Beach Themed Cupcakes

Lets pretend that summer doesn't end in less than four weeks by making beach themed cupcakes. How sad is that? FOUR WEEKS?

My last four weeks of summer will be spent putting together a new website, getting my books and equipment ready for culinary school, and trying to squeeze in a few more posts.

I've said it before, but now I really mean it; I think it's time for Duh-Licious to get a little bit of a face-life, and a few new features. I know that I want three specific features: an efficient archive page (so posts can be found easily); a SEARCH BAR; and a way to have the posts load quicker.

I always love your input, so if there is anything that you'd like to see happen on the site, just let me know. Enough rambling... back to the beach cupcakes...

For the sand dollars:

8 oz white chocolate (Merckens)

sand dollar chocolate mold

hair dryer

I've been told by a chocolate maker that you should never wash your chocolate molds with soap or detergent. To take care of your molds, simply rinse with warm water; using a paper towel to remove any chocolate that is left in crevices. Dry off with a clean paper towel, and when you are ready to use it, use a hair dryer to warm up the chocolate mold. Apparently warming up the mold with a hair dryer helps to make your chocolate more shiny, and pop out better.

I haven't mastered tempering chocolate by any means. Tempering is the method of heating chocolate to a specific temperature. Heating chocolate to a specific temperature allows cacao butter to crystalize, and at the optimal temperature, you get that shiny chocolate that perfect snap when you break it. So finicky right?

For now, I use Merckens molding chocolate. Apparently you have to temper them as well, but I've been getting away with just melting them over a double boiler. This website breaks it down a little more.

Once you have your melted chocolate, pour into your chocolate molds, tap against a hard surface to get any air bubbles out (also helps level and even out the chocolate), and allow to harden. If you're wondering, I got my chocolate molds here

Same steps were used for the flipflops. The only change was that I used wilton candy melts in different colors. To make your life a little easier, use parchment triangles to pipe the chocolate. My tutorial is here.

The leis are pretty cool too. They weren't my idea--Bakerella had a cool tutorial a few weeks back, and I decided to make 'em. She breaks it down pretty well here.

The bikinis are my favorite. They were made using colored fondant that was shaped into bikini bottoms and tops. The tassels are made using sprinkles.

Enjoy the last few weeks of summer. xox, Madalina

For the Love of Good Food Contest (foodnetwork.ca)

A heads up to all my readers: from August 14, for a month, Food Network Canada would like to share the love with fellow foodies and cooking enthusiasts by offering readers a chance to win a $250 William Sonoma Gift Card or 1 of 4 prize packages from foodnetwork.ca!

To enter, just go to www.fortheloveofgoodfood.ca and fill out a quick ballot.

I know what I would get with a $250 gift card: this and this and maybe this... oh, and for sure this. Who am I kidding, $250 at William Sonoma is just not enough for me.

Vanilla Blueberry Cake with a Sweet Blueberry Sauce

This is the recipe I chose to enter for the BC Blueberry Council Blogger Contest. Its by no means complicated, but it packs a lot of flavor and the zebra cake pattern will fool people into thinking its hard to make. The cake is covered in a whip-cream-cheese frosting and garnished with a sweet blueberry sauce-- I should apologize to your waistline in advance:)

Ingredients:Blueberry Sauce2 pints of (preferably) fresh blueberries, washed1/2 cup of sugarjuice of 1 small orange, freshly squeezed (about 1/3 cup)variation: to kick this sauce up a notch, and 1/4 cup of brandy.. mmMm
Blueberry-Vanilla Cake:
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup of milk, at room temperature
3/4 cup vegetable or canola oil
2 cups flour (if batter is too runny, you may add more)
1 tsp vanilla sugar
3 tsp baking powder
3 tbsp of your homemade blueberry sauce.

Whip Cream Cheese Frosting:250 mL heavy whip cream250g pkg of cream cheese1 tsp vanilla sugar1 teaspoon lemon juice2 cups icing sugar, sifted

Directions:Blueberry Sauce:1. Combine all ingredients in a medium size sauce pan. Allow the ingredients to cook on a medium heat setting, stirring often.

2. Once the blueberries start to release juice and you have a liquid-y consistency, increase your heat setting to high until it starts to boil. Make sure you keep a close eye on your sauce, because it can burn easily-- stir often.


3. Allow the sauce to boil for 5 minutes, and reduce heat to a medium-low. Allow sauce to cook until it reduces and has a more viscous consistency. This step takes about 40-50 minutes (I made my cake during this time). Turn off heat, and put aside to cool.
Whip Cream Cheese Frosting:

1. In a large bowl, whip cream cheese, vanilla sugar and lemon juice. Slowly add icing sugar 1 table spoon at a time, mixing well in between.

2. In a separate large bowl, whip COLD cream on a medium setting until hard peaks form. Practice patience, you don't want to use the high setting, because you might overwhip the cream.

3. Fold the whip cream into your cream cheese mixture. This will take about 20-30 folds-- no more, or you'll have a flat frosting. Refrigerate frosting until ready to use.

Blueberry-Vanilla Cake:1. Pre-heat oven to 350'F.
2. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and vanilla sugar; set aside.
3. In a separate bowl, add eggs and sugar, and using an electric mixer, beat on medium high until light and fluffy. Your eggs should almost double in volume (fluff), and turn a pale yellow colour (light).

4. Add milk and oil, and combine on a low setting.
5. Slowly add your dry ingredients (flour mixture), and beat just until the batter is smooth. Don't go mixer-happy and over beat the batter... the air pockets won't form, and your cake will be dense and heavy.
6. Divide the batter in half between two bowls. Add three tablespoons of the blueberry sauce to one half of the batter, and leave the other half plain.

In a greased 9" cake pan, start by spooning 2 tablespoon of the vanilla batter into the middle of the pan. Follow by spooning 2 tablespoon of the blueberry batter in the center of the vanilla batter. Your cake will start to look like the concentric circles of a target. Continue this until you have use up your cake batter.


7. Bake at 350'F for 40 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the centre. Allow your cake to cool completely. Frost your cake with whip cream cheese frosting, and garnish with blueberry sauce. MMmmmM.

Sweet Talk: Interview with Cupcakes and Sundry

For the second installment of sweet talk, I sat down with cupcake maker Stephanie; the owner and mastermind behind Cupcakes and Sundry. I have this theory that all bakers have an innate predisposition to be nice, down to earth people-- so far, I'm three for three.

Stephanie was definitely no exception to my theory. For two people who have never met before, I felt like we were long time friends. Albeit, I was a little nervous at first, once we started talking, we found a common ground in our passion for baked goods.

Here's how the interview went:

[Madalina] What made you start a cupcakery?

[Stephanie] I started baking for my work colleagues, friends and family. From there, it was a combination of positive feedback on my baked goods, and knowing that there were no other cupcakeries in Mississauga-- this pushed me to start my business.

[M] I’ve heard that by day, you’re a teacher. Does this ever interfere with your alter ego?

[S] I think my alter ego and I are at a crossroad. I need to decide whether I want to be a teacher, or whether I want to pursue baking full time. This decision isn’t easy because the journey to becoming a teacher was long and tedious, and it’s always tough leaving a sure career for something more risky. At the same time, being a full-time teacher doesn’t allow me to fully dive into the baking business.

[M] How do you juggle the two?

[S] Outside of working, making cupcakes and spending time with my boyfriend, I don’t really do much else. It was a lot tougher at first, but I love it so much that I’ve managed to find time for it. I love it so much, that its quite easy for me to blog and keep up with the business.

[M] What is your favorite flavor??

[S] Do I have to pick one? In the summer my favorite flavor is angel food cake with strawberry frosting. Its one of those desserts that when you take a bite, and everything just melts in your mouth. In the winter, I love the peanut butter colossal brownie, with peanut butter chips and peanut butter ice cream.

[M] How did you come up with the name of your shop?

[S] I was flipping through the dictionary, and I came across ‘sundry’, which is an old English word that describes a variety or an assortment of things… sort of like the fixings. I thought it would best describe what I wanted to get across—cupcakes and everything else.

[M] What's next for Cupcakes and Sundry?

[S] The focus right now is to get my name out there, and expanding my business ventures. I just teamed up with a PR company, and I’m designing custom logo cookies for companies and events. Hopefully this will expand to something more. I also started Goodie's Gourmet Soaps-- a handmade soap company that makes dessert looking soaps.

To find out more about Cupcakes and Sundry, visit her website at: http://www.cupcakesandsundry.com … and check Goodie’s Gourmet Soaps here: http://www.goodiesgourmetsoaps.com/ ... and check out Stephanie's Flickr photo stream; you can find her amazing photos, including the ones posted here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/cupcakesandsundry/

Creme Brulee

I have a feeling that when I start my pastry arts program in the fall, I'll realize that there's probably more to crème brûlée. For now, this recipe will suffice. It's quick and easy, made from very few and simple ingredients.

I experimented with different dishes, because lets face it, ramekins are soooo 1996.

(Makes about 6 - 4oz servings)

Ingredients:

6 egg yolks

4 tbsp sugar + 2 tbsp sugar for caramel crust

2 1/2 cups of heavy cream

1 teaspoon vanilla extract, or 1 vanilla pod

heatproof cups

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 350'F

2. In a mixing bowl, whisk sugar, vanilla and egg yolks until combined, and set aside.

3. In a saucepan, heat cream over medium heat. Make sure you stir constantly, because cream tends to burn quite easily. Remove from heat just before it reaches a boil.

4. Gradually combine egg mixture to the cream. Essentially, you want to add the egg mixture to the cream, but if you do it all in one shot, you'll cook the eggs and get a scrambled egg concoction. To prevent this, add one table spoon of the cream to the egg mixture and stir. You'll want to repeat this step a few times until the egg mixture is warm enough so it won't cook when you add it to the cream.

5. Return the saucepan back to the stove, and stir over low heat until mixture lightly coats the back of a spoon; approximately 5 minutes.

6.Remove mixture from heat immediately, and strain through a sieve to remove any foam. Pour into shallow, heat-proof dishes.

7. Pour the hot mixture into individual serving dishes or ramekins and place in a baking dish. Set the dish with the ramekins on your oven shelf, then pour hot water in the dish so the water comes halfway up the sides of the ramekins -- this will help cook the custard evenly. Bake for 20-30 minutes; you know they are done when you shake the dish gently, and the brulees jiggle slightly in the middle, but the edges are firm.

8. Remove from oven and let the brulees cool in the water bath for about 15 minutes, then remove and put the brulees in the refrigerator to chill.

9. Finally, the fun part: just before serving, sprinkle the tops with white granulated sugar and shake off the excess. Use a propane torch to burn the tops and serve immediately.

We have a winner... well.. winners!

EDIT:

It was brought to my attention that two of the winners from the randomized list entered the contest after the deadline. To be honest, I didn't even bother to check (silly me).

To make it fair, I drew two more names (minus the 5 that already one, and the people who posted after the deadline) from the Random.org list randomizer.

Here are two more winners:

_____

Remember the Bender cupcakes? ... and that contest that went along with them? Well, here are the winners. Thank you to everyone who entered. xox

(winners were selected by random using a random.org list randomizer)

Homemade Sliders and Svedka Vodka

I've been feeling a little melancholic over the past couple of weeks. Do you ever feel like time is going by wayyyy to fast? I have way too much work to do, and time isn't on my side-- It really sucks playing catch-up. My to-do list is getting longer, and nothing that is on it is getting done (and since this is my blog, I'll allow myself to vent). Not only is my personal time being stretched thin, but I feel like I'm letting my readers down by not posting on a regular basis... bloggers guilt as I call it.

A couple of weeks ago, I got invited to a Svedka Vodka launch party. A little party in Parkdale, at Parts and Labour. The food was fantastic, and the custom "R-U-Bot?" Svedka cocktails paired quite nicely-- though, after a few vodka martinis, everything starts to pair nice

I brought along my partner in crime, Cat. One thing is for sure, if you see us together, the night will be everything but normal. We made good friends with the bartender-- which, is also known as the golden rule of any night out. You can be sure that if you are on good terms with the person making your drinks, you'll have a good night.

On the whole, Svedka vodka is worth the buy. It compares to a premium vodka, and it doesn't hurt your wallet... and yes, thats my nice way of saying its cheap. Although the vodka was great, it took a backseat to the fantastic food that was served by P&L. Without shame, Cat and I parked ourselves right near the kitchen entrance. We made sure that the server came to us first. On the menu were bite size roast beef dinners, lime and jalapeno popcorn, watermellon gaspacho, and sliders. OH THE SLIDERS... I can't get their mini sliders out my head. They were cooked to a medium, and they were juicy and FANTASTIC.

Okay.. onto todays recipe. Yep, you guessed it, sliders. Kept it simple, and used basic seasonings. If you use quality beef cuts, you can cook your burgers to medium.

Homemade Sliders

Ingredients:

1lb/500 g of ground sirloin

1 half of an onion, diced

1 egg, lightly beaten

1 tbsp Italian bread crumbs

1/2 tbsp fresh ground pepper

1/2 tbsp salt

1 teaspoon worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon soy sauce

- and-

parchment paper

Directions:

- wash your hands in between each step -

1. In a large bowl, gently combine all the ingredients together. Use your hands, you can't be afraid to get 'em dirty.

2. Cut 4" parchment squares. This helps us press our burgers, and make sure they don't stick to one another.

3. Using your hands, roll out 2" meat-balls from the burger mixture made earlier.

4. Using a plate, press the meat-ball between two pieces of parchment paper to flatten the meatball evenly.

5. If using a skillet, turn the heat to medium under the skillet and add a tiny amount of oil. When the skillet is hot, add the burgers, pushing them flat with a spatula. Cook for about 3 minutes each side for medium rare, longer for well done and less for rare. If BBQ-ing, pre-heat your BBQ before hand, and cook burgers for about 1.5 minutes on each side

6. Serve, and enjoy.

Berry Banana Oatmeal Muffins

I always buy a ton of fruit when I go grocery shopping. I always have this grand idea that one day I'll start eating a lot healthier than I currently do. Without fail, by the the end of the week, the fruit starts to look sub-par, and once again, I start feeling a little guilty. Muffins are a great way to sneak in the fruit you just didn't get around to eating. Here is what I made with my left over raspberries, blueberries, and bananas.

Berry Banana Oatmeal Muffins

• 1 1/2 cups quick cooking oats

• 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

• 1/2 cup white sugar

• 1 tablespoon baking powder

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1 cup milk

• 1 egg

• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup blueberries, rinsed and drained
• 1 cup raspberries, rinsed and drained
• 2 small ripe bananas, peeled and sliced
• 1/2 cup walnuts, chopped (optional)

Directions

1. Pre-heat oven to 400'F. Combine oats, flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Mix in milk, egg, and oil. Mix just until dry ingredients are moistened. Add bananas

2. Fold raspberries, blueberries and walnuts into the batter.

3. Line muffin pan with paper liners, and fill cups 2/3 of the way. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the middle of the muffins. Allow to cool, and enjoy.

Bender (the robot) Cupcake Toppers + Contest

Is anyone else excited that Futurama is back? I AM-- hence the effort I put into making these Futurama theme cupcakes.

For these toppers I used Wilton Edible Writers on hard fondant disks. The cool thing about edible writers is that you can use them to doodle, and they are safe to eat. Personally, I'm not a big fan of fondant, but they make for a perfect canvas. Instead of using fondant to fully cover your cupcakes, you can make disks to top your cupcakes.

Fondant Disks

-Roll out fondant to 1/4" thick, and cut out desired shape using cookie cutter. Allow to dry on a parchment paper-lined cookie sheet for 4-5 hours.

How to Draw Bender:

Tutorial for Bender (and other Futurama characters) here

I'm going to make it a little easier for you to try this at home... I'm giving away 5 packs of Wilton Edible Writers to 5 lucky readers.

Details:

- Leave a comment on this post and tell me what you would doodle if you had them-- thats it! (don't forget to leave contact details in case you win)

- Deadline to enter is Monday, July 19 at 5:00 p.m. ET

- FIVE winners will be chosen at random, and announced on Monday night.

(p.s) Wilton isn't sponsoring this post, I just think their product is pretty cool.

Parmesan cups make for simple canapes

Parmesan bowls can be used as a vessel for a variety of dips or small salads, and served as appetizers for your guests. No word of a lie, this will probably be the easiest recipe I will ever post. There is one ingredient, four simple steps, and it's virtually impossible to screw up (...this coming from a person who tends to ruin a lot of dishes). I filled these tiny bowls with a simple crab salad, and in the past, I've used them for bite-size caesar salads.

Ingredients:

1 tbsp grated parmesan cheese per bowl (I tried using the finely grated parmesan, and it just didn't work. Splurge a little, and opt for the non--powdered alternative as pictured below)

Supplies:

- Parchment paper

- Cookie sheet

- Offset spatula

- Shot glasses (for the shape of your bowl)

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 350'F

2. For each bowl, spread out a tablespoon of parmesan on your parchment-lined cookie sheet. Make sure you space out the parmesan 2" apart incase they spread out (which they tend to do)

3. Bake for 5 minutes, or until golden. Remove from the oven, and allow to cool for 20 seconds.

4. Using your offset spatula, carefully lift the parmesan disk off the cookie sheet, and drape it over the bottom of the shot glass.

Some of my parmesan disks automatically took the shape of the glass, and for some, I needed to place another shot glass on top to help form the bowl. Allow to fully cool, and remove from the shot glass. Thats it. Easy enough, right?

You can make these up to 5 days ahead of time. Store them in an airtight container, and leave them in the fridge until you are ready to use them.