Inspiration: Football Cupcakes

I really like finding inspiration for my Baking adventures. Whether it be a cooking show, something I’ve seen in a store, an ingredient, or sometimes even in my own kitchen. In honor of the Grey Cup game tonight between the Montreal Alouettes and Saskatchewan Roughriders my sister created a sweet treat for after all the heavy tailgating fare (Chili, wings, guacamole, etc. Whew, I’m full just thinking about it!).

A selection of Lemon and Gingerbread cupcakes with a lemon icing (Dyed green for grass of course!) and chocolate covered almonds that she embellished with laces to make footballs. Today we are constantly presented with baking that is over the top and pushing the limits. Yet a simple design can have as much of an impact as a 600 pound, carved, fondant covered cake. Don’t get me wrong, there will always been a demand for those ‘over the top’ a la Cake Boss show stopper confections, but do you know what the new trend for the U.S.A is supposed to be? Whoopie pies. And if a classic and simple whoopie pie dethroned the previously reigning dessert: the classic cupcake, then I count it as pretty good evidence that the demand for simple and good will be around for a while to come.

Incase you’re pulling a blank right now and are itching to Google just what exactly a whoopie pie is, I’ve attached some links below about whoopie pies and thoughts on them being the new trend ( Harrods The famous Department store in England now carries them!). To be honest, the trend has not hit here yet but Montreal is a fickle place for that. An example: the cupcake boom never really occurred on the scale it did in the States and other parts of Canada here. Hmm, all this whoopie pie banter may have given me a hankering to try my hand at them…

PS. Please forgive the second picture, I had a much nicer one of the whole tray but it was in a horizontal format which my blogger account does not seem to like. Once I've figured out how to format them properly you will get to see much clearer pictures!:)

Can whoopie pies be the next food trend, dethroning the cupcake?
http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/299433

Whoopie pies are trendy, tasty treats
http://www.heraldonline.com/2010/11/10/2601901/whoops.html

Whoopie pies at Harrods
http://www.luxist.com/tag/whoopie+pie/

Cinnamon Buns

There is no smell more comforting in the world to me then that of freshly baked bread. Or even yeast for that matter! I would do terribly on an anti-carb diet because bread has always been one of weaknesses.

In all honesty, I don’t usually advertise that I make bread products. The reason? Bread is extremely finicky and very time consuming. I’ve made it through entire recipes just to have my dough not rise. Yeast is like a picky baby: it needs to be warm (but not too warm), have things to eat (but not too much), and there are just some things it doesn't like being around. That being said, once you’ve mastered working with yeast you can create some pretty mouthwatering creations!

I have for some time had a desire to make cinnamon buns. The picture does no justice to how these tasted warm out of the oven! I made a traditional filling of cinnamon and sugar, then drizzled my sweet creations with a simple vanilla icing. Perfection.:)

Christmas: Sneak Peek!

November is such a dreary month full of empty trees, cloudy days, and rain. So, although it is early to start really getting into Christmas things I'm going to begin posting some teasers of what I'm up to. A true Baker knows that there is always prep work to be done!

My first project was to get the ingredients for my Stollen steeping. A delicious mix of nuts, candied fruit, raisins, and Brandy. Stollen is a new favorite that I discovered last year in school and my family has given the thumbs up to. I'll give a hint and say that it's a traditional German Christmas bread but you'll have to wait for the full explanation later!

Black forest cake

The fall, in my Family, is a season of birthdays. Very few people complain about being served birthday cake and I personally enjoy seeing the three very different cakes choices my family makes.

My Dad (Much like his daughterJ) has a very refined sweet tooth and may be a borderline chocoholic. His taste ranges from the classic chocolate cake to most things I want to experiment with (Thanks Dad!). But one cake that he always returns to is: the Black Forest cake.

Black Forest cake originates from Germany where it goes by the name of: Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte. There are many variations that can be done to this recipe but the main components are typically the same: chocolate cake, cherries, whipped cream, kirsch (Colorless tart cherry Brandy), and chocolate shavings.

For the version I created for my Dad I decided to deviate a little from the traditional recipe. This is something I enjoy doing and will appear frequently in this space. I layered the cake with a kirsch buttercream that I garnished with cherries and then covered the outside of the cake with whipped cream to help offset the sweetness.

It was definitely enjoyed by the family and the great things about this cake is it tastes even better the second day after the Kirsch has settled into the cake a little bit.