake next, maybe Cupcakes or Lemon Bars? I got this amazing German cookbook when I was there last, and it has some amazing recipes that I think you will soon see featured on this blog! But, If you have any ideas for things for me to try out and blog about, let me know! Either write me a comment below or as most of you do, on twitter @flightattdntjen !

Hope you enjoy the pics!

(Big THANX again to Jon for lending his camera <I swear I'll get it back to you soon! ;) > & to Dave for being my photographer once again, Because I am rubbish at taking photos!)

I didn't say this on my last blog, but I meant to... if you want the full effect of the image you can click on it to see it in full!

I hope you like sweets because these are sweet

Couldn't resist! They looked too yummy! Ha Ha!  Just kidding- It's staged!

The recipe says it yields 5 dozen. Not quite, but it was still a lot.

Cookie dough- Yum! Who can say 'no' to yummy cookie dough
I think this is my all time favorite picture!

Packaging! Goodbye treats! Glad your not all staying in my house!

Box that got sent to my BIL!
I get to borrow his camera... he gets paid in sweets!
Good trade, I think! ;)

Happy 27th Birthday David!!! Fondant piano cake

“Birthdays are nature's way of telling us to eat more cake.” Anonymous

Last year for my husbands birthday I was starting to get into cake decorating, so I made him a checker board "Black & White" themed cake. The very next day, feeling inspired I was lost in a web of cake designing websites and came across the idea for a fondant piano cake. Because my husband is known for being a piano player I thought this idea was genius! So for a year it has been in the back of my mind to make this cake for him this year! I wasn't too sure how it would turn out considering I have never touched fondant in my life, but it didn't stop me from going out and buying everything I could possibly need to do this cake. Lots of money was spent, enough said! Ha! (Thank God most was reusable tools!) 

So, basically my introduction to using fondant was a baptism by fire, seeing as I had never taken a course. My mom (the pastry chef) gave me a couple of tips over the phone, which were mostly useless, because I wasn't smart enough to follow them correctly, humpf! My cake was baked, cut to shape, and crumb coated at least 4 hrs in advance- too bad the fondant part took me over 6hrs. Fondant is really tricky, and if you attempt to use it for the first time, especially if you are coloring it yourself, I would do a mock cake a few days in advance. 

Here is how my cake turned out:

My husband was thrilled, and honestly a little shocked too I think. Ha Ha! It was a bit of a surprise that it wasn't a store bought cake, or even a home-frosted-wobbly-lettered-looking-job! 

If coloring fondant yourself (which is a tricky job, when you can buy pre-colored fondant for around the same price at any cake store) give it time and let it breathe! This probably sounds a little silly, but just like buttercream icing, or painting a wall- icing/fondant takes time to go darker. Don't constantly keep adding coloring to get it darker, you can always add more but you can never go back lighter. Also don't forget to keep it well covered to keep it from going hard. 

Wish I would have had a better camera, these shots just don't seem to do the cake justice! ;)

Rolling out the fondant is also extremely tricky, hence the 6 + hrs it took my to get the fondant right. Too thick and it will tear once rolled out over the cake, and too thin and will tear as you try to lift it. These are the kinda of stupid problems I encountered when trying to make this cake. Also measuring is KEY. Measure the circumference of your fondant once rolled out, measure your cake and then measure it again. You can never over measure! When decorating with fondant, strips, dots, or stars- try to keep consistency by... yes! Measuring! ;)

Can't wait 'til the next time I make a fondant cake. Now that I've already had my 6hr self taught lesson, I think I'm ready to handle anything!!!! 

Nutella Sandwich Cookies

I am addicted to Nutella, the chocolate hazelnut spread? I can't live without it. I need a daily dose of Nutella. ~ Michelle Trachtenberg

Finally, without further delay - here are my Nutella Sandwich Cookies!!!

I'm not gonna lie, these weren't  the easiest cookies to make. It took a lot of steps to achieve these, but they were worth it!! 

They took about 3 days (mainly because I have been extremely busy), first there was skinning the hazelnuts... because I couldn't find any already skinned, my Goodness was that a chore. Did you know that there are whole websites dedicated to showing you how to skin a hazelnut?! Then I didn't have a food processor, so I had to grind the flour, sugar, and salt with the hazelnuts in stages in my Magic Bullet. Then there's the fact that I hate cut out cookies! They are so time consuming! I think that the end look is fab though, they are really cute if I do say so myself! 

The recipe was supposed to yield 2 dozen 'sandwiches' but actually  only yielded about 19, which was fine for me because after rolling out and cutting 19 of these I was fed up! :P

They are SO yummy too, not just esthetically pleasing! Ha! 

The cookie is very 'Nutty' because of the ground up hazelnuts, and perfectly complimented by the smooth interior of the Nutella- the chocolate drizzle is just for looks and extra calories- Duh!

... And just in case you couldn't tell from previous blogs to this one... I got my brother-in-laws camera, finally! (My husband is the photographer, Thanks Dave!!)

Hopefully I will be able to borrow it in the future for other blog post since it is so amazing! Hint! Hint! Jon if your reading!!! 

Although they were originally intended for V Day, they were enjoyed by the two guys who were furiously gaming at my place today! :) At least being in the kitchen gave me something to do while my Tv was being hogged all day! 

I found this recipe for these cookies online, and I think when I make them again I will definitely look for skinned hazelnuts, and possibly borrow my mothers food processor!! 

Hope you enjoyed the pictures!!! (Thanks again Jon!)

Up Next: Cookie dough truffles!

(... but it may be awhile until that blog because my next three trips are back-to-back, so in about 10 days!)

Happy V DAY!!!

Oh, if it be to choose and call thee mine, love, thou art every day my Valentine!  ~Thomas Hood

❤ ♡ ❤

If you follow me on twitter, you'll know that Valentine's Day was a day late for my sweetie and I! He was busy on the 14th so we just slid it over by one day. Not the end of the world... actually- it was way more convenient! The restaurant was less packed the next day (when normally you Always have to make a reservation ahead of time, forget a holiday), all V Day goodies were on sale!! AND I had an extra day to bake!

I didn't get as much accomplished in the kitchen as I hoped to. It's alright though, because seeing as I still have about 5 days off work... I planned to just stagger out my baking. (I don't know if this annoys anyone else- but when you are just 2 at home, lots of baking goes to waste! And there is ONLY so much you can give to neighbors and family before they start thinking that you may be trying to poison them!)

My Valentine's baking Menu was the following: 

❤Valentines cake pop 'Kisses' Very loosely based on something I saw by Bakerella.

❤Valentines Nutella sandwich cookies

& 

❤Valentines Cookie dough truffles

The only thing I have made so far is the cake pop 'Kisses'!

Next up: Nutella sandwich cookies!

I think I'm most afraid of the cookie dough truffles because the recipe makes 5 DOZEN, and I don't like halving recipes! 

My husband absolutely LOVED my Valentines cake pop 'Kisses' !!

... and so did his brother, Lol. I had brought some while visiting my Mother-in-law in the hospital and he ended up taking the whole box home! HA! 

I do have some pictures, but they are RUBBBBBISH! I vow to borrow my brother-in-laws camera for my next blog entry (which SHOULD be tomorrow) so that I have decent pictures. Even though the pics are terrible  I hope you get the idea! ;)

Mashing up my cake for my cake pops!
(If it's not messy, your not doing it right!!)

Little Chocolate drops that will become chocolate dipped 'Kisses"

Ta-Dahhhhhhhhh!

:)

"Be Mine!" From another angle

 I'm really surprised at how simple cake pops are to make. I guess that's why they are now becoming the new trend in baking, and people are leaving behind the ever popular 'Cupcake' frenzy and heading to the exciting world of Cake Pops!

As, I write this I can hear my husband sitting on the couch eating one of these. Ha! I can hear him biting through the chocolate shell into the moist cake inside! I'll be honest though, I still don't know if I understand or GET cake pops?! Yes, I know... as my best friend has tried to tell me over and over- there's nothing to get- But if you want cake... why don't you just have a piece of cake?? I guess that's just me though... and others would prefer to eat their cake on a lollipop stick or in different shapes! I can live with that, especially if people want to buy it from me! 

;)

Next blog: Nutella Sandwich Cookies!