C&C Cakery

Strawberry Love Muffins

2012-01-26T20:29:00.000-08:00

Do you and your significant other ever slip into a little baby talk? Admit it. Don't be embarrassed. I'm convinced that a good amount of couples do. Not in public (hopefully). No, I expect these little coos and goos come from behind closed doors. And I expect cuddling is involved as well. Gross.

Mr. C and I have our own form of this silly little language. Most of the time, however, it is not used for terms of endearment. It's usually employed during awkward, embarrassing, and painful situations. Or, you know, general moments of weakness. Stub your toe? "Oh, my poor poor baby boy!" Feel a little cold? "Baby's got to be a big girl and put on some sockies!". Have no clean underwear left? "Oh, snookums needs to do a washie!". Now, because this is a written blog, I cannot convey to you the proper amount of sarcasm that is used. But, let me assure you, it's absolutely scathing.

Now that I think of it, I'm pretty sure we just secretly loath each other.

Yep.

Well then. Here's some love muffins for your own little love muffin.

Strawberry Love Muffins
adapted slightly from Foy Update

Makes about 12 muffins

1 beaten egg
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup strawberry juice from frozen strawberries
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
1/4 cup powdered non-fat milk
1/3 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups AP flour
1/4 cups whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup frozen strawberries (defrosted and with juice drained)
mini dark chocolate chips

1) Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl, whisk together the egg, vegetable oil, strawberry juice, and orange juice together until slightly frothy. Add the powdered milk and sugar and continue whisking.

2)Sift in the rest of the dry ingredients: your two flours, baking powder, and salt. Stir with a wooden spoon until a thick batter. Stir in your strawberries until they are distributed throughout. Spoon two heaping spoonfuls into each muffin liner. Sprinkle some chocolate chips on top if you'd like. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until they are golden and your cake tester comes out clean. Cool before serving with a little butter or plain yogurt.

Taiwanese Pineapple Cakes

2012-01-22T20:48:00.000-08:00

Kung Hei Fat Choi!

It's such a pleasure living in a large, multicultural city. If you have a craving for injera, you only have to go a couple of blocks in either direction to stuff your face. We've got parades for every festival you could ever dream up. You can go down any main street at two in the morning and hit at least seventeen open sushi bars. We've got multiculturalism up the ying yang. I mean, check out this proud Vancouverite:

Totally bad ass.

This weekend the whole city celebrated Chinese New Years. Red and gold was everywhere. Dragons danced down the streets. The smell of the most delicious food known to man fills the air. And we all stuff our faces until we can't even utter "Kung Hei Fat Choy" without wanting to barf.

Even though we've never been to Asia, we really feel connect to the traditions that have been passed along within our city. And the best way to connect to international traditions? Bake their desserts and eat it.

So what is it?
Pineapple Cakes, or fengli su, are probably more cookie than cake. It's got a shortbread-like texture on the outside, and is filled with jam on the inside. Traditionally, the pineapple jam is nice and thick - made with winter melon. We made a westernized version without the melon, just because most of your local grocery stores might not carry it. These cakes are usually pressed into square forms and wrapped in lovely paper.

When did it first pop out of the oven?
It's been showing up in Taiwanese airports everywhere as far back as we can remember. Really, it's the country's own "Tourist Cake". I assume they've been around for as long as Taiwan has had tourists.

Is it worth my time?
The dough is a bit fussy, yes. And the jam does take a bit of time. But, if you aren't worry about making your cakes perfectly square or a bit of pineapple leaking out, you'll be just fine.

Got a recipe?
Always!

Taiwanese Pineapple Cakes
slightly adapted from Zester Daily

2 1/2 cups AP flour
1/8 teaspoons baking powder
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons nonfat milk powder
3/4 cups butter
1/4 cup shortening
1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
2 egg yolks

1) In a mixer, whip up the butter, shortening, and confectioner's sugar until very light and fluffy. Add the egg yolks, one at a time, and continue to mix until fully incorporated. Sift your dry ingredients into your wet: flour, baking powder, baking soda, and milk powder. Mix very well, until a thick wet dough is formed. Split the dough in half, roll each half into a log, wrap it in plastic wrap and let it rest in the fridge for at least an hour.

While it's resting, make the filling:

Pineapple Jam
1 1/2 cup pineapple chunks
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
a dash or two of cayenne pepper

1) Take your water and mix in the cornstarch. Put your pineapple chunks, water mixture, cayenne pepper and sugar in your saucepan and boil down for about five minutes. Blend well in your food processor, then return the pan and reduce down more, about ten minutes. Let cool before using.

Assembly

1) Preheat your oven to 325 degrees. Split each dough log into twelve pieces. Roll the pieces into balls. Press out the center with a finger tip so that you have a hole traveling down each center of the ball. Fill with pineapple jam. Sacrifice a couple of your dough balls and use about 1/2 teaspoon of extra dough to close off tops. Bake for about 20-25 minutes, or until the tops of your cakes are golden. Cool and serve with extra pineapple jam.

Journey Around the World (or Cake)

Vegan California Cookies (with pistachio, clementines, and agave nectar)

2012-01-19T19:38:00.000-08:00

It's about minus sixteen around here right now. We've got snow. We've got freezing rain. We've got something called an arctic outflow. God knows what that is. And this isn't even the worse part of Canada; In Calgary, it dropped down to minus fifty-seven with the wind chill. That's right. Minus fifty-seven. Your skin would freeze off your face in less than fifteen seconds.

Screw being anti-stereotypical. Canada is goddamn cold.

Over December, Mr. C and I sought to escape the cold by hopping over to Southern California. San Diego, more specifically. Boy, were we pleasantly surprised. Not only is the city full of beautiful beaches, quirky neighbourhoods, and the most amazing community markets I've ever seen (sorry Vancouver. They had vegan tamales. They win), but the weather was perfect. I wore a skirt, flip flops, and sunglasses. More importantly, I ate fresh picked local produce right on the beach. The clementine oranges were a favourite. We even smuggled a bag full of them in our luggage.
California can grow fruit all year round. That's amazing to me. I mean, we only get local cherries and nectarines a couple of weeks out of the year. And that's if we're lucky. But, in San Diego, I could go down to a farm and pick up a little juicy orange almost any time of year.
In between scraping the ice off my windshield and freezing my toes off, I'm dreaming of California. And it's sun. And, most importantly, it's clementine oranges.

The Best Thing About California
It's the land of wine, theme parks, and the most outrageous gay bars (Thank you, San Francisco). What's not to like?

The Worse Thing About California
Traffic. More specifically, Carpocalypse.

Why Should I Visit?
Disneyland. DISNEYLAND.

Why Should I Not Visit?
Knots Berry Farm. Screw you, Snoopy.

Got A Cookie Recipe For Us?
Totally, dude.
Vegan California Cookiesadapted from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar
Makes about a dozen and a half cookies
2/3 cup agave nectar2/3 cup vegetable oil2 Tablespoons almond milk1 Tablespoon ground flax seeds1 teaspoons vanilla extract1/2 teaspoon orange extract1/2 teaspoon sea salt1 1/2 Tablespoons fresh orange zest (from about one and a half oranges)1 1/2 cups AP flour1 cup whole wheat flour3/4 teaspoon baking soda1/2 cup pistachios (coarsely chopped)1/3 cup mini vegan dark chocolate chips
1) Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a large bowl, whisk together your agave nectar, oil, almond milk, flax seeds, both extracts, sea salt, and orange zest until smooth and light (about two minutes). Sift in your dry ingredients: Both flours and the baking soda. Stir with a wooden spoon a couple times, then add your pistachios and dark chocolate chips. Continue stirring until the batter completely forms together.
2) Roll a generous tablespoon of dough into a ball, then press down onto your baking sheets so that they are slightly flat. Bake cookies for about 15 minutes, until the edges are golden and the tops are slightly cracked. Let the cookies cool on your sheets, then transfer into your mouth. Yum.

United Cookies of America

Coffee and Doughnut Cupcakes

2012-01-15T10:58:00.000-08:00

Last week we had a lot of fun with doughnuts. Four dozen doughnuts worth of fun, really. But, in the end, I felt guilty. Maybe it was because we ate almost half of them for breakfast. Or maybe it was because I pawned off the other half on my friends so they could eat them for breakfast. No matter how much brainwashing Tim Horton's has put you through, you have to admit on essential truth about doughnuts: They are not meant to be eaten before noon. Yep, those bear claws and jelly doughnuts you chowed down on this morning were totally not appreciated by your gut.

But I've got a loophole for you. And it's name is coffee.

Something magical happens when coffee meets a doughnut. It's probably some horribly complicated chemical reaction that fuses molecules or rearranges ions or something. Don't ask me, I didn't do very well in Chem 12. But, when you combine the doughnut with coffee, there is an extraordinary change: This little ring of fried dough suddenly becomes a socially acceptable breakfast food. Totally equal in nutritional value to that flax seed green vegan smooth you had this morning. Trust me. I'm a blogger.

In order to rescue the sanctity of our mini doughnuts, we had to employ the great power of coffee. So we put the coffee in a cupcake, put the mini doughnuts on the cupcake, and called it a night.

Bam. Instant breakfast food you don't have to be ashamed of eating. The cake has a doughnut-like crumb to it and is spiked with the same spices as our mini doughnuts: nutmeg, cinnamon, and a dash of espresso powder. The frosting has an even stronger coffee kick to it, but it's also got a little secret sweetness to it that only a cream cheese icing can provide. On top lay our beloved chocolate glazed doughnut - now one hundred percent guilt free.

The things we do for your heath.

Coffee and Doughnut Cupcakes
Recipe adapted from Bakingdom

Makes a dozen cupcakes

1 1/2 cups AP flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon espresso powder
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter (melted)
1/2 cup full fat sour cream
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, whisk together your dry ingredients: flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, espresso powder, nutmeg, and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together your wet ingredients until completely combined: butter, sour cream, eggs, and vanilla. Pour your wet ingredients into your dry ingredients. Mix carefully with a wooden spoon until everything is completely incorporated and you've got a thick batter.

2) Place three tablespoons of batter into each of your lined cupcake tins. Bake for around 18 to 20 minutes, or until your cake tester comes out clean and your cupcake is very slightly golden. Set out to cool before icing.

Coffee Cream Cheese Frosting
4 ounces cream cheese
1/4 cup butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 Tablespoons strongly brewed coffee
1 teaspoon espresso powder
3 cups confectioner's sugar
mini cake doughnuts (recipe here)

1) In a large mixing bowl, whip together your butter and cream cheese until light and fluffy. Add your vanilla, coffee, and espresso powder. Continue beating. Slowly add your confectioner's sugar, a half cup at a time, and mix until completely incorporated. Frost your cooled cupcakes and add the mini cake doughnuts on top. Enjoy for breakfast. Because that's totally allowed.

Cake Doughnuts

2012-01-11T20:33:00.000-08:00

There are two types of doughnuts. Well, I'm sure there are more than two types. But I like to be dramatic. Anyway, were was I? Oh yes. Doughnuts.

The majority of treats you pick up at the local DD or Timmy Hos are the original: A soft, buttery, flaky yeast-based doughnut that is usually ring shaped or jelly/cream-filled. This includes those long johns and our beloved Tim Bits (sorry, America, you wouldn't understand). A lot of doughnut snobs say that this is the end all be all. I disagree.

The second type of doughnut is sort of like that weird cousin you have on your facebook: They claim to be part of your family, but nobody really knows how they're related to you. The cake doughnut is an odd one. It's not really a doughnut by usual standards - meaning no yeast, no deep frying. Yes, it can be shaped in that iconic ring, but is it really a wolves in sheep's clothing?

I will admit, I am fan of the cake doughnut. I even prefer them over their fried brethren. I have always thought they have more overall taste and substance. Yes, a yeast doughnut soft, buttery, and flaky. But that's about it. The rest of the taste usually depends on what it's dipped or rolled in. A cake doughnut can be so much more - it takes to extracts, flavourings, and spices especially well, and it's amazingly easy to add extra ingredients within the batter. Yeast doughnuts are also too finicky for my taste. Plus, deep frying them is always a bit of a greasy pain.

Even if you've been a yeast doughnut fan for a while, you need to try these simple little treats. They may be mini, but they definitely can take you to your doughnut happy place.

Mini Baked Doughnuts
adapted from swEEts by e

Makes about three dozen mini doughnuts

1 cup flour
1/4 cups + 2 Tablespoons sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon cloves
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon espresso powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup + 2 Tablespoons buttermilk
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 Tablespoon melted butter
Extra butter (for the doughnut pans)

1) Preheat your oven to 325 degrees. Butter up your mini doughnut pan and set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together all your dry ingredients: flour, sugar, baking powder, nutmeg, cloves,cinnamon, espresso powder, and salt. Pour in your wet ingredients - buttermilk, egg, vanilla, and melted butter - and mix lightly with a wooden spoon until your batter just until it comes together.

2) Put your batter in a piping bag and pipe it into each one of your mini doughnut cups. Bake for about 10 minutes, or until your doughnuts are nice and golden. Cool before glazing.

Chocolate Glaze
1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
2 Tablespoons cocoa powder
1 Tablespoon milk
Lots of sprinkles

1) Place the sugar, cocoa powder, and milk in a bowl and whisk well until you have no more lumps. Dip the back of a spoon in it and make sure that it leaves a nice thick cover - if not, add a couple of tablespoons more confectioner's sugar. Dip the tops of your cooled doughnuts, place on wax paper, sprinkle with sprinkles, then let the glaze set. Enjoy

Bacon Jam and Buttermilk Biscuits

2012-01-08T21:12:00.000-08:00

I've been seeing a lot of dazed people at my gym lately, walking around aimlessly. I assume these are those fabled New Years Resolutioners who are getting their buns in gear this month. You know, the "I promise to get my 30 minutes of excise a day" or "I'm going to eat healthy" people. I have mixed feelings about these poor souls: It's wonderful that they want to make a change in their lives. But I'm not sure they're going about it the right way.

As someone who completely overhauled their way of eating, I can promise you that a change like that takes years. Your french fry craving won't go away overnight. But that's okay. It takes baby steps - start with lowering your processed food/sugar intake, then work on portions, then increase your veggies, and on and on. You will slip. Of course you will. But that's okay. Having a treat on the weekend is not the end of the world.

And boy do we have a weekend treat for you:

Sometimes you have to say no to that extra bit of cake. And other times you have to indulge. This is one of those times.

Buttermilk biscuits are something that's easy and heart warming to make. Enjoying them, especially right out of the oven, is one of life's simple pleasures. The warm, buttery layers melt in your mouth, leaving that biscuit shaped hole in your heart filled (finally!). I'm sure I don't have to sell you out of your diet for one of these babies. We paired these fluffy little morsels with something a bit dangerous. Something a bit meaty.

Bacon jam may be something that raises eyebrows, but, I promise you, it's worth those few extra fatty calories. Once you stuff this stuff in your maw, and the sweet and salty flavours make love to your taste buds, you'll be in a happy place. The sort of happy place where there is no gym, diets, or New Years Resolutions. The sort of happy place where there are only buttermilk biscuits. And bacon jam.

Buttermilk Biscuits
Very slightly adapted from Martha Stewart

Makes about 14 biscuits

4 cups AP flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1 cup butter (cut into cubes)
2 cups buttermilk (whole fat, please!)

1) Preheat oven 375 degrees. In a large bowl, whisk together your flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar. Using your hands, mix in the butter until you're left with a sandy texture and pea sized chunks of butter throughout. Add the buttermilk and mix until you've created a stick dough.

2) Place a hefty amount of flour on your work space, and flatten the dough onto it, creating a disk that's about one inch flat. Cut out circles of dough, about two and a half inches in diameter, and place them on your baking tray. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until they tops have begun to get golden brown. Let cool slightly before enjoying.

Bacon Jam
Adapted from Evil Shenanigans

Makes about a cup and a bit of jam

1 pound bacon, not pre-sweetened or pre-flavoured - no maple, etc (cut into about an inch long pieces
1 large yellow onion (cut into quarter inch slices)
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
3 cloves garlic (minced)
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cayenne powder
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 cup brewed espresso (strong coffee works well too)
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup good quality whiskey
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 tablespoon sriracha

1) In a large pan, cook your bacon, a quarter pound at a time, until it's just started to get crispy around the edges. Set aside on a paper towel and drain the pan of bacon fat. Add your onion and brown sugar to the pan and cook until everything is really well caramelized. Add the garlic, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, cayenne, and paprika and cook for another couple of minutes.

2) Add your espresso, vinegar, whiskey, maple syrup, sriracha, and cooked bacon into the pan. Increase the heat to a boil, and stir mixture every 15 minutes until it has thickened to a very syrupy state - about an hour in total.

3) Let the mixture cool slightly and pulse in a food processor until you get your preferred consistency (I believe Mr. C hit the pulse button about 15 to 18 times). Smear it warm on a biscuit and forget about your New Years Resolution. Store in an air tight container, and refrigerate when not using.

Journey Around the World (of Cake): Greek New Years Cake - Vasilopita

2012-01-05T21:38:00.000-08:00

We're old. Not old by usual standards, mind you. To most, Mr. C and I are still young whipper snappers (does anyone say that anymore?). But, in our own little private world, we are, without a doubt, old. Gone are the days of bar hopping, drinking until wee hours of the night , and barfing into your friend's houseplant. Gone are the days of sleeping in until mid-afternoon and doing nothing buy playing video games for the rest of the day. Gone are the days when we could survive on nothing but stir fry and, my personal favourite, "Soup On Rice" (it's exactly how it sounds). Now, all we do is complain about "those darn kids" and their "fixed speed bikes" and "hipster mustaches".

It's no surprise that we're not big New Years people. Staying up until midnight is near impossible for us at this point. We are nicely trained little worker bees who have been programmed to go to bed at ten and wake up at six. December 31st is a daunting task for us. Anything past 11pm is seriously intimidating.

This year, however, we braved the night and ventured out to a buddy's house. It was here that we discovered the secret to surviving New Years: An exorbitant amount of food and drink is required to keep you occupied until the clock strikes twelve. Stuffed peppers, many types of root vegetables, and a crispy roast duck entertained us for a while, but it was the cake that really brought us into the New Year.

Greek New Years Cake: Vasilopita

So what is it?
Traditionally, Vasilopita was a sweet yeast bread spiked with the flavour of almond, orange, and poppy seeds. Now a days, if you don't have a darling little Greek grannie, most people create their light-as-air cakes with whipped egg whites. The best part of the Vasilopita is the little surprise it hides - a coin or trinket that gives good luck to whomever happens upon it within their slice.

When did it first pop out of the oven?
So, way back in the fourth century, there was this dude name Basil. Saint Basil if you're getting picky. He found himself concerned with how to distribute charity to the poor without, you know, making it look like charity. His solution: bake the money into a cake, give the cake to the needy, and hope to god that they didn't choke on all those coins.

Is it worth my time?
With any egg white based cake, it can get a little picky. It is also a pretty large and delicate cake, so a lot of baking time in a fairly even oven is needed. The texture and taste of this cake, however, is worth the trouble. If you'd like my opinion, thought, I'd think about baking the batter into cupcake tins. That way, the oven time is reduced, and everyone gets their own coin!

Got a recipe?
Yup

Greek VasilopitaMakes one 10" cake
1/2 cup butter
1 1/4 cups sugar
4 eggs, separated
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup milk
the zest from one large orange
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup almonds, crushed
1/3 cup poppy seeds
raw almonds and confectioner's sugar (to decorate)
a coin wrapped in tin foil

1) Preheat oven to 350. Butter or oil a 10" cake pan. Whisk together your flour, salt, and baking powder in a small bowl and set aside.

2) In a large bowl, whip your butter and sugar until very light and fluffy - about 5 to 7 minutes. Add your egg yolks, one at a time, and continue whipping. After everything has combined well, you may add the rest of you wet ingredients: almond and vanilla extract, milk, and orange zest. Mix until everything is combined well. With a wooden spoon, stir in your flour mixture until just combined. Set aside.

3) In a separate bowl, pour in your egg whites. Whip until they just being to form stiff peaks. Carefully fold your egg whites into your batter. Add the crushed almonds and poppy seeds, stirring a few times to evenly distribute. Pour batter into your cake pan, making sure it's even. Drop your coin randomly into the batter, pushing down a bit so it's covered. Sprinkle with raw almonds. Bake for about 30-35 minutes, or until your cake tester comes out clean. Cool, then sprinkle with confectioner's sugar. Serve and don't choke on that coin!

Journey Around the World (of Cake)

A (Tasty) Year In Review: 2011

2011-12-31T10:56:00.000-08:00

2011 was memorable, I'm sure. A lot happened, anyways. I think. To be honest, after a long Christmas vacation, the last 12 months are kinda blurry to me right now. I had to set aside some time, sit down, and take a long look at the treats we've baked over the year. Some I looked back with fondness, others I shook my head for a while and thought "Why oh why did I think that was a good idea?"

Here's a run down of some of C&C's most distinctive desserts of 2011:

January - Nutella Crème Brûlée

Before this post, creme brulee was something utterly frightening and unattainable. Five star restaurants make it, not someone who puts bacon and sauerkraut into cupcakes. Finally, I swallowed my somewhat awkward pride and went head first into zee creme. And boy did I ever.

February - Cthulhu Cupcakes

Things we learned while reading this post: I'm a nerd. I'm a bit insane. The dark lord Cthulhu will come and end us all.

March - The Captain Kirk

This was one of Mr. C's favourite cupcakes ever. And for good reason too: It tasted like ice cream.

April - Vegan Vanilla Sex Bob-omb

The Sex Bob-omb is a whole lot of work. I actually don't think I'd attempt a batch again. Last time I'm pretty sure I ODed on vegan pastry cream.

May - Victorian Sandwich Cakes

This post just goes to show you that I can be delicate and refined. What you don't see is I'm picking my nose. Right now.

June - Boston Cream Pie Cookies

I just wanted to repost this one so I could tell Luongo to eat a D once again. Hey, Luongo! Eat a D.

July - Butter Tart Canada Day Cupcakes

So patriotic. Brings a maple syrup flavoured tear to my eye.

August - Hufflepuff Cookies

Our Hogwarts Cookies were all beloved - but this was our most requested. Maybe it's because it was filled with every type of candy bar you could imagine. Or maybe it's because IT'S THE SIZE OF YOUR FACE.

September - Vegan Brownies (and PB & Banana Vegan Ice Cream)

I will stand by this recipe forever. This is the best brownie - vegan or no - I've ever made. The ice cream was melt-your-face-off amazing as well.

October - Bloody Beet Cupcakes

I don't think cupcakes that taste like vegetables will catch on. I hope I can convince a few of you with this recipe, though.

November - Prince Charming Pumpkin Cupcakes

In which we found out that Prince Charming is sort of a loser.

December - A Trio of Vegan Christmas Cookies

Our most popular vegan treat this year - and no wonder. These things will have you "Ho Ho Hoing" until next year.

And there you have it, folks! C&C 2011 in a nut shell! Let's hope that 2012 brings more memorable treats (you know it will). Mr. C and I wish you a very champagne-filled New Years! If you have your own 2011 year in review for your own blog, make sure you link it up here -We love to read and reminisce about cookies/cupcakes of yore.

Vegan Gingerbread Cupcakes

2011-12-24T18:48:00.000-08:00

I already posted a lovely gingerbread cupcake. But there's a million little cupcakes out there. In fact, there are a million little Christmas treats out there. The majority of which have quite a lot of butter and cream. When you think about it, most of what is traditionally served on Christmas is not exactly vegan/veggie friendly. You've got your turkeys and hams and lambs etc etc. Even the produce tends to have dairy and or meaty things on top. I mean, why ruin those yummy yams with a gob of marshmallows? Actually, could someone explain that one to me?

Us vegans can scrape by just fine during this season, but it is a little rough. Especially when someone brings out the spiked eggnog and rum balls. I thought it was about time to help you guys out and share our favourite Christmas vegan recipe.

This cake is light with a lovely crumb. You can put any sort of frosting you'd like on it - lemon or nutmeg or the like - but we chose to just dip it in a light lemon ginger glaze. Make sure you have plenty of candied ginger on hand! You can't go wrong with Alton Brown's recipe. And, vegans, remember to be nice and share with all your friends. Because that's what this season is all about.

Vegan Gingerbread Cupcakes
adapted from Vegan Cupcake Takes Over the World

1 1/4 cups flour (we use half white and half whole wheat)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup fancy molasses
1/2 cup real maple syrup
1/4 cup non-dairy milk (we used almond)
1 Tablespoon fresh grated ginger
2 Tablespoons soy yogurt
1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, whisk together your dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Set aside.

2) In a large bowl, whisk together the oil, molasses, maple syrup, non-dairy milk, yogurt, lemon, and ginger until everything is well blended. Sift in your dry ingredients and stir with a wooden spoon until your batter comes together and is smooth.

3) Fill you cupcake pan with about three tablespoons per liner. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until your cake tester comes out clean. Let cool completely before glazing.

Lemon Ginger Glaze
3 Tablespoons water
3 Tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon fresh grated ginger
1 - 2 cups confectioner's sugar
candied ginger

1) Combine your water, lemon juice, and ginger in a deep bowl. Add your confectioner's sugar, 1/4 cup at a time, and whisk well in-between. Keep adding until you've created your desired consistency - ours was about a cup and a quarter, but you can make yours thinner or thicker depending on your own tastes. Dip your cupcake tops in the glaze, making sure any of the extra has dripped off. Sprinkle with candied ginger and let dry completely before serving.

Mini Gingerbread Cupcakes

2011-12-17T21:51:00.000-08:00

Everyone needs a little Christmas spirit in their lives. Even if they're not really into Christmas.

I have been known to be a grinch every now and again. When I see those Black Friday videos or the hundreds of cars lining up to get to the mall, my heart does a little flip-flop. There's so much greed floating around, it's hard to celebrate this holiday season as one that advocates charity. This is why Mr. C and I don't exchange gifts - we don't really need anything, so why go out and fight the crowds to get something useless for one another? Instead, we travel, have a nice dinner and a bottle of wine (or two), and celebrate the little things in life.

So, maybe this year, think about making a new Christmas tradition with your family. Instead of buying endless amounts of stuff, just spend the day together. Go out and experience the world (as long as you're not snowed in). Spread some real Christmas spirit.

Here's some mini Christmas spirits to get you started:

Mini Gingerbread Cupcakesadapted from Martha Stewart
Makes about three dozen mini cupcakes
1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup boiling water
1 1/4 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup butter, warm
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons fresh ginger
1/2 cup fancy molasses
1 egg

1) Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, all the ground spices, salt, and baking powder. Set aside. Combine the baking soda with the boiling water in a small cup and set aside as well.

2) Whip up the butter and the brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add the molasses and ginger, and mix for another 1 to 2 minutes and then add the extra egg, mixing well. Add your baking soda mixture and continue to mix until everything is incorporated. Sift in the flour mixture and mix with a wooden spoon until your batter has just come together.

3) Add a tablespoon of batter to each one of your mini cupcake liners. Bake for about 10 to 12 minutes, or until your cupcake liner comes out clean. Set out to cool completely before icing.

Simple Cinnamon and Nutmeg Frosting
6 ounces cream cheese
1/4 cup butter
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Confectioner's sugar (about 1 1/2 to 2 cups)

1) Use your electric mixer to whip up the cream cheese and butter. When the mixture is light and fluffy, add your cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla, then continue to mix. Add the confectioner's sugar, a half cup at a time, until nice and thick. Pipe a small amount on the top of each cupcake (it's a sweet frosting, so you don't need too much). Enjoy your little Christmas spirit!

A Trio of Vegan Christmas Cookies

2011-12-11T14:33:00.000-08:00

Movember took a lot out of us - I mean, we did have to consume quite a few intense cupcakes. Taking a break was a necessity (especially for Mr. C's waistline). I thought we could take the month to relax. And detox.

Of course, I forgot that December comes after November. December means Christmas. And that means Christmas cake, pies, bars, chocolate. Oh, and cookies. So. Many. Cookies.

Picture taken by Laura of The First Mess.

I'm usually pretty good at avoiding all those holiday sweets - most of them are verboten anyways, just because of all that non-vegany buttery stuff they usually contain. (Don't worry, Mr. C usually takes one for the team and eats my share as well.)

This year, however, I signed up for The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap. I love baking for others, so I thought it was nifty to send a little box of C&C goodness across the country to brighten someone else's day. Unfortunately, I forgot about the other half of this little deal - I send out boxes of cookies, yes, but that means that I'll get a whole hell of a lot of cookies back. Oh. Dear. I don't know if my poor little bloated tummy could handle such things.

Luck shined upon my gut, however. I was informed by the organizers that there was only one other Canadian vegan that signed up for the cookie swap. Suddenly, I felt a little awful - like one of those ancient Galapagos turtles who slowly crawls across the land looking for another one of its species. Only two vegans doing cookie swap in Canada? For shame!

Now I had to bake with pride! I had to represent! I had to fill my cookie swap partner's gullet with so many vegan delights, she'll be set for sweet until the New Year. So, instead of doing just one kind of cookie, we did three of my favourites: Almond Thumbprints, Chocolate Mint Crinkles, and Blackstrap Ginger Cookies. They're simple, the texture is amazing, and the flavour is spot on. Perfect for Christmas. And, I promise you, your non-vegan friends/family members won't be missing all that extra butter.

(Before you check out our recipes, please take the time to check out The First Mess. Laura was the other vegan in this little trade and sent us some seriously awesome cookies.)

These three cookie recipes are adapted from Vegan Cookies Invade your Cookie Jar. We really swapped things around, but I would recommend you picking up the book and trying the originals as well.

Vegan Almond ThumbprintsMakes about 20 cookies
1/3 cup vegetable oil1/2 cup brown sugar1/2 cup almond butter (I've always made my own using this recipe)1/3 cup almond milk (or your favourite non-dairy milk)1 teaspoon vanilla extract1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (I used half white, half whole wheat)2 Tablespoons cornstartch1/2 teaspoon salt1/4 teaspoon baking powder1/2 cup roasted almonds, finely choppedYour favourite homemade jam - I would recommend raspberry (just make sure it doesn't have gelatin in it!)
1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pour some warm water in a small bowl and spread your chopped nuts onto a plate. Set it aside until you're ready for them.
2) In a large mixing bowl, whisk together your oil, sugar, and almond butter. Mix in the almond milk and vanilla. Slowly sift in all your dry ingredients: flour, cornstarch, salt, and baking powder. Mix with a wooden spoon until a stiff dough forms.
3) Roll the dough into walnut-shaped balls and dip quickly into your warm water. Roll the dough balls in the chopped almonds then put on your baking sheet. Use a half-teaspoon or your thumb to make a deep imprint into the cookie. Spoon a little of the jam in, making sure not to overfill it. You will probably fit all your cookies onto one sheet - they can be pretty tight together because they don't spread. Bake for about 18 minutes, then remove and let cool for at least 5 minutes before taking them off the baking sheet. Enjoy when completely cool.

Vegan Chocolate Mint CrinklesMakes about 2 dozen
3/4 cup sugar1/3 cup vegetable oil2 Tablespoons dark corn syrup1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract1/3 cup of your favourite non-dairy milk (we use almond milk)1 Tablespoon ground flax seed4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, melted1 1/4 cups plus 2 Tablespoons flour2 Tablespoons cocoa powder3/4 teaspoon baking powder1/4 teaspoon saltExtra confectioners sugar and regular sugar to roll cookies in.
1) Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a large bowl, whisk together your sugar, oil, corn syrup, vanilla and mint extracts, nondairy milk, flax seeds, and melted chocolate until smooth. Sift in your dry ingredients: cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. Mix with a wooden spoon until you have a moist dough. You will need to let the dough sit in fridge for at least a half hour so you can work with it easily.
2) When your dough is chilled, scoop out just over a tablespoon and roll it into a ball. Roll the dough ball first in your extra granulated sugar, then in your confectioners sugar. Use as much sugar as you can pile on - the more sugar, the more crinkled the cookie will appear. Place the dough balls on your baking sheet, making sure to leave enough room between the cookies. Bake for about 14 minutes, or until cookies are slightly puffed and have cracked all the way across. Cool for about 5 minutes before taking off the cookie sheet. Enjoy!

Blackstrap Ginger CookiesMakes about 2 dozen cookies
3/4 cup sugar1/3 cup blackstrap molasses (it's a much stronger flavour than fancy molasses. If you're a little bit of a molasses pussy, go ahead and use fancy. But, I promise you, you'll be happy if you take the blackstrap risk)1/2 cup vegetable oil3 Tablespoons almond milk (or your favourite non-dairy milk)1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract1 3/4 cups all purpose flour (I used half white, half whole wheat)3 overflowing teaspoons fresh grated ginger3/4 teaspoon nutmeg1/2 teaspoon baking soda1/2 teaspoon saltconfectioners sugar1 Tablespoon lemon juice + 2 teaspoons waterCandied ginger
1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, molasses, oil, non-dairy milk, ginger, and vanilla. Sift in your dry ingredients: the flour, nutmeg, baking soda, and salt. With a spatula, fold the dry into the wet to form a firm dough.
2) Scoop tablespoon-sized out of the dough, and roll it into a ball. Place the dough onto your baking sheets, leaving room in between to let them spread out a bit. Bake for about 12 minutes, or until the edges have just stared to brown. Let the cookies rest on the baking sheets for at least 5 minutes before taking them off to cool on your cookie wrack.
3) Place your lemon juice and water in a small bowl. Add your confectioner's sugar one tablespoon at a time, whisking in-between additions, until you've got a royal icing that suits your taste. Ours is about the consistency of glue, but you can make it thinner in order to create a glaze instead. Drizzle your icing over your cookie and place a piece of candied ginger onto the drizzle. Let dry before enjoying.

The 2011 Movember Manly Cupcake Champion!

2011-11-30T20:15:00.000-08:00

Shhhh! Do you hear that? That, my friends, is the sounds of trillions of tiny hairs being scrapped off upper lips. Today is the day that men everywhere finally shave off those really nasty porno 'staches and come back to the world of socially acceptable facial hair. Together, Canadian Mo Bros and Sistas raised $32 million for prostate and testicular cancer research, as well as other not-so-nice men's health issues. Pretty cool huh?

The end of November means the end of our Movember Manly Cupcake Contest. Which also means you finally get to know who the true champion of champions is. I've taken all the judges scores, added them all up and averaged the points. Let's run down the scores and get down and dirty:

Cupcake #1

The Anchorman

Scores:Taste - 4 / 5Decoration - 3 / 5Overall Uniqueness - 3.5 / 5Overall Manliness: 4 / 5Judges Comments:

"[The scotch is] a bit strong tasting . . . perhaps I'm not manly enough for this cupcake."
"A bit heavy, but somehow adds to the manliness."
"It's delightful lingering hint of scotch has given me a lady erection."

Baker's Comments:

I love acorn squash. So very much. I was a bit cautious about putting it into a cake, though - I thought the delicate flavour of the squash would be over-powered by the spice. But, nope, that squash shined through just fine. The overall flavour was lovely - I would have kicked a bit more spice, but that's just splitting hairs. The texture came out a little heavy and spongy for me. The scotch frosting was amazing. Very sweet, yes, but the flavour of the liquor was Spot. On. A little too strong for some of the judges, yes, but not for me. But I'm a booze hound.

Cupcake #2

The Doc Holiday

Scores: Taste - 2 / 5Decoration - 4 / 5Overall Uniqueness - 3.5 / 5Overall Manliness: - 2 / 5Judges Comments:

"Pleasant enough . . . icing was too sweet."
"It takes a real man to wear pink and a mo."
"Taste didn't quite live up to it's rootin' tootin' decor."

Baker's Comments:

I have a confession to make: using shortening in baking kind of frightens me. And, when I saw how much shortening was used in the Doc Holiday, I was indeed a little frightened. But, after baking the cake, my anxiety was eased. The cake had a good crumb and nice vanilla flavour. It did, however, end up being way too sweet for my tastes - I'd actually take out a quarter to a third of the sugar just to balance things out a bit. The frosting had promise, but I believe a mellow icing - like a swiss meringue - would have treated the berries way better. The deadly amounts of confectioners' sugar overwhelmed the delicate huckleberry. That said, I believe this cupcake would be very much loved at any birthday party.

Cupcake #3

The Clint Eastwood

Scores:Taste - 4 / 5Decoration - 4.5 / 5Overall Uniqueness - 3.5 / 5Overall Manliness - 3.5 / 5Judges Comments:

"Too much butter in the icing . . . delicious cake."
"Best cake of the bunch."
"Did not cause me to immediately sprout a mustache. May need more guns."

Baker's Comments:

I love it when I get a chance to smuggle beer into my baking. This cake had a lovely texture, crumb, and a perfect chocolate flavour. The smell of the stout really hugged the cupcake, but the taste wasn't quite there. Of course, I have yet to figure out how to get a really bold beer flavour out of my baked goods (please someone tell me!). The frosting had an amazing flavour - the texture, however, wasn't quite right. I think it had something to do with the ratio of butter to everything else. I am sad to say I never got to make the whiskey ganache that went with this cupcake - the recipe on the blog link did not include directions, and I had to stay true to the recipe. Next time, though, that whiskey ganache is mine!

Now that we've seen the point break down, lets finally find out WHO'S CUISINE REIGNS SUPREME . . .

Cupcake #1 : 14.5 / 20

Cupcake #2: 11.5 / 20

Cupcake #3: 15.5 / 20

Congratulation to Shaleena of Sweet Catastrophe Cakes!
Your Clint Eastwood Cupcakes are the Manliest Cupcakes of 2011!

Yay you!

To all our finalists - Shaleena, Dez, and Beth - thank you for making this such an amazing contest. Your creativity and cupcakes were all truly off the hook. We had an absolute blast, and I hope everyone out there in blogland did as well. Now, to the good part. The prizes:

Kriskrop Memories- One dozen cupcake toppers
The Lunch Box Project - A set of Cupcake Cards
Cake Wrecks - A personalized copy of Cake Wrecks and a pin pack
Vanilla Food Company - 1lb of Madagascar vanilla beans for the Grand Prize winner, and a quarter pound for the two runners up
Bella Cupcake Couture - one pack of Cupcake Wrappers for each of our Finalists
Drama Llama - a handmade woven and mustachioed pouch
Freaky Fleece - a drawstring Mustache bag
Petite Pastries - a handmade cupcake charm
Miss Kitty Creations - a special edition Tuxedo Cupcake Charm
Scoop-n-Save - A Manly Movember Prize pack, including sprinkles, disco dust, cupcake liners, cookie cutter, and chocolate molds
Whodini Handmade - A mustachioed vinyl wallet
I will be emailing you and the sponsors to get the gravy train moving. If the finalists could email me your addresses preemptively, that would help get everything to you much quicker. YAY FREE STUFF!

Much love to all our prize sponsors, everyone who entered, and everyone who set eyes on our blog during the month of November. You really made the Movember Foundation proud! Remember, only 365 days until the Next Manly Cupcake Contest! You better get planning, because we sure are!

2011 Manly Cupcake Finalists

2011-11-26T11:56:00.000-08:00

The votes are in, people. We finally have our three supreme cupcakes that will face off in the ultimate bake-off this weekend. Without further ado:

The People's Choice

The Anchorman from Young Idealistic Baker

If you've been watching the votes all week, you know that this was an amazingly close race. In fact, I believe The Anchorman came into first place with just a few hours left! Wowwy wow wow! I'm super excited about this cupcake - perhaps because I love squash cake, perhaps because Anchorman is the bee's knees. Congrats Beth for being the People's Choice!

The Baker's Choice

The Giant Clint Eastwood by Sweet Catastrophe Cakes

This was another super close race. Like, within two points close. This giant monster of a cupcake came screaming into the lead on Friday, guns a-blazin'. I think it's how Clint would have done it. Both Mr. C and I are excited about the Stout and Irish Whiskey combo - it means we have an excuse to buy more booze! I thank the sweet lord that I don't have to recreate the decor - that shit is bananas!

C&C's Choice

The Doc Holiday from Sweets by Dez

Mr. C and I grumbled over this decision all week long. There were so many cupcakes we wanted to try - Mr. C will hate me forever if I don't eventually bake up that Yosemite Sam recipe - but there was one that did stand slightly above the rest. The Doc Holiday's decor was impressive, but beneath that lay a pretty tasty looking recipe. We're rum people in this house, and that huckleberry frosting is super bright (especially during the dank Vancouver winter we've been having). Plus, I've got two words for you: Val Kilmer.

Before we go off to collect ingredients and warm up the oven, I've really got to give a giant thanks to everyone who took the time to enter this contest! No mater how many people voted for you, you've got to remember that you all really have worked hard and put a lot of effort into Movember. Don't worry too much about not making it to the finals, you've done more than enough by raising awareness and money for men's health! Each and every cupcake recipe here will be kept in our recipe bank, because I definitely want to be tasting them all ! The creativity of this year was outstanding - I hope we see you all next year!

As for the finalists, we will be baking your cupcakes throughout this weekend. We're bringing in a team of professional cupcake-testers who will be judging each manly morsel by taste, uniqueness, manliness, and overall design. We'll only be recreating the taste - the pictures and blog post you've sent in will take care of everything else.

Now then, we've got a handful of judges to put in a sugar coma! We'll chat again soon!

The 2011 Movember Manly Cupcake Roundup

2011-11-21T18:56:00.000-08:00

Ten marvelous bakers have decided to put on their big boy britches and dive in head first into a pool of testostorone and frosting. We're going to let them wrestle around for a bit (maybe they'll tire each other out?). Meanwhile, it's now up to you to vote for your favourite! Remember, we're looking for something extra special. Something that's full of flavour, character, originality. Oh, and manliness.

A reminder to how the final voting works: You, the people, can vote for one cupcake each. The bakers will also vote by email, and will choose a cupcake recipe (that's not their own) to be the Baker's Choice. Finally, Mr. C and I will choose a third cupcake to battle in the final showdown, which will take place next weekend.

So, take some time. Read through the contenders. And get with the voting!

Orange Clove Chuck's Cake

Orange Clove Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream and Cloved & Candied Orange Peel

by Mariana of AlphaBeta Pie and Cakes

Clove is mainly identical with men. In Indonesia, we also use clove to make cigarette. This is why I choose this recipe to join this contest. Clove in the cupcake will give a strong after-taste (it does, really). The Mo from the Movies that perfectly suited this recipe is Chuck Norris. I choose him because the orange color from the orange peel represent his blonde hair and especially his bold mustache. The blue color on the buttercream represent his bright blue eyes.

The Shaft

Toffee Peanut Butter Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting and Toffee Peanuts

by David of Cupcakes Everywhere

Our cupcake is sexy, bad ass...it's Samuel L. Jackson's SHAFT, "SHUT YO MOUTH" good! The cupcake is a peanut butter cake with toffee peanuts on top. The icing is also a rich peanut butter icing and a toffee peanut on top. I figured, if it's going to be manly it has to have nuts!

The Yosemite Sam

Brown Sugar Brown Butter Beef Jerky Cupcake with BBQ Cream Cheese and fondant decoration

by Lena of Frosted Bakery

A rootin' tootin' good time for all you varmints!

The Man with No Name Cupcake

Vanilla Bacon Cupcakes with Bacon Buttercream and Candied Bacon

by Jessica of Jessy Cupcake Company

I made a Vanilla Bacon Man with No Name Cupcake decorated in honor of the manly mustache of the Man With No Name, as played by Clint Eastwood in the Fist full of Dollars Trilogy Films, A Fist Full of Dollars (1964), For a Few Dollars More (1965) and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966).

The Jack Sparrow

Dark Rum and Eggnog Cupcakes

by Crystal of Reddy Made Cakes

Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) has an awesome mustache and I thought I could come up with some cool ideas. The DVD’s are in the photos to hint that it actually had a MOS OF THE MOVIES theme, not to mention the rum in the cupcakes and in the butter cream. Jack sparrow (Johnny Depp) is all about the rum when in the movie.

The Giant Clint Eastwood Cupcake

Double Chocolate Stout Cake with an Irish Whiskey Butterceam and filled with an Irish Whiskey Ganache sprinkled with cookie crumbs

by Shaleena of Sweet Catastrophe Cakes

The Theme this year is Manly Mo's of the Movies so automatically I thought of Clint Eastwood in The Good , The Bad , And the Ugly I decided on a Double Chocolate Stout Cupcake , topped with a Irish Whiskey Buttercream, filled with a Irish Cream Ganache with a dusting of cookie crumbs for the Ugly ha! That's as cowboy 'd I could get this cupcakes well, without throwing in a Steak and a cigar ! So behold the finished product the art work is all freehand painted.

Bourbon Rhett Velvet Cupcakes

Southern Comfort Red Velvet Cupcakes with Southern Comfort Frosting

by Stephanie of Sweet Sangria

When I think of mustaches in the movies and all things manly, I think of Clark Gable's character, Rhett Butler, in Gone With the Wind and I think of a good southern bourbon. With this in mind, I decided to make Bourbon "Rhett" Velvet Cupcakes. They are rich and smooth with a little bite to them, just how I like my men, haha. Is it wrong to have more than one? Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn.

The Doc Holiday

Vanilla and Rum Cake with Huckleberry Buttercream

by Dez of Sweets by Dez

After much consideration and brainstorming, my mind kept going to one character in particular from one of my favorite movies...Tombstone. No, its not Wyatt Earp but it's his friend Doc Holiday. Val Kilmer played Doc in that movie. He has really been the best Doc that I have seen so far. I love his phrase in the movie, "I'm your Huckleberry." I decided to make a Vanilla Cupcake drizzled with Rum topped with a Huckleberry Buttercream. Add a hat, mustache, tin cup, and a gun belt...and *POOF*...you have a Doc Holiday Cupcake.

The Princess Bride Cupcake

Rum Cupcakes with Rum Glaze, Cinnamon-Vanilla filling, and Apple Cream Cheese Frosting

by Holly of Twelve Good Things

As soon as I read it was a movies theme, I immediately thought of my favorite movie: The Princess Bride. In my opinion, the most memorable- and glorious- mustache in the movie graces the lip of Inigo Montoya, although Westley sports a sharp little blonde ‘stache as well. Naturally, a swordfight brings to mind pirates (although, technically, only Westley was a pirate at that point) and what could say “pirate” better than rum? So I started with a rum cake with rum glaze, filled it with cinnamon-vanilla pudding, and topped it with apple cream cheese frosting.

The Anchorman

Spiced Squash Cupcake topped with a Brown Sugar and Scotch Frosting

by Beth of Young Idealistic Baker

I took inspiration from the movie Anchorman and picked squash because a male friend suggested it and I thought it was unique enough to be worth trying out (definitely worth it because they were delicious) and scotch because it's Ron Burgundy's drink of choice. The cupcakes were DELICIOUS!!

A super big thank you to all our amazing contestants for taking the time to support the Movember Foundation and men's health! This really wouldn't have been successful without all of you!

A reminder that the winner of this contest will be receiving some super sweet stuff. Check it out:

The Manly Cupcake Contest Prize Sponsor's Include:

Prince Charming's Mini Pumpkin Cupcakes

2011-11-17T20:24:00.000-08:00

You have until November 20th at 11:59pm PST to enter the 2011 Movember Manly Cupcake Contest. Better hop to it!

I don't understand the appeal of Prince Charming. I guess he's kind of dreamy, in a sexless, Ken Doll sort of way? But why oh why are all those girls in the Cinderella kingdom climbing all over each other to be with this dude? There must be something going on that we're not seeing. Let's take a closer look.

First off, he's a prince. Of what country? Of course, they're kind of vague. According to the dude's spiffy semi-militant, bourgeois outfit, I'm going to have to guess some Austrian-Hungary alternate dimension. Maybe he's a great great uncle of Archduke Ferdinand? I guess that's pretty cool. Marrying a prince is something special, even if he's just prince of a kind of lame country.

If he's a prince, he's probably pretty loaded. But can a large amount of cash distract from that hairmet he's got going on? Probably not.

He does through a killer party, I'll give him that. And I'm always looking for an excuse to wear my sweet pannier.

In the original Disney film, the Prince falls in love with Cinderella without any real conversation. He sees how pretty she is, and then BAM - totally ready to marry the broad. I guess that's appealing? As long as you have no personality and really tiny feet that can squeeze into a glass slipper.

You don't see the Prince very much in the movie. Maybe a couple times during the ball, then when he gets hitched to 'Rella. He's elusive. Secretive. Cooler than you. He's like a royal hipster.

Okay, maybe he's got some winning attributes. Doesn't exactly have a glowing personality, but I wouldn't kick the bloke out of bed. Now if only I could turn my pumpkin into a carriage.

Prince Charming's Mini Pumpkin Cupcakes
adapted from The Sweetest Kitchen

Makes about two dozen mini cupcakes

1/2 cup flour
1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon cloves
1/4 cups brown sugar
1/3 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon fresh grated ginger
1/4 cup melted butter
1 egg
a half can of pumpkin, about 4 oz

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. Set aside.

2) In a large bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, white sugar, ginger, melted butter, and egg until really light and fluffy. Add the dry ingredients and stir with a wooden spoon until just combined. Your batter will be pretty thick, but don't worry, that's what the pumpkin is for! Fold in the pumpkin until completely combined.

3) Spoon about a tablespoon of batter into each one of your lined mini cupcake pans. Bake for about 12-15 minutes, or until your cake tester comes out clean. Leave out to cool before frosting.

Quick Cream Cheese Icing
1/4 cup butter
4 oz cream cheese
1/4 cup caramel sauce or dulce de leche
confectioner's sugar

1) Whip up the butter, cream cheese, and caramel/dulce de leche in a large bowl. Slowly add confectioner's sugar until you get your desired consistency. We use about a cup and a half to two cups. Frost cupcakes and enjoy!

Barbarian Bars

2011-11-14T19:53:00.000-08:00

This is the last weekend you can send in your entry to our 2011 Movember Manly Cupcake Contest. Hop to it!

If I had to ask you to think of the most rough, tough, and manly movie start out there, who would you picture? Maybe Clint? Sly? Bruce? Chuck? There are a lot of options out there. I just hope to god you don't think of those little pussy boys from those Twilight movies. I'll never forgive you if you do. In fact, you can leave right now. Go on.

Now that there are just the cool guys in here, let me tell you a secret. If you asked me to name the number one manly actions star, in my heart of hearts, there's only one man.

Sure, I love Bruce and Clint and Sly. (In fact, Sly comes in a really close second for me, but don't tell him that). But, Arnie truly is the movie star that's so full of testosterone, I can't bare to look away. Let's look at the facts:

He could probably crush a walnut between his pecs.
He's pretty fresh with the ladies.
He became a star by only saying a handful of lines ("Whooooo are youuu?").
He was so popular, he became the Governator (really, now, he wasn't really elected because of his political prowess).

Even though Arnie isn't the best movie star out there, he is quite the manly specimen. And that's all that really matters during the month of Movember. He really deserves his own sweet treat. It can't be too fussy - this guy isn't the type to stand around and beat an egg white into a meringue or sprinkle icing sugar lovingly on some chiffon cake. If Arnie had to create a baked good, he'd just want to crush everything together, throw it in the oven, and then feast upon the outcome.

So we came up with this:

The Barbarian Bar can be called many names - Seven Layer, Magic, etc - but it does indeed have the heart of a Terminator inside. It will destroy you with it's sweetness. But, you can't just help coming back to grab more. Bring it!

Barbarian Bars

adapted from Brown Eyed Baker

1 3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs

1/2 cup salted butter

1 cup chopped pecans

1 cup bittersweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup chopped white chocolate (use the good stuff!)

1/2 cup butterscotch chips

1 cup sweetened shredded coconut

1 can sweetened condensed milk (14 oz)

1) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9x13 baking pan with parchment paper. In a medium bowl, nuke your butter until just melted. Slowly incorporate the graham cracker crumbs and stir with spoon until evenly distributed. Spread evenly on the bottom of your lined baking pan and press using the bottom of a cup or glass.

2) Sprinkle your ingredients onto the graham cracker crust in the following order: pecans, chocolate chips, chopped white chocolate, butterscotch chips, coconut. Pour the condensed milk evenly over top of everything, careful to cover the complete pan. Don't forget the corners!

3) Bake for about 25 minutes, or until the bars are golden. Leave out until they are completely cool before cutting and eating.

The 2011 Movember Manly Cupcake Contest

2011-10-31T20:44:00.000-07:00

Last year, around this time, something magical started. It involved frosting and whiskers. And it was glorious.

This year, we hope to keep the tradition of Movember alive and kicking. Prostate Cancer occurs in every 1 in 6 men in Canada, but it receives less than half the research funds that are available to Breast Cancer. The pink ribbons and reminders about mammograms and pap smears are everywhere, but when's the last time you've seen a parade encouraging men to get tested for testicular cancer? Let's face it: Men are men. They have a hard time talking about their assholes and balls in public. It's time to do something about it.

The Movember foundation, started in 2003, encourages men of all shapes and sizes (as well as their female counterparts) to grow the most manly mustache they can muster. Through this act, men and their supporters will ban together to raise money and awareness for all types of male health problems. Hopefully, in years to come, prostate and testicular cancer will be talked about freely, and funding for these men health issues will start to really flow.

C&C Cakery want to continue to show their support by hosting . . .

Finally, we can spread awareness along with our frosting! Last year, we let you have free reign on your creations - any manly recipe would do. This year, however, we're going to make the contest a bit more for a challenge. This year, your entry should be inspired by Mos in the Movies. That's right, your cupcake recipe and/or decoration should reflect a manly movie star - especially one with whiskers on their face. Here's a couple lists to help you get your juices flowing. Please visit our main challenge page for full rules and regulations.

Here's the 'deets:
From now until November 20th, bake up some amazingly unique cupcakes that have a real manly movie star attitude. This could be reflected in the recipe, the taste, or the decorations. Really, this part is open to your interpretation, so be as creative as you want to be!

When you have the perfect recipe, post it on your blog with lots of lovely pictures. We encourage you to also include your favourite men's health charity in your blog - remember, this contest is about raising awareness and money for charity! Send your blog link, name, cupcake discription, and two of your favourite pictures to us at cccakery@gmail.com in order to be officially entered into the contest. You should also join our Movember Charity Team and start collecting donations! Make sure that you have all the requirements on your blog post (including the sponser's list!) - double check on our main contest page!

On November 21st, we will post the final manly cupcake round-up here. The public will be able to vote for their favourite cupcake until the 25th. Each person who has entered a cupcake will also get vote for their favourite entry. On the weekend, we will be baking up The People's Choice, The Bakers' Choice, as well as C&C's Choice. These three cupcake finalists will be judged by our panel of cupcake connoisseurs, who will look at taste, uniqueness, as well as the decor featured in the original pictures presented to us. The winner will be announced on November 30th.

Now, what's in it for me, you ask. I'm getting there. This year, we've got some amazing prices lined up for you! This includes:

You know how you sometimes make a wicked cupcake, but you don't have the time (nor do you want to put in the effort), to decorate it? That's where cupcake toppers come in. They're something pretty and sweet, just like the little cakes that pop out of your oven. Kristkrop Memories will be donating one dozen super amazing cupcake toppers that will totally make you look good.

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You've probably seen her art hanging around the internet, but, if you take a bit and really study Lisa Orgler's work, you'll come out of the experience hungry. You can actually purchase her sweet little illustrations on her etsy page. Lucky for you, she will be donating a set of Cupcake Cards to the winner.

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I've got two words for you: Carrot Jockey. Now I've got a bunch of more words for you: Jen from Cake Wrecks is donating not only a signed copy of her book, but also some neato pins. Fortunately, she is not donating one of those really creepy baby cakes. Those freak me out.

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We use vanilla in absolutely everything that comes out of our oven. And I'm pretty sure you do too. But are you still stuck using that artificial extract? Kind of icky. Luckily, the Vanilla Food Company is here to deliver real vanilla beans to the world. For the winner, they are donating a pound of Madagascar vanilla beans. The two runners up receive a quarter pound. I expect to see a lot of vanilla-ness come out of the finalists kitchens.

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The super posh Bella Cupcake Couture will, once again, be donating a pack of beautiful wrappers to each finalist, as well as an extra pack to the winner. This may include their brand new cameo wrapper - tres manly, girls! Love it! You can see more cupcake couture at their blog!

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The madly talented Drama Llama Knit Company will be creating a beautiful woven bag for the winner. If you check out Alison's esty store or blog, you'll be absolutely flabbergasted over what this little lady creates in her small home. Believe me, her works are to. die. for.

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When I came across Freaky Fleece on etsy, I was flabbergasted. I don't know if I've ever seen plush floppy disks before, but now I really really need one. In fact, the more I look through Freaky Fleece's shop, the more stuffed items I require. This hugely talented fleece artist is donating a mustached draw string bag - perfect for your nic-nacks items (or your D&D dice!).

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The artist behind petitePastries creates the littlest handmade food you've ever seen. And, even better, they're usually turned into the sweetest earrings and charms you've ever seen. For this challenge, petitePastries is creating something extra sweet and tiny for the winner. I'm seriously jealous.

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Once again, Vancouver-based Miss Kitty Creations will be donating a Movember special addition Tuxedo Cupcake Charm. Each one of Wendie's Charms are hand crafted and feature a lovely sweet sent. I wonder what Movember smells like? Probably a little bit of aftershave. And beer.

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If you follow us on twitter, you know that - usually at least once a month - we make a grand pilgrimage to our very favourite cake supply store. Scoop-n-Save is that store. When you walk into this palace of sweets, you are seriously overwhelmed with the epicness of it all. Cookie cutters, cupcake liners, chocolate molds, cake pans - you think of it, and they've got it. These amazing little cakers are donating a little surprise gift pack for each one of the winners - full of so much joy and sprinkles, you'll think it's Christmas.

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Jay of Whodini Handmade went into business just to make you look cool. And, believe me, he does a killer job of it. This artist's vinyl wallets are unique, and really goddamn cool. Whodini Handmade will be donating a mustached wallet to the lucky winner. If you pick up a lot of hot dates afterwards, you know who to thank.

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I'm seriously jealous of our finalists already. So what are you waiting for - check out our official rules page and get to baking!

Please take some time to visit the Movember main page and learn more about what we can do to promote men's health and cancer research!

Movember is coming . . .

2011-10-28T12:59:00.000-07:00

I've got a lot of emails, tweets, carrier pigeons, etc asking us about our plans next month - more specifically, our plans for Movember. Last year, we hosted a pretty sweet contest. This year, it will be Even. Bigger.

Details will be coming up on November 1st. For now, keep an eye on our twitter and facebook for some more clues. If you really want to start to get down and dirty, you can even join our Movember Team or just simply start the donations going.

Until then, all I will leave you with this year's new mascot. It may give you a hint to the new 2011 Movember Manly Cupcake Contest theme. What do you think?

Mr. Cupcake was lovingly created by élise steven illustration

Bloody Beet Cupcakes

2011-10-27T12:11:00.000-07:00

I like to hide vegetables in things. Maybe it's my vegan nature. Maybe I physiologically feel better about eating a crapton of sugar if I know there's a bit of spinach hiding in there somewhere. Who knows.

I mentioned before that I'm sorta in a Halloween rut. Usually by now I've pulled a billion spooky recipes out of my butt and shared them all with you. But not this year. Nothing inspired me. Until I went to the farmers market and got a load of those Giant. Red. Beets.

Beets, in case you don't know, are nature's candy. They are also a sweet cartoon band from the early nineties. I've heard of people who don't care for beets, but I consider those people to be the Bigfoots and Nessies of the foodie world - I've never seen one in person and the pictures I have seen are both blurry and indistinct.
The best thing about the beet is it's colour. Yes, they come in gold and stripes, but it's the deep dark red that I'm really drawn to. Finally, a natural food colouring that isn't made from bugs.
And, wouldn't you know it, that deep dark red is perfect for Halloween.

I don't want you to be afraid of these little spooky cakes. But, I've got to warn you - As soon as you bite into one, you'll get a little confused. It's a cupcake, your tongue will say, so why does it taste like vegetables? There will be a few mind-blowing seconds as you chew and go from a slightly unsettled to completely smitten. Believe me, we all went through it. But, as you take your second bite, and the taste of sweet beet mixes with the tang of cream cheese and dulce de leche frosting, you'll be completely at peace with the whole situation.
These are Halloween cakes for professionals only. Think of them as the extreme haunted houses of the cupcake world. If you're too scared of a little vegetable matter in your batter, then maybe you should stick to your plain jane vanilla and leave the flavour to the rest of us.
Bloody Beet Cupcakes
adapted from No Recipes

4 small red beets, or 2 medium ones (roasted and peeled)
2 eggs
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup and 2 Tablespoons warm butter (cut into small cubes)
1 cup + 1 Tablespoon flour
1 Tablespoon cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon sea salt

1) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, whisk together your flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

2) Take out your blender or food processor and pop your roasted beets. Whirl for a bit so their texture is that of chunky hummus. Add the two eggs and process for another minute or so, until pretty light and fluffy. Add the brown sugar and butter to your food process and whirl until there are no bitties of butter left in your mixture (this should take at least two minutes).

3) Pour the wet mixture into the dry ingredients and stir with a wooden spoon until everything is incorporated. Scoop into cupcake liners (should make just under a dozen cupcakes) and bake 17-20 minute, or until your cake tester comes out clean. Set out to cool.

Simple Dulce de Leche Cream Cheese Icing
1/4 cup of butter
4 ounces of cream cheese
1 can of condensed milk turned dulce de leche (you can find directions here)
confectioner's sugar (a cup or more)
a couple pinches of sea salt
roasted yellow beets, for decoration

1) With an electric mixer, mix up your butter and cream cheese until smooth. Add the homemade dulce de leche and a couple pinches of sea salt. Continue mixing. Slowly add the confectioner's sugar - adding more will make it sweeter and thicker. I usually just add a cup, because I don't like how sweet it gets, but you can add more depending on your taste.

2) Take the roasted yellow beets and cut out decorations for the top of your cupcake - I used a linzer cookie bat cutter. Frost to cupcakes with a small off-set knife and top with your yellow beet. Enjoy and spook out your friends a bit.

Orange Cranberry Sauce Muffins

2011-10-22T11:43:00.000-07:00

It's still there. Even after all the squash and brussel sprouts and tofurkey have been disposed of, it's still sitting there. In the back of the refrigerator. Waiting. Biding it's time. It's delicious, don't get me wrong. But it's just one of those condiments that seems endless.

I'm talking about Thanksgiving cranberry sauce. And we've got to have a serious conversation about this stuff.

Now, you Americans haven't gone through your harvest feast, so you don't have to worry about it yet. But you will. Cranberry sauce always seems to be the last to leave your fridge. Even three weeks after our own Thanksgiving celebration, it's still sitting there. Mocking me.

We don't buy the canned stuff - I'm really not into eating something that naturally takes on a gelatinous cylindrical shape. At our house, we cook down field cranberries with some orange juice and zest. The sugar is kept at a minimum so that the fresh tartness can really shine. Throwing out the extra would be sacrilegious. We had to bake it into something that really allowed the sauce shine. Something that didn't involve mashed potatoes and poultry.

These muffins are light and fluffy, kissed with orange zest. Brown sugar is sprinkled on top and baked on to provide some sweetness to balance out the tartness. Inside lays our little friend, cranberry sauce. And, let me tell you, our friend would much rather be inside a muffin than on the bottom of your garbage pail with your potato and carrot peelings.

Orange Cranberry Sauce Muffins
adapted from Two Peas and Their Pod

Makes about 9 muffins

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup sugar
The zest of one medium orange (just over one tablespoon)
1/4 cup canola oil
1 egg
1/3 cup milk
2 Tablespoons orange juice
1 teaspoon vanilla
Leftover cranberry sauce
Brown sugar for topping

1) Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. In a large bowl, sift and whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, cinnamon, sugar, and zest. Set aside.

2) In a large measuring cup, or small bowl, whisk together your oil, egg, milk, juice, and vanilla so that there's no lumpy egg bits left in it. Pour into your dry ingredients and, with a wooden spoon, slowly fold to combine.

3) Scoop two tablespoons into your muffin liner, then plop a tablespoon of cranberry sauce on top. Cover the sauce with another tablespoon of batter. Repeat until all your batter is gone. Sprinkle a good amount of brown sugar on top of each muffin, then bake for about 15 to 17 minutes, or until they are golden and your cake tester comes out clean. Enjoy warm :)

Old Fashioned Vegan Velvet Cupcakes

2011-10-17T19:21:00.000-07:00

By now, you were probably expecting at least one Halloweenie post to come through the tubes around here. I know – it’s pretty strange for me to go this long without baking something with pumpkins or candy corn. This year, I’m sad to say, I’m pretty uninspired for whatever reason. My love of Devil’s Night is still there, but I don’t know if my heart is in it.

Honestly, I usually rely on you guys to really get my brainwaves flowing – while browsing through the blogsphere, I always tend to pick up a really amazing idea or two. Or three. This year, however, I’m disappointed. Sure there are some great spooky themed treats out there, but nothing really special. I’ve seen the same ghost meringues, brain puddings, and witch hat cookies for ages. And this really bums me out.

Decorations are all well and good, yes. But what I’m looking for is flavour. What I see out there are plain jane vanilla cupcakes decorated in orange, black, and green canned frosting. Which is fine for most people. But not for me.

Let’s get some ideas flowing up in this ‘hood. I’m going to give you one of my best kept cupcake secrets – a canvas to let you have some Halloween fun on. Go forth and turn these vegan delights into something spooky. Decorate with blood, guts, and maybe (if you must) a cute little monster or two. Inspire others and I promise I’ll try my best to work through this October slump of mine.

If you have a brilliant Halloween idea, feel free to post it in the comments!

Old Fashioned Vegan Velvet Cupcakes
Adapted from Vegan Cupcake Takes Over the World

Ingredients
1 cup soy milk
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1 1/4 cup flour
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1/3 canola oil
1/4 almond extract
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Red food colouring (make sure it’s vegan!)

1)Preheat oven to 350. Whisk together the soy milk and vinegar and set aside in order to let it curdle.

2)In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

3)In a large bowl, whisk together the oil and extract with the curdled soy milk until well mixed. Add the red food colouring to get your desired colour (I like mine more on the dark side, less radioactive and unnatural). Sift in your dry ingredients and gently fold them in, making sure you have no large lumps left in the batter.

4)Fill 12 cupcake liners and bake in the oven for about 18 to 20 minutes, or until your cake tester comes out clean. Leave out to cool before frosting.

Old-Fashioned Vegan Velvet Icing

2 tablespoons flour
1/2 cups soy milk
1/4 cup nonhydrogenated shortening
1/4 cup nonhydrogenated vegan margarine
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup confectioner’s sugar (make sure it’s vegan!)

1)In a small saucepan over medium heat, whisk together the flour and soy milk and keep on mixing until it starts to take on a thick, pudding-like consistency. Scoop into a wide bowl and cover the top with plastic wrap, pressing it right against the custard so a skin doesn’t form. Set it in the fridge to cool completely.

2)Cream together the shortening and margarine until evenly distributed. Add the confectioner’s sugar and vanilla extract and mix until everything has come together. Add the cold custard and beat for up to 6 minutes. The frosting will start to take on a lighter colour and will have a real creamy, whipped-cream like texture. Frost on cooled cupcakes and decorate!

Almond-Flour Muffins

2011-10-10T11:56:00.000-07:00

I think I need to clear some things up about "Canadian Thanksgiving".

Or, should we say, "Original Thanksgiving". Sorry Americans, we had it way before you.

In 1578 (yes, a good forty years before all that silly pilgrim stuff), Martin Frobisher trotted through Northern Canada, in search of the mystic Northwest Passage. Things were particularly rough - you know, in the ice and snow and barren landscape - and at least one of his ships were lost. A freak storm separated the rest of the ships. By complete chance, however, they all found each other again in Frobisher Bay, where they celebrated by giving thanks and feasting on what was left of their supplies.

Even years after that incident, the French-Canadians recorded holding their own day of thanks, celebrating both their successful journey and bountiful October harvest on the same day as Frobisher's celebration. The tradition was set firm in 1604 (yep, still fifteen years before our southern brothers) and often included sharing and celebrating with the local First Nations and Aboriginal bands.

So, while America is celebrating a bunch of weak-ass pilgrims who couldn't settle and explore their way out of a paper bag, we Canadians raise our glasses to our rough-and-tumble voyagers of old. They didn't eat turkey and pumpkin pie, but they did create the first celebration of the fall harvest.

Now, Canadians all have their own traditions when it comes to Thanksgiving. Lots of people have turkey and pie, but we tend to leave that weird yam/marshmallow thing off the table. Every household has their own individualized meal - quite a few around here are filled with vegetarian and vegan yumminess. At my house, we did the turkey and stuffing thing (though that's changed since I've taken animal-products off my menu completely). The one thing I remember is my Mom making banana chocolate chip muffins for breakfast. Not very thanksgivingy, I know. But tradition is tradition. And, since Canadians began the celebration, I'm sure we can change it in any way we'd like.

These muffins are a play on what came out of our family's oven all those fall days. I took out the gluten and replaced it with almond flour to make a more healthy breakfast treat. The texture and the spices are very reminiscent of fall - even though there's no pumpkins or cranberries to be seen.

So, Americans, step out of your November Thanksgiving fantasy world for a bit. Mix things up a bit. Start your own tradition. Or share a bit of ours.

Almond-Flour Muffins
adapted from Honest Fare

2 1/4 cup almond flour or meal (I just blend up almonds until fine)
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 eggs
1/3 cup sugar
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1/2 teaspoon ginger
3 bananas, plus extra for on top
cinnamon sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa powder

1) Preheat oven to 300F. Through your almond meal and baking soda in the food processor and pulse it once or twice (make sure you don't go over that or you'll have nut butter on your hands). Set aside in a large bowl.

2)Plop in the eggs, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, and bananas and process until light and fluffy. Pour into the bowl with the almond meal and baking soda and stir until combined.

3) Take out about a third of the batter and pour it into a separate bowl. Whisk in your cocoa powder. Place about two tablespoons of your regular batter in your muffin liners and swirl one tablespoon of your chocolate batter in-between. Top with sliced banana, almonds, and a bit of cinnamon sugar. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until your cake tester comes out clean. Wait until completely cool before enjoying.

Calling All Nerds!

2011-10-01T11:24:00.000-07:00

Have you ever argued over friends over who was the best Doctor? (Totally Number Ten) - Do still cry over the loss of Ned Stark? Are their more 'graphic novels' on your book shelf than actual books? Boy, do I have a event for you!

Since '71, Vancouver's own Sci-Fi and Fantasy convention has been spreading joy throughout the land of nerds. This year, we'll be joining them with a giant table full of incredible baked goods. Not only are these treats tasty, but they will for sure impress even the most stuck up of comic book guys. As a total bonus, all our proceeds are going to Aunt Leah's Youth Program, which support foster kids and mother's in need. We'll be in the Hospitality Suite on Sunday, from 10am until 5:30pm (or until we sell out!) at the Sheraton Vancouver Airport. You gotta check out what we're dragging along with us:

Tribble Truffles

Starks on a Stick

Bad Wolf Brownies

Browncoat Bars

Sonic Shortbread

Buffy Bites

Hufflepuff Cookies

Cthulhu Cupcakes

(Blue) Milk and Cookies Cupcakes

I really hope you come and visit. If you do, make sure you tweet, blog, and take lots of pictures!

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting

2011-09-27T20:32:00.000-07:00

I like to turn things into other things. For instance: tarts into cupcakes, cakes into cookies, and icky things into tasty things. The one avenue I have never wandered down was somehow putting the magic of cookies into the glory that is cake.

Until now.
I've mentioned my Dad before. He's a simple guy with simple tastes - give him a glass of milk and a couple Oreos and he's as happy as a clam. His one vice in this world is the simple oatmeal chocolate chip cookie - I have to have a batch of them fresh out of the oven for any large family holiday or event, or he gets a little disappointed Sometimes, though, a simple oatmeal chocolate chip cookie doesn't tickle my baking fancy. I need more of a challenge.
So I turned my Dad's favourite cookies into a cake. A topped it with possibly the most decadent peanut butter mousse frosting ever conceived by man.
This cake tastes like the cookie. Period. End of story. It's an amazing combination of sweetness and texture that is only found in oatmeal chocolate chip treats. The peanut butter frosting is one of my favourites, but it does make this cake almost uneatable without a tall glass of cold milk. Which, in the grand scheme of things, isn't so bad of an issue.
So, if you're a bit tired of that cookie recipe you've baked over and over again, flip it on it's head. Turn it into something else. Oh, and add a crap load of peanut butter to it.
Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie Cakeadapted from Baked
8 ounces dark chocolate chips1 1/2 cups + 2 Tablespoons flour
1 1/2 cup boiling water
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup butter
2 eggs
3/4 cups sugar
1 1/4 cups brown sugar
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1) Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Grease a 8" springform pan, or one 13x9 pan. Roll your chocolate chips in the two tablespoons of flour - this is to make sure that they don't all sink in the batter. Set aside.

2) Place the butter and oats in a large bowl, and pour the boiling water over top of it. Sit for just under a minute, then stir until all the butter has melted. Set aside and allow to cool completely.

3) In a separate bowl, whisk together your eggs, sugar, salt, baking soda, baking powder, and cinnamon. Fold in your cooled oatmeal mixture and stir until combined. Carefully fold in the rest of the flour and the chocolate chips. Pour into your cake pan. Bake for about 40 minutes for your 13x9 pan, and around 50 minutes for your springform, or just until your cake tester comes out clean from the center of your cake. Allow the cake to cool before frosting.

Peanut Butter Mousse Frosting
2 cup confectioners’ sugar
1 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
10 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
2/3 cup heavy cream

1) Beat the heavy cream until it's reached soft peaks. Set aside.

2) Place the peanut butter, butter, vanilla, and salt together in a large bowl. Whip with an electric mixer until everything is evenly distributed. Add the confectioners sugar, a little at a time, until completely mixed in.

3) Fold the peanut butter mixture into the whipped cream with a wooden spoon until fully combined. Spread over your cooled cake (if you've baked your cake in a round spring form, you can cut the cake in half and fill the inside with the frosting to create two layers). Decorate with oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. Enjoy with a gianormous glass of a thirst quenching beverage.

Vegan Brownies and PB & Banana Vegan Ice Cream

2011-09-17T16:41:00.000-07:00

Well, hello there. I didn't expect to see you here. I'm glad you didn't give up on this little space of the blogoverse. Because I sure as hell almost did.

We had a lot going on over the summer, what with all the bakers markets, special orders, and the whole 'getting married' thing. I barely felt like I had a summer at all. Before I knew it, August 18th had blown in - I suddenly found myself locked in a small classroom with twenty-five tweens for eight hours a day. They weren't excited about the situation. And, to be frank, neither was I. Not only did struggle through the school day, but I found myself lesson planning, developing, and grading for hours every single night. The weekend just meant I could work even more. No time for myself. No time for baking.

With the new school year crashing into me, I decided that maybe I should give up the blogging way of life. Forget about twitter, flickr, and foodbuzz. Forget about cookies and cupcakes. Then I could concentrate totally and completely on my rowdy little group of Grade 6s. I already give 110% to my teaching profession. Now I could give at least 43% more.

Little did I know that all work and no play makes me go a little crazy. I really should have seen that one coming. Only a month into the school year and I was already going a little mental. Then, briefly one afternoon, felt the urge to open up my google reader and take a little peek at what was going on in the baking world. What I saw got me jonesing for some real sifting and stirring and whisking and measuring. I suppose I could afford to forget about my classroom for an hour or two a week. Right?

For this recipe, I just wanted to get rid of those post-summer blues that seem to be going around lately. The rain has started, the leaves have started to fall, and Starbucks have started to put pumpkin spice into everything. Let's have a little ice cream and brownies and remember those slow summer days. Because I've got to get back to grading math tests pretty soon.
FYI: These are the best brownies, vegan or no, that I have had. Period. End of story. The ice cream is a total winner as well. You haven't lived until you've tasted these. So what are you waiting for?

The Best Vegan Brownies2 cups flour2 cups cane sugar3/4 cups cocoa powder1 teaspoon baking powder1 teaspoon salt1/2 cup water1/2 cup soy milk (or rice or almond milk, whatever tickles your fancy)1/4 vegetable oil1 teaspoon vanilla extract1/2 chopped walnuts
1) Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease a 9x13 baking pan.
2) In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, and salt. Whisk until everything is evenly distributed. Pour in the water, soy milk, vegetable oil, and vanilla. Mix well with a wooden spoon until everything is combined.
3) Spread the batter into the pan, making sure its even, and sprinkle with the walnuts. Bake for about 25 to 30 minutes. Cool, then cut into squares for serving.
Peanut Butter and Banana Vegan Ice Cream 3 overly ripe bananas2 cups soy milk3/4 cup brown sugar1 cup peanut butter1 Tablespoon vanilla extract1/4 cup cocoa powder (optional)
1) In a food processor, puree your peeled bananas and soy milk until smooth. Add the cocoa powder if you'd like to use it.
2) Transfer it to a medium-sized saucepan and add the brown sugar and peanut butter. Cook over low heat until the sugar has dissolved. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla extract.
3) Leave out until its room temperature, then refrigerate it for an hour. Mix it with your hand mixer, cover with plastic wrap, and put it in the freezer. Take out ever 30 minutes to mix with your mixer (to break up any ice crystals), until the ice cream has just about set (3 hours total). Transfer to tub and leave in freezer until ready to serve.

Halwa Basmati Cupcakes

2011-08-18T21:59:00.000-07:00

I mentioned in the last post that Mr. C and I finally tied the knot. I hope you didn't get all excited and expect this post to be full of white dresses, flowers, and giant cakes. I'm sorry. We didn't have any of that at our wedding. I actually wouldn't even call what we had a 'wedding'.

We're not wedding people.

Instead of years of planning, hundreds of dollars, and quite a few headaches, we decided to do something spur-of-the-moment. When we hit the Outer Banks in North Carolina, we figured it would be the perfect setting for our quickie wedding. A couple hours later at the court house, with a family we pulled off the street to serve as our witnesses, it was all done and over with. Drove off into the sunset in our little red Yaris. My only regret was not having a wedding cake - I'm pretty sure the only dessert we had that day was some road tripping trail mix in the car.

When we got home, I got to thinking - What sort of wedding cake would we have? You know, if we actually had a big wedding. Not any of that fondant covered blanilla stuff, for sure. It had to be full of flavour, and a little spunky.

Here's what I came up with:

I've mentioned before how we're totally into halwa. This time I took the concept and dumbed it down a little - no fancy ice cream or cookies, just good, old fashioned flavour. I took a simple carrot cake, added a little basmati rice and Indian spice, and slopped on some sweet pistachio yogurt. It's not glamorous, nor is it pretty. But it's tasty. And, if we had a wedding cake, it would look (and taste) a little something like this.
FYI: Rice desserts are completely underrated. Since this one turned out so lovely, I'm going to add it to this month's Sugar High Fridays, which is being hosed by the lovely Magpie Recipes. Check that blog out at the end of the month to see some more rice tastiness.

Halwa Bismati Cupcakes with Sweet Yogurt Sauce
makes 12 cupcakes

1 cup flour
1/4 cup rice flour
1 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon grated ginger
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 cup cooked basmati rice
1/4 cup chopped pistachios
1/4 cup golden raisins
2 eggs
1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/4 cup ghee, melted
1 carrot, grated

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine the two flours, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, baking soda, salt, cardamom, and cumin and whisk to combine. Stir in the rice, pistachios, and raisins. Set aside.

2) Whip the eggs with an electric mixer until foamy. Add the brown sugar and beat for about two minutes, until light and fluffy. Stir in the melted ghee and the carrots. Stir in your dry ingredients until just blended. Scoop into your oiled cupcake pan and bake for about 15 minutes, or until your cake tester comes out clean. Let cool in pan.

Sweet Yogurt Sauce
1 1/4 cups plain greek yogurt (make sure it's unsweetened!)
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
3 Tablespoons chopped pistachios

1) In a bowl, mix the yogurt, sugar, and pistachios together until everything is completely incorporated. Spoon on top of the cooled cupcakes right before serving. Enjoy!

Virginia Ginger Peach Bread (and our summer vacation)

2011-08-10T14:02:00.000-07:00

This July, Mr. C and I went on a pretty big adventure. We started at America's capital city, dragged our butts through colonial country, hit up the Carolina coast, then dug in to some real southern hospitality.

Oh, and we got hitched. More about that later.

Our summer vacation was fantastic, except for the hellish heat that seemed to follow us where ever we went. I really don't understand how you Easterners can handle it. How do you function? Each night we would come home, our clothes soaked through, our hands swollen, and our feet stuck to our flip flops (note: never ever wear plastic sandals in 40C heat). Taking a cold shower helped. For a bit. Thank goodness for all the Smithsonian museums and their air conditioning, or we would have never made it through DC.

We did lots of nerdy history stuff - like see the Apollo 11 lander and get grossed out by Lincoln's bloody pillow - but this isn't the blog for such things. And you're lucky it isn't, because I have so many pictures of Warren G. Harding's pajamas that it would make your head spin. This blog is only for sweet things. Don't worry, we had plenty of that.

In DC we happened across a Crumbs. Now, being Canadian, we really don't see all those big named cupcake stores (Sprinkles, Magnolia, etc etc) all too often. Or at all. So I had to stop in to see what all the fuss was about. First off - these things could seriously feed a family of four. They were as big as Mr. C's head. And he has a freakishly giant head.

Unfortunately, quantity doesn't always mean quality. And, for Crumbs, this is so very true. We picked out a Milkshake cupcake with a vanilla/chocolate swirled cake and vanilla cream cheese icing. The cake was bland. It tasted like nothing at all. And the icing was sickeningly sweet. We picked at the beast with a couple of forks until we couldn't take any more. My advice - skip Crumbs. Go for Georgetown.

Even though I loath the show (what sort of adults call their parents "Mummy" and "Daddy"?), I have to admit that Georgetown Cupcakes were seriously some of the best little bits of cake and icing that I've eaten. Period. At first, I was a bit put off by the lack of variety - plain jane vanilla and chocolate seemed to be kings of this domain. We were able to get our hands on two of the specials: a lemon and a gluten-free chocolate lava. Both made me want to lick the crumbs off of the liners. And I would have, if Mr. C hadn't caught me and shooed me away. Both cupcakes had flavour (the lemon had real lemon zest in it - imagine that!) and the right sort of texture (even the gluten-free one!) to make us very very happy.

Even though those cupcakes were some of the best we have eaten, they still weren't the best treat we had on this vacation. The winner of that title goes to something big, juicy, and a bit fuzzy. Also, the bottom of it kinda looks like a baby's bum.

Mother fucking Virginia peaches.

Oh. My God. These things are absolutely magical. And that's saying something, since I come from the land of Okanagan orchards. I don't know what you Viriginians put in your soil (cocaine?), but it's doing something crazy wonderful to your fruits.

Mr. C and I had a very brief visit with Virginia peaches. We stopped for gas along the NC border, only to find a veritable settlement full of farmers markets. I had to talk Mr. C out of getting fresh pork rinds (seriously, what is that stuff? Do I even want to know?) and go for some fresh fruit instead. We picked out two ginormous peaches, sat our butts down under a tree, and had at it. About fifteen seconds later, a litre of peach juice covered our hands, faces, and feet. The stickiness didn't bother us, for we had just consumed the most amazing Prunus persica that could ever be conceived by man.

When we got home, I couldn't stop thinking about those freakishly giant fruits. I tried some BC peaches, just to compare, but they didn't even come close. Saddened, I decided to bake something to try and capture the freshness of what we consumed on that summer's day. This is what I created:

Virginia Ginger Peach Breadadapted from Honest Fare
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 large peaches

2 eggs
1/4 cup cup white sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cups applesauce
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1/2 cup sliced almonds

1) Preheat your oven to 350F. In a medium bowl, whisk together your two flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Set aside. In a small bowl, peal and chop up your peaches. Squish them into smaller pieces using a fork or your hands. Set aside.

2) In a large bowl, whisk your eggs until pale yellow. Add the white and brown sugar and whisk until everything is light and fluffy. Add the oil, applesauce, ginger, and extract and whisk until everything is combined. With a wooden spoon, stir your dry ingredients into your wet ingredients and stir until just combined. Add the peaches and almonds. Stir until everything is equally distributed.

3) Pour batter into an oiled bread pan and bake for 35 minutes, or until your cake tester comes out clean. Let cool in pan before taking it out. Enjoy warm and dream of Virginia.

Hogwarts Confections: The Hufflepuff Cookie

2011-08-05T08:34:00.000-07:00

I feel bad for making Hufflepuff go last. Out of all the houses, it's usually the one that's being made fun of. But, really, you've got to give these guys credit. They're not uptight, nor do they backstab, and (lets face it) they probably procrastinate better than most of us. Also, Cedric Diggory. Cedric. Diggory.

In order to make these Badgers proud, we made the biggest, most delicious chocolate chip cookie I could rustle up. Because Hufflepuffs are particularly good finders, we stuffed the cookies full of little things: caramilk, kit kats, peanut butter cups, whatever we saw fit. Then, to top it all off, I dipped half of it in chocolate.

All of these cookies will be available at our Harry Potter fundraiser (info coming up soon!). These particular ~~little~~ giant beauties will also be available at the very last Tri Cities Baker's Market - which runs this Saturday, from 10 until 2 at the Evergreen Cultural Centre. Along with with the Hufflepuff Cookies, there will be cupcake push pops, pies on sticks, and a variety of baked good that will absolutely melt your face.

And, if you can't make it to the Baker's Market, at least you'll have a chance to bring a little bit of Hogwart's to you.

The Hufflepuff Cookie15 giant cookies
3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 Tablespoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups dark chocolate mini chocolate chips
Assorted chocolate candy (we used peanut butter cups, kit kats, and caramilk)

1) Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, whisk together your flour, salt, and baking soda. Set aside.

2)With a mixer, mix your butter and two sugars until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, and mix well in-between. Add your vanilla and mix.

3) With a wooden spoon, stir your dry ingredients into your wet ingredients. Just when your batter is starting to form, add the chocolate chips and continue to stir until everything has come together. Set in the refrigerator until slightly chilled.

4) Start forming golf-ball sized pieces of dough. Flatten one slightly and place some pieces of candy in the middle of it. Then take another piece of dough and cover the top of the candy. Roll the dough in your hands, making sure that any edges are closed and smoothed. Bake the cookies for 15-20 minutes, or until your cookies have begun to take on a lovely golden glow. Take out and enjoy. Go Hufflepuff!

Hogwarts Confections: The Slytherin Cookie

2011-07-30T20:08:00.000-07:00

I got some hate mail for my last post. Okay, hate is a strong word. Disapproving is way more apt.

It seems there were a lot of Gryffindors out there who very much disliked my attitude towards their beloved house. Or, more importantly, their beloved Harry Potter. I deserved it. I used strong words. But that's because I'm a Slytherin.

I know what you're thinking right now - "How could she be a Slytherin? She makes such delicious cupcakes. They can't be evil cupcakes, can they?" Well, let me tell you, Slytherin is not all about the evil. Sure there is a big bad bubble of that stuff hemorrhaging out the side of it, but you've got to look at the total picture:

Who do you want as your leader in a life altering situation? Someone who is overly emotional or too concerned with ethics? Or someone practical, rational, and ready to do anything to save our skins?
There is no way you love everyone. Come on. Even that really high-maintenance woman who parks their SUV across two spots and dings your car with their door? There are just some people you are meant to hate.
Severus Snape - he wasn't bad. But he wasn't good either. He was able to switch sides to suit what he thought was the best option at the time.
All people have the ability to be total jerks (Remember, Gryffindors, Wormtail was one of you!)
Where would we be without a bit of ambition? Probably in our Mom's basement. Playing WoW. Or writing Harry Potter fan fiction.
Dr. House would totally be a Slytherin. Admit it.

If we didn't have ambition, perseverance, determination, and resourcefulness, then we really wouldn't have all these lovely baked goods hanging around in the blogosphere, now would we? In order to highlight all the yumminess that can come out of the Hogwarts House of Evil, I picked out my absolutely favourite chocolate cookie recipe to feature as the Slytherin.
These chocolate brownie cookies are to die for. They've got a slight crisp around the edges, but inside lurks a soft, deep, dark texture that absolutely melts in your mouth. On top is a melted chocolate mint, which just adds to the total package. Totally worth making a horcrux (or two) for.

The Slytherin Cookie
Makes about two dozen cookies

3/4 cup butter
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons water
12 ounces bittersweet chocolate (coarsely chopped)
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
Mint chocolate candies (something like Andes will do you just fine)

1) Heat oven to 350°F. Combine flour, salt, and baking soda in a small bowl and set aside.

2) In a double boiler, combine butter, sugar, chocolate, and water - heat until melted and smooth. Pour into a large mixing bowl and let stand until cool (about 10 minutes).

3) After your chocolate mixture has cooled, add the eggs (one at a time) and beat with an electric mixture on high speed. Mix in your extract. Finally, slowly mix in the flour mixture and stir until well-blended.

4) Chill batter for at least one hour. After chilled, roll the dough into walnut/golf ball-sized balls. Place two inches apart on baking sheets and bake for 10 minutes.

5) Right after you've taken your baked cookies out of the oven, place a mint chocolate candy. Allow to melt slightly and spread with a spoon.

Hogwarts Confections: The Gryffindor Cookie

2011-07-16T07:31:00.000-07:00

Okay. I'm just going to say it outright. Just so there's no misunderstanding.

I'm not a fan of Gryffindor.

Maybe it's the fact that I never identified with that particular Hogwarts house. I'm all for chivalry and bravery for sure, just as long as I'm not the one participating in such acts. All in all, it's the characters who live within the house that really get my goat. I'm okay with the Weasleys, but Ron's overacting/mugging during the movies drive me ape. I knew someone like Hermonie when I was in grade school - I'm pretty sure I pushed her in the mud because I thought she was a bossy know-it-all. And then there's Harry. Don't get me started with him.

I'm sure this won't make me very popular, but I thought Harry was a pretty lame duck protagonist. Don't get me wrong, books one through four were fantastic. Loved them. But something must have snapped within Harry (and JK, I guess) in book five. He started to whine. A lot. I get it, dude. Your parents are dead. Well, you know who else had their parent's die in front of them? Bruce Wayne. And do you see Bruce Wayne whining? Of course not. Because he's fucking Batman, Harry.

I apologise. Harry Potter is okay. I guess. Honestly, I think these cookies are much better.

We put together our lovely sugar cookie recipe, cutting out two shapes and sandwiching them together to form a starburst. Pure strawberry preserves sit in the middle. Together, they provide a rich goodness that would be perfectly at home within the Gryffindor common room.

And, for all you Gryffindors out there - I'm sure you're all cool dudes. Slytherins are just cooler.

The Gryffindor Cookie
Makes about 3 dozen cookies

3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
2 teaspoons vanilla
Strawberry jam or preserves
extra sugar and confectioner's sugar for sprinkling

1) In a small bowl, whisk together the flour and salt. Set aside.

2) In a large bowl, mix your butter and sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add the egg and mix well again. Add vanilla and continue to mix. Sift in your flour and stir with a wooden spoon until your batter comes together. Set in the refrigerator to cool for at least a half hour.

3) Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Take out your cooled dough and roll it to about 1/8 of an inch. Use two different round cookie cutters (we used a larger star shape and a smaller scalloped shape) and cut the dough. With your smaller circle, use the larger end of a piping tip to cut out the middle of your dough. Lay the smaller dough circle on the centre of your larger circle. With a quarter-teaspoon, scoop a bit of your strawberry jam or preserve in the cut-out centre of your cookie. Sprinkle with a bit of sugar and bake for about 10 minutes, or until the edges have begun to turn golden. Set out to cool and then sprinkle with confectioner's sugar. Enjoy!

Hogwarts Confections: The Ravenclaw Cookie

2011-07-13T19:04:00.000-07:00

You know that Mr. C and I are gigantic nerds. Dungeon and Dragons nerds. Joss Whedon nerds. The list goes on and on. The one fandom I'm surprised I haven't touched upon here is Harry Potter. We both, of course, grew up with the books. I have a love/hate relationship with Ms. Rowling - I loved her first four books. I hated that she killed off my favourite characters. Did it really have to be Sirius, Lupin, and Fred? Seriously, JK, you should have just totally manned up and killed off Harry. The little snotrag totally had it coming.

Mr. C is still devoted. He's actually re-reading the entire series before we go see the final film. He's excited. Me? I know I'm just going to end up bawling my eyes out. I had to hide the final book in the freezer while reading it, but I can't do that to a movie. How am I going to get through it, you ask? Cookies. Lots and lots of cookies.

We were commissioned by the Vancouver Yule Ball to do some fundraising for them in the form of yummy things. We were happy to oblige. Thus began my journey to transform each house in Hogwarts into a delicious cookie. The first one I tackled was Ravenclaw. They're the brainiacs of the school - you know that kid who sits in the front of the classroom and asks contrived questions just to mess with your professor? Yeah, total Ravenclaw.
Don't get me wrong. Ravenclaws are pretty cool. Just look at Luna Lovegood. Who wouldn't want to hang with that chick? Also, ~~Kenneth Branagh~~ Gilderoy Lockhart. Need I say more?

Now, let's get down to the good part. The cookie. Any treat based on this Hogwarts house needed a bit of wit to it, so we adapted the famous New York Times aged chocolate chip cookies for the task. Instead of regular old boring chocolate chips, we spiked the dough with sliced almonds and butterscotch. To hold true to the house colours, we also added some lovely local dried blueberries to the mix.
These cookies may look unassuming, but, very much like it's Hogwarts' namesake, it packs a smart punch. The slight tartness of the blueberries balances perfectly with the sweetness of the butterscotch. The almonds add another dimensional crunch to it all. The aging process gives all these flavours the perfect pillow to lay out on. Perfection is what Ravenclaw strives for. Perfection is what we've given them.

The Ravenclaw Cookieadapted from the New York Times
Makes about 2 dozen cookies
2 cups (minus 2 tablespoons) cake/pastry flour1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoons coarse salt
1 1/4 cups unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups brown sugar
1 cup + 2 tablespoons sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup dried blueberries
1 cup thinly sliced almonds
3/4 cup butterscotch chips

1) In a medium bowl, whisk together the flours, baking soda, baking powder, and coarse salt. Set aside.

2) Cream together you sugars and butter well - for about five minutes until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, and mix well after each addition. Add and mix in the vanilla extract. Sift your dry ingredients into your wet ones and, with a wooden spoon, stir until everything just begins to come together. Add your blueberries, almonds, and butterscotch chips and stir until everything is incorporated.

3) Wrap your dough well in plastic wrap and refrigerate it for 24 to 36 hours - don't skip this step! It's what really makes this cookie special. After aging, drop down walnut sized balls of dough onto your cookie mat and bake at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes, or until golden brown. Enjoy.

Mini Banana Cupcakes with PB and Chocolate Icing

2011-07-06T12:17:00.000-07:00

I love being a teacher. No matter how overwhelmed I get with my students (or how frustrated my students get with me), it doesn't matter at the end of the day. When 3:15 rolls around, we go our separate ways. I cool off, have some time for myself (time that doesn't involve ten year-olds), and enjoy life. When 8:10 am rolls around, I feel refreshed and ready to deal with all the problems that an intermediate classroom can throw at me. I love my students dearly, but I don't think I could deal with them twenty-four/seven.

I feel so sorry for parents. I could not imagine working hard all day, only to come home to all the craziness that the teachers have sent home on the bus. Summer vacation must be a special form of hell. While teachers are preparing for the new school year, the students are left to their own devises at home.

So here's to all the Moms and Dads out there. Thank you for dealing with your kids all summer long. For all the hard work, here's a quick and easy kid-friendly recipe to keep your little munchkins busy for an afternoon.

And I promise, once September comes around, they're all ours.

Mini Banana Cupcakes with PB & Chocolate Icing
Makes 3 dozen mini cupcakes
adapted from Martha Stewart

1 1/2 cups flour
1/4 cups brown sugar
1/2 cups white sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cups unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 1/2 cups mashed bananas
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla

1) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, two sugars, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together the melted butter, mashed bananas, eggs, and vanilla. With a wooden spoon, stir the wet ingredients into the dry. Stir until just incorporated. Do not over mix! Spoon into a mini cupcake pan (with liners) and bake for 10 - 15 minutes, or until the the cupcakes are golden and your cake tester comes out clean. Cool before icing.

PB and Chocolate Icing
1/2 cup salted butter
4 oz cream cheese
1 tablespoon milk
1/4 cup cocoa powder
2-3 cups confectioner's sugar
1/2 cup natural crunchy peanut butter

1) With an electric mixer, whip up the butter and cream cheese until fully incorporated. Add the milk and cocoa powder and whip up some more. Slowly add the confectioner's sugar and mix until you've found the right consistency (I used a thicker icing to pipe, but yours can be a bit thinner if you'd like to spread it out). With a wooden spoon, swirl your peanut butter in. Pipe or spread it on your cupcakes. Enjoy with your kids!

Butter Tart Canada Day Cupcakes

2011-07-01T16:44:00.000-07:00

Canada has some pretty sophisticated cuisine. Yes, there's poutine and flapjacks (with plenty of maple syrup). But we're so much more than that. We've got . . . um . . . salted cod? Caribou stew? Flipper pie?

Okay. So we're not winning any James Beard awards with our cheese curds and pemmican. But we still can win a fight with our regional sweets. I'm sure, by now, you've heard of Nanaimo Bars? Of course you have - Cakespy has been preaching from the good book of Nanaimo for years now. Last Canada Day, we even introduced you to a cupcake version of the godly bar. Now, this Canada Day, it's time to introduce you to another famous Canuck sweet.

The Butter Tart.

There is nothing fancy nor snoody about this little treat. It's exactly what it sounds like - a flaky tart shell with some sort of magical buttery filling that must have been created by the God of Pastries. Americans may have seen these little tarts down south, but often they are tainted. By pecans or walnuts. I'll forgive this time, my American friends, for you do not know proper butter tart etiquette - if you ever put anything into a butter tart, it should be raisins. That's it.

Of course, you can put butter tarts in something, if you'd like.

Our butter tart cupcakes play with the simple (and super sweet) flavours that come from the original. We started with a brown sugar and raisin cake that's spiked with a pinch of cinnamon and rum. The frosting gets a lovely nutty flavour from a healthy portion of browned butter.

The best part is in the middle. We've baked a butter tart right into the center of this thing. Oh Canada is right.

Butter Tart Cupcakes
makes 16 cupcakes

1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 cup + 2 Tablespoons brown sugar
2 eggs
1/4 cup + 2 Tablespoons buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon run extract
1/2 cup sultana raisins
mini butter tarts (store bought, or homemade - recipe below)

1) Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a medium bowl, whisk together your flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Set aside.

2) In a large bowl, whip together the butter and brown sugar with an electric mixer until light - for about three minutes or so. Add the eggs, one at a time, and whip up well. Add your extracts and whip some more. Add the two tablespoons of your buttermilk, then mix well.

3) With a wooden spoon, mix in half the dry ingredients and fold in a few times, careful to get the bottom and sides. Add the rest of the buttermilk and stir lightly. Pour in the rest of your dry ingredients and stir until just incorporated. Add your raisins, then stir a few times to evenly distribute.

4) Put a tablespoon of batter into your cupcakes. Place half a mini butter tart on top of the batter, then cover it with another tablespoon of batter. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until your cake tester comes out clean. Leave out to cool before icing.

Browned Butter Frosting
1 cup unsalted butter, divided
4 oz cream cheese
about 2 cups confectioner's sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon rum extract

1) Brown a half cup of butter and set out to cool to room temperature. Take the other half cup of butter and the cream cheese and cream together with the electric mixer. Pour in the cooled brown butter and extracts and mix some more. Slowly add in your confectioner's sugar until you've reached your desired consistency. (Add milk if too thick). Pipe on top of cupcakes.

Mini Butter Tarts
1 1/2 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup cold butter, cubed
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon vinegar
Ice water
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup corn syrup
1 egg
2 Tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon vinegar
a pinch salt
1/4 cup raisins

1) Make the pastry: In large bowl, whisk the flour with salt. With your hands (or a pastry cutter - but I'm pretty old school), cut in the butter until your mixture resembles coarse crumbs (a few larger pieces is just fine). In a measuring cup, whisk together the egg yolk with vinegar. Add enough ice water to make 1/3 cup or 75 mL. Sprinkle your wet ingredients over the flour mixture and stir with your hands or a fork until a dough sticks together. Press into a flat disk and wrap with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least one hour.

2) Make the filling: In bowl, whisk together brown sugar, corn syrup, egg, butter, vanilla, vinegar and salt until well blended. Set aside. On a floured surface, roll out pastry to about an 1/8 of an inch thickness. Using 2 inch round cookie cutter cut out at least 16 circles. Fit into a mini muffin tin. Divide your raisins among each of the tart shells. Spoon in filling until three-quarters full. Bake in bottom of 450 F oven until the filling is puffed and bubbly and pastry is golden (about 10 minutes). Let cool slightly in the tin for a while before removing.

C&C does the H.R. MacMillan Space Centre

2011-06-28T20:53:00.000-07:00

As you can see, this little bit of the blogosphere has been left empty for the past while. Not completely abandoned, no. I thought of your beautiful faces all week. But there was something that was seriously preoccupying our time. Don't worry, it was something important. And very very nerdy.

Can't Stop the Serenity is a charity event that supports Equality Now - an organization which works to end violence and discrimination against women and girls around the world. I talked about this event last year, but this year we got our hands (and stomachs) right into the thick of things. The beautiful organizers here in Vancouver allowed us to come along and bombard them with a whole table full of treats. Every single cent that we earned went to both Equality Now and the BC Women's Hospital. And, boy did we get to donate a lot - but we'll get to that later. First, the treats:

First, of course, were Kaylee's Cupcakes. Matcha cakes with a strawberry preserve filling and a light strawberry swiss buttercream. This was a favourite last year - probably because of those cute little umbrellas. In fact, I saw a great number of people wearing those little umbrellas in their hair on Saturday. I think they consumed a bit too much sugar.

Of course, we couldn't leave Kaylee's all by themselves now, could we? Introducing The Vera - a cupcake with the same amount of bite as its namesake. Our regular dark chocolate devil's food cake got spiked with a good amount of cayenne pepper - enough cayenne pepper, in fact, to make a couple people sputter with glee. This was topped with a vanilla swiss buttercream to help cool your palate, and a last hit of poprocks. These actually sold out quicker than Kaylee's - next year we'll have to bring more!

These were our "I Swallowed a Bug" Brownies - chewy brownies at the bottom, peanut butter cups and roasted peanuts on top, and chocolate-peanut butter krispie treats stacked on top. Mr. C did all the cute little bugs on top, and we're very proud of him for separating out all the little candies out and piping every last one. These things were deadly, and seriously weighed a ton.

If you're following me on twitter (which you all should be!), you know that I got a giant package full of push pop containers not to long ago. Lately, we've been experimenting with what exactly we can stuff into them. This was experiment number three-twenty-two - rainbow jello spiked with ginger ale. They were beautiful - except when a kid took one and shot it across the room. That was just awesome.

We turned something beautiful and delicate - matcha white chocolate truffles and wasabi dark chocolate truffles - into something bold and bloody. Reavers are the Firefly/Serenity version of zombies. They will eat you alive, unless you do first. (Mmmm, chocolate)

Companion cookies - and by "companion", I mean a lovely lady you pay to keep you company. And by "keep you company" I mean sleep with you. The cookies are a little less slutty: cashew with cardamom and lime. They've still got quite the bite to them, don't worry.

"Curse Your Sudden But Inevitable Betrayal" Bites - if you need an explaination, look here. Please.

The best part of this all was how generous the audience was - because of them, C&C Cakery was able to raise $400. How cool is that?

We're doing a lot more nerdy charity bake sales coming up this summer as well (re: Arry-hay Otter-pay). That means so we've got a lot of more nerdy treats that will be shooting right at ya. If your charity is in need of some sweet treats, please feel free to email us. We will for sure fit you into our summer plans!

Boston Cream Pie Cookies

2011-06-17T21:28:00.000-07:00

Wednesday was pretty ordinary for everyone else in the world. But for us, it was game day. It was a day when the entire city of Vancouver put their Burrows jersey on, painted their face, and downed a couple cans of liquid courage before going out and watching the biggest hockey game they have had since 1994.

In case you didn't hear, they lost. And took it pretty hard.

Seeing the riots was a bit surreal. It was seriously like you were stuck on the set of The Walking Dead. Only, instead of zombies ruining everything, it was a bunch of 20 year old jerks who figured it was suddenly socially acceptable to go around and break stuff. The crowd itself was the monster, hitting everything and anything in its path. Worse were the lookie-loos who thought it was pretty cool to get their picture taken in front of the burning cop cars. (Yeah dude, totally use that for your facebook profile picture. That's not douchy at all.)

The city, so well behaved during the Olympics, is pretty ashamed of itself now. Personally, I'm super pissed off. Yes, there's much anger directed at that handful of assholes who broke apart our beautiful city and looted what was left of it. But I'm more angry at the fact that the hockey game, the spark of all this, is pretty much forgotten.

I'll just say it: the Bruins wore the Canucks down to the bone. The Swedish twins were shut down completely, Bobby Lou looked completely lost, and the rest of the boys didn't even bother to show up at the game. Instead of recognizing what a great series both Boston and Vancouver had, we're all too embarrassed about the burning trash cans to even give it a second thought.

So, here's some cookies for you, Boston. You did a heck of a job. And I am seriously willing to be the president of the Tim Thomas fan club.

Vancouver, you can have some cookies too. And, while you're at it, why don't you consider moving to Massachusetts? There's probably less riots. And they have a way better hockey team.

The Best Thing About Massachusetts
They have a whole city that is devoted to Halloweenie things

The Worse Thing About Massachusetts
Ben Affleck.

Why Should I Visit?
The history is awe-inspiring.

Why Should I Not Visit?
Because you own a Yankees cap. (Seriously, they will kill you)

Got A Cookie Recipe For Us?
A totally wicked one.

Boston Cream Pie Cookies
recipe adapted from Cookie Madness

1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
1/2 cup salted butter
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cups cornstarch
1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar

1) Heat your oven to 375 degrees. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and cream of tartar. Set aside.

2) With an electric mixer, whip up both sugars with your butter until light and fluffy. Add the egg, oil, and vanilla extract (one at a time) and mix well in-between. With a wooden spoon, stir in your dry ingredients and mix until you've created one cohesive dough, which will be pretty soft. Chill the dough if needed.

3) Line a muffin pan with cupcake liners. Drop about an inch-round ball of dough into each liner. Press the middle down a bit with your thumb. Bake for about 7-10 minutes (while the cookie is still white with its edges just beginning to golden), then take it out and quickly use a quarter teapoon to press the middle of the cookie down into a little divot. Bake for another 5 minutes, or until they are completely cooked and golden. Set aside to cool before taking them out of their liners.

Cream Filling
1/4 cup unsalted butter
3 Tablespoons of cream
2 Tablespoons vanilla custard powder
1 cup icing sugar

1) Cream butter, cream, and custard powder together. Add the icing sugar slowly and whip until light. Carefully spoon into the cooled cookies' divots. Set in the freezer until you are ready for the final topping.

Chocolate Ganache
8 ounces semi-sweet chocolate
1/4 cup unsalted butter

1) Melt slowly over a double boiler. Let cool for 5, then dip the tops of the frozen cookies into the ganache. Let any extra drip off. Cool in the refrigerator until the ganache hardens. Enjoy.

United Cookies of America Map

Halwa Cupcakes with Kulfi and Cashew-Lime Cookie Toppers

2011-06-11T10:58:00.000-07:00

Sometimes you have to take a flavour profile by the horns and run with it. Our favourite profile comes from the unique tastes and smells that are born from Indian cuisine. Thanks to my new Flavour Bible, I could rattle off a real long list of that would make any Indian dessert perfect.

Or I could just show you.

As I mentioned before, Kulfi is one of Mr. C's favourite desserts. He blames his childhood in Pakistan and Nepal, I blame his impeccable good taste in food. For those of you who haven't had the pleasure, kulfi is a lovely form of ice cream that is spiked with pistachios, cardamom, and rosewater. The ice cream itself isn't churned like it's North American cousin, but left in the deep freeze to get frosty. The result is a frozen treat that's just the right amount of creamy, but not as heavy as your regular Ben and Jerry's. There's something absolutely refreshing about it - especially on a hot summer's day.

What could be better that kulfi? Kulfi with a big plate of halwa, another one of those classic Indian desserts. Spiked with cardamom and ghee, this stuff is like carrots on crack. The only problem is, it's more of a pudding than a vehicle for kulfi.

So we turned it into a cupcake.

A halwa cupcake with cardamom, carrot, ghee, and cashews. Kulfi with pistachios, rosewater, and cardamom. And, to top it all off, a cookie topper spiked with lime and (guess what) even more cardamom. The combination is seriously something special.

We'll be entering this super special cupcake into Cupcake Project's and Scoopalicious' Ice Cream Cupcake Contest. If you're a fan of cupcakes and ice cream (like we are) you've got to check out Cupcake Project's Facebook page for a preview of the other entries. They make me want to forget my qualms about dairy and just dig right in.

Halwa Cupcakes
adapted from Cupcake Bakeshop

Makes about 16 cupcakes

1/2 pound carrots (about 1 and a half large carrots)
1 1/2 tablespoons ghee (clarified butter)
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup milk
2 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/4 cup sugar

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom

1 large egg + 1 egg white
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cups sugar
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup milk
1/2 cup roasted cashews (chopped)

1) To make the halwa, grate the carrots with a fine grater. Place them in a saucepan and cook down with the ghee for about three minutes. Add the water, bring to a boil, and let cook down for another three minutes on simmer. Remove lid and stir a bit too cook off any extra water. Add the milk and cardamom, simmer for about fifteen minutes. Add the 1/4 cup of sugar and stir to dissolve. Simmer for about five more minutes and then take off the heat to cool to room temperature.

2) Heat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cardamom. In a large bowl, mix together the cooled halwa mixture, egg, egg white, vanilla, 3/4 cups sugar, vegetable oil, and milk.

3) With a wooden spoon, stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until just combined. Add the roasted cashews and stir to evenly distribute. Scoop into cupcake papers and bake for about 20 to 25 minutes, or until they've reached a golden colour and your cupcake tester comes out clean. Set out to cool.

Cashew Buttercream
1/2 roasted cashews
1-2 tablespoons peanut oil
1/4 cups butter
125 grams of cream cheese (just over 4 ounces)
1 1/2 - 2 cups confectioners sugar

1) In a food processor, finely chop up your roasted cashews. Add your oil, a bit at a time, until you've reached a texture very much like chunky peanut butter.

2) In a large mixing bowl, whip together the butter and cream cheese. Add your cashew butter and mix. Slowly mix in your confectioner's sugar, a half cup at a time, until you've reached your desired stiffness/sweetness. Pipe on top of your cooled cupcakes.

Pista Kulfi
1 litre (4 1/4 cups) milk
1/2 cup sugar
3 tablespoons unsalted pistachios, crushed
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon rosewater
1/2 teaspoons ground cardamom

1) Bring the milk to the boil in a large, thick-bottom pan and cook for 25 minues to reduce to about 3 1/4 cups. Put the sugar in a heatproof bowl, add 1/4 cups of the hot milk and stir until smooth. Pour the sugar mixture back into the rest of the milk, then and cook over low heat until thick and creamy. Add the crushed pistachios and cook for 1 minute, then remove from the heat and allow to cool completely.

2) Whip the cream in a large bowl until smooth and thick, but not stiff. Mix the cream, rosewater, and cardamom into the milk and pour into cone-shaped containers or any other small molds, leaving about a 2 1/2 cm space at the top (the frozen kulfi will expand!). Seal firmly with lids and freeze for 8-10 hours, or until frozen.

3) To serve, hold the molds under hot water briefly, then plop it right out into place. Kulfi must be served semi-frozen, and not soft like ice cream!

Cashew-Lime Cookie Toppers
Makes about one and a half dozen

1/4 cup toasted, unsalted cashews
1 cup flour
1/4 + 1/8 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon lime zest
1/2 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 egg

1) In a food processor, pulse cashews with 1/4 cups flour until the nuts are very finely ground. In a bowl, whisk to combine the cashew mixture with the rest of the flour, the baking powder, salt, zest, cardamom, and cayenne pepper.

2) In a separate bowl, beat together the butter and brown sugar with an electric mixer until fluffy. Add the lime juice. Place the egg in a small bowl and whisk up so that the yolk and white are evenly distributed. Add 1 1/2 tablespoons of the mixed egg into your butter mixture (You don't need the rest of the egg - cook it up and have a little bit of scrambled eggs!) and beat until combined. With a wooden spoon, stir in the dry ingredients until just combined.

3) Plop dough onto plastic wrap and roll into a 1-inch thick log. Chill for at least 30 minutes, then slice about a quarter to a half of an inch thick. Bake until golden on the edges and bottoms - about 10 to 13 minutes. Let cool completely

Lime Glaze
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
1/8 teaspoon lime zest
1 tablespoon lime juice
Red or Green mukhwas (Indian coloured spice blend)

1) In a small bowl, whisk together the sugar, zest, and juice together. Dip the tops of the cooled cookies in the glaze and sprinkle with mukhwas.

Halwa Cupcakes with Kulfi and Cashew-Lime Cookie Toppers
Assembly:

Pipe the cooled cupcakes with the cashew frosting. Place a piece of kulfi on top of the frosting and set in the freezer for a few minutes. Take out quickly, top with a small blob of more cashew frosting and a cashew-lime cookie. Serve immediately.

Vegan Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel Ice Cream (and Cake!)

2011-06-04T13:17:00.000-07:00

Ice cream and I? We're not exactly buddies. It's more of abusive relationship than anything: I consume and enjoy it, then it beats its way out of any orifice it can (as fast as it can). Gross. I know. I never considered I had a lactose intolerance until I started I started my journey into veganism. Without the extra cheese and cream, I felt the same way I did when I dropped meat from my diet - lighter, healthier, and happier. Except for the ice cream problem.

I love ice cream. I f-ing love ice cream. This was the little hiccup in my plan - whenever I sneaked that DQ or Ben & Jerry's, I not only felt a twinge of vegan guilt, but also I felt sick to my stomach. Literally and figuratively. There had to be a way I could enjoy my ultimate vice without all the vomiting and such.

Enter The Vegan Scoop.

Thank you, Wheeler Del Torro. Thank you for showing me that ice cream doesn't have to be weighed down with all that dairy. He has set ice cream free. And, best of all, the vegan ice cream recipes he shares with us taste exactly like ice cream. It still has all the richness and creaminess of the best homemade ice cream, but doesn't carry all the calories or fat (or lactose) with it.

Is this the perfect frozen dessert? Yes. Yes it is. Now that Wheeler has shown me the way, I'll be sharing with you all the vegan ice cream creations we've been fooling around with in our test kitchen. This first recipe was made for a group of friends, all of which wanted to consume the whole pint themselves.

Handmade Vegan Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel Ice Cream
adapted from The Vegan Scoop

235 ml (1 cup) soymilk (divided)
2 tablespoons arrowroot
470 ml (2 cups) soy creamer
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup bittersweet vegan chocolate chips
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups chopped chocolate covered pretzels
1/2 cup natural crunchy peanut butter

1) In a small bowl, combine 1/4 of a cup (60 ml) of the soymilk with the arrowroot powder and whisk well. Set aside.

2) In a medium saucepan, mix together the soy creamer, the rest of the soymilk (3/4 of a cup), sugar, cocoa powder, and chocolate chips. Heat over low heat and stir frequently until the chocolate chips melt, then bring the mixture to a boil. Once it hits a boil, remove from heat and immediately add the arrowroot cream. This should make it thicken up a bit. Mix in the vanilla.

3) Leave it to cool to room temperature, then place it in the fridge for two to three hours. Take out and whip up with your electric mixer. Place in the freezer for 30 minutes, then take out and whip up again. Keep repeating until your ice cream has begun to set - a total of 3 hours. Mix in the chocolate covered pretzels. Scoop a quarter of the ice cream into your pint container, then add some of your peanut butter. Keep layering until you've finished off both your ice cream and peanut butter. Take a long spoon and stir a bit to swirl all your peanut butter within your ice cream. Freeze over night so that it can fully set. Enjoy!

And what's vegan ice cream without a really good vegan cake? With pretzels?

Vegan Chocolate Pretzel Cake
1 2/3 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup cocoa
1 cup soy milk
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup bittersweet chocolate chips
3/4 cup chocolate covered pretzels

1) Preheat the oven to 350. Pour your soy milk in a cup and mix in the apple cider vinegar. Set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa, salt, and baking soda.

2) With your wooden spoon, stir your oil and vanilla into your dry ingredients. Stir in your soy milk as well. When the batter has begun to come together, stir in your chocolate chips and pretzels. Pour into a cake pan and bake for 35 to 45 minutes, our until your cake tester comes out clean. Enjoy warm with the cold vegan ice cream.

Tri-Cities Baker's Market

2011-05-30T20:20:00.001-07:00

People always ask me what I do to get my body rockin' hard and ready for summer. Okay, they really don't ask me that. But, if they did, I would tell them three things:

Run.

Lift weights.

Eat sweets.

It's as easy as that. Do those three things, and I guarantee you'll be rocking that gold Snookie bikini on Kits Beach in no time (results not actually guaranteed. Duh). For the running, I'd recommend C25K. For the lifting, I'd recommend Cross Fit. For the sweets, I'd recommend the Tri-Cities Baker's Market.

If you've never been to a baker's market, you're truly missing out on one of those rare opportunities to stuff your face full of a variety of from-scratch treats that are baked with nothing but love (and a bit of sugar). The one that is popping up in Coquitlam is a real gem - it is chock-a-block full of amazing bakers who only want to make your tummy happy. My posse and I got the opportunity to visit the first market of the year on Saturday. You've got to see what we smuggled out:

This is only one of the amazing variety of cupcakes by Something Sweet For You. Each one of their cupcakes are decorated with love and seriously cute little toppers. When we got there (after taking a wrong turn and somehow ending up in Surrey), most of their treats were gone. I was lucky to grab a Cookies and Cream Walrus, which is was too cute for words.

Macaroons from French Made Baking. Their stuff makes me weak in the knees - they even had some Canuck spirit on their platter that day.

Hearth & Larder not only had Pineapple Jam, but Dandelion Jelly that tasted like the best honey ever conceived by bees.

The brains behind this whole operation is Kimberley's Kitchen, who is sweeter than her homemade marshmallows. And that's saying a lot. Though I'm not a marshmallow type of girl, I had to sneak a nibble of her strawberry treat. Not only is it amazing, but I could also see the little pieces of berry inside. You gotta try one.

Little bits of love from Em's Gems. She had little pound cake bundts in tiny little boxes as well - tiny things are the best.

Speaking of tiny, these were the samples of sugar cookie that the iBakery was giving out. Isn't that the most ingenious thing ever? Her sugar cookies definitely rank up in my top five of all time - not only are they beautiful, but taste isn't sacrificed. At all. In fact, she could probably pipe pictures of poop on those things, and I'd still try and eat a dozen. So. Good.

Here's all our bounty, minutes before it was demolished. Poor little walrus never had a chance.

If you're interested in visiting the Baker's Market - and I totally know you are now - take a jog over to the Evergreen Cultural Centre, June 4, July 9 & 23, and August 6. They'll be open from 10am till 2pm. There's free parking and, best of all, free samples!

Oh, and of course, we'll be there July 9th and August 6 with our pies on sticks, vegan cupcake push pops, and so many bad ass baked goods, your face will melt as soon as you step into the room.

Hope to see you there!

Churro Cupcakes

2011-05-26T20:29:00.000-07:00

Americans, you must reveal your secrets. This weekend is what you call "Memorial Day". We do not have anything like this in Canada - of course, you don't have Victoria Day nor Family Day, but that's another blog post all together. Now, Memorial Day confuses the heck out of me. From my research (which consists of TV commericals and Target flyers), this weekend is sort of a bastardization of July 4th and Thanksgiving. There's fireworks involved, and you basically eat yourself into a coma. But, instead of turkey, you consume two food groups: BBQ and deep fried things.

Sorry about these sweeping generalizations, America, but just roll with it. And be honest. You do eat a lot of BBQ. And, Jesus H Christ, do you ever like to deep fry things. I can't partake in a lot of your mystical grilled food - the majority of that is meat and/or things stacked upon meat. Deep frying things, I have to admit, have never been chummy with me either. To be frank, I'm seriously scared of the stuff. Oil hot enough to burn your face off? No thanks. I the type of baker who spills everywhere - do you think I'm really stupid enough to fool around with potential disfigurement?

The answer is yes. Yes I am. But it's all for you, America. I must unlock the secrets of "Memorial Day". I must deep fry something.

Now, churros might not be the first thing you think of when you think deep fried cake. I chickened out when donuts were mentioned - they're too big and too ploppy. Splash-back potential is too high for my liking. I decided to go with something more light and streamlined. Even though churros originate in Latin America, they're at home at any American theme park. To appease you even more, I put them on top of cupcakes. But I didn't deep fry the cupcakes. Forgive me, America. I am but a fryer novice. Next time.

Churro Cupcakes
Makes about 16 cupcakes

1 1/2 cups flour
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
Whipping cream and bittersweet chocolate, for topping

1) Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking powder, and salt together. Set aside.

2) Using a mixer, whip together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, and whip up well. Add half of your dry mixture slowly, mixing it in with a wooden spoon, then add half the milk. Keep mixing while you add rest of your dry and then the rest of the milk. Stir until just combined.

3) Spoon about 3 tablespoons into each one of your cupcake liners. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until the tops are golden and your cake tester comes out clean. Set out to cool before topping with whipped cream and drizzling with bittersweet chocolate.

Churros

1 cup of wawter
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/4 cups flour
1/8 teaspoons salt
1 egg
oil for frying

1/4 cup light brown sugar
1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon

1) Combine the water, butter, and sugar together in a pan over a warm stove top. Heat until all the butter has melted and the sugar has dissolved. Take off of heat and stir in the flour and salt, stirring until smooth. Stir in your eggs, one at a time. Spoon your batter into a pastry bag (I used a 1/2-inch star tip).

2) Fill a heavy wok with about two or three inches of oil, and heat until it gets to just under 300 degrees. Test the oil by squeezing in a bit of batter. If it browns, then the oil is ready. Squeeze about a 3-inch length of batter into the hot oil. Flip when the first side is golden, and then remove when the colour is consistent all around. Place on paper towels to blot away the extra oil, then roll in the brown sugar and cinnamon. Place on top of your cupcakes - best if eaten fresh!

Rapturetastic Twix Cookies

2011-05-22T10:03:00.000-07:00

I have a bit of a bone to pick with you, crazy religious guy. Now, I'm not very spiritual myself - if I had to put my horse into the proverbial ring, it would probably be for this guy. What's not to love about a large, happy fat man who's totally chill with everyone? I can get behind an entity who's pretty much like Hurley from Lost.

Even so, whenever someone from the religious community starts to stir shit up, I take an interest. I don't care if you follow the Flying Spaghetti Monster or Xenu, if you start making claims that your god is going to come down and start with the smiting, you better have a real good reason to think that. Of course, let's face it, if any god is going to start up with the smiting, it the Bibilical one - that pillar of salt thing was pretty badass.

So, crazy guy, you said we'd all be dead on Saturday. So I wait for Saturday. It comes. And it passes. Nothing. Thanks a lot crazy guy. Because of you, I baked some super fattening rapture cookies - just in case it really was my last day on earth sans fireballs and zombies. These cookies are giant sugar bombs of goodness and probably have twice the saturated fat than that bacon breakfast you had this morning. But that really didn't make a difference back when we thought we'd be raptured, eh?

Rapturetastic Twix Cookies

2 cups + 2 Tablespoons flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter (melted and cooled)
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg + 1 egg yolk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups Twix bars, coarsely chopped

1) Preheat your oven to 325. In a medium bowl, whisk together your flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

2) With an electric mixer, mix up your butter and two sugars until light and fluffy. Add your egg, and continue mixing, then add your yolk. Beat in the vanilla. With a wooden spoon, mix in your dry ingredients. When everything has started to come together, mix in your twix pieces.

3) Plop walnut- to golf ball-sized pieces on your baking pan and bake for about 15 to 18 minutes, or until golden brown. Enjoy!

Journey Around the World (of Cake): Victorian Sandwich Cakes

2011-05-18T20:32:00.000-07:00

I always thought that the term "a spot of tea" was reserved for really contrived conversations in fake Cockney accents. Boy was I wrong. Not only to British subjects (that includes you, Canada) enjoy tea, but they seem to have the ability to suck a spot of it down at any time. To be honest, I don't understand the big attraction to the stuff. To me, it's just warm, slightly flavoured water. Long Island Ice tea is pretty good, but I don't think that's the same thing. At all.

The one thing I can get behind is tea time - a mystical point in the day were people throw off the shackles of their oppressors to drink out of dainty cups and eat munchkin sized side-dishes. I'm seriously in love with those little finger sandwiches. Not only do they dispose of the crusts, but they cut them into perfect little triangles. And, as you know, triangles make any food taste better. I wonder if they cut the little cucumbers inside into triangles as well? I'm sure it's not good manners to dissect your food anyway, so I doubt I'll ever be able to find out.

Beyond sandwiches, the mini tea cakes are seriously where it's at. That's why, for this leg of the journey around the world (of cake), I decided to recreate tea time in England.

The Victorian Sandwich Cakes

So what is it?
Think of the best sponge cake you've ever had. Light, fluffy, and the right amount of sweetness. Now plop some tart lemon curd on top of it. Pretty good so far, yeah? Well, what if we take some vanilla bean buttercream and add that do your sweet pile of goodness? Oh yeah. That's right baby. Did I mention this is totally in mini sandwich form? I dare you to pop the whole thing in your mouth. I think think Queen Victoria would have wanted it that way.

When did it first pop out of the oven?
Teatime was a Victorian creation - along with photographs, bicycles, and the first flushing toilet. The Queen found herself needing a bit of a pick-me-up between lunch and supper (probably because of all the naughty things her and Albert were into). To get back her energy, Victoria was served her tea with a variety of sandwiches and light cakes. Sponge cakes with filling were featured heavily during her little tea parties and, since then, have become incredibly popular as light little snack cakes.

Is it worth my time?
Baking a sandwich cake is a bit time consuming - especially when it has two different types of fillings. Baking these in a cupcake tin lowers the baking time a bit, but still gives you the same results. These cakes are elegant and impressive - perfect for a lady's birthday or for a really nerdy steampunk party.

Got a recipe?
Aye.

Victorian Sandwich Cakes
Makes about 12 mini cakes

1/2 cup plus 2 Tablespoons butter
1/2 cup plus 2 Tablespoons sugar
3 eggs (separated)
1 1/2 cake flour
1/2 cup plus 2 Tablespoons heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla

1) Butter the cupcake pan and set aside. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2) Cream the butter and sugar together with a mixer until really light and fluffy. Add the vanilla and mix some more. In a separate bowl, whip up the egg yolks until light yellow. Add to your butter mixture and mix it together with a wooden spoon. Sift in the flour and mix together - the batter will be really stiff, but don't worry, we'll fix that later. In another bowl, whisk your egg whites until they've reached stiff peaks. Take about a quarter of the egg white and stir it into the batter to lighten it up. Take the rest of the egg whites and carefully fold it into the batter until everything has just begun to come together. Slowly fold in the heavy cream.

3) Spoon two hefty tablespoons of batter to each cupcake tin. Bake for about 10 to 15 minutes, or until your cakes are golden and your cupcake tester comes out clean. Set out to cool before frosting.

Lemon Curd
2 Tablespoons butter
1/2 cup and 2 Tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 Tablespoon lemon zest
2 eggs
1/2 Tablespoon cornstarch

1) In an saucepan, whisk together the butter, sugar, juice, and zest over low heat and cook for about five minutes. Add the eggs and cornstarch, whisking briskly to combine, and continue to cook while stirring for about 5 to 7 minutes. At this point the mixture will thicken. Remove from heat, pour into a large bowl, and cover tightly with a piece of plastic wrap. Make sure the wrap is touching the top of the curd, or a real nasty skin will form while cooling. Cool in the fridge for at least one hour before using.

Vanilla Bean Buttercream
1 cup butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 vanilla bean, scraped
pinch of salt
confectioners sugar

1) In a mixing bowl, whip up the butter until light and fluffy. Add the extract, the salt, and the bean scrapings and mix some more. Slowly add the confectioner's sugar until you've reached your desired thickness and sweetness. (I believe I used around a cup and a half)

Assembly
Take two cakes - spread the cooled curd on one side and buttercream on the other. Sandwich the two cakes together and sprinkle with powdered sugar. Enjoy with a spot of tea.

Journey Around the World (of Cake)

Mom's Lavender Cupcakes

2011-05-13T13:52:00.000-07:00

My Mom is pretty cool. And I'm not just bragging. She's the kind of mom who would get tipsy on free wine in Disneyland and go to a fancy smansy hotel to steal cream cheese (true story). She's supportive as heck, but has given me a good kick in the bum when I'm in need of one. She also loves lavender. And my cupcakes.

My family and I are separated by about 120 km and a border, but that makes the trip down much more special. Even though Mom says they're no longer "dessert people", I always try to bring down something sweet. Last year for Mother's Day, I brought these lovely Fruit Tart Cupcakes, which were devoured pretty quickly. Which is surprising, because my Dad has always claimed to be a 'Chocolate Guy'. Last weekend, I used my mom's favourite flowery herb, which always thrive in her garden. Lavender has an amazing sent and, very much like rosewater, leaves baked goods with a light floral taste and a fresh finish. Perfect with some lemon buttercream on top.

These cupcakes are for all those Mom's who put a little humour and a lot of love into their daughters' lives.

Mom's Lavender Cupcakes
adapted from Cream Puff in Venice
Makes about 9 cupcakes

1/2 cup sugar
2 Tablespoons dried lavender (flowers only, no stems)
1/2 cups butter
2 large eggs
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoons vanilla
3 Tablespoons milk

1) Preheat oven to 350. In a small mixing bowl, whisk together your flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

2) In a food processor (I'm sure a blender would work too), pulse together your sugar and lavender for about a minute. You should really be able to smell the fresh lavender as the oils of the flowers get crushed up well. Pour your sugar into a mixing bowl and mix in your butter until light a creamy. Add the eggs, one at a time, then the vanilla and milk. Mix well until all your wet ingredients are well incorporated throughout the mixture.

3) With a wooden spoon, mix in your dry ingredients. Stir until everything has just come together. Spoon 3 tablespoons into each of your cupcake liners and bake for about 20 minutes - or until you cake tester comes out clean and the tops of your cakes are golden. Leave out to cool before frosting.

Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting
8 oz cream cheese
1/2 cup butter
confectioner's sugar (2 to 3 cups - depending on how you like your frosting consistency)
1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon lemon zest
purple colouring gel (optional)

1) Fluff together your cream cheese and butter until light. Add the lemon juice and zest and mix well. Begin adding your confectioner's sugar, a half cup at a time, until you get the consistency you're looking for. I like mine less sweet and a little runny, so I was on the lighter side of 2 cups. Add the colouring if need be. Frost on top of the cooled cupcakes and enjoy with Mum.

I will be entering this recipe in this month's Mystery Box Challenge from the Sweetest Kitchen! If you enter this month's contest, check out all the cool prizes you could possibly get your hands on:

Angela's Images; a selection of handmade crafts
Bake It Pretty; a $5 online gift card
Beanilla; a $7 online gift card
cupcakewrappers.com; 2 packs of cupcake wrappers
Miss Kitty Creations; a handmade cupcake charm of your choice
Simply Caked; 600 brown greaseproof cupcake liners
Sweet Cuppin Cakes; a $5 online gift card
Tundra Books; 3 flower-themed children's books

Prince William's Chocolate Biscuit Cupcakes

2011-05-06T20:34:00.000-07:00

It's been a week. So, how do you feel, Will? Do you remember the magical moment, or was it all a blur? Let me guess - in retrospect, you would have traded it all for a small reception in a garden somewhere. Or Vegas. But I guess that's not really an option for you, is it? Nope. People have been planning your fairy tale wedding since you were born because, lets face it, you are Prince Charming.

So, the wedding was beautiful. You got to ride in a spiffy car. Your grandmother and grandfather stayed awake for the whole thing (I think). And, best of all, your brother didn't make a complete ass out of himself. But, a week later, the suit's packed away, the flowers are long gone, and that toaster from Fergie has been returned to the store. Which begs the question: Now what?
Every couple looks forward to a honeymoon - a chance to get away from it all and exist only as a married couple for a few weeks. People dream of jetting off to far away tropical locations or exotic cities. You could afford hundreds of trips like that. In fact, you could probably fly anywhere in the world when you feel the urge. But, where oh where do you choose to take your honeymoon?

The Great White North.

Now, there's nothing wrong with Canada. Hell, I live here, don't I? But, let's face it, if there was a "Honeymoon Vacation: spectrum, we'd be at the end with New Jersey and that McDonald's down the street. Yes, we do have some absolutely spectacular places, and I'm sure you'll enjoy those. But, going up north? Really? What are you going to do up there? Be uncomfortable in heavy jackets? Eat blubber? Does that really seem like such a good idea? Honestly, your bride is a bit too high maintenance for that sort of rubbish.

My suggestion? Stay home. Be love birds off in the country somewhere. And eat more of your grandmother's delicious delicious cake.

Prince William's Chocolate Biscuit Cupcakes
Makes about 8 cupcakes

20 arrowroot biscuits
8 oz bittersweet chocolate (chopped fine)
1 cup whipped cream
1/2 cup sugar
Extra whipped cream (about 250 mL) for topping

1) Crush biscuits into about 1cm pieces. Place in a large bowl and set aside. Place the chocolate pieces in a heatproof bowl. In a saucepan, combine the cream and sugar. Whisk while heating it on medium and slowly bring to boil. Take right off the stove top and pour over the chocolate. Whisk to make sure the chocolate is melted and well combined. When all the pieces have melted, pour about a cup and a half of the chocolate mixture over the chopped biscuits. Mix with a spoon, making sure that the biscuits are well covered. Scoop into cupcake liners and spoon some of the extra chocolate over to smooth (leave some of the extra chocolate for drizzling later). Put the cupcakes in the fridge to set for about an hour or so.

2) When the cupcakes are set, whip up the extra whipped cream and spoon on top. Drizzle with the extra chocolate. Enjoy.

Post-Election Vegan Stuffed Cookies

2011-05-03T19:11:00.000-07:00

A note to our American friends: I'm sorry if, by the end of this, you are very confused. Your neighbour to the north has just been through a really tiring election and we're still trying to work through all our feelings. If you need help understanding, you can look here. Or, better yet, here. Though there is a lot of writing below (most of it pretty bitter), please remember that there is a supremely tasty vegan recipe at the bottom that involves chocolate chip cookies, homemade oreos, and homemade oreos stuffed inside of chocolate chip cookies. If you don't want to get involved in Canadian politics, scroll right down to the end.

Dear Stephen,

I'm not going to be bitter. Nor am I going to curse the country and pack up and leave. Because, seriously, were would I go? I really don't think Sweden has Nanaimo Bars. I really just want to ask you a favour: Go out and buy your jets or whatever, just please be at least a little nice to the new opposition. Throw them a bone now and again - you know, like health care, better education, and a continuing support of gay rights? That would be great. Thanks!

Dear Iggy,

Welp. Now's your chance to finally move that really good looking Trudeu kid into a leadership position. Because that's what you've planned all along, right? Right?

Dear Gilles,

Keep l'ésprit sepratist alive. It's what René Lévesque would have wanted. And, let's look at it this way - you still have the Canadiens in the playoffs - oh. Never mind :(

Dear Jackie,

Besides ~~that robot~~ Stephen, I bet you're the happiest of the bunch. Finally, your damn fine mustache has gotten you somewhere. Hopefully you'll be able to talk some sense into Canada. Someday. I know you won't be able to do much for the next four year, with that pesky majority and all. But think of what you can do with all that opposition power? You can finally speak out on the "Trekkies" vs "Trekkers" debate - you're the official opposition, now!

Dearest Liz,

You are now officially the spunkiest lady in Ottawa. When we saw you make your acceptance speech, I just wanted to reach out and give you a big ol' hug. We've made cookies for you, in hopes that you will do well in Ottawa (and maybe you'll give us the knitting pattern to that official Green Party scarf thing that everyones been sporting). Also, you seem like the type of lady who loves good cookies. We also made them vegan, just to kick it up a knotch.

Love, C&C

Post Election Vegan Stuffed Cookies
Makes twelve cookies - because, seriously, you don't need more than that.

Vegan Homemade Oreo Cookies
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
2/3 cup sugar
1 1/3 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/3 cup soymilk
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder
1 1/3 teaspoons cornstarch
1/3 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup margarine, softened
1/4 cup vegetable shortening
2 cups powdered sugar
3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1) Preheat the oven to 325F. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch, salt, and baking soda. Set aside.

2) Cream together the shortening and sugar until fluffy. Add the vanilla extract and soy milk and cream together. Add the dry ingredients and stir with wooden spoon until everything comes together. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and cool for at least ten minutes.

3) Take dough out and roll between two sheets for baker's paper until about 1/8 of an inch thick. Cut out circles (about an inch and a quarter to an inch and a half) and bake for about 12 minutes, or until just golden. Set out to cool.

4) While the cookies are cooling, make the frosting: Cream the margarine and shortening together until fluffy, then add the vanilla you've taken from the bean and the extract. Add the powdered sugar a 1/4 of a cup at a time and mix until all together. Spoon the cream onto one of the cooled cookies and sandwich another on top. Set aside until you're ready to make the chocolate chip cookie dough.

Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookie
(adapted from Vegan Cookie takes over your Cookie jar)
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour, divided
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 brown sugar
1/4 white sugar
2/3 cup canola oil
1/4 cup unsweetened soy milk (I'm sure almond milk or rice milk would work here too)
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
3/4 cups vegan dark chocolate chips

1) Preheat oven to 350F. In a small bowl, whisk together one cup of your flour, baking soda, salt in a separate bowl. Set aside.

2) With an electric mixer, mix together both sugars, sugars, oil, milk and cornstarch for several minutes, until the mix resembles a smooth caramel. Continue to mix and add the vanilla.

3) Sift your dry ingredients (sans the extra half cup of flour) and mix until well incorporated. Mix in the rest of the flour and fold in the chocolate chips. The dough will be pretty stiff, so get yours dirty if you must.

Assembly
Roll your chocolate chip cookie dough into roughly walnut-sized balls. Take a homemade oreo and sandwich it between two balls of chocolate chip cookie dough. Carefully using your hands, form and mold the cookie dough all the way around the oreo. Place on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes, or until the tops of your cookies have begun to golden. Set out to cool and enjoy!

Vegan Vanilla Sex Bob-Omb Cupcake (for Scott Pilgrim)

2011-04-28T19:48:00.000-07:00

Sometime we overdo things. For instance, if someone mentions how disgusting it would be to put saurkraut into baked goods, I find myself compelled to create the impossible. Just to show that it can be done. As usual, however, this sort of thing backfires once and a while.

Take our newest creation. It evolved from the eternal challenge to make a vegan cupcake that is leagues better than the regular old butter and egg cake. I brought it upon myself to take on such a challenge. For a while, it became my own personal burden. I quickly started experimenting - one thing led to another and I was left with a light and fluffy vegan cupcake. It was pleasant enough - Mr. C didn't gag while eatting it (that's the important part) and, if you put it besides a regular vanilla cupcake, two out of three people probably couldn't tell the difference. One out of the three people actually prefured my vegan version to the original.

But I couldn't leave it there. No, not me. I had to add something else. Something to really take this over the top. A single vegan vanilla cupcake is fine - but no one is going to go rampaging through town to get one. I had to step up my game. And, since becoming a devout follower of this site, I knew what I had to do. I felt absolutely compelled to bake some extra vegan vanilla cookies and stuff those suckers inside the cupcakes. I was proud of myself - especially because the flavour of both the cupcake and cookie was really something to beheld individually. Putting them together created a supreme sugar vortex unlike no other. But that doesn't mean I had to stop there.

On top of the cake and the delightful little crunch of the cookie craved for a big gob of something special. So I created what could probably be taken as a vegan pastry cream (though vegan vanilla curd would be a better description). Then, without thinking, I tossed it on top of the cookie-filled vanilla cupcake. What I had created would be forever known in this household as a monster. A vanilla bomb. Or sex bob-omb.

Scott Pilgrim would eat this cupcake and so should you. If you don't enjoy the really nerdy Canadian comic reference, then I'm sure you'll enjoy these little sugar bombs anyways. Especially if you're looking for the next vegan adventure.
Vegan Vanilla Sex Bob-Omb Cupcake (for Scott Pilgrim)Makes 6 Cupcakes
1/2 cup soy milk1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons flour1 tablespoon cornstarch1/4 teaspoon baking powder (+1/8 teaspoon)1/4 teaspoon baking soda1/8 teaspoon salt1/2 cup non-hydrogenated margarine1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons sugar1 vanilla bean, scraped clean1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract1/8 teaspoon almond extract
1) Preheat the oven to 350F. In a measuring glass, whisk together the soy milk and cider vinegar. Set aside for at least 10 minutes to curdle. In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
2) In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the margarine and sugar until slightly fluffy. Add the paste you've scrapped from the vanilla bean and the two extracts. Then whisk in the soy milk mixture. Slowly, while stirring with a wooden spoon, sift in your dry ingredients and stir slowly until the batter has just come together. Do not over mix.
3) To bake: Place one tablespoon of the batter down into each of the cupcake liners. Then place a vanilla sandwich cookie (recipe below) on top of the spooned batter. Add two more tablespoons to each of your liners, and cook for about 25 minutes - or until you cake tester comes out clean and the tops of your cupcakes are golden. Set out to cool before adding the pastry cream.
Vegan Vanilla Sandwich Cookie
1/4 cup non-hydrogenated vegetable shortening
1/3 cup sugar
2/3 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup soy milk
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
2/3 teaspoon cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
2 Tablespoons non-hydrogenated margarine, softened
2 Tablespoons non-hydrogenated vegetable shortening
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 a vanilla bean, scraped clean1/4 vanilla extract
1) Preheat the oven to 325F. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch, salt, and baking soda. Set aside.
2) Cream together the shortening and sugar until fluffy. Add the vanilla extract and soy milk and cream together. Add the dry ingredients and stir with wooden spoon until everything comes together. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and cool for at least ten minutes.
3) Take dough out and roll between two sheets for baker's paper until about 1/8 of an inch thick. Cut out circles (which should be the same size of the bottom of your cupcake pan) and bake for about 12 minutes, or until just golden. Set out to cool.
4) While the cookies are cooling, make the frosting: Cream the margarine and shortening together until fluffy, then add the vanilla you've taken from the bean and the extract. Add the powdered sugar a 1/4 of a cup at a time and mix until all together. Spoon the cream onto one of the cooled cookies and sandwich another on top.

Vegan Vanilla Pastry Cream1/4 cup unbleached flour
1 cup soy milk, divided
3 Tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoons lemon juice
1 vanilla bean, scraped clean

1) In a small bowl, whisk 1/4 cup of soy milk and the flour until it forms a paste. Set aside. In a small pot, add the rest of the soy milk, sugar, and the paste from the vanilla bean. Whisk to combine, then add the flour mixture. Over medium heat, whisk for about five to six minutes, or until the mixture thickens. Add the lemon juice, and whisk for about another minute. Take off the heat, transfer to another bowl to cool. Place some plastic wrap directly on top of the cream, so a skin doesn't form. Let cool before topping the cupcakes.

These cupcake are being entered in this month's Dessert Wars. Take a look at the neato prizes that can be won:

Whisk and cupcake necklace from Moon & Star Designs

Beanilla Sampler Pack of Vanilla Beans

Lenox Personalized Musical Cupcake

1,000 ideas for Decorating Cupcakes, Cookies & Cakes

Organic Valley $50 Gift Certificate

Organic Prairie $50 Gift Certificate

Theme Kitchen $50 Gift Certificate

BEKA Cookware Crepe Pan

Vegan Lime in the Coconut Cupcakes

2011-04-25T10:27:00.000-07:00

Since Bake for the Quake, we've been receiving a lot of requests for vegan cupcakes. At first, this was much to the chagrin of Mr. C - who believes that all baked goods should have at least a little butter in them. In rebuttal, I stuffed a couple of vegan treats in his mouth. His tune quickly changed after that.

Since my partner of crime has warmed up to the concept, I hope to be sharing a lot more of the vegan recipes I've got kicking around the test kitchen with you. I'm going to start with my favourite vegan take on a classic menu item. Our original Lime in the Coconut cakes are light, fluffy, and flavourful. Our vegan version is (gasp!) lighter, fluffier, and way more flavourful than the original.

I know quite a few of you have had vegan cupcakes that you've turned your nose up at. I promise you that you don't have to be vegan to enjoy these. In fact, I would encourage you to open up to new possibilities - especially when it involves cake and frosting. Baking (and eating) vegan is a bit tough sometimes, but it can be just as good as the original. Or, in this case, better than the original.

Vegan Lime in the Coconut Cupcakes
makes 12 cupcakes

1 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup canola oil
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup coconut milk (I use a lighter version)
1/4 cup soy milk
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 Tablespoon lime zest
1 cup shredded coconut

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a bowl and set aside.

2) Whisk together the oil and sugar until the texture has lightened. Add the vanilla extract and lime zest, then the coconut milk and soy milk. Mix until completely combined. Slowly add the dry mixture and stir with a wooden spoon until just combined. Add the coconut and continue to stir slowly until everything is distributed. Don't worry it if looks a little lumpy - it's better not to overmix!

3) Pour batter into 12 cupcake liners and bake for about 25 minutes, or until tops are golden brown and your cake tester comes out clean.

Lime Buttercream Frosting
1/2 cup vegan non-hydrogenated shortening
1/2 cup vegan non-hydrogenated margarine
3 cups confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
The zest of one small lime
Shredded coconut for decoration

1) With an electric mixer, mix together the shortening and margarine until fluffy. Add the lime zest. Add the sugar and mix until fluffy. Add vanilla and lime juice and continue to mix until combined.

2) Frost your cool cupcakes, then sprinkle with shredded coconut. Enjoy!

C&C does Yaletown

2011-04-22T14:35:00.000-07:00

We are still running on adrenaline. For those of you who were at Bake for the Quake on Wednesday night, you know exactly how we feel. That night, over 650 piled into Yaletown Roundhouse, creating a line up that was at least a half an hour long. Meanwhile, the bakers inside were going full tilt, constantly serving up tons of yummy confections so that they may please the masses. And please the masses they did.

It was all a rush, really. I'm pretty sure I blacked out halfway through. The line of people at our table was never-ending. Mr. C and I were dancing around constantly, trying to stuff cookies, cupcakes, and pie into everyone's ~~faces~~ tupperware. In the end, our table was able to raise just under $300 for Doctors without borders. Pretty neat, huh?

There were a downside to the constant busyness: We didn't get to leave our table at all. Which meant we couldn't taste anyone else's goods, nor could we take pictures. Luckily for us (and for you!), the amazing Tomasz Wagner was there to capture the greatness.

Please note: these are not our photos! They are taken by Tomasz Wagner! We are picking a few of our favourites to share with you - you can find the whole roll on Tomasz's site.

This is the manly hand of Mr. C, showcasing our Vegan Cupcake Kebab - Lime & Coconut, Chili Chocolate, and Ube with Mexican Vanilla. Aw yeah.

Sweet little (and gianormous!) macaroons from French Made Baking.

Yes, those are little sumo cookies. And, yes, they taste like tiramisu. From Kawaii Eats.

Canucks Cupcakes, from the amazing Candice of Baked in Vancouver.

Perfect little flowerpot cupcakes - I believe they are by Sweet Tease, who did some amazingly cute cupcakes that night.

I'm not sure who created these beauties (please let me know!), but I drooled every time someone walked by with one.

Bake For the Quake organizer, Melody of Gourmet Fury and Bif Naked. Bad. Ass.

Thank you everyone who came to visit (I love it when our readers come to say hello! I gave away a lot of free cookies that way). We'll see you at the next big time Vancouver baking event!

Cadbury Creme Egg Surprise Cupcake

2011-04-17T09:55:00.000-07:00

In Canada, we always have an innate sense of when Easter is. It's not because we're all religious, nor have we memorized the calender. This knowledge comes exclusively from our grocery stores. You see, whenever Easter is close, the clucking bunny is not far behind. Yes, you know what I'm talking about - it's chocolate. It's sweet. It's got a molten candy filling that can burn a hole right through your teeth.

Cadbury Creme Eggs. They're dangerous. Not because they're full of calories, but because the evil minds of Cadbury really have developed a master plan to keep us addicted. The creme egg is only available during Easter. This means that, every year, we forget how sugary sweet the little egg is. And that means, every year, we buy a creme egg. As soon as we bite into one, we remember. We remember and think to ourselves, "Why do we do this every year?" But, every year, we do the same thing.

We wanted to make the yearly ritual a bit more pleasant. The only way to do that is to hide the creme egg completely into something way more delicious - a cupcake.

Cadbury Creme Egg Surprise Cupcake
makes 18 Cupcakes

18 small Cadbury Creme eggs (it's better if they're frozen)
3 ounces bittersweet chocolate
1 cup strong coffee
2 large eggs
2/3 cup vegetable oil
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups sugar
2 cups flour
1 cup cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

1) Preheat your oven to 350F. Chop up your bittersweet chocolate and melt it into your strong coffee. Make sure to stir so that there are no large bits of chocolate left. Set aside to cool. In a medium bowl, whisk together the sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

2) In a large bowl with a mixer, whip up the eggs for about 3 minutes - until they're fluffy, pale in colour, and almost doubled in volume. One at a time, add the oil, buttermilk, and vanilla. Mix while adding to make sure everything is incorporated. Add the chocolate/coffee mixture and beat until everything is evenly mixed.

3) With a wooden spoon, stir in your dry ingredients until just combined - do not overmix! Pour a large spoonful of the batter into each cupcake liner. Toss the creme eggs in some flour until they're lightly covered, then set each one right on top of the batter, careful not to press down too much. Spoon the rest of the batter over top of the eggs. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until your cake tester comes out clean. Set out to cool before icing.

Marshmallow Icing
1/4 cup water
2/3 cup sugar
2 egg whites
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
1 pinch salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
unsweetened coconut and mini eggs, to decorate

1) In heatproof bowl, whisk together the water, sugar, egg whites, cream of tartar and salt. Set the bowl over saucepan of simmering water and beat constantly until mixture holds stiff peaks (about 5 to 7 minutes).

2) Remove from saucepan. Beat until frosting is cooled, about 2 minutes. Beat in vanilla extract. Pipe onto the cooled cupcakes. Sprinkle with coconut and decorate with mini eggs. Enjoy!

Monet's Pear Bundt Cake

2011-04-13T19:36:00.000-07:00

A while back I got the opportunity to recieve a lovely Norticwear bundt pan from CSNStores.com. Since I recieved the pan a couple weeks ago (and was astounded at how fast CSN ships to the Great White North), my kitchen has been a bundt whirlwind. The pan itself is light - which, to be completely honest, frightened me a bit. But I have put that thing through it's paces, and it has really stuck with me - even after scraping burnt batter off its sides a couple of times. The non-stick pan works like a jiffy (just remember to be patient and let cool before you turn the cake over!) and the shapes of the cakes look just wonderful.

Which brings me to the most important part - the cake.

The winner of the second Norticwear pan from CSN was Monet, of Antidotes and Apple Cores. I am sure at least a handful of you know her - she always takes time to thoughtfully (and lovingly) comment on food blogs. She is a sweet soul and, though we have never met, I feel like I know her. I'm sure, if you read her blog, that you feel like this as well. Her writing really reaches out to you - she has a talent that only a very few special bloggers possess.

Not long ago, Monet went through a family tragedy. Even as her world was falling apart, she still took time to write, bake, and love. Her spice cake, which came our beautifully, was one that she would always bake for her family. I wanted to carry along the recipe to you, just so you can bake it up and remember to share some time with your own family.

Pear Bundt Cake
recipe adapted slightly from Anecdotes and Apple Cores

1 cup raisins
2 cups all-purpose flour
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon each ground cloves and ground nutmeg
2 pears, chopped into quarter-inch chunks
1 cup chopped and toasted walnuts

1) Preheat your oven to 350F. Place the raisins in a bowl and toss them with a little flour. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg. Set aside.

2) Beat eggs and sugar until fluffy, then slowly add the vanilla and oil and mix until fully incorporated. With a wooden spoon, stir in the dry mix until just incorporated. Add the raisins, pears, and walnuts and mix until evenly distributed.

3) Spoon into a 10-inch bundt pan and bake for around 45 to 55 minutes, until your cake tester comes out clean. Cool completely in the pan, then turn it out. If you want to add the glaze, wait until complete cool.

Maple Glaze
3/4 cups confectioners' sugar
1/4 cup maple syrup

1) Stir the maple syrup and sugar together in a bowl. Glaze the cooled cake by spooning the glaze around the top of the cake and letting it drip down the sides.

C&C Joins Bake for the Quake!

2011-04-10T18:38:00.000-07:00

We're so happy to be joining another great charity event on Wednesday, April 20th at the Yaletown Roundhouse Community Centre. The lovely and talented Melody Fury (of GourmetFury.com) and Joy (of Gourmeted.com) have organized Bake for the Quake, benefiting Japanese earthquake relief via Doctors Without Borders.

Here's all the deets, Vancouver peeps!

Date: April 20th at 6-8:30pm

Address: 181 Roundhouse Mews Vancouver, BC [corner of Davie & Pacific]

Underground pay parking is available(access off Drake) $1.5/hour until 6pm, $3 max after 6pm.
Via transit, take the Canada Line SkyTrain and get off at Yaletown Roundhouse station. Head southeast on Davie Street towards Pacific Blvd, then turn right at Pacific Blvd. Entrance is along Pacific Blvd.

What to expect:

An amazing array of baked goods by the Lower Mainland’s most talented cooks and bakers
Prizes for raffle and silent auctions
Music and Refreshments
Fun for the whole family

We'll be there, along with some other amazing bakers. Our table will be full of bacon filled cookies, ice box animals, domo sandwiches, muffin tops, vegan cupcakes, and other things that will absolutely melt your face.

And, if you do come by, make sure you drop by and say hi! Mr. C and I will be the awkward ones wearing skull t-shirts, trying to stuff baked goods into your pockets.

Mississippi Mud Pie Cookies

2011-04-08T21:49:00.000-07:00

As a kid, I drove across the United States way too many times for my liking. My first trip took place in a little grey hatchback with my Dad. It was quite the experience. Especially because we couldn't go faster than 60 mph. And we didn't have air conditioning.

While we traveled from the west coast to our final destination in New England, my Dad made sure to hit all the important landmarks: The potato fields of Idaho. The rock fields of Utah. The dirt fields of . . . every other state in-between. One geographical feature I was actually looking forward to was the mighty Mississippi. I blame Mark Twain and all river boat shenanigans for that. I daydreamed about rafting down the lazy river with a steamboat chugging along besides me. Oh, and there was an accordion involved somewhere in there (don't ask me why). But, when we finally got to the great state of Mississippi, my dream was shattered. It was then that I realized the mighty river was not filled with a quaint folksiness left over from the Reconstruction era. All I found was a metal bridge and some dirty water. A lot of dirty water.

I was disheartened. Only fattening foods could fill the hole in my heart. We made our way to a tiny greasy spoon that served nothing but burgers and pie. We ordered burgers. And, of course, pie. One bite, and this magically little pie put a smile on my face and a little folksiness back into my heart. And now I hope to give a little of that feeling to you - whether you enjoy Mark Twain or not.

Best Thing About Mississippi:
Oprah.

Worse Thing About Mississippi:
Sorry, Oprah told me not to talk smack about Mississippi.

Why Should I Visit?
Mississippi is a state rich in history, both good and bad. They are not afraid to show what they have come from, which is truly refreshing. It makes for a real fulfilling walk through the local museums, which are not to be missed.

Why Should I Not Visit?
No NHL.

Got a Cookie Recipe for Us?
Only if you don't stuff your pie hole full of marshmallows and ruin your dinner.

Mississippi Mud Pie Cookies
Makes about 1 dozen

3 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, chopped and melted
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/3 cup sugar
1 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
miniature marshmallows

1) Preheat oven to 350F. Combine Flour, baking powder, and salt in a small mixing bowl. Set aside.

2) In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar until fluffy. Mix in the egg, then the vanilla, and mix well until everything has come together. Add the melted chocolate and mix until everything is evenly chocolaty.

3) With a wooden spoon, mix the dry ingredients into your wet until just combined. Mix in the pecans and chocolate chips until everything is evenly distributed. Drop heaping tablespoonfuls onto your baking sheet and push three marshmallows into the top. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, then cool until set. Best enjoyed while warm.

United Cookies of America Map

Journey Around the World (of Cake): Dorayaki and Kasutera Cake

2011-04-02T11:19:00.000-07:00

On March 30th, baked good lovers everywhere opened their hearts (and their wallets) and bid like crazy on The Tomato Tart. A goal was set at $2,500 - I thought that was pretty reasonable, but, to be honest, a high number like that got me a little nervous. Just how much would people be willing to pay for cookies and cakes from across the country (and sometimes even internationally)? I was biting my own nails when the sale begun, convinced that our little truffles would not make even the $20 starting point.

Boy, did you guys prove me wrong. Last I heard, the amount of money donated has reached $8,169. I'm still waiting to hear how much our truffles made, but I've been told it's in the $150 range. Which blows my mind. The generosity of all the bidders was absolutely outstanding. All of you absolutely rock! We can not thank you enough! I know, when we send out our truffles to the winner, we'll be packing their box full of love (and some other neato things).

All this generosity inspired me to share a couple of Japanese desserts for our next Journey Around the World (of Cake):

Japanese Kasutera Cake

So what is it? Kasutera is an extremely popular Japanese sponge cake. You can usually find it in skinny little boxes, piled high in the sweets aisle or your local Asian supermarket. These cakes have to be perfect - perfectly straight, perfectly shaped, perfectly light, perfectly sweet - or the regular Kasutera eatter will snub it. The fun thing about this cake is it lends well to different flavouring. Honey is the most common of flavour, but chocolate and matcha are also welcomed.

When did it first pop up? This type of cake actually came from the Iberian peninsula. Portuguese sailors most likely brought it over during the Spanish kingdom's naval boom in the Middle Ages. These sailors were eventually kicked out of Japan (probably for being big jerks), but the cake stayed. Castella, or "the bread of Castile" made it into the Japanese vocabulary as Kasutera.

Is it worth my time? Like any sponge cake, Kasutera is extremely picky. The eggs have to be whipped up perfectly, or the cake will fall flat like a pancake and have a pretty gross texture. If you follow all the steps perfectly, however, you'll be left with a cake that will have an extra special place in your heart. Mr. C claimed that this is now his favourite recipe - and that's saying something.

Got a recipe? Only if you promise to be good:

Japanese Kasutera Cake2 cups sugar3 Tablespoons milk1/4 cup honey8 eggs2 cup cake flour (sifted)1 ounce semi-sweet chocolate (chopped fine and melted)1 Tablespoon matcha powder
1) Preheat the oven to 350F. Butter three loaf pans, then line the pans with parchment paper. Butter the paper and sprinkle with a little sugar.
2) Combine the milk and honey in a sauce pan over low heat. Stir constantly until the mixture is just ready to boil. Remove from heat and set aside.
3) Beat the eggs with an electric mixer with an whisk attachment until they become foamy (about 1 minute). Slowly add the sugar and continue mixing until the mixture thickens and turns pale yellow. Add the milk and honey mixture and beat until really creamy (about 3 minutes). Add the flour gradually and beat on slow until the mixture becomes a thick batter (about 2 minutes).
4) Separate your batter evenly between three bowls. In one bowl, whisk in your melted chocolate. In a second bowl, whisk in the matcha powder. Leave the third bowl honey flavoured. Pour each batter into it's own loaf pan. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes on the upper rack of your oven. Then tern the temperature down to 325 and continue to cook on the lower rack of your oven for 30 to 40 minutes - or until your cake tester comes out clean. Turn the heat off and leave the cakes in the oven for about 10 more minutes with the door slightly ajar. Remove the cakes and take them right out of the pan by lifting the parchment paper. Peel off the parchment paper and trim the sides of the cake. Serve while warm, or cover immedently in plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator.

Japanese Dorayaki

So what is it? You may see these guys hanging around with cute little anime characters. A popular snack food treat, dorayaki consists of two little sweet pancakes (made from a form of Kasutera cake) with red bean paste in the middle. Again, this stuff can be found in your local Asian supermarket, but they are oh so much better when made from scratch at home.

When did it first pop up? Legend has it that a samurai, who was on the run, left his gong at a farmer's house while trying to escape from enemies trying to track him. The industrious farmer used the gong to make pancakes on - "Dora" meaning "gong" in Japanese. Pretty cool legend for a cake, eh? I'd like to see Nanaimo Bars beat that one.

Is it worth my time? If you'd made pancakes, then you'll have no problem making these. They are great little snacks for lunch boxes or a get together. Easy process and tasty payout. If you're not into making your own red bean paste (which does take a day or two), just run out and buy some from your Asian grocery. While you're there, pick up some black sesame seed paste - dorayaki goes super with that stuff too.

Got a recipe? Only if you make extra for me.

Japanese Dorayaki with Red Bean Paste1/2 cups + 2 Tablespoons of adzuki beans (soaked overnight and drained)1 cup sugar1/2 teaspoon salt
3 eggs1/2 cups sugar1/2 teaspoon baking soda3 Tablespoons milk (warmed)1 cup all-purpose flour (sifted)1 teaspoon vanilla2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
1) To make the red bean paste: cover the beans with water in a large pot and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for a bout 15 minutes. Drain the water, then return the beans into the pot with fresh water. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for about one to one and a half hours, until the beans are really soft. Drain, then return the beans to the pot. Pour in 1 cup sugar and 1/2 teaspoon salt and cook over low heat, stirring when necessary, until mixture is thick and chunky. Cool and store in an airtight container until ready to use.
2) To make the pancakes: Beat the eggs and the sugar with a mixer until creamy. Add the vanilla. Dissolve the baking soda in the milk, then add the milk to the egg mixture. Stir until combined, then slowly blend the flour into the egg mixture.
3) Warm the oil in a large skillet over medium hit. Pour the batter into the skillet in about 2-inch rounds. Cook just like pancakes - when bubbles start to appear on the top surface of cake, flip it over. Cook until they are golden on both sides. Repeat with the rest of the batter. Let the cakes cool, then fill with the red bean paste. Enjoy!
Journey Around the World (of Cake) Map

Online Bake Sale For Japan: Matcha and Wasabi Chocolate Truffles

2011-03-27T18:07:00.000-07:00

Living on the Pacific Ocean comes with some problems. We sit on the Ring of Fire, which means earthquakes and volcanic eruptions are a pretty real and constant threat. Here in the Pacific Northwest, we've been super lucky thus far - the last volcano that's blown it's top was St. Helens in 1980. The largest earthquake I've felt since I've lived here was the Seattle 6.8 in 2001 (I remember sitting in school and hearing that one rolling in before it even hit us). Besides those two big blunders, we've been lucky not to be hit with a large natural disaster around a big city in a while. I could not imagine what would happen if Vancouver was in the same situation that the Tōhoku region of Japan is in right now.

Because we sit in the same Pacific Rim danger zone as Japan, a lot of us here in BC feel connected to the disaster. Sure, the province has practiced what to do in an emergency situation, but that doesn't mean we're ready. Surviving a major earthquake is hard - surviving the aftermath is downright life-altering. What really comforts me is that, no matter where the disaster happens, the rest of the world always go out of their way to help. The Canadian Red Cross collected $6 million dollars from citizens so far for Japanese relief aid - and that doesn't include the millions that have been given by private donations. We've donated, but it doesn't seem enough for our Pacific Rim brethren. This is why C&C decided to join the Online Bake Sale for Japan set up by wonderful blog, The Tomato Tart.

So far, almost 90 online bakers and blogs have stepped up to bake something extra special for March 30th. On that day, you can have the chance to bid on all these delectable delights. Finally - here's your chance to hold real life sweets from your favourite blog and devour them whole! The best part is that the funds raised during this bake sale will be going to Second Harvest Japan - which works on the ground, delivering food and supplies right to the places and people who need it the most. Visit The Tomato Tart on March 30th to bid!

Now's the time I need to sell our little auction item that will be on the block:

Though we're a bakery that usually concerns itself with cakes and cupcakes (we toss in the odd cookie every now and again), we rarely post about our chocolatiering adventures. Now is the chance for you to get your hands on some extra special C&C truffles.

The white delight you see is a white chocolate matcha truffle. The earthy, yet sweet, green tea flavour really loves to melt in you mouth. Absolute heaven. Of course, we've got to provide you with a bit of danger to go along with it - that's where the dark chocolate wasabi truffle rears it's delicious head. Bite into this baby and you'll get hit with that nose-clearing spice that is oh so addictive. But, don't worry, the smooth dark chocolate will flow over the wasabi destruction and create a deep, dark finish to it all. A dozen of this ying and yang duo will only be available through The Online Bake Sale for Japan on March 30th!

Make sure you check it out! (And buy something tasty!)

The Captain Kirk: Neapolitan Astronaut Ice Cream Cupcake

2011-03-20T20:51:00.000-07:00

In a small town in Iowa, something spectacular will happen on March 22nd. Not during this year, no. And not next year. This special little event will be taking place in the year 2233. How do I know, you ask?

Because Gene Roddenberry told me so.

For this month's Mystery Box Challenge, we were asked to use cupcakes to celebrate an extra special birthday. I ask you, what could be more special than the birth of James Tiberius Kirk? Or, the future birth? Whatever it is, the 22nd will be a day for nerds to celebrate. And what's a celebration without cupcakes?

These little treats are inspired by Very Small Anna, a blog that constantly excites us. She first came up with the fabulous idea to put astronaut ice cream into baked goods. Crazy? Maybe (crazy like a fox!). But such an appealing idea. What a better way to celebrate the future Captain of the USS Enterprise?

We changed the original recipe around, creating a strawberry and chocolate cake with vanilla icing and a freeze dried cookie crush. Though this was probably one of the most labour-intensive cupcakes we have made thus far (and that's saying something), it's for sure one of the best. It tastes . . . well, like ice cream. Exactly like neapolitan ice cream. So, if you ever find yourself with some extra astronaut ice cream (come on, I know you're hording it from your last trip to the science centre), set aside some for these cupcakes.

I'd seriously break the prime directive for another bite.

The Captain Kirk
Neapolitan Astronaut Ice Cream Cupcake
adapted from Very Small Anna

Makes five cupcakes - just enough for your away team

1/8 cup butter, soft
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup cake flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp fine salt
1/4 cup milk, divided
2 packages of neapolitan astronaut ice cream, one package of astronaut ice cream sandwich
1 egg white
1/8 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp cocoa powder

1)Preheat the oven to 350. Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt with a whisk, then divide the dry ingredients equally between two small bowls. Whisk the cocoa powder into one of the bowls. Set both the bowls aside.

2) Open up your packages of ice cream and cut apart the three flavours. Place the vanilla, strawberry, chocolate, and cookie (off of the ice cream sandwich) all in small bowls. With a mortar and pestle, crush up the vanilla, strawberry, and chocolate very finely. Take 1/8 cup of milk into the strawberry and an 1/8 cup into the chocolate. Stir until all the pieces have disintegrated (add a splash more milk if needed).

3) Cream the butter and sugar together with a hand mixer until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla extract and continue to mix. Divide the wet ingredients in half and add the chocolate milk to part of the butter mixture and the strawberry milk to the other half. Whisk the chocolate and the strawberry so everything is evenly mixed. With a wooden spoon, mix in one bowl of dry ingredients into the strawberry and the other bowl of dry ingredients (the one with the cocoa) into the chocolate. Mix until just incorporated.

4) In another bowl, whisk the egg white until it reaches stiff peaks. Take roughly half of the egg white and fold it carefully into the strawberry. Do the same with the other half of the egg and the chocolate batter.

5) Scoop a spoonful of chocolate into five cupcake liners, enough to fill half the cup. Fill the cups the rest of the way with scoops of strawberry. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until your cake tester comes out clean. Set aside until cool before icing.

Vanilla Ice Cream Frosting
1 egg white
1/4 cup sugar
a pinch of cream of tartar
1/2 cup butter, soft & in small pieces
The vanilla part of three astronaut ice cream packages
1/4 tsp vanilla extract

1) Crush the vanilla ice cream up into a fine powder. Take a couple small pieces of butter, melt them in a bowl, then stir in the vanilla powder. Set aside to cool.

2) Set the egg white and sugar on top of a double boiler (on medium) and whisk until all the granules have gone. Take off the stove, add the cream of tartar, and whisk with an electric mixer until its formed stiff peaks. Add all the cubes of butter slowly (including the cooled vanilla butter) and mix until smooth (this process might take away - but stick with it!). Add the vanilla and mix until everything is even. Ice the cooled cupcakes and top with crumbled freeze-dried cookies.

The winner of March’s Mystery Box Cupcake Challenge will receive prizes from:

Angela's Images; a selection of handmade crafts
Bake It Pretty; a $5 online gift card
Beanilla; a $7 online gift card
Miss Kitty Creations; a handmade cupcake charm of your choice
Simply Caked; 600 brown greaseproof cupcake liners
Sweet Cuppin Cakes; a $5 online gift card
Tundra Books; a selection of 3 very sweet children's books

Thank you to all our prize sponsors!

The Green Thumb: Sweet Pea Cupcakes with Sour Cream Frosting and Candied Mint

2011-03-12T17:19:00.000-08:00

There are some colours that are pretty verboden when it comes to a dessert plate. No one wants to see electric blue or crayon purple next to their spoon. Magenta and chartreuse are even worse. It's hard not to imagine how many chemicals and food colours are hiding inside those unnatural shades. Then there is our old friend, green. It's fine on your dinner or lunch, but when it pops up in the middle of your confectioneries, it might turn your stomach a bit.

But, really, if you think about it, the healthiest things in life are green.

I cannot stand to eat dinner without at least half my plate being covered in green. I'm a total vegetarian snob that way. When Mr. C is away, my meals consists almost elusively of steamed broccoli, stir fried spinach, and edamame. So why, I ask you, shouldn't I extend this love of green things to my desserts?

For this month's Dessert Wars, we were asked to create a green dessert that is both pretty to look at and delicious. We were warned that adding vegetables to our sweets would add a bit of an 'ick' factor. That warning just made me work a bit harder. I wanted to make my beloved vegetables into a dessert that was just as beautiful as any other sweet out there. Plus, I wanted this treat to be all-natural - no food colouring for me (We're going to get enough of that from the green beer).

This was what my veggie-pride produced:

Now, I don't care who you are, but that is a beautiful green. It's light, fresh, and crisp - all qualities of it's main ingredient: peas. That's right. Those little green balls you used to hide under your napkin as a kid are now in a cupcake. You may be a bit frightened at first, but let me hold your hand and walk you through it.
The peas lend the cake their natural sweetness and, when paired with some extra virgin olive oil, the overall flavour gains a refreshing experience that I've never before tasted in a cake. The sour cream frosting is something else as well - it's leaps and bounds better than that crazy cream cheese stuff everyone seems to be toting around these days. It is sweet at first, but it quickly finishes with a light sour tang, which really mellows everything out nicely. The candied mint is that little extra refreshing twist to finish off dessert - because who has peas without a little bit of mint?
I hope this little green monster has converted all you veggie haters. Just think - you can get that green St. Patty's Day treat without using all that food colouring. Pretty neat, huh? Now that I've got this cupcake under my belt, we'll just have to see what other greens I can fit into our baked goods . . . artichoke brûlée anyone?

The Green Thumb Cupcake Sweet Pea Cake with Sour Cream Frosting and Candied MintAdapted from Vanilla Garlic
Makes 20 cupcakes

2 1/2 cups cake flour

1/8 teaspoon fine grain sea salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

3 eggs
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups of peas (pureed)
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice

1) Preheat your oven to 375F. In a small bowl, combine and whisk together the flour, salt, and baking powder. Set aside.

2) In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs and sugar until well emulsified. Add the vanilla, peas, oil and lemon juice, and continue to whisk until everything is well combined. Add the flour and, with a wooden spoon, stir lightly until just combined.

3) Spoon into cupcake liners and bake for about 15 minutes, or until your cake tester comes our clean. Set out to cool before frosting

Sour Cream Frosting
1/4 cup butter (warmed)
1/3 cup sour cream
2 1/2 cups icing sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
pinch of salt

1) Add the butter, sour cream, vanilla, and salt together and mix in a large bowl. When everything is well combined, add the icing sugar, bit by bit, until you've gotten the right consistency (light, fluffy, and forming soft peaks). With a small off-set knife, spread the icing onto your cooled cupcakes.

Candied Mint
Fresh mint leaves
Egg white, slightly beaten with 2 tablespoons of water
3 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 drop spearmint extract

1) Wash your mint leaves and carefully dry. Add the extract to your egg white/water mixture and whisk a bit more. Pour out your sugar onto a plate.

2) Dip each leaf, one at a time, into the egg white mixture. Get off any excess egg white, and cover both sides with sugar. Lay leaves out on a piece of wax paper to dry until crisp. Top cupcakes and enjoy.

And, since this is being entered into Dessert Wars, I've got to show you all the fabulous prizes you could win if you join in all the sweet green fun:

Whisk and cupcake necklace from Moon & Star Designs

The Smartshopper Electronic Grocery List Organizer

Beanilla Sampler Pack of Vanilla Beans

Lenox Personalized Musical Cupcake

1,000 ideas for Decorating Cupcakes, Cookies & Cakes

Endless Vanilla and Cinnamon Extract

Unlimited Layers: A Recipe for Turning Your Passion into Profits

Organic Valley $50 Gift Certificate

Organic Prairie $50 Gift Certificate

Theme Kitchen $50 Gift Certificate

BEKA Cookware Crepe Pan