A new year

So ... last year I was super excited to start my own baking blog. And... it only lasted two posts. And I haven't updated it in almonst 14 months.

This sort of gives you an idea of my personality, no? I've always been an ideas person, not always the one to carry things through. I have reasons though, I swear. I had school. And not just any school, but nursing school. One study showed that nursing students, of all health-related educational programs, have it the hardest. Yup, even harder than the medical students have it. Surprised? I'm not. It was hell for two years. I learned a lot though. And in my 14 months of absence, a lot has happened.

I've finished my studies, written the certification exam, got a job, and I'm now working part-time (almost full-time) on a medicine and stroke unit at a hospital close to home. I really can't complain. But I'm here again because something else happened over the past 14 months too. My cousin Lily said I could make her wedding cake.

I know, right? I've never made a wedding cake. I made fondant once and marzipan 2 or 3 times. I don't have fancy cake stands, equipment, or any experience really. My kitchen needs renovating. There's no counter space. Her wedding will be 120 people and she wants a two-tier cake and enough cupcakes to feed everyone. Of course I said yes. The excitement at the prospect of making something grand, beautiful, and delicious for my cousin was too enticing a venture to decline.

There are problems though. Like I said, I'm that ideas person. I'm a thinker, preparer, ponderer, dreamer ... not the doer, go-getter, Nike "Just Do It" campaign spokesperson. My cousin's chosen the wedding date and it's in 9 months. My deadline is July 7th. I must carry this through. After all, you can't promise someone a cake for their wedding and show up with something from Costco. 9 months is not long for someone like me. I honestly don't know what I'm doing and I might just be in over my head. This is why I'm going to blog about it. I will be setting out my goals, experiences, discoveries, and exploring my ideas here.

To start, I'm going to give you an idea of where I am.

This is the one cake stand I have (yes, there are cookies in it. My sister made them for thanksgiving. I ate half of them, and no I'm not exaggerating):




This is the kitchen I will be working in:

A mish-mash of equipment:

My other kitchen with more counter space I may just do my decorating in:



And... the bible:



As you can see, this is totally a grassroots operation. No fancy cameras, just the family PowerShot SD1000. The book is borrowed from the local library. Let's see how many times I'll be able to renew it, after which, how much I will be accumulating in fines.

Here's "The Plan":

1. Cake, cake and lots of cake! Lots of sampling of different recipes and flavours.
2. Icing. Can't do cake without icing. Gotta find ones that are the right consistency and work with the cake
3. Decorating techniques.
4. Designs. Whatever the couple wants, the couple gets!

So ... here goes. There's going to be lots of butter, sugar, cake flour, eggs, spices, and icing sugar on here over the next couple months. The plan is to try out at least 1 cake and one frosting a week, starting today. Then ... we will work from there. There's just under 9 months to go. So, really, this cake is like my baby.

Oh, and here's me:

I'm ready to go. Wish me luck!

Vanilla Rooibos Shortbread Hearts

My right wrist and right forearm have been feeling sore for the last couple of days. Why, you ask? I have a sneaking suspicion it's cause of work. I am a 'certified barista' at Starbucks and the constant pouring, shaking, pumping, blending, and garnishing - mostly with my right hand - is taking its toll. In spite of this drawback, and a couple others, the job is alright, my coworkers are cool people overall, and I like making drinks for people. My biggest challenge is usually the foam - some people are picky about foam. Dense foam, bone dry cappucinos, extra foamy lattes ... getting the perfect foam on a drink for a customer is challenging, especially during rushes, but is also strangely satisfying.

One benefit to working at Starbucks are the weekly markouts. I have a box of vanilla rooibos tea that's been sitting around the tea corner in my kitchen for the past couple weeks. I like the tea but it's definitely not one of those teas I can drink daily - maybe more of a monthly thing. If you've ever tried this tea, it has a fruity, warm flavour and a strong and sweet aroma. I thought it would be a nice touch to the traditional shortbread cookie by giving it a burst of fruity vanilla flavour.




White Chocolate Vanilla Rooibos Shortbread Hearts

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup butter
3 vanilla rooibos tea bags, steeped for 2 minutes and tea contents removed from pouch
3 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
8 squares of pure white chocolate, melted

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Thoroughly mix together the flour, sugar, and cornmeal. Add the butter into the mixture and mix until crumbly. Add the vanilla rooibos tea contents, milk, and vanilla extract. Form into a large ball and roll dough out to 1/4 inch thick on a lightly floured surface. Cut out heart shapes with cookie cutters. Place 1 inch apart on a cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes. Remove cookies from oven and let them cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Dip cooled shortbread hearts in melted white chocolate and place in refrigerator until the chocolate sets.

Adapted from Tartelette

Biscotti Aubergine

These cookies are actually blueberry lemon biscotti with almond glaze - not eggplant biscotti! The reason for the "biscotti aubergine" is because I put too much blueberry in my first batch of biscotti and it oozed out the end of the roll and turned the outside an eggplant purple which made it look like a big eggplant before the biscotti was sliced. I learned my lesson with the second batch and the roll came out much cleaner. But I have to say, the 'eggplant style' biscotti of the first batch was was more fun and flavourful! :)

Biscotti Aubergine

1 pint blueberries
Juice of 1/2 lemon
2 tablespoons yellow rock sugar
1/4 cup raisins

1/2 cup softened butter
2/3 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Grated peel of 1 lemon
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

Almond Glaze:
3/4 cup confectioner's sugar
1 tablespoon milk
2 teaspoons melted butter
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 cup sliced almonds

Place blueberries, lemon juice and rock sugar in small pot over medium to high heat until boiling. Reduce heat to simmer for twenty minutes or until all sugar is melted and blueberries have burst. Mix in the raisins. Set aside to cool.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy in a large bowl. Add the eggs, vanilla and lemon peel and mix thoroughly. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Gradually add to creamed mixture until a smooth dough is formed. Halve the dough, form into one-inch thick disks and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Roll out each half of dough into a 12 inch by 8 inch rectangle. Spoon and spread blueberry-lemon-raisin filling over rolled out dough. Roll up the dough jelly-roll style from the 8-inch end. Place each roll seam-side down on cookie sheet and bake for 25 minutes. Transfer each log onto a cutting board and let cool for 5 minutes. Using a serrated knife, cut into 1/2 inch thick slices. Bake for another 15 minutes. Remove from oven and place on wire racks.

If there is left over blueberry filling, spoon over warm biscotti. Combine confectioner's sugar, milk, melted butter, and almond extract in a small bowl to form almond glaze. Generously sprinkle sliced almonds over top of warm biscotti and drizzle glaze over top.

Adapted from Taste of Home Cookies