Blackberry Pistachio

Green Tea Opera Cake

Super tall opera cake layered with ganache and matcha buttercream:

Hazelnut Macarons

French macarons are probably one of the most finicky cookies to make and I've had my share of ones that didn't turn out. The ideal ones have tall "feet", a round, smooth top and have that addictive chewy texture.

Here's the recipe I used:

Macarons:

250g almond powder

225g egg whites

500g icing sugar

Method:

Sift together the almond powder and 400g icing sugar. Whip the whites with the remaining sugar till stiff peaks. Fold in the almond mixture in thirds and continue to fold till the batter sinks into itself when it is lifted up with the spatula.

Pipe small rounds with a round piping tip (the tip is very important to get them perfectly round) and sprinkle chopped hazelnuts if desired.

Let them dry for 30 mins until they aredry to the touch. Bake in a 325 degree oven with the door slightly ajar (I put a wooden spoon there) for about 20 mins till starting to get golden brown.

Cool and carefully lift off. Fill with buttercream.

Cheese and Wine

Cheese and wine are a traditional pairing after dinner so it's only fitting that they're combined in a dessert. This is a goat cheese mousse with ice wine gelee on top of a hazelnut cookie base.

The ice wine has a lot of pear notes which go very well with the mild goat cheese. The different textures you get when you eat this one-bite dessert is also very interesting. You have the crumble and sandy cookie, the soft mousse, the crunch from the sugar decor on top, and the gelee. The sugar decor is something that is super easy to make and yet looks very interesting and different. I just took isomalt, which is a sugar substitute (you can find it at gourmet food stores or pastry suppliers), and mixed it with some food colouring. I got a more speckled look by not mixing the colour very thoroughly. Sprinkle the isomalt between two sheets lined with silpat and baked it at 350 degrees for 30 mins. Cool down without removing the sheet on top. When it's all cool, just peel of the silpat and break the large, bubbly sugar piece into shards and use as decor.

Pavlova

Here's a large pavlova filled with delicious whipped cream and fresh berries. The pink baby is made out of fondant and unfortunately, the sign cracked as it was being put on the cake but I think the overall cake looks adorable and oh-so-pretty!

Bzz....

Scrapbooking

Lemon buttermilk cake filled with lemon curd and covered in vanilla buttercream and fondant. The party was a scrapbooking party for a ten year old who enjoyed ballet, musical theatre, swimming, and bunches of other activities though I couldn't fit it on the cake.

BC Day Long Weekend!

Whoever came up with the idea of long weekends is a genius! I mean, who doesn't need an extra break from either school or work. It helps you re-focus so when you do come back to work, you're in a better mood and you perform your duties better. Oh, who am I kidding, long weekends are great for having fun and just lounging around the house. The only downside is that they're never quite long enough.

I went over to Gabriola Island this past weekend which is about a 20min ferry from Nanaimo. Beautiful island; quiet, relaxing, oh and the beaches are fabulous.

Here are some of the cool rocks that have been shaped by the waves:

Outside the restaurant that my boyfriend works at were these amazing artichokes. I had no idea that this is what they looked like when they flowered:

And the sweetheart that he is, he picked me this beautiful dahlia. I don't think I've ever seen one this large before!
Basically my whole weekend involved just relaxing in the sun and enjoying the quietness that is very rare in the city. And now I'm back so I have to re-adjust again. Like I said, the long weekend is never long enough.

Quickie

What's one to do when there's a cake order to be done and you've procrastinated long enough to the point where you have a split mind in which one side is freaking out at the situation you put yourself in (yes, it is totally your fault), and the other is frantically trying to get a quick solution that will also result in an awesome product? Well, there's the quickie cake!

Now although I was given full creative freedom as to the kind of cake, I was limited slightly in that I wanted it to be enjoyed as best as one could enjoy cake so in my case, since it's been unusually hot these days, I opted for a lighter cake. Knowing the clientele would appreciate a not-so-sweet cake, I went for a mango mousse cake filled with fresh strawberries and halved fresh raspberries (amazing local ones by the way).

I already had a cake round baked from a previous order so I just split it in two and soaked each in mango puree. The sides are just chocolate spread on an acetate collar and "designed" with my trusty finger. The mousse itself took oh, 10 minutes to make. Chop up the fruit, assemble the cake....another 10 i'd say?

Amazingly, it took only an hour for the top to be just set so just a quick mango glaze and more fresh fruits. And, I still got enough sleep last night :)

Strawberry Pavlova Roll

I got these amazing local strawberries the other day at the market, and when I say, amazing, I mean really really good. You could smell right away driving by the market so I knew I had to get some.

They were very ripe so I decided to make something quick and light to offset this heat wave we're going through right not. This pavlova has an almost marshmallowy texture and was the perfect canvas for the super juicy strawberries.

Pavlova Roll:

5 egg whites

200 g sugar

2 tsp cornstarch

1 tsp white vinegar

1 tsp vanilla

-Whip egg whites till soft peaks form. stir together the cornstarch and sugar and gradually add into the whites while whipping. Whip till stiff peaks form, then fold in the vinegar and vanilla.

-Spread onto a 1/2 sheet pan and bake at 325 degrees farenheit for 30 mins.

Whipped Cream:

300 ml whipping cream

1/3 cup icing sugar, sifted

1 tsp vanilla

-Whip all till stiff

Assembly:

-Invert the pavlova sheet and carefully peel off parchment. Spread a thin layer of the whipped cream leaving a 2" blank space at the end

-Slice the strawberries and sprinkle on top of the cream

-Slowly roll the pavlova starting on the end closest to you. Trim ends with a serrated knife and serve with more strawberries, whipped cream, and or icing sugar