: happy holidays :

Happy holidays everyone!! I hope everyone is getting excited for Christmas - I know I am! There's nothing like walking down lighted streets and listening to Christmas music to get me into the holiday spirit.

This year, I decided to try my hand at a beautiful cake for Christmas. When I was young, I used to stare in awe of beautiful cakes in bakeries and cookbooks. In fact, when my parents used to take me to the library, I would head straight to the baking section and borrow books on cake decorating! So, what better Christmas cake than a traditional bûche de noel? Because of my time constraints, what with school exams and all, I decided to take the easy route and buy a ready-made swiss roll. (You can buy them at your local Metro, or Asian grocery stores.) I think it turned out pretty well, don't you? :)

Merry Christmas to all, and may all your bellies be full!!

Bûche de Noel

Ingredients:
1 large store-bought chocolate swiss roll
1 small store-bought chocolate swiss roll

Chocolate Ganache:
1/4 cup whipping cream
100g semi-sweet chocolate chips

Candy Mushrooms:
4 vanilla-flavoured tootsie rolls
Cocoa powder, if desired

Shredded coconut
Icing sugar

1. Place the large swiss roll on a platter or serving board. Cut one end of the small swiss roll diagonally, then place the cut side anywhere against the large roll.
2. To make ganache, microwave whipping cream for 15 to 30 sec until cream is hot. Pour over chocolate chips in a bowl. Stir until chocolate is melted. Let the chocolate cool slightly.
3. Spread chocolate all over top and sides of cake. You can be a little bit messy so it looks like tree bark.
4. To make candy mushrooms, microwave tootsie rolls for 5 to 7 seconds, just to make them pliable. Flatten 3 candies into flat discs to resemble mushroom tops. Divide the last candy into 3 pieces and roll into a stem. Using a bit of water as the glue, stick discs on top of stems. You can also dust the tops with a bit of cocoa powder to give them some colour.
5. Pour some shredded coconut around the cake to resemble some snow. Sift a little icing sugar over the cake. Arrange mushrooms around the cake.
6. Slice and enjoy!

: a fresh approach to fruit :

So. I've sort of been on a blog hiatus for 4 months.

It's not you. It's me.

I've just been so busy... you know... school... work...

I know, I know.

It's no excuse.

But... ladies and gentlemen - I'm back! And with some more healthy (and not so healthy) eating advice ;)

This is a post I've been wanting to write for some time now. Earlier this year, I entered a recipe development competition for Sun Rich Fruits. The challenge was to create something unconventional using their chopped fruit products, in less than 5 steps, with minimal/easy cooking. Seeing as I have an affinity for Asian cuisine, I opted to make an Asian dish. What transpired was a Thai-Style Tropical Shrimp Cocktail!

It was a bit of a last minute entry, but lucky I entered because I won! (My classmate won the other prize as well :)). I had been waiting to post this entry because they were going to post the recipe on their website (and I had wanted to link it), but alas, it still has not made it. But they did send me a stack of postcards/recipe cards they made up for my recipe :) These cards are meant to be distributed at shows and retailers, so it's kind of neat to be "in print"!

Enjoy!




Thai-Style Tropical Shrimp Cocktail (serves 6)

Ingredients:
18 Medium-sized shrimp, cooked and peeled
1 cup Sun Rich Pineapple Chunks
1 cup Sun Rich Orange Sections
1 cup Sun Rich Grapefruit Sections
1 cup Sun Rich Mango Chunks
2 tbsp. Chopped fresh cilantro

Dressing:
2 tbsp. Lime juice, fresh
1 tsp. Rice vinegar
1/2 tsp. Fish Sauce
1.5 tsp. Brown Sugar
1/8 tsp. Bird's eye chili, finely minced
1/8 tsp. Lime zest, finely minced
Salt to taste

Directions:
1. Combine dressing ingredients in a bowl.
2. Add fruit and cilantro to the dressing and toss thoroughly to coat.
3. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes for flavours to develop.
4. Prior to service, add shrimp and toss. Serve immediately in individual glasses for cocktail appetizers, or as a side dish.

: wedding cake making 101 :

When I found out my friend Caity was getting married this summer, I immediately thought that for her wedding present, I would decorate her wedding cake. This was just before I had started my Baking classes, so I figured I would learn a thing or two about cake decorating and fondant.

I was wrong.

I learned nothing about fondant! (Though I did learn how to frost a cake). Now, some of you may recall my previous post about my fondant ducks, but working with fondant for a cake is a whole different story. You need to use a much larger amount, make sure the consistency is correct, and that is rolls properly and is pliable enough to wrap the cake without cracking.

The other challenge was that I was going to make a three-tier cake, and would need to use dowels to hold up the top cake tiers... which I've also never had the experience of doing.

(Is it obvious that I like a challenge?)

Nonetheless, I took this task in stride and even under-went the process of making my own large-batch fondant for this wedding cake. I kept the decoration very simple as it was my first wedding cake (and I didn't want to - horror of horrors - mess it up!). I played around with some ribbons and things, but in the end decided to decorate the cake with edible flowers from Caity's parents' farm.

The result?

I thought it turned out to be a very beautiful, simple and sophisticated wedding cake!! And most importantly, the bride and groom loved it!










Congratulations Caity and Samuel!!!

: countertop buzz :

As you may have noticed, there's been a lack of posts lately on kitchen mischief. I'm still testing and developing recipes, but alas, most of it has been done at work! Chef Ian and I at the Compliments Culinary Centre at George Brown College have been having some fun cooking up storms in the kitchen (most of which you'll find in the upcoming Holiday issue of Inspired Magazine!). In the meantime, here's a delicious summer wrap that we cooked up recently - take a peek at Counterbuzz for this recipe and other tasty ones!



Spicy Chicken Lettuce Wraps (makes 4 Wraps)

Ingredients:
450g Compliments Balance Lean Ground Chicken
1 can 227ml water chestnuts, chopped
4 tbsp (60ml) Compliments Sensations Lemongrass and Four Peppercorn Marinade
1 cup (250ml) diced onion
1 tbsp (15ml) Compliments Pure Olive Oil
1 tbsp (15ml) Hoisin sauce
¼ cup cilantro chopped
1 head hydroponic bib lettuce

Directions:
1. In a heated pan, add oil and diced onion. Stir fry for about 2 minutes until onions are translucent.
2. Add ground chicken and water chestnuts and cook until chicken is done.
3. Add Compliments Sensations Lemongrass and Four Peppercorn Marinade, Hoisin sauce and cilantro and combine thoroughly.
4. Spoon chicken filling into individual "lettuce cups".
5. Serve and enjoy!

: coffee crisp cake :

There are lots of wonderful treats only available in Canada that I missed when I lived overseas. Maple syrup was one of them, and the other - Coffee Crisp. I happen to love both coffee and chocolate, so it's no surprise that I was immediately smitten with this candy the first time tried it! I decided to pay tribute to this bar of deliciousness by turning it into a cake. Layers of vanilla cake, creamy coffee icing and crispy wafer cookies add lots of texture to this cake, and the chocolate glaze is the finishing touch to making this dessert absolutely unbelievable!

Coffee Crisp Cake

Ingredients:

1 store-bought vanilla loaf cake, or vanilla cake mix baked in a 9x5 inch loaf pan
2 x 150g cappuccino or vanilla flavoured wafer cookies

Coffee Icing:
1/4 cup whipping cream
2 tbsp instant coffee
1 tbsp cocoa powder
1 cup unsalted butter
4 cups icing sugar

Chocolate Glaze:
1/2 cup whipping cream
2 tbsp butter
2 x 100g milk chocolate bars, chopped

1. Use a serrated knife to cut edges off loaf cake to make a rectangular brick. Carefully cut cake sideways into 3 1/2-in slices. Freeze slices in one layer on a baking sheet until ready to use.
2. To make icing, stir whipping cream with instant coffee and cocoa powder in a small bowl. Microwave for 15 sec until cream is hot. Stir to dissolve coffee. In a large bowl, beat unsalted butter with an electric mixer until fluffy. Gradually beat in icing sugar, adding cream when it gets too thick. Set icing aside.
3. Place one slice of cake on a platter. Spread a thin layer of icing over cake. Top with wafer cookies. Spread with another thin layer of icing. Repeat with 2 more layers of cake, icing and wafers. Spread remaining icing over top and sides of cake. (It's fine if it looks a bit messy as it will get covered in chocolate glaze.) Refrigerate cake for 30 minutes.
4. To make glaze, microwave whipping cream and butter for 15 to 30 sec until cream is hot. Pour over chopped milk chocolate in a bowl. Stir until chocolate is melted. Let the chocolate cool slightly. It will thicken up a bit.
5. Pour glaze over top of cake. Use a metal spatula to spread the glaze over top and sides of cake. Refrigerate for 1 hour or overnight.
6. Slice and enjoy!