Tasty Tangents

Food, life and other morsels

January 30, 2011
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The Cake Project

The stages of building the wedding cake.

The stages of building the wedding cake.

I had the joy and privilege of making my first wedding cake this month. It was for my sister and her new husband’s reception last weekend. I had lots of fun making it, and it was great to see the reaction from the bride and groom and the rest of the family.

It’s been an experience full of firsts for me. My first time using fondant to cover a cake and to sculpt decorations, plus my first time using piping gel and my first time working with sugar pearls.

All in all it was a great experience, but one that took quite a few more hours than I expected and a few more supplies than I already had. The crucial supplies I added to my baking collection were a mat for rolling the fondant and a fondant smoother, both bought on the advice of a cake-maker more seasoned than I am.

I baked the cakes, a two-layer 10″ and a two-layer 6″ two weeks ahead and froze them. I also sculpted the fondant topper a week ahead, since I’d read that fondant needs that time to dry and solidify.

I also tested my piping abilities in advance, and decided that store-bought sugar pearls would be a much better idea to trim the edged of the cake. I may take the time to make by own fondant pearls next time, but I can’t overstate the time-savings from the pearls.

I had some inspiration photos to work with and you can see them here, here and here. I was also going with the theme of blue and yellow birds that grace the invitations and other stationery.

The cake recipe I used was this one, but think I’m going to do some more tweaking to make it a little more moist. The advantage of this recipe is that it’s a little more dense, so it holds up well when stacked.

If you want more detailed information on making cakes, I recommend the Wilton Web site. I won’t go into detail about all the steps, but I have to say it was a lot of fun and I would definitely do it again for the right occasion. Congratulations guys!

The cake is done!

The cake is done!

November 21, 2010
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Cream of Sweet Potato Soup

Cream of Sweet Potato Soup

Cream of Sweet Potato Soup

I guess it’s the weather getting colder, but for some reason I’ve been driven to make soup every weekend for the last month or so.

I started with classics like Buttternut Squash Soup. And I’ve been experimenting since then. What I love is that the same pattern of combining a starchy squash or potato with broth and then adding spices can make entirely different soups.

I modified this recipe to make my version, but opted to cook the sweet potatoes in the broth instead of baking them ahead of time.

Ingredients:

2 large sweet potatoes
1 large yukon gold potato
1 900 mL carton low-sodium chicken broth
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/3 cup 2% milk
chopped fresh thyme to taste
black pepper to taste
cayenne to taste

Directions:

Peel and cut all potatoes into 1-2″ cubes.

Combine potatoes and chicken broth in pot and bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer for about 20 minutes or until potatoes are fork tender.

Add brown sugar, salt, nutmeg, thyme, black pepper and cayenne. Remove from heat and blend with hand blender. (If you need to transfer to a regular blender, let cool for a few minutes before blending CAREFULLY.)

Stir in milk. You can serve with a sprig of thyme or dollop of sour cream or cream cheese on top.

October 18, 2010
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The Double Down

In case you haven’t heard about it already, Kentucky Fried Chicken has introduced the Double Down. This sandwich consists of of two breaded, fried chicken breasts masquerading as the bun, with bacon, processed pepper jack cheese and the “Colonel’s Sauce” in between.

If you want more on the nutritional catastrophe that this bunless wonder is you can read about it here and here. These articles also include the pretty, food-styled look that KFC is trying to sell. My picture is the actual look, albeit taken with a cell phone.

KFC's Double Down

KFC's Double Down

So, yes, I took the plunge and ate a Double Down. Let me qualify this by saying, I didn’t pay for it, nor did I seek it out. I did not enter a KFC restaurant. But when the opportunity to try one arose, being an “I’lll try anything” kind of girl, I decided to go for it.

So you’re saying, “How was it already?!” In a word, salty. Really that was my first and most persistent feeling about it. It also makes sense given you’re getting about a day’s worth of sodium from the thing with no bread to counteract it. Other than that, it was unimpressive. I didn’t feel overwhelmingly ill after eating it, mostly just sluggish.

If it had been combined with fries though, it might have been the end of me. Also, I don’t know if it’s because it wasn’t super-fresh, but more crispiness in the bacon might have improved it for me, maybe.

One other thing, it was almost impossible to eat the thing without getting grease everywhere, either from the paper it was wrapped in (which was practically see-through from the oil) or the “chicken bun.”

So as much as KFC chicken is a once-every-couple-of-years guilty pleasure, I can’t say the Double Down will be on my order.

October 17, 2010
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Oktoberfest – Prost!

I’d like to toast my first Oktoberfest! If you don’t know what it is, the Kitchener-Waterloo Oktoberfest is the largest Bavarian festival in North America, celebrating all things German.

Hubby and I had a lovely time at the Karlsberghaus Fest Hall (aka The Aud in Waterloo).  The Saxons kept the dance floor jumping, and feathered hats surrounded us.

An Oktoberfest sausage on a bun with saurkraut and sauteed onions.

An Oktoberfest sausage on a bun with sauerkraut and sauteed onions.

I, of course, was there mostly for the food, and I have to say it didn’t disappoint. We tried the sausage, the schnitzel, the sauerkraut, sauteed onion, potato salad and pretzels.

Schnitzel on a bun with saurkraut and sauteed onion and a side of potato salad.

Schnitzel on a bun with sauerkraut and sauteed onion and a side of potato salad.

It was all delicious. The sausage had wonderful snap, the breading on the schnitzel was crispy, the kraut was tangy, onions were sweet and the potato salad had a nice level of vinegar.

As you can see from the photo, we couldn’t even wait to get the photo taken before diving into the pretzel. We did have some apple strudel with whipped cream too…but as often happens it got eaten before I remembered to take the camera out.

A really big Oktoberfest pretzel!

A really big Oktoberfest pretzel!

On some good advice I tried some honey mustard with my schnitzel, which I like, though I think I’m still more of a yellow mustard girl. Maybe nest year I’ll try the pig tails I’ve heard so much about.

Overall I recommend the experience, though next year, we’ll definitely take family and friends and go to a smaller venue. I’m looking forward to experiencing more of German culture in the Oktoberfests to come.

September 16, 2010
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The Cake

So I somehow talked myself into thinking that I could make a 3-tiered cake for my sister Natalie’s wedding shower. And while I think we completed it successfully, it was definitely a team effort. It’s also not one I expect to repeat anytime soon, and certainly not on my own.

We baked the chocolate cakes a week in advance and froze them tightly packaged in plastic wrap. They were defrosted in the fridge the day before they were frosted, and frosted the night before they were to be served.

The making of Natalie's shower cake

The making of Natalie's shower cake

So here’s the play by play. Each tier consisted of two chocolate cakes covered in a whipped sugar vanilla frosting and then coated in coconut. We started by doing a “crumb coat” or a thin coat of frosting, then putting the assembled cakes back into the fridge for a few minutes, which helps prevent getting crumbs in the outer layer of frosting.

Each layer, which was placed on a cardboard base with a small hole in the middle, was then given a second coat of frosting and a layer of coconut. Wooden dowels were also inserted into the cake to allow them to be stacked, four in the bottom tier, three in the middle tier and one that ran through the full height of the cake to stop them from sliding.

The real trick was properly centering each layer, then wrapping them in a double layer of ribbon to add some colour.

I’m really happy with how everything turned out, and I think the bride was too. Many thanks go out to my youngest sister Joanna for the teamwork, mom for the moral support and photography, and everyone else who contributed.

Natalie's Shower Cake

Natalie's Shower Cake

Who knows, for the right person, I might even do it again.