STICKY TOFFEE PUDDING

So Christmas has come and gone and I did quite a bit of baking this year. I decided to make Sticky Toffee pudding for dessert on Christmas Eve. I found Medjool Dates, which tend to be more expensive than other dates, but so worth it! The dessert was a hit.



Cake

1 cup water
3 tablespoons strong coffee
1 tablespoon brandy, scotch or rum
1 cup coarsely chopped Medjool dates (pitted)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
pinch of salt
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Toffee Sauce

3/4 cup packed brown sugar
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
3/4 cup 35% cream

 

Preheat the oven to 350 Fahrenheit. Grease an 8 inch/2L square baking dish.

 

In a small saucepan, bring water, coffee and liquor to a boil. Add the dates and remove from the heat.

 

In a small bowl combine the flour, baking soda and powder, cinnamon and salt.

 

In a mixer cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg and vanilla.

 

In a food processor, pules the date mixture with the liquid until just chunky. (I blended the mixture until it was smooth)

 

Beat in flour mixture alternately with date mixture, ending with the flour until the batter is thick and smooth..

 

Pour batter into your greased dish and smooth the top.

 

Bake in the oven for 30 to 35 minutes or until the cake tester comes out clean.

 

Meanwhile make your toffee sauce. In a saucepan cook the sugar, butter and cream over a low heat until slightly thickened and brown. This usually takes a few minutes.

 

When your dessert comes out of the oven poke some holes with a skewer and slowly pour about 2/3's of the sauce over the cake. Reserve the rest of the toffee sauce to serve with the dessert.

Serve this delicious dessert with vanilla ice cream.

CHRISTMAS PENGUIN

It is that time of year again!! I can't believe how quickly this year has gone. I am making more cakes this year and trying out new techniques and recipes. This cake was a standard Vanilla cake with Vanilla Swiss Meringue Butter cream (my favourite). The theme for this cake, if you couldn't tell was Christmas...... ;) I wanted to make a penguin and did so using gum paste. The tree was made on a waffle cone and the books were also gum paste. This cake was for a library, hence the books! I was really pleased with how this one turned out.

FONDANT AMOUNT GUIDE

As an instructor I am always asked how much fondant should be used to cover different sized cakes. Here is a guide for you basic round and square cakes.

CAKE SIZE              LAYERS               FONDANT AMOUNT

6"                                                     2- Layer Round                              1 lb.
8"                                                     2- Layer Round                              1 lb. 8 oz
10"                                                   2- Layer Round                              2 lb. 8 oz
12"                                                   2- Layer Round                              3 lb. 8 oz
14"                                                   2- Layer Round                              5 lbs.
16"                                                   2- Layer Round                              7 lbs.

6"                                                     2- Layer Square                              1 lb. 8 oz.
8"                                                     2- Layer Square                              2 lb. 8 oz.
10"                                                   2- Layer Square                              3 lb. 8 oz.
12"                                                   2- Layer Square                              5 lbs.
14"                                                   2- Layer Square                              6 lbs.                                         
16"                                                   2- Layer Square                              8 lbs.

WILTON DEMO CAKES

My Course 4 (Wilton: Advanced Gumpaste Flowers) cake, which will be used at Michaels in Markham to inspire students to make beautiful flowers. Thankfully the flowers were made ahead of time while teaching Course 4, so the cake was put together fairly quickly. Any Gumpaste flowers will last you a lifetime unless they get wet.

EASTER COOKIES

My daughter wanted to make cookies on the Easter weekend so we made the sugar cookie recipe on my blog. They turned out great. For the cookies I tried using Vanilla Bean Paste instead of Vanilla Extract and the were totally delicious. You can see the vanilla seed specks in the cookie and I like that.

These cookies were flooded with royal icing and some over piping was done. Needless to say the cookies are finished and they were absolutely delicious.

CHOCOLATE CUTOUT COOKIES

I absolutely love this chocolate cookie. Treat them like a sugar cookie, roll out the dough and cut out your favourite shapes. They can be decorated with royal icing, butter cream or fondant.

1 cup of unsalted butter (room temperature)
2/3 cup granulated white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 large egg (room temperature)
2 tablespoons strong coffee or a coffee liqueur (coffee can be made with 1 teaspoon of instant espresso powder with 2 tablespoons of hot water, and cooled)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup cocoa powder
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon fine salt

METHOD
1.Sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt.Set aside.
2.In a large mixing bowl beat together the white sugar, brown sugar and the butter. Beat until
   light in colour, about 3 minutes.
3. Add the egg and beat well. Add the coffee or liqueur and beat until incorporated.
4. Add the flour mixture, 1 cup at a time and mix until all the flour is incorporated.
5. Divide the dough in half, form into 2 disc shapes and wrap in plastic wrap.
6. Chill the dough in the fridge for at least 1-2 hours.
7. Roll out the dough to desired thickness on a floured surface and cut out your favourite shapes.
8. Place the cookies onto a parchment or Silpat lined cookie sheet, 1 inch apart.
9. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit (180 Celsius) for 6-8 minutes. The size of your cookies will determine if they need more or less time.
10.Once cookies are baked transfer them to a cooling rack to let them cool.
11.Cookies can be stored for a week at room temperature and they freeze well for 3 months. Make 
     sure they are well covered in a container.

TIPS FOR BAKING CUT OUT COOKIES
- To ensure even thickness of the dough, use dowels (desired thickness of your cookie) on either side of the dough while rolling. This will also ensure that your cookies bake evenly and at the same time.

- To ensure that your dough doesn't spread while baking refrigerate the cut out cookies on the baking sheet for at least 10 minutes before baking. You can also put them in the freezer for 5 minutes if you are in a hurry.

- To make sure your cookie dough doesn't stick to the cookie cutter, dip the cutter in flour in between
cutting out shapes.

CAKE TIPS

CAKE FLOUR  VS.  ALL-PURPOSE FLOUR
For best results when baking cakes, cake flour does produce a more fine, soft texture. Cake flour is a finely milled and typically bleached variety of flour.It also has a lower content of gluten-producing protein. The bleaching process in flour also raises the acidity of the batter, which allows the starch in the flour to absorb more moisture, further enhancing the cakes tenderness. If you can't find cake flour you can substitute 3/4 cup all-purpose flour mixed with 2 tablespoons of cornstarch for each cup of cake flour called for in a recipe.


TEMPERATURE: EGGS, MILK & BUTTER
For a smooth batter you want to make sure that the eggs, milk and butter are at room temperature when mixing them into a cake batter. Cold eggs and milk can harden butter when mixed in. This can result in a curdled appearance. You can heat up butter and milk in the microwave but this is not ideal as overheating can occur. The eggs you can put them in a bowl of warm tap water to bring them to room temperature. Once you put the eggs into warm water the cold eggs will bring the water temperature down so drain the first lot of water and then refill with more warm water from the tap. This should bring the eggs to room temperature after about 5 minutes. Ideally you want to let the butter, milk and eggs come to room temperature on there own but if you have not planned ahead use these techniques.


OVER BEATING BATTER
We have all learned that over beating a batter can cause the cake to become tough due to over working the gluten.. This is the case when you use all-purpose flour as it contains more gluten than cake flour. When using cake flour (very low gluten content) beating it for a short period of time actually helps smooth and aerate the batter. Once the batter is mixed, beat it on high speed for five seconds and you will notice it immediately transforms into a smooth emulsion, ensuring that the ingredients are evenly dispersed.


AIR BUBBLES IN BATTER
Large air bubbles in a cake can be pretty unsightly in a beautiful slice of cake. You can avoid this by dropping the pan onto your countertop to burst any bubbles. Once you have filled your pan with batter and smoothed the top with a spatula drop it from about 3-4 inches above the countertop. The impact will force large air bubbles out and settle the batter in the pan, producing a more even shape. Only do this for cakes leavened with baking powder and baking soda. Egg foam cakes like the Genoise need the air bubbles to rise.

VANILLA CUPCAKES

I have wanted to put some cupcake recipes on my Blog for a while now. However with teaching and 2 kids, a dog and a house to maintain there seems so little time in the day. Got my cuppa tea and I am ready to to do it!! Here are 3 recipes that I love. I do find though when making cakes or cupcakes for that matter, when you have oil in the batter the cake or cupcake tends to stay moister for longer.

 
1.  THE ULTIMATE VANILLA CUPCAKE

 Yield : 16 cupcakes

*1 cup granulated sugar
*1 vanilla bean (slit the bean in half lenghtwise and scrape out the beans)
*1 3/4 cups (175g) cake flour (not self raising)
*1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
*1/2 teaspoon baking soda
*1/2 teaspoon salt
*1/4 cup (57 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
*2 large eggs at room temperature
*1/3 cup (75 grams) full-fat sour cream
*1/4 cup (60 ml) canola or vegetable oil
*1 tablespoon PURE Vanilla extract (don't use imitation)
*2/3 cup (160 ml) whole milk

METHOD
1. Preheat your oven to 350 F (180 C). Make sure the oven shelf is in the middle of your oven.
2. In a small bowl, combine sugar and vanilla seeds. (To get the seeds from the vanilla bean, with a sharp 
    knife slit the bean in half lengthwise and scrape out the seeds with a spoon) Break the seeds up into the
    sugar with the back of a spoon to better infuse the vanilla into the sugar.
3. In a medium bowl (stand mixer bowl) mix the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
4. Add  the sugar infused with the vanilla seeds to the flour mixture and mix well.
5. Add the butter to the flour mixture and using the paddle beater mix on a medium-low speed for 3
    minutes. Because there is not a lot of butter your mixture will resemble fine bread crumbs.
6. In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, sour cream,oil, and vanilla extract until well mixed.
7. Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture and beat on medium speed until just combined.
8. Slowly add the milk and mix on low speed until just combined. (The mixture is quite liquid- perfect!)
9. Fill cupcake liners just over 1/2 full.
10. Bake for 14 minutes and test to see if they are done by inserting a toothpick into the centre If it comes
      out clean it's done. If they are not done then leave them in the oven for a further 2 minutes. If they are
      still not done bake for a further 2 minutes until done. The cupcakes should be light in colour, not golden
      brown.
11. When cupcakes are done, remove them from the tin and cool on a wire rack.

Tip: Filling cupcake liners- Because all batters rise differently,some rise alot and some don't, bake a test cupcake with the batter and you can then see how much batter to put in your cupcake liner.
       This way you will have perfectly sized cupcakes and you get to eat the test cupcake too!!


2.  GOLDEN CUPCAKES   (Recipe adapted from Nick Malgieri - "The Modern Baker")

  Yield: 18 cupcakes

*2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
*2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
*1/4 teaspoon salt
*12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temprature
*1 1/2 cups sugar
*2 teaspoons vanilla extract
*1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
*6 large egg yolks
*1 (8-ounce/225 gram) container sour cream

METHOD
1. Set the rack in the middle of the oven and preheat your oven to 350 F (180 C)
2. In a medium bowl combine flour, baking powder, salt and mix well to combine.
3. In a mixing bowl combine butter, sugar, vanilla and lemon zest. Beat well with the paddle atachment
    on medium speed until lightened in colour, about 3-4 minutes.
4. Beat in the egg yolks 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.
5. Decrease the speed to lowest setting and add half of the flour mixture, mix until just combined. Stop the
    mixer and scrape down the bowl.
6. Beat in the sour cream on low setting and then add the rest of the flour. Once mixed stop the mixer and
    scrape down the bowl. Increase the speed to medium and mix the batter for 3 minutes.
7. Scoop the batter into your cupcake liners and bake till golden brown and cooked, about 20 minutes.
8. Cool the cupcakes in the pan on a wire rack for about 5 minutes. Take the cupcakes out and place
    them on the wire rack to cool completely.
9. Frost cupcakes with you favourite frosting and enjoy.


3. YELLOW CUPCAKES   (Recipe adapted from King Arthur Flour)

   Yield: 18 cupcakes

*3/4 cup (6 ounces) unsalted butter
*1 1/2 cups (10.5 ounces) granulated white sugar
*3 large eggs, beaten lightly
*1 teaspoon baking powder
*1 teaspoon baking soda
*3/4 teaspoon salt
*2 1/2 cups (10.5 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
*1 cup (8 ounces)yogurt, regular of low fat, plain or vanilla
*2 teaspoons vanilla extract

METHOD
1. Preheat your oven to 350 F. Line cupcake pans with 18 paper or silicone liners.
2. Beat butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl until they are well combined. Add eggs 1 at a time,   
    beating well after each addition. Once all the eggs are added, beat the batter at high speed with
    your electric mixer for 5 minutes, till it's light and fluffy. Stop halfway through and scrape down
    the bowl.
3. Add the baking powder, soda and salt to the batter, beating briefly till well combined.
4. Gently stir in flour alternately with yogurt. Now add the vanilla extract and mix.
5. Scoop batter into cupcake liners, about 1/4 cup.
6. Bake cupcakes for 22 minutes until done. Test cupcakes with a toothpick in the centre.
7. Remove cupcakes from the oven and place on cooling rack. Remove them from pan after about 10
    minutes.
8. Once cupcakes are cool decorate as you please.