🦄UNICORN CUPCAKES

gf chocolate cupcakes with raspberry-blueberry-vanilla swirl buttercream

No worries people, no unicorns were harmed in the making of these cupcakes.

My baby is 11 years old and this is the 2nd batch of gf chocolate cupcakes I made for her birthday.  The first batch was with a simple vanilla buttercream and she brought all 24 to share with her class on her birthday.  Her pal is Celiac as is another child in the class so I made sure to make everything gluten free (and no nuts of course).  My daughter is allergic to nuts and so are several children in the school.

extra shiny bling from colourful dragees. I don't like their crunch but they sure are pretty

This 2nd batch of cupcakes was for her birthday party on the weekend.  We went to The Luminous Elephant and she and her gal pals made bath bombs, sang karaoke, nibbled on snacks and ate these Unicorn Cupcakes.  

there are no artificial colours in the buttercream frosting! I used organic blueberry and raspberry powders for intense flavour and gorgeous natural colour

Some of the girls were in her class and had tasted the 1st batch; so I asked which they preferred.  They all chimed at once "these!" The frosting tastes SO good!  

I had butterfly pea flower and could have made a blue buttercream too and now I'm slightly disappointed I forgot to use that too. Oh well, 3 colours is enough lol!

In fact, I have green (spinach powder), orange (carrot powder) and red (beet powder) but was hesitant to use veggie flavours because y'know kids might detect the veggies in their buttercream! Maybe next time I'll be more daring haha!

the tri-coloured swirl effect was so pretty

GF CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES WITH UNICORN BERRY-SWIRL FROSTING

(adapted from Barefoot Contessa's "Beatty's Chocolate Cake")

• 1 3/4 cups gluten free flour [I used Namaste gf flour]
• 2 cups organic evaporated cane sugar
• 3/4 cups cocoa powder 
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 cup organic buttermilk [or 1 cup organic milk & 1 tablespoon lemon juice mixed with milk to acidulate]
• 1/2 cup avocado oil
• 2 extra large free range  eggs, room temperature
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 shots espresso in a measuring cup; topped up with hot water to make 1 cup coffee

SPECIAL EQUIPMENT:

• 2 Muffin tins
• 24 large/extra large paper cupcake liners

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare 2 muffin tins by lining with 24 large-extra large cupcake liners
2. Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and mix on low speed until combined. 
3. In another bowl, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry. With mixer still on low, add the hot coffee and stir just to combine, scraping the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula. 
4. Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 30-35 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. 
5. Cool in the pans for 30 minutes, then turn them out onto a cooling rack and cool completely.

UNICORN BERRY-SWIRL FROSTING

• 4 Cups confectioner's sugar
• 3 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 Tbsp milk
• 1 teaspoon organic raspberry powder
• 1 teaspoon organic blueberry powder

1. In an electric mixing bowl, beat the butter until creamy and smooth
2. Add the confectioner’s sugar 1/2 cup at a time
3. Add vanilla extract and gradually add milk until the buttercream is at a consistency that is not too stiff. Continue beating for 5-7 minutes at medium speed until light in colour
4. Divide the buttercream into 3 different bowls.  In one bowl, add the raspberry powder and mix well until combined.
5. In another bowl, add the blueberry powder and mix well until combined.
6. Prepare a large pastry bag by scooping the 3 different coloured buttercreams inside
7. Pipe/swirl the buttercream on the tops of the cooled cupcakes

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

VEGAN MATCHA CACAO CAKE

Organic Vegan Matcha and Cacao Cake

Dabbling in the Dark Arts:  vegan baking! ;)

I'm detoxifying from my 8 days of over-indulgence in Cancun, Mexico at one of the best all-inclusive resorts I've visited.  The Club Med we stayed at had so many activities that there was something for everybody: archery, trapeze, sailing, SUP, tennis...

We did it all...and of course I spent the first 2 days sleeping on the beach just to catch up on missed relaxation time! The food was very good too!  I tried my best to eat healthy, gf & all that.  By the 4th day, I was pretty much sick of the buffet lines and was mostly eating from the salad area.  But hey, what's a vacation if you don't eat dessert right?  I had my fair share of flan and tiny portioned dainty cakes & desserts too.  Skip to the recipe on the bottom if you don't want to hear about my back woes! lol.

Organic Ceremonial Grade Matcha is sifted over the cake after removal from the springform pan

I think I was pretty good with my workouts though!  I worked out every day except for the day we went to visit Tulum.  On the last day, I worked our for 2 1/2 hours in the morning and I was pretty much practicing IF.  I was doing fasted workouts:  weights, kettlebells and some cardio on the elliptical or treadmill to finish up. Then I would join my fam for lunch at the buffet for my first meal of the day.  I was down to 2 meals because frankly, I wasn't that hungry considering each meal was a buffet bonanza.  Unfortunately,  on the last day, I tweaked my back reaching for the two 25 lb dumbbells.  I felt a sort of a pop (ugh).  It was not great on the plane ride home and upon waking up in Vancouver on the first day back home, I could barely walk.  Yesterday I did some self-adjustments (lying on the ground, knees up, pushing/pulling on my knees alternately using my own musculature, mobility and strength to try to realign my spine & pelvis).  Today I visited my friend who is a chiropractor and I'm feeling a lot better but I've got to keep up those stretches.

Since my garden's frozen, I used dried rosebuds to decorate. The petals are crispy & add a floral scent

My GP's advice is to try low carbing it to lose more weight (it's dang difficult with Hashimoto's disease) despite my working out several hours every week consistently. Also, I have a feeling he's going to be putting me on iron supplements again.  I try to eat more protein because of this (I'm not vegan...sorry, it would compromise my health which is pretty wonky as it is).  My blood work I had done recently showed I was iron deficient :(   I told him I was losing lots of hair for the past year and bit and ya know, I used to have tons of hair before all my thyroid issues.   It sux.  Everything about Hashi's sux. Especially trying to figure out on my own what works and doesn't work with feeling optimally healthy.  I know for sure I've built up lots of muscle this past year.  The other day, I had to scratch my tricep area. Dang if I didn't feel surprised as I hit hard muscle! ya! No batwings for this English teacher.  One thing I'd like to avoid is having the waggling triceps I've witnessed in my youth as teachers wrote on the blackboard. *horrors!* lol

A hot sharp knife creates a clean cut with this frozen raw vegan cake

This raw vegan nice-cream cake is a good start to me re-igniting that low-carb lifestyle I used to lead. It's been so hard with trying to be gluten free that I didn't think I could take away even more from my diet.  My fave cruciferous veggies which was my primary diet prior to Hashi's have been put on the "moderation" list now because of all the goitrogens.  This cake has nuts, which my kid is allergic to...but I'll be working on another (better! new improved!) recipe to try to get rid of the nuts so that we can enjoy eating a cake together.  If it's not one thing it's another, eh?   So the holy grail of my life is a cake that is: low carb/ketogenic, nut free & gluten free.  It would be nice if it could be vegan too. But I am thinking it'll be difficult without the nuts.   Stay tuned for more experiments!  I have a ton of flavour variations planned and I'm going to get rid of the bananas and make this creamier like a cheesecake but without nuts! ya! no kidding! and pie! yes...for my pie-loving friends! gf, vegan, dairy free pie coming up next :)

A slice of zen. This little cake makes you feel all self-righteous and healthy. The tiny slice I had with my espresso is low  carb, paleo, ketogenic, gluten free, vegan, refined sugar free and dairy-free.  

VEGAN MATCHA CACAO CAKE

Crust:

1/3 cup organic raw almonds

1 tablespoon organic coconut oil

2 medjool dates, pitted

a pinch of Pink Himalayan sea salt

Nice Cream Layers:

4 frozen bananas

2 tablespoons maple syrup

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

optional: a bit of almond mylk, soy, coconut or regular milk, cream or water to get it going in the processor, if needed

Matcha Layer:

1 tsp organic ceremonial grade matcha; plus more for dusting the tops for serving

Cacao Layer:

1 tsp organic cacao powder

Special equipment:  

2 4-inch springform pans, lined with parchment circles

Crust:

1. Pulse the almonds, coconut oil and dates with a pinch of sea salt in a food processor [I used my Bullet] until the almonds are evenly ground and combined with the rest of the ingredients.
2. Divide the mixture between the two parchment-lined springform pans. Press the crust mixture into the bottoms of the two prepared springform pans. 
3. Place the pans into the freezer for 30 minutes, or until the crust is set.

Nice Cream Layers:

1. In a high-powered blender [I used my Vitamix] combine the frozen bananas, maple syrup and vanilla and pulse to combine.  If you find it difficult to get it going, add some liquid (any milk or water a teaspoon at a time) to get it going.  Increase speed and blend until smooth.
2. Divide the nice cream into 2 bowls
3. Matcha Layer: in a small bowl, mix a tiny bit of hot water with your matcha powder to make a runny paste and mix the paste into one of the nice cream bowls.  Thoroughly combine. Cover and reserve in refrigerator
4. Cacao Layer:  Mix the cacao powder with a tiny bit of hot water to make a runny paste and continue mixing until it's smooth.  Add this to the other bowl and combine thoroughly.
5. Pour the Cacao Layer onto the two prepared frozen almond/date crusts.  Place them back in freezer for at least 30 minutes, or until set.  I lightly touch the surface to ensure it has a solid surface before proceeding with the next step.
6. Take out the matcha layer bowl from the fridge and divide the contents equally amongst the two pans.  Place in the freezer for 4+ hours; freezing until firm
7. To serve:  Remove your springform rings from the bottoms and plate. Dust with the extra matcha powder (you can also dust with cacao powder).  Decorate with fresh berries or other fruit or flowers.  Allow the cakes to warm up for about 15 min at room temperature before serving.  If you want to cut the cakes, heat a sharp knife under hot water before slicing.  Keep uneaten cakes in freezer, covered until ready to serve.

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Drip Cake: Chocolate Quinoa Layer Cake with Vanilla Bean Buttercream (gluten free)

Made my own Birthday Cake. Yes I did😆

6 inch GF Chocolate Quinoa Cake layers and Vanilla Bean Buttercream

This is my favourite part of making a cake

Decorated with my fave goodies: matcha macaron, Lindt chocolate balls, dragées, a mini KitKat and mini Coffee Crisp and crushed macaron shells

The chocolate ganache was perfect. I threw dragées on the side of the cake too and they stuck🙌

It's late November and the only thing blooming in my garden are these little purple Daikon flowers.  I just let the daikon go to seed and never did harvest the daikon (so bitter!)  The flowers sure are pretty...and edible

Scroll down past the recipes to watch a video of me assembling the layers

BEST EVER QUINOA CHOCOLATE LAYER DRIP CAKE WITH VANILLA BUTTERCREAM (GF)

adapted from Quinoa 365:  The Everyday Superfood

makes 3 6-inch layers

• 2 1/4 cups cooked quinoa (see note below for instructions to cook quinoa. No substitutions)
• 1/3 cup milk
• 4 large eggs
• 1 tsp pure vanilla bean paste
• 3/4 cups coconut oil, melted and cooled (you can use unsalted butter)
• 1 1/2 cups organic cane sugar
• 1 cup unsweetened organic cacao powder
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt

*3 6-inch cake tins (you can make do with 2 pans and after baking the first batch, make the last layer after cleaning the pan)

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Spray the tins with coconut oil spray or non-stick spray.  Line with a round piece of parchment paper
2. In a Vitamix, heavy-duty Blender of Food Processor, combine:  milk, eggs, vanilla paste.  Blend until combined.  Add 2 1/4 cups of cooked quinoa and the melted coconut oil and continue to blend until smooth.
3. Dump in the sugar, cacao powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt into the Vitamix.  Blend well to combine.  [NB: if you are using a regular blender, you will encounter problems with the thick batter and may not be able to totally break down the cooked quinoa grains. In this case, you should use a food processor]
4. Divide the batter evenly between the 3 prepared cake pans. Gently tap the pans on the counter to get rid of air bubbles and smooth the tops evenly
5. Bake in the centre of the oven for approximately 25-30 minutes.
6. Test the cakes for doneness with a toothpick or cake tester.
7. Allow to cool for 5 minutes.  Remove from the pan and allow the cake layers to cool completely on a rack. 
8. Frost with Buttercream (see recipe below).  Refrigerate the cake for at least 30 minutes. Make the ganache (see recipe below) and allow to cool as the cake is in the fridge.  Drip chocolate ganache over the cold buttercream. Decorate with your fave chocolates and bling✨ it up with dragees if desired.
9. Cake layers can be stored sealed in the refrigerator for up to 1 week or freeze for up to 1 month. 

COOKING QUINOA Note:  Bring 2/3 cup raw, rinsed white or golden quinoa to boil in a heavy saucepan with 1 1/3 cups water.  Cover, reduce to simmer and cook for 10 minutes.  Turn off heat and leave covered saucepan on burner for another 10 minutes.  Fluff with fork and allow the Quinoa to cool.

Rice Cooker Method:  Cook rinsed quinoa as you would rice, following manufacturer's instructions and the indicator lines for appropriate water levels.    I made 1 cup quinoa and found it had enough leftovers to make another dish.

VANILLA BEAN BUTTERCREAM 

(makes just enough for a nearly naked cake; or just enough to frost this little 6 inch cake)

3 cups confectioners' sugar (icing sugar)

1 1/4 cups unsalted butter [I used Kerrygold]

1 tsp Vanilla Bean Paste

1 tablespoon milk

1. In an electric mixing bowl, beat the butter until creamy and smooth
2. Add the confectioners' sugar 1/2 cup at a time
3. Add vanilla bean paste and gradually add milk until the buttercream is at a consistency that is not too stiff. Continue beating [speed 8 on the KitchenAid] for 7-8 minutes until almost white in colour. The buttercream will be fluffy
4. Use immediately to frost the 3 cake layers.  

CHOCOLATE GANACHE

1 cup whipping/heavy cream

1 bag Wilton Chocolate Candy Melts (chocolate chips or dark chocolate will work as well)

OR

8 ounces chocolate

1 cup heavy cream

NB: before you start! if you have a kitchen scale the ratio for the ganache in weight is 1:1.  But if you don't or if you're too lazy to whip out the scale like me, you can eyeball it and adjust by adding more chocolate or cream until you get a thick pouring consistency.  

1. Put whipping cream in a microwave-safe container and heat in 30 second increments until it is hot to the touch.  Check on it at intervals so it doesn't boil over.
2. Add 1 cup of the Candy Melts or chopped chocolate and stir gently until the ganache is thick but pourable.  Mine was too runny initially so I had to add another handful of candy melts. As well, allowing it to cool will also thicken the ganache before pouring.  Test the ganache before drizzling on the cake by attempting to drip from the top edge of a glass or mug.  If it runs too quickly then add more chocolate or candy melts.  

♬Bossa Nova Royalty Free Background Music

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

HOW TO SWIRL BUTTERCREAM

Meet my friend, the 1M Wilton Tip.

So you want to learn how to swirl buttercream like a professional?

I created a couple of Vine looping videos for you with the help of my 6 year old.  She held the iPhone and tapped the screen to help me tape the videos.



On the first take, the buttercream farted.  I had air pockets in the piping bag and didn't burp the bag so thus the fart at the end.  Just do as I say (and not as I do) and burp your bag (getting all the air pockets out) and you won't the have a buttercream fart.  This entails simply squeezing a small amount of buttercream into a container while twisting from the top to get rid of the air pockets.



In the second video there are no buttercream farts.  I don't pile on the buttercream like they do in the bakeries because we simply don't like that much buttercream on the cupcakes.  But do as you please.  You can take your sweet time building a higher conical mound of buttercream if you're so inclined.

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

CAKE WALK: CHOCOLATE QUINOA CUPCAKES WITH LAVENDER BUTTERCREAM (GF)

Chocolate Quinoa Cupcakes with Lavender Buttercream

These beauties are for my daughter's school Fun Fair.  They run something called a Cake Walk.  Parents donate baked cakes and the people buy tickets to play this game somewhat like musical chairs. The people who play the game walk in a circle to music and when the music stops and they land on a certain number on the playground floor they win the cake.

Bebe won a cake last year.  Her little 4 year old arms could barely carry the huge chocolate cake she won.  She insisted on carrying it home herself.

This year, I'm baking these cupcakes for the Cake Walk.  In order to transport them I devised a cheapie, effective system whereby the cupcakes do not topple all over the place.  It'll soon be obvious how I did this in the pictures below.

First, I decided to decorate the cupcakes naturally so I went into my backyard looking for flowers.  See my bay tree?  It's huge!  There were thyme flowers, chive flowers...nah. nah.

I wanted something prettier.  Those little plants to the right are edamame we're trying to grow.

My 3 year old fig cutting to the left.  Pretty healthy!  The lavender looked lovely this morning so I chose some as cupcake decorations.

I used my trusty chocolate quinoa cupcake recipe and a simple buttercream.  I rarely use cookbooks anymore...I use my iPad and just search my blog's archives.  It's so convenient!

I like using disposable piping bags.  I have a 1M Wilton tip here.  The buttercream was tinted with a violet food colouring to get a lovely light lavender colour

4 cupcakes fit into this paper plate cupcake holder I built to transport my cupcakes to school. I stapled two plates together at the rims, cut 4 X's with a serrated knife, lined each hole with tissue paper and wedged a cupcake into each pocket.  

A candied violet and lavender sprinkles adorn some cupcakes

This looks like a little cupcake bouquet...you could add more flowers to get that effect.  But for me, it'll do.  In all, from a batch of 12 cupcakes, I have 3 of these cupcake bouquets. 

For the Chocolate Quinoa Cupcakes recipe...click HERE

For the Simple Buttercream  (want to eat now can't wait) recipe...click HERE

For an over-the-top Swiss Meringue Buttercream (I have a stand mixer and patience) recipe...click HERE

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

BEST EVER QUINOA CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES FOR VALENTINE'S DAY!

Best Ever Quinoa Chocolate Cupcakes...Gluten Free!

Happy Valentine's Day!

This recipe has been adapted from a layer cake from the Quinoa 365 cookbook (which for me didn't work out very well initially).  I was determined to tweak baking times and procedure because the cake held promise.  You will require 2 cups of cooked quinoa.  This is best done with quinoa that is not over-cooked. Mine was cold; straight from the refrigerator.

I purchased my quinoa from Costco.  It's organic and you don't have to rinse it...but I do anyways.  I also used a rice-cooker to cook my quinoa.  The original recipe calls for 2/3 cups uncooked quinoa and then it tells you to cook it (leaving you leftover quinoa to store away).  I made 1 whole cup of uncooked quinoa and this allowed for more leftovers (so I can make something else with it).

My first attempt with the quinoa chocolate layer cake resulted in squidginess.  It was kind of wet and not too pretty but I knew that the flavour was good.  No soapy quinoa flavour detected.  Good thing.  

My cupcakes were lined with jumbo (or large) cupcake liners.  The recipe yields 12 cupcakes. I used my Vitamix to blend the quinoa and all the batter ingredients together.  Then I filled the liners with the batter.  The batter was just enough for the the jumbo liners.  They were filled more than 3/4 full.   

The cupcakes looked and smelled promisingly chocolatey in the oven.  They puffed up and then when taken out they fell a bit.  However, they tested clean with a cake tester.  No crumbs.  I baked the cakes for 30 minutes and they came out perfectly.  Not squidgy!  

Unlike the layer cake, the cupcakes are sturdier and the crumb isn't wet.  It is super moist and not a note of quinoa is detected.  My daughters didn't even know there was quinoa in it.  They didn't think it was gluten free.  Not a speck of flour was required in the recipe.  In fact, you could probably make it dairy free by substituting the milk with coconut milk and coconut butter.  I think that the eggs are pretty important for the structure though.  I have no idea if egg substitute would work because we're okay with eggs and I probably will never attempt it.  If you try it and it works, let me know!

The recipe calls for 1 cup of cocoa powder.  I imagine that lends quite a bit of structure and flavour to the cake.  Don't skimp here.  Get good cocoa powder.  I have used Callebaut.

The Quinoa Chocolate Cupcakes do not require frosting.  They are scrumptiously moist without it.  I sent one to school for Bebe's recess snack.  When I asked her how it was after school, she said it was so yummy!  I told her it was gluten free and she said it sure didn't taste like it!

Can you imagine a chocolate cupcake that's moist, healthy with all the goodness of quinoa and doesn't require a frosting?  I inhaled my cupcake and encourage you to try this excellent reincarnation of the quinoa chocolate cake recipe.  I'm never going to go back to making it in layers.  This rocks with a glass of cold milk too!

Now, I had to bling these babies up for Valentine's Day for my loved ones.  I made chocolate lace hearts on parchment paper.  I grabbed a bar of Lindt Dark Chocolate (70%), microwaved to melt it in a custard cup and made a parchment cone to free-hand drizzle some hearts.  I let them set and them wedged them in a little dollop of buttercream atop the cupcakes.  I encourage you to top these with the Vanilla Swiss Meringue Buttercream from HERE.  

If you like  dragées, use them for sparkle.  I personally don't like their crunch.  My daughters love all sprinkles and go crazy with them.  To each her own.

I thought this particular ivory white dragée made the cupcake look so elegant.  It might even make a good Wedding Cupcake!  Imagine a Celiac Bride/Groom who could finally eat their own wedding cake worry-free?  

I haven't had such a good cupcake since my most popular post THE BEST CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES EVER.   Even when I don't post anything, people still seem to land on that old post and I still get lots of commenters telling me how yummy it is.  

Well, this Quinoa Chocolate Cupcake is in contention to beat out that recipe.  In fact, I think it's better.  It's faster to whip up (in a food processor or blender), it's cheaper (uses cocoa powder) and it's moister.  Above all, it's healthier because it doesn't use white wheat flour; but it has all the goodness of the extra protein from the quinoa and it tastes amazing.

I'm very excited to have you try this recipe as cupcakes.  Try it and let me know what you think.  Will this  quinoa chocolate cupcake knock the liners off my popular go-to chocolate cupcake recipe using regular flour?   I'm converted.  How about you?

BEST EVER QUINOA CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES

adapted from Quinoa 365:  The Everyday Superfood

Makes 12 large scrumptious cupcakes

• 2 cups cooked quinoa, cold (see note below for instructions to cook quinoa)
• 1/3 cup milk
• 4 large eggs
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 3/4 cups butter, melted and cooled
• 1 1/2 cups organic cane sugar
• 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt

*1 muffin tin (large cups, large cupcake liners) with 12 wells.

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Line the muffin tin with the 12 large-sized cupcake liners.  
2. In a Vitamix, Blender of Food Processor, combine:  milk, eggs, vanilla.  Blend until combined.  Add 2 cups of cold cooked quinoa and the melted butter and continue to blend until smooth.
3. Dump in the sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt into the Vitamix.  Blend well to combine.  
4. Pour from the blender directly into the cupcake liners, evenly distributing the cupcake batter between the 12 liners.  Gently tap the tin on the counter to ensure there are no air bubbles.  Smooth the tops with a small spatula (or your finger!)
5. Bake in the centre of the oven for approximately 30 minutes.
6. Test the cupcakes for doneness with a toothpick or cake tester.
7. Allow to cool for 5 minutes.  Remove from the pan and allow the cupcakes to cool completely on a rack.
8. Frost if desired with Swiss Meringue Buttercream using a 1M Wilton tip.  Decorate with the chocolate lace hearts (see post above for the easy method I used).  Bling it up with dragees if desired.
9. Cupcakes can be stored sealed in the refrigerator for up to 1 week or freeze for up to 1 month.  But I don't think they'll last that long.

Note:  Bring 2/3 cup raw, rinsed white or golden quinoa to boil in a heavy saucepan with 1 1/3 cups water.  Cover, reduce to simmer and cook for 10 minutes.  Turn off heat and leave covered saucepan on burner for another 10 minutes.  Fluff with fork and allow the Quinoa to cool.

Rice Cooker Method:  Cook rinsed quinoa as you would rice, following manufacturer's instructions and the indicator lines for appropriate water levels.    I made 1 cup quinoa and found it had enough leftovers to make another dish.

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

CANDY CORN HALLOWEEN CUPCAKES: FINAL POST BEFORE MY KITCHEN RENO!

White Velvet Cupcakes with Vanilla Bean Classic Buttercream and Candy Corn!

These are the last cupcakes I’ll ever make in my old kitchen!  Whee!


I have been so busy lately with work, school and just life.   I won’t be baking anything for a while until Christmas at least since we’re undergoing renovations to the kitchen. 

I will be taking pictures of the renovation along the way and will post them in my blog instead. 

My old kitchen is dark and full of granite.  It doesn’t look all that bad, but many of the appliances have kicked the bucket and I have had to replace my oven, dishwasher, microwave and hood fan since moving in over 8 years ago.   So I’ll be keeping those relatively new stainless steel appliances and just replacing the rest. 

My plan for the new kitchen:  ALL WHITE!

• island counter will be honed white Carrara marble or Statuario marble (sealed of course)
• perimeter counter will be quartz
• white cabinets; brushed silver handpulls/knobs
• industrial looking faucet in brushed silver
• stainless appliances
• 16 x 16 porcelain tile floors (white/gray)
• rectangular glass mosaic backsplash (whites/grays)

Since my kitchen won’t be usable and we’ll be living in the house still, it’ll be chaos.  We plan to eat out and eat simply.  We have a little old microwave and a bunch of plug-in appliances.  We’ll adapt.  We live within walking distance of many restaurants, a Safeway, a bunch of bakeries and we have tons of edible things in the pantry…we won’t starve.

However, I won’t be baking for a while.    Well, it’s kind of been like that anyway around here hasn’t it been?  So sorry if you came looking for cake and just found a bunch of posts of my restaurant reviews.  I have lately felt like I’ve lost my baking mojo since being diagnosed with Hashimoto’s. 

I think a new kitchen might help alleviate the doldrums and may ignite me into a new baking direction.  Yes, I am still gluten free.  My GP says if I feel better restricting gluten, I should continue.  Besides, it’s healthier.  However, having said that, I do not fear gluten (I'm not Celiac) and my kids still eat it.  I indulge once in a while with a little bit of gluten; especially if it's cake.

My grad studies?  that’s going along okay.  I am still only getting 5-6 hours of sleep a night because of the marking from regular work and having to sporadically hand in concept papers to my professors too, but that’s kind of what I knew I’d be getting into.

I’m excited about all the changes going on in my life and I’ll document the DEMO of my old kitchen on the blog through pictures.  It’ll be cool I think.  It’s almost everything I’ve wanted in a  kitchen.  Plus, I am at ease with my choices in the design since I’ve been thinking about it for over 8 years.   Everything in the kitchen is what I think I’ll be happy with for a long time.  It’s all classical colours and the look won’t wane.  I am a little worried about the quartz, but for sure I know I want to go away from the granite look.  It’s so yesterday.  I am tired of how dark it makes my kitchen.  I can’t see the crumbs the kids leave on the counters, or the sticky spills they trail until it’s too late. 

All you smarty-pants who think you know how marble is porous and it’ll etch... I already know that.  Europeans have been using marble for counters for decades.  I think I’ll manage.  I want it for my island because I do my pastry/baking there.  I also will be doing some sealing sporadically (really, it’s just a spray and wipe…how easy is that?  I already spray and wipe my current granite counters anyway)

Besides, if you compromise on the look now, you’ll never be truly happy with your kitchen.  The white marble will stay.  It’ll look great.  It’ll be classic. 

Don’t many people change kitchens every 20 years anyways?  By that time, maybe I might want to change the marble.  Or maybe I might still like it.  I have a feeling I will still like it.  In fact, I’m thinking of using it in the bathrooms too.  Maybe Carrara again.  Or limestone.  Anyway.  I’ll have to save up for that all over again. 

I’ve been saving up for 8 years for this current kitchen renovation.   By next year, we might be working on changing the dining area and the hardwood floors (they’re all banged up engineered hardwood floors).  I also want to redo the bathrooms in a few years.  Our house is just falling apart!  oh, and I hate the curtains.  They came with the house.  They’re so 90’s. 

These Halloween cupcakes were made for my daughter’s Halloween Party at school.  They are White Velvet Butter Cupcakes from Rose Levy Beranbaum’s Rose’s Heavenly Cakes and the frosting is Classic Buttercream with Vanilla Bean from Beranbaum’s The Cake Bible. 

The cupcakes tasted amazing!  The buttercream was silky smooth and the flecks of vanilla were nice.  The candy corn was something my daughter said everyone in the class should like.  I don’t know…I picked mine off.  Give me simple cake and buttercream anyday with no sprinkles or candy.  Today I popped a mini bite-sized one from the batch (I made 3 sizes of cupcakes) and thought they were so yummy! Tender, moist white crumb made with 3 egg whites made it light…I doubled the recipe and the 6 egg yolks that remained were employed in the Classic Buttercream.  I like it when a cupcake is efficient and delicious at the same time!

This is a winner and I’ll make ‘em again for sure when there’s call to make a white cupcake.    I would have gone chocolate all the way, but one of the kids in her class doesn’t like chocolate.   I think that if you feel so strongly about not liking a food, hey…I’ll accommodate.  And I happen to really like this kid because he’s so darn nice!    He’s such a neat kid.  So this whole batch was made vanilla because of him.  I don’t think he knows that but that’s okay.  It would be weird if he knew that anyways.    Though they’re only 8, I’ve told my daughter that if she ever wants to date a guy, he’ll have to be like this chocolate-hating friend of hers.  Not the chocolate-hating part, but the nice part.  I think I’m safe for now because she thinks boys are icky and she’s way too cool to be thinking about liking boys anyway.

Stay tuned for some demolition pictures of my kitchen!

reade more... Résuméabuiyad