Flower cupcakes for spring

(photography skills improving somewhat??)

Sometimes  I bake cakes and things for family friends to make a bit of money. These were for a lovely grandmother's birthday. I wasn't quite sure what she wanted, so I just made what I was in the mood for - spring!

As well as showing off my recent handiwork, I though I'd share some tips about cupcake decorating I've figured out over the years.

1. You can't really go wrong with American buttercream. 

While Swiss-meringue might be the bomb on wedding cakes, there's really nothing like a big bite of pure sugar and butter on top of a cupcake. Along with the taste factor, it's also really tough to screw up this kind of icing. 

I like to start with either 1/2 cup of softened butter, or 1/4 cup of butter and 1/4 cup of vegetable shortening. From there, you can pretty much do anything you want. Alternately add cups of icing sugar with a tablespoon of milk until you reach the desired consistency. Then, add flavouring (vanilla? cocoa? marmite?), and/or food colouring. How thick you want it really depends on what you're doing with the icing. To get the icing to keep its shape on the cupcakes, I tested it by lifting up the beaters and seeing if it held in place for 30 seconds or so. 

2. Good piping tips = pretty cupcakes 

Some people have been able to magic beautiful icing shapes out of plastic bags, but for me (and probably for beginners) it's much easier to just invest in a nice icing tip and piping bag that you can reuse many times. For these ones I used the wilton "1M Swirl" tip. To make the rose shape, start icing from the middle and spiral your way out. 

3. Fondant isn't the enemy 

I used to believe that fondant was extremely difficult to handle, disgusting, and to be avoided at all costs. That was until I figured out how easy and affordable it was to make marshmallow fondant at home. It's a dream to work with, and costs a fraction of the stuff you buy at the store. Use it to cover the tops of cupcakes, or use cookie cutters to cut out little flowers like I did.

Happy cupcaking, and a very happy Easter to those celebrating!

Aurora awakes

Well, spring has come to Ontario. Kind of. It snowed this morning, but I'm getting good spring vibes. Plus I read that it's going to be 17 above on Friday. So, SPRING! 

 Life's been interesting lately. Also very busy, hence the non posting. I found out last week that I've been accepted into my two top universities, so HURRAY! I'll be studying music education this fall! Audition success! 

Now that my school schedule has cleared up considerably, I've also had a lot more time to practice, which makes me very happy. 

Lately I've been thinking back to last May when I was part of a really cool auditioned wind orchestra for a week. It was intense; we had about nine hours of rehearsal sometimes. There were also only four flutes, and I was the only person on my part, so there was a lot of pressure to get things right. But we also did things like visiting the Toronto Symphony's dress rehearsal, listening to the Eastman Wind Ensemble, and eating way too much pizza. I got to play some beautiful music (including 'Aurora Awakes') with a lot of incredibly talented people.

So I have a lot of hope for the next six years of my life, if it can be anything like last year. I'm so lucky to be able to study what I really love. 

Regular obsessive baking posts will return shortly. 

Happy spring,

E  

Post audition thoughts

Well, I've made it to the other side! Two auditions down in the span of about a week. Whew.

I thought I might share some of the wisdom I've gained after completing this stressful stage of life so that future youngins may benefit.

1. It's good to ask other people about what their audition experiences were like, but take what they say with a grain of salt.

Before my major audition, I was told by one girl that the panel was really mean, that the acoustics were terrible, and that I should basically prepare myself for failure. Turns out that the acoustics weren't bad at all, and that my panel was very nice. Experiences vary widely - don't psyche yourself out.

2. If you can, play for an audience beforehand!

Three days before my audition, I was up being a teacher's assistant at a music retreat. The retreat had a small concert on the last day, so my teachers encouraged me to play for the kids. Doing so was a great experience as it helped me to overcome some nerves. If you can play for 100 people, you can play for two people sitting behind a table.

3. Realize what your body does when you're nervous

Playing a wind instrument requires you to be very in tune with your body, so it's a good idea to figure out what happens to you when you're nervous in order to overcome these idiosyncrasies. Do your hands get really sweaty? Bring a small towel to your warm up room. Does your mouth get dry? Bring a bottle of water.

4. Remember that stress is your body's way of preparing you to do something awesome

I listened to a really perspective changing TED talk a while ago which explained that when you see your stress in a positive light, you often are healthier and have more positive experiences.

5. Don't be too humble

Although humbleness is a virtuous trait the majority of the time, it's really not helpful during auditions. Stop comparing yourself to other people, smile, and play like you're the best.


Good luck for people who are still auditioning! There is light at the end of the tunnel!

Happy March Break,

E

Auditions

Hello internet friends. I'm sorry for neglecting you these past few weeks.

Right now I'm in the jaws of audition season. My first audition is tomorrow, in fact, and then I have two more shortly after. Ew.

I used to think that I was pretty knowledgeable about auditions. However, I've found that university auditions are a whole other emotional beast entirely.

First of all I went though a blind panic phase. This included questions such as, "WILL I HAVE MY PIECES READY ON TIME?!", and generalized superlative statements such as, "I AM THE WORST AT EAR TRAINING!". Secondly I went though a major doubting my abilities phase with fun thoughts such as, "I WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED INTO ANY UNIVERSITIES!". Thirdly I went though an existential crisis phase where I said things such as: "WHAT IS MY PURPOSE ON THIS EARTH?! DO I ACTUALLY REALLY LIKE MUSIC THAT MUCH? I SHOULD MOVE TO CHINA."

Right now I feel like I've reached stage four, an odd mix of calm acceptance and perfectionism. After much thought, I've decided that yes I actually do like music that much, that I want to spend my life helping people through the medium of education, and that the stress I'm going through right now is probably worth it if I can improve the lives of others in the future. And that in a couple weeks, life is going to get a lot calmer, and I will be happier.




Sometimes life is hard. But it's sort of like a pendulum on a clock - there will be dips, but it always swings back up again.

I just have to remember to breathe now! And if it goes terribly, I could always open a bakery. Cookies are another way to improve people's lives, I think.

But wish me luck, internet. And best wishes to all the young musicians out there going through the same thing right now.

E

Baking Adventure #3 - Carbs

I've noticed that the songs I put on top of these posts no longer relate to the subject matter, and are just what I'm listening to. Oh well. Enjoy the Earth Wind and Fire.

(does this make up for last week)

Today my family went out for dinner without me. New Semester is fantastic, and I now have way too much time on my hands. So basically I made a three course meal. 

I think bread is widely regarded as something extremely finicky and difficult to make. I don't really understand how it got such a bad rep, because really it's not like that at all. I made this loaf in about an hour and a half by just throwing together 2 c. of flour, 2 tsp. of quick rising yeast, 1/2 tsp. of salt, and about 1 c. of water. Let rise for about an hour until doubled, shape into a loaf, and bake in a hot oven (mine was 385 degrees F.) for about half an hour until it looks pretty and sounds hollow when you knock on it. 

This method makes a good loaf of bread in a short amount of time, but it's quite dense. If that's not what you're going for, I'd suggest trying a recipe for 'No Knead' bread. There are a bazillion on the internet. It makes a super easy loaf with lots of air bubbles. 

Gnocchi is one of my favourite things to make. I learned how to make it at a cooking seminar type thing a long time ago, and became slightly obsessed. It's so versatile! Nowadays when I make it for just myself, I use a large potato then freeze half of the pasta for later. 

You sort of need to mess around with the ratios for gnocchi until you find a consistency you like. I prefer a firmer piece of pasta, so I use about a 1:3 ratio for flour to potato, and then one egg for every 900 g. of potato. So today, I had 300 g. of potato, 100 g of flour, and 1/3 of a beaten egg. 

Roast the potato until really soft, take off the skin, then squish it though a potato ricer into a bowl. Mix gently with the flour and egg, roll into ropes, then chop into what my cooking teacher called 'little pillows'. Boil them until they float to the surface, drain, and enjoy with pretty much any sauce on the planet. 

I had mine with brown butter and sage. Yum.

I have also recently fallen in love with 'rustic tarts', which are basically pies without all the fuss. I got the recipe for the dough here, but made up the rest myself. Roll out your dough quite thinly, then arrange apple slices on top in a spiral like pattern. Fold in the edges until it looks vaguely hexagonal: 

Dot the top with butter, brush the dough with melted butter (Julia Child would be proud), and then dredge the whole thing with sugar. Transfer it onto a preheated baking tray, and bake for about 30-40 minutes at 385 degrees until it looks nicely browned on top. 

Ah, the single life ain't so bad. Happy early Valentine's day to me. 

Hope your New Semesters are treating you well,

E

Baking Adventure #2 - Turrón de Doña Pepa

EXAMS ARE OVER!

I made a cake not to celebrate this fact, but rather to procrastinate studying for my last exam. Haha whoops

                                              Not the most beautiful thing I've ever made

I dated a Peruvian guy for a while, and through him learned about the glory that is Peruvian food. People always think of countries like France when asked about the best places in the world for eating, but from what I've heard and tasted, Peru is 'da bomb. Peruvians have a whole holiday dedicated to eating roast chicken (Día Nacional del Pollo a la Brasa - Look it up, I'm not even kidding), and have some wicked awesome pastries.

My ex's mother is an excellent chef, and one day she sent over a tupperware container with a large slice of cake, the likes of which I had never seen before. It was absolutely heavenly. After being given the recipe months and months ago, I finally decided to give it a shot yesterday. Mine isn't nearly as beautiful as the first one I tried, but oh well, it tastes great!

The secret to the cake is anise, a spice that tastes a lot like licorice. For this recipe, it's toasted in the oven, then ground up before being added to the dough. 

The dough is shaped into long rods, then baked in the oven until golden. They're then stacked on top of each other in layers, and drenched with syrup. 

The syrup (honey) is made by first simmering water with some fruit and spices, then adding a lot of sugar and boiling the heck out of it until very sticky and quite thick. I didn't boil mine quite long enough, so it was too thin to stay on top of the cake. Lesson learned!

Since I don't have permission to reveal the possibly top secret recipe I was given for this cake, here's a link to a website with a pretty similar recipe (and a cool post about its history!).

Happy new semester!

E

Chocolate Truffle Ice Cream

 So I accidentally created something delicious this weekend,

I was not at all intending to be making ice cream in the middle of January. What I wanted to make was a recipe for chocolate truffles made with coconut milk which I saw on the super cool website "The Bojon Gourmet". You should read her recipe - it's hilarious and includes a story about a dead pig hanging from the ceiling of a cold room. 

Unfortunately, I decided to conveniently forget the section of the recipe where it says 'only use 70% chocolate or else your ganache will be way too runny and it won't work' and I decided in my infinite wisdom to use chocolate chips. After a very sad 24 hours of praying that the pudding like substance in my fridge would somehow solidify, I decided that I needed to improvise. I added more milk, whisked it up, and stuck it in the freezer overnight. Yum! 

Here's how to make it if you don't want to  make a batch of failed truffles beforehand: 

In a saucepan, combine a can of full fat coconut milk, a big pinch of cayenne pepper, a pinch of salt, and two or three cinnamon sticks. Cook on medium heat until it's steamy and starts to bubble around the edge. Then reduce to low and simmer covered for 20 minutes. 

Measure six ounces of semi-sweet chocolate chips into a large bowl or a measuring cup. Strain the hot coconut milk on top of the chocolate, and leave to sit without stirring for 2-3 minutes (this allows the chocolate to melt properly), then stir to combine. 

Let the mixture cool to room temperature, then you can either put it into a tupperware container and place it in the freezer, stirring every half hour until frozen, or just put it in an ice cream maker if you're making a double recipe. 

Julia Child once said: "Always remember: If you're alone in the kitchen and you drop the lamb, you can always just pick it up. Who's going to know?" 

Be fearless, internet friends.When life gives you runny ganache, make ice cream, because who's going to know? And if it doesn't, make ice cream anyway, because it's delicious and you deserve it, damn it!

Hope exams go well for you all. 

E