London Fog Pots de Crème

London Fog (Earl Grey) Pots de Crème with candied Cocoa Nibs

Got 3 egg yolks kicking around from macaron making?  we do...

This recipe is a perfect companion to any macaron recipe that incorporates 3 egg whites.  Are you like me and feel guilted by those extra yolks in your refrigerator?  Every time I opened the fridge, the yolks in their little plastic-wrapped glass bowl sat looking forlornly...begging to be made into something worthy.

and I've got a hankering for London Fog Pots de Crème

Instead of making matcha pots de crème (notice the preoccupation with all things matcha on my blog?) I decided to go the Earl Grey tea route because I've been seeing it practically everywhere in Vancouver...in ice cream and gelato parlours in particular.  I have no idea why Earl Grey tea came to be associated with the flavour "London Fog" but when I saw it on the ice-cream menu at Earnest Ice Cream, I knew right away what kind of tea it would be.

Bib has a new apron! She is all over baking and making and the apron was on sale at WS

preparing the custard. Bib loves to use the whisk. I had to stop her from over-beating as too much air will create bubbles in the custard which will result in a baked custard that will not look that great

If you are distracted like I am during baking while the cream mixture is heating on the stove, you'll experience this lovely boil-over.  I hate that.  I hate cleaning up the spilled cream but it's important to do this right away or it'll be hard to remove later on.  I use my silicone oven mitts and a wet old dish towel to mop up the spill-over.  Getting the spill when it's fresh is important.  Trust me.

I was so busy taking pics the cream boiled over.  oops.

adding the hot earl grey tea infused cream to the egg yolk mixture. careful not to make scrambled eggs!

the pots de crème in their water bath, ready for the oven. cover with foil before carefully sliding the custards into the oven

I run the custard mixture through a fine sieve before filling the pots

candied cocoa nibs sprinkled on the refrigerated pots de crème, just before serving

London Fog Pots de Crème...my take on the flavour that's all the rage in foodie YVR

If you love Earl Grey tea, you will love these little London Fog Pots of Cream

smooth, creamy and delicious! 

LONDON FOG POTS DE CRÈME

adapted from Martha Stewart

• 3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
• 3/4 cup milk
• 2 Earl Grey tea bags (I used Tazo Earl Grey tea bags)
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 3 egg yolks
• 6 tablespoons organic evaporated cane sugar
• pinch of salt
• cocoa nibs for sprinkling/serving (can be omitted)

1. Preheat the oven to 325° F.  In a small saucepan, bring the cream, milk and tea bagss just to a boil over medium heat (watch carefully as the cream can boil over quickly).  Turn off heat and allow the tea bags to steep at least 10 minutes.  
2. While the mixture is cooling, in a medium bowl, whisk together the yolks, sugar, vanilla and salt.  Gently press on the tea bags and discard.  Slowly whisk the hot cream mixture into the yolks.  
3. Arrange ovenproof cups in a baking pan large enough to hold the cups without touching one another (four 6-ounce cups or try espresso cups and various other cute oven-safe containers) Pour boiling water into the pan, being careful not to splash any inside the cups, until water comes halfway up sides of the cups.
4. Divide infused cream among the cups.  Cover pan tightly with aluminum foil, poking a few holes to let steam escape.  Bake until custards are set but still slightly wobbly in centers, about 30 minutes.
5. Carefully remove baking pan from oven; remove foil.  Transfer cups from the hot water bath to a wire rack; let cool about 30 minutes.  Cover cups with plastic wrap; chill in the refrigerator until custards are firm, at least 2 hours and up to 3 days.  
6. Sprinkle with candied cocoa nibs on the top of the pots de crème just before serving.

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Upon Her Turning 12: Mini Crême Brûlée Birthday Cheesecakes (gluten free)

Birthday Cheesecake.

Say what? 

You want me to make Mini Cheesecakes for your birthday?

okay. sure.

16 oz of Cream Cheese--softening; awaiting transformation into my daughter's celebratory Birthday Cheesecakes.

Today we celebrate my 1st born's 12th birthday.  For this auspicious occasion, I thought back to the many birthday cakes I baked for my two children and decided to ask her what she would like me to make. Remember the epic Ariel's Underwater Castle Cake I made for Bebe's 5th bday? While walking through the cake-decorating section of Michael's, I had asked her what she wanted me to bake her for her 5th birthday party. She stopped in her tracks and pointed to a huge box at her eye level.  It was the Wilton Castle Cake kit. I had a 40% off coupon and just thought, heck...why not? It wouldn't be that hard.  It's just a cake.

Ariel's Underwater Castle Cake: Bebe's 5th bday cake...just in case you weren't around this blog back then

Okay, I admit that for my second child, I was not so ambitious...and I had hidden the Castle Cake Kit Box by that time--far in the dark recesses of a cupboard inaccessible to preschoolers lest she decide that she wanted one too, like her big sister.

ahh. those days are over when I could dedicate a couple weeks to planning her birthday and bake her cake.

"I dunno...it doesn't matter" she says in response to my query the other day about what she'd like me to bake.

My trusty KitchenAid making short work of beating the cream cheese until smooth

My eldest child is not a sweet-tooth (like her daddy.)  She is a savoury-girl.  In the past 12 years she is gradually showing her personality and preferences.  Do you remember a time when you chose her clothes; the foods she would eat in a restaurant and decided what she would play with by filtering things for her?

After adding the eggs one by one and beating until smooth, we're ready to go

Well.  Bebe's not into cake.
Truly not.
I know!
Such a shame!
I was slightly disappointed but my 2nd child has a sweet-tooth so no fear, she'll inherit my bakeware.

Meanwhile, the Gluten Free Graham Cracker Crusts have come out of the oven and are cooling on my counter.  We made the mini crusts by pulverizing store-bought GF Graham Crackers and combining with melted butter. Then we pressed into my mini cheesecake molds.

Thus, when I pressed her for an answer again, "well, what should I bake for your birthday?"

She replied with a smile and eyes-popped-wide-open, "mini cheesecakes!"

Any excuse to use my trusty "batter pen!"  I filled the batter pen with cheesecake batter and then squirted the batter evenly between the cheesecake molds. I didn't spill a drop of batter on the pan's sides as I usually do when I try using a spoon, ice-cream scoop or spouted measuring cup. 

So here it is, with a brûlée crust.  When brûléed just before serving, you get a crunchy candy crust. If you refrigerate the brûléed cheesecakes overnight, then you get a lovely caramel sauce (just like crême caramel) the next day.  So this would make for a great make-ahead dessert for any occasion if you love crême caramel cheesecake.

After refrigeration, the crunchy brûlee crust turns into a lovely drippy, sticky caramel sauce. 

I embraced her differences and respected her wishes and gave her what she really wanted.  I didn't try to guide her towards another choice I thought she would appreciate better (as I am apt to do.)  I just sucked it up and let it go.  A birthday cheesecake.  Well, actually a whole bunch of mini birthday cheesecakes.  There would be no cutting of the cake. That's okay.  And it was vanilla. She doesn't really like chocolate.

I know!
You think that was easy to accept for me? I mean my mom and I (and the 8 yr old too) love chocolate.  What happened here with this one?  Let's say I went back and forth several times these last few years to make sure she was sure she didn't really like chocolate.   Lots of Godiva chocolates were ingested to ensure this fact. We consistently entered chocolate stores whenever we were in malls--just to "browse"--and because sometimes they give out free samples.

I started this blog while I was on maternity leave with my first born.  My intention was to create an archive of recipes for my child.  Today she's 12.  wow.  Don't worry. That's my espresso. 

I always mis-time capturing the candle blow-out! Here's Bebe's chin after blowing out her bday candle. 

Mini Vanilla Bean Cheesecakes (gluten free) with caramel topping 

The brûlee dissolves into a caramel sauce that drips down the sides of the mini cheesecakes.  Serve with fresh local ripe berries like we did.  

MINI CRÊME BRÛLÉE OR CRÊME CARAMEL CHEESECAKES (gf) 

adapted from Williams Sonoma recipe on the back of the bakeware box

For the Crusts:

• 1 cup (114 g) Gluten Free Graham Crackers, crushed or pulverized in a food processor
• 2 T sugar
• pinch of salt
• 2 T unsalted butter, melted

For the Filling:

• 16 oz (500 g) cream cheese
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup (60 ml) heavy cream
• 1/2 cup (125g) sugar
• 1 vanilla bean, split open and seeds scraped into the cream
• pinch of salt

For decoration:

• I used fresh seasonal strawberries or berries
• organic evaporated cane sugar, for sprinkling on the cheesecakes; to brûlée

1. Have all the ingredients at room temperature. Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly coat the cups of the 12-cup cheesecake pan with nonstick cooking spray.
2. To make the crusts, in a small bowl, stir together the cracker crumbs, sugar and salt. Add the melted butter and stir until combined. Divide the mixture evenly among the cups and using your fingertips, press it evenly into the bottom. Bake until the crusts are set, about 10 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool completely. Reduce the heat to 300°F.
3. To make the filling, in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the flat beater, beat the cream cheese on low speed until smooth, 2 to 3 minutes. Increase the speed to medium-low and add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the cream and vanilla and beat until incorporated, about 1 minute. Add the sugar and salt and beat until incorporated, about 2 minutes, stopping the mixer occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl.
4. Pour the batter into the crusts, dividing it evenly among the cups. [NB. I used my "batter pen" by filling it with the cheesecake batter and squirting the batter evenly between the mini molds.] Bake until the cheesecakes are set, about 20-30 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool completely. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
5. Using a small teaspoon, sprinkle organic cane sugar evenly over each cheesecake (while still in the cheesecake pan).  Using a brûlée torch, caramelize the sugar until golden brown.   
6. To unmold, gently push up from the hole in the bottom of the mini cheesecake pan to remove the cheesecake from the cup. Use a small spatula or butter knife to remove the cake crust from the metal bottom. If the cheesecakes are sticking to the pan, gently run a toothpick around each cheesecake to loosen it before pushing it out of the cup. 
7. If you would like a caramel sauce instead of the brûlée, simply place the unmolded brûléed cheesecakes into a container with a lid and refrigerate overnight.  The next morning, you will notice that the brûlée crust has melted into a lovely oozy sticky caramel sauce.  Serve with a dollop of whipped cream and fresh ripe local berries.
8. Makes 12 mini cheesecakes.

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Mini Matcha Mochi Doughnuts (gluten free)

Mini Matcha Mochi Doughnuts (gluten free) baked by my 8 yr old, Bib

Sprinkle with icing sugar to make it even better

See? I was detoxing today from a foodie-sinful weekend before Bib was pestering me to do some baking...

Have you wanted to teach your 8 year old fractions? but fractions are SO hard.  Being the I'd-rather-be-baking sort of mommy, I figured a practical application to fractions would be baking doughnuts. Bib has been sort of driving me crazy with her obsession with the Kracie "Popin' Cookin'" candy kits lately.

I noticed her watching some Youtube videos in Japanese (no she doesn't understand Japanese!) where the people are "cooking" candies in these plastic molds and sometimes they even use a microwave.  I think.  I find the whole thing horrifying and gross.  She makes these little Sushi candies and then eats them up right away.  She says "mmmm" sometimes too.

I have never tried any of her "food" but I think this was the beginning of her showing me that she had a real passion for baking (yay?)

A video posted by Cake Brain (@cakebrain) on Jun 1, 2015 at 8:21pm PDT

Bebe, my 11 yr old recently passed down her Easy Bake Oven to Bib and Bib has already made her own Video of how she made a Dango sundae (yes, she made it all by herself (twice!) and I definitely didn't help...and paid the price with the mess afterwards).

Getting ready with all the ingredients first.  I used a recipe from an e-book I bought on my kindle.  It's great as I adapted by adding matcha and I envision doing various other flavours soon.

Here's a picture of her Sundae with her hand-made dango. The only scary part was boiling the dango in hot water on the stove.

A photo posted by Cake Brain (@cakebrain) on Jun 1, 2015 at 9:20pm PDT

The best thing about mochi is it's gluten free!
I decided to do things right.  If she's going to bake, she's going to use a REAL oven...this ain't no Easy Bake Oven we're using today.  Of course, she is obsessed with mochi too.  We've recently been going to Vancouver Asian dessert places and trying all sorts of weird Asian sundaes. She acquired a taste for mochi and ice cream together so hey let's make that at home because it's crazy expensive in those over-priced Asian dessert places.

A photo posted by Cake Brain (@cakebrain) on Jul 10, 2015 at 5:08pm PDT

See that crazy dessert above (all gluten free btw) we've been eating in Asian restos in Vancouver? I'm going to make them myself this summer and save a ton of $$.  Plus, it'll taste way better (I hope!) and I'll feel way less guilty about eating them because I can control the amount of sugar and the portion size.

The recipe includes: 2 eggs, 1/4 cup of honey (I used Manuka) and 2 tablespoons sugar (I used organic cane sugar) 

Add the milk to the wet ingredients. I think I will modify this recipe by using coconut milk next time.

Bib loves sifting.  This is her sifting the matcha and mochiko flour together over the wet ingredients.  I had to tell her to slow down as a cloud of mochiko dust was enveloping her face. lol.

The groovy thing about mochi batter is you can not over-mix it. Bib can "mix mix mix!" all she wants! 

After Bib was done mixing, I gave the batter a few more turns with the whisk for good measure and it was ready to go into the mini doughnut pan

Wait up! doh! I forgot to spray the doughnut pan. That lone doughnut is going to be a pain to remove.  I used Coconut oil spray that I bought at Costco. It smells heavenly. 

I gave the doughnut pan some quick raps on the counter-top to get all the air bubbles out and level the batter before popping it in the oven.

freshly baked out of the oven

The Mini Matcha Mochi Doughnuts are a type of wagashi, which is a Japanese sweet meant to be eaten with tea.  

I'm enamoured by everything wagashi since visiting this groovy Japanese cafe in Portland, Oregon recently.  I had the matcha tea set which was served in the style of a Japanese tea ceremony. The lady at the counter said "are you sure? the matcha is strong like espresso".  I was sure and even make my own matcha but she must have thought I was a newb with my camera around my neck. lol.

A photo posted by Cake Brain (@cakebrain) on Jul 5, 2015 at 5:08pm PDT

A photo posted by Cake Brain (@cakebrain) on Jul 5, 2015 at 5:07pm PDT

The cafe is located literally across the street from the museum; thus the name "Behind the Museum Cafe".   I am working on a gluten free matcha brownie recipe soon.  Stay tuned...

A photo posted by Cake Brain (@cakebrain) on Jul 5, 2015 at 5:05pm PDT

This lone doughnut was the ornery one that I had forgot to spray.  It was a pain to dislodge but I eventually pried it loose with a wooden skewer.

Mini Matcha Mochi Doughnuts (gluten free)
adapted from Wagashi and More: a collection of Simple Japanese Dessert Recipes by Cooking Penguin (Kindle version)
NB: these mini doughnuts are made in the style of "wagashi" which are tiny sweets served with unsweetened Japanese green tea. Usually you only have one (yah right!) and it's served with Matcha tea in the style of the Japanese Tea Ceremony.  See that picture above of my matcha set? like that! These are in no way as sweet as a North American Doughnut. However, you can bling it up with a royal icing drizzle or toss icing sugar all over it if you're into that kind of thing.

Makes 24 Baked Mini Doughnuts

• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/4 cup honey (I used manuka honey)
• 2 tablespoon evaporated cane sugar
• 2/3 cup milk (or coconut milk)
• 1 1/2 cups mochiko
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 tablespoons matcha
• 3 tablespoon butter, melted
• coconut oil spray, for pan
• powdered sugar, for dusting the baked doughnuts

1. Preheat oven to 350°F
2. In a bowl, whisk the eggs,melted butter, honey, sugar and milk until combined.  
3. Sift mochiko with baking powder and matcha powder over the wet ingredients. Whisk well to combine.
4. Spray your mini doughnut pan with coconut oil spray (or Pam)
5. Pour the batter into a piping bag with a large tip (or a ziploc bag with the corner snipped off).  I used my Tovolo pancake pen batter dispenser (see picture above).
6. Rap the pan on the countertop to get rid of air bubbles and smooth out the tops of the mini doughnuts.
7. Bake for 10-15 minutes until done.  Let cool and use a wooden skewer to remove from pan.
8. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve with tea.

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Homemade Fizzy Grape Kombucha

Homemade Fizzy Kombucha

This Kombucha experiment was anxiety-ridden and exciting and most importantly economical! Do you struggle with paying almost $5 for those bottles of effervescent flavoured kombuchas too?
I failed somewhat in trying to grow my own SCOBY from a bottle of store-bought GT Unflavoured Raw Kombucha.  I don't think I had the right ph balance and I never got anything beyond a translucent scoby that was a few millimetres thin.  When I found out that a local shop was selling scobies I practically went there the next day.  Interestingly, there was a kombucha workshop running that day but I didn't stay for it.  I knew what I wanted and after purchasing some other supplies (at a pretty reasonable price!) I went home to try and make my own kombucha.

A video posted by Cake Brain (@cakebrain) on Jun 10, 2015 at 2:45pm PDT

I bought a scoby, a plastic mesh strainer and 6 bottles for the 2nd fermentation stage.  I knew that I would not be drinking kombucha after the 1st stage only because I love fizz.  The fizzier the better in fact.  The Homesteaders Emporium, though on the seedier side of Vancouver, is a treasure trove of very nifty things at a reasonable price.  I wanted to buy a whole bunch of stuff but promised myself to come back another time...the make-your-own-sake was intriguing. They sell chicken coops, bee-keeping supplies, candle and soap-making equipment, fermented foods ingredients and supplies and so much more. I was in do-it-yourself heaven.

a healthy scoby, with approximately 1 cup of kombucha starter comes in the mason jar that I purchased from Homesteaders Emporium.

I immediately made my 1st batch of kombucha with the oolong tea using the following recipe.  I scaled it down to fit my glass container.  Besides, I only had 6 small-ish glass bottles for the 2nd fermentation process so didn't want to go crazy making too much.  I wanted to see if it would work and taste good.

KOMBUCHA RECIPE from Cultures of Health. 

Just follow the link and you'll find a video and instructions on how to make your first batch of kombucha.  This will result in a flat drink.  If you want fizzy, you'll have to go through a 2nd fermentation. In my opinion there is no point in making kombucha unless you're going to make it fizzy!

Ingredient Ratios for Making Different Amounts of Kombucha

Container Size	Tea	Sugar	Water	Starter Tea or Vinegar
One quart	1½ teaspoon loose tea or 2 tea bags	¼ cup	2-3 cups	½ cup
½ Gallon	1 tablespoon loose tea or 4 tea bags	½ cup	6-7 cups	1 cup
Gallon	2 tablespoons loose tea or 8 tea bags	1 cup	13-14 cups	2 cups

For my purposes, I used 7 cups of hot water to 1/2 cup sugar. I used Chinese oolong loose leaf tea. After cooling, I added the mason jar's contents. I poured in the starter tea which amounted to about a cup. Then I carefully slid the scoby to float on the top of the kombucha.  I covered with a paper towel and then an elastic to hold it in place. I aged my kombucha for 2 weeks before I did the 2nd step. I will be honest and admit that I never did taste it before I actually started the 2nd fermentation process.  I just had faith it would turn out okay. And it did.   What's great is that I do my kombucha making on weekends when I have time off work. This works with my schedule.

Day 2, 2nd fermentation with grape juice and kombucha. See that little scoby? it looked like a mini jelly fish growing and it creeped me out a bit but then I realized that this was a good sign that the fizziness was going to happen!

So I decided to play it safe and on the first round of making fizzy kombucha, I went with a commercial grape juice.  It was Welch's grape juice and I knew that my kids would drink the rest of the bottle because frankly, I'm not a big bottled juice drinker.  Because I have a Kuvings whole slow juicer I can make my own cold-pressed juices so down the road I envision experimenting with all sorts of different juices.  

2ND FERMENTATION PROCESS:

1.  Sterilize your swing-lid glass bottles. Mine were .25L (1 cup) which is way smaller than I wanted, but it's all I could find at the time at the emporium.  I have saved 1 litre swing-top bottles from french lemonade I bought as well as old prosecco and sparkling cider bottles too.

2.  Use a silicone funnel and pour in your juice or add fruit pieces to the empty sterilized bottles.

I will add here that I made a fortuitous mistake during the 2nd fermentation process.  I poured 4 ounces (that's 1/2 cup) of grape juice in the bottoms of each of the .25L fermentation bottles (that's 1 cup for you Imperial Measure Americans).  Next time, I think I'll just add 2 oz. Anyway, 4 oz is way more juice to kombucha ratio than I've seen mentioned everywhere else on all sorts of other sites. Besides this, for my 1 cup bottles, it worked out perfectly.  I just had enough kombucha to top up the bottles and then saved some as starter to make my next batch. I didn't realize my mistake until everything was already capped. So I kind of just went with it.  I tasted the kombucha on the 2nd day of fermentation and it tasted more grape juice-ish than kombucha-ish.  I thought logically that I would need to ferment longer since I have more sugars in the fruit juice for my little yeastie organisms to chow down on.  Theoretically, I was hoping for more fizz as a result of giving those little beasts more sugar to feed on.  So I waited a good 2 weeks before putting those bottles in the refrigerator. I was terribly afraid of exploding bottles and so I checked on one bottle several times during the 2nd fermentation process and just kept the other bottles sealed and in a box covered with a kitchen towel at room temperature hoping with fingers crossed that everything would be okay.  And it was.

3.  When your kombucha is ready, refrigerate the fizzy fruit-flavoured kombucha in your fermentation bottles until ready to drink.  This slows down the fermentation process.  I didn't pop a bottle until after about 1 week post-refrigeration step.  When I popped that lid, I heard the fantastic pressurized pop that indicated effervescence! It no longer tasted like grape juice but was very similar to the grape-flavoured GT kombucha that I buy sometimes.  

4.  Place a fine-mesh sieve over your glass and pour your kombucha through it to strain out the ooglie bits...and enjoy. 

On a hot day like today after work, it sure hit the spot to drink a refreshing fizzy homemade kombucha. And in the long-run, I'll be thinking of a continuous brew system so stay tuned!

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

BC SPOT PRAWN FESTIVAL! Stir-Fried Ginger Scallion and Soy Spot Prawns

It's BC Spot Prawn Season! yay!

The season lasts from May to June and after seeing friends' Spot Prawn pics posted on FB I had a yearning too.  I sent the man down to T&T supermarket where they were on sale for $15.99/lb until May 18.

A photo posted by Cake Brain (@cakebrain) on May 16, 2015 at 6:28pm PDT

The Spot Prawns were lively in their plastic bag.  These guys have pokey antennae and sharp spear-like tails and heads.  You have to buy the Spot Prawns with the intent to eat them within a few hours.  I kept them in the fridge for an hour before I was ready to prep them.  I am squeamish and even with rubber dish gloves to protect me from their sharp pointy bits, I couldn't handle how each prawn would squirm and hop out of my hand.  In the end, I held a prawn with tongs in my left hand and worked the scissors in my other hand. It gave me the willies...but I was not deterred enough to stop because I knew these prawns had to be cooked quickly to maintain their freshness.  After they die, the prawn flesh becomes mushy...bleh...inedible.  When cooked fresh, they have a firm 'n bouncy texture and they're sweet and juicy.  They do not require much fuss in terms of cooking.  

If you want to eat them quickly, you can either boil or steam them.  But I wanted a more substantial meal so I decided to add some aromatics: ginger, scallion, yellow onions and soy.

After cutting off the huge barbed needle-like spear from the top of the head of the Spot Prawn with kitchen scissors, I trimmed off the antennae and legs too.  I placed them in a colander and rinsed well and allowed it to drain well.  Pat dry.

BC Spot Prawns with Ginger, Scallions & Soy

Ingredients:

2 lbs Live BC Spot Prawns, legs, antennae & sharp bits trimmed (purchase from your fishmonger from May-June)
1 bunch green onions (scallions), cut in 2 inch lengths
1/2 small yellow onion, sliced
2 inches fresh ginger, peeled, sliced and smashed
2 tablespoons supreme soy sauce
1 tablespoon chinese cooking wine
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
2 tablespoons oil for stir-frying

Method:

1. Clean the trimmed prawns and rinse well in a colander.  Drain and pat dry with a paper towel.
2. In a small bowl, combine the soy, wine, sugar and sesame oil
3. Heat a wok or fry pan on high until smoking hot.  Add 2 tablespoons oil for frying.  Swirl the oil to cover the pan and add the ginger & sliced onions.  Stir fry for a minute.  Add the white parts of the scallions and continue to stirfry for another minute.
4. Add prawns to the pan and stir fry.  Toss in the soy mixture and keep tossing until the prawns start to turn colour.  Add the green parts of the scallion and continue to toss until the prawns have curled and look cooked through which shouldn't take more than a couple more minutes.
Do not overcook!
5. Serve!

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SPARKLY COCOA NIB CHIP BUTTER COOKIES

Happy Holidays!

Wishing Everyone a Very Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah and Happy New Year!

These cookies are my fanciful take on chocolate chip cookies.  I've used cocoa nibs instead of chocolate chips...and a butter cookie instead of a toll house drop batter. These cookies are so easy and pretty.  Cut slices from a refrigerator-cold triangular log of my butter cookie recipe (below).  Then top with cocoa nib pieces and sprinkle with unrefined cane sugar.  Bake and package with the plain butter cookies and you've got a nice selection for gifting.



SPARKLY COCOA NIB CHIP COOKIES
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
¾ cup Organic unrefined cane sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (or 1 vanilla bean, ground up)
2 ½ cups sifted all-purpose flour
¾ teaspoon coarse salt
Extra ½ cup organic unrefined can sugar for sprinkling and rolling
Extra 3 tablespoons cocoa nibs for sprinking on cookies
1. Put butter and granulated sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment; mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Mix in whole egg and vanilla. Reduce speed to low. Add flour and salt and mix until combined.

2. Halve dough; shape each half into a log.  Form log into triangular shape. Place each log on a 12-by-16 inch sheet of parchment. Roll in parchment to 1 ½ inches in diameter, pressing a ruler along edge of parchment at each turn to narrow log.  Transfer parchment-wrapped log to refrigerator until firm, about 1 hour.

3. Preheat oven to 375ºF.   Roll log in extra cane sugar.  Cut into ½-inch thick slices. Space 1 inch apart on baking sheets lined with parchment.  Sprinkle with cocoa nib pieces and extra cane sugar.  Bake until edges are golden, 18 to 20 minutes. (cakebrain note: ensure the cookies are golden brown and they'll taste much more flavourful as well as have a better crunch). Let cool on sheets on wire racks. Store in airtight containers at room temperature up to 3 days.

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On Holding the Line with GF Condensed Milk Pound Cake and Raffi

GF Condensed Milk Pound Cake (see recipe below)

Yes, we're still on picket duty and this week I brought home-baked GF goodies for my colleagues.  I made GF Condensed Milk Pound Cake and GF Chocolate Chip Cookies.  They both went over really well on the line "wow, these don't taste gf!" and the handful of us that are gf were able to enjoy baked goods too.  Generally what we get on the line is non-gf baked goods and doughnuts from parents, students and even kind-hearted passersby without children (thank you, thank you!) and I try to avoid eating that because I don't want a huge stomach ache while walking about with no washroom close at hand (eek!)  The wonderful thing about these gf recipes is that even non GF people enjoy the goodies because they're so delicious and don't taste gritty or gf (you can't tell the diff) and the flour I use has more fiber in it (bonus! we're gonna be regular!)  My baked goods are more inclusive and healthy (just like we're trying to achieve with public ed).   Here's to hoping the provincial government comes to its senses and offers teachers a fair deal and students a learning environment and resources they well deserve (right now, we're ranked near the bottom in Canada per student funding).

In solidarity with our support staff. You guys rock! 

I really miss being in the classroom teaching English and mentoring my colleagues too. I am quite unhappy about this whole mess our provincial government has put us in with public ed, but you can read all of that on my twitter feed if you care to know what's going on in BC.   You know, when Raffi [recipient of Order of Canada, Order of BC, Fred Rogers Integrity Award] comes out on social media to defend public ed, you've done something seriously wrong CC.



Baking GF goodies can get cumbersome with all the bags of different flours lying around.  When I mix up a batch of my favourite GF blend, I make a triple batch (or more if I can find a container for it all).  However, there's always leftovers of the ingredients to some degree and that is so irksome.

Our beautiful empty school

To compound this "leftover" issue, the flours all have different expiry dates and your gf flour blend will have its own unique best before date (which I believe should be based on the earliest best before date indicated on the package of any of your ingredients.) Some people freeze leftover flours or even freeze the whole batch of their gf flour blend.  The problem I have with that is there's absolutely NO ROOM for flour in my freezer.  All those Costco-sized boxes of ice cream and my almond flour and frozen bananas, berries and other fruit for smoothies takes up all my freezer space.

Our gorgeous field, which I would rather see filled with kids using in their PE classes

I haven't had much success with Bob's Red Mill gf flour blends as I find them gritty.  I like my own personal gf flour blend for baking as the results are fabulous and mouth-feel is excellent.  I have also had success with Cup4Cup but it's exorbitantly priced.  So much $ for such a small bag of gf flour!   My recent fave has been the locally produced Cloud 9 GF flour, which I purchase at my local Costco.

Colleagues' dogs Yumi (Shiba Inu), Maya (Standard Poodle) and Tessa (Chihuahua) holding the line for public ed

I have been putting the Cloud 9 gf flour through its paces at home with my fave recipes; essentially subbing it in for all purpose flour or cake flour.  I generally don't make any adaptations other than to subsitute it for the AP flour in the recipe.  Results are mixed with some applications as there is buckwheat in the Cloud 9 flour.  If you want something pretty to look at, Cloud 9 leaves a greyish cast, so wouldn't be that appealing in a white cake or muffin.  If you can get over the speckled appearance of the flour and the grey cast, the flavour and texture is fine.

Chocolate Chip Cookies (GF) made with Cloud9

I have had success subsituting Cloud 9 for the following applications:  dusting meats for pan-frying, thickening in sauces (white sauce, Mac 'n Cheese sauce, turkey gravy) and of course baking cakes (chiffon, banana and pound cakes).  I am going to try it in tart and pie shells and think it should be fine.  I have not been too successful with using it in a pizza dough yet and will keep trying to tweak recipes to make it work.  The chocolate chip cookie recipe I used was from Martha Stewart and all I did was sub in the Cloud 9.  It worked out pretty really well but I forgot to add the psyllium husk so it was a bit too crumbly for my liking.  Next time I'll remember.

CLOUD 9 GF CONDENSED MILK POUND CAKE 

[ADAPTED from Pichet Ong's Sweet Spot]
Makes one 8 1/2 -x- 4 1/2 inch cake, about 12 servings

• 1 cup (8 oz/226 g unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus more for greasing the pan
• 1 1/3 cups (7 oz/200g) Cloud 9 Gluten Free Flour
• 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 cup (3 3/4 oz/ 106g) sugar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract 
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tablespoons psyllium husk powder (optional, but I always use it in baked goods to ensure the centre is not doughy and damp when I bake with gf flour. Bonus=it adds fiber)
• 3/4 cup (8 oz/239g) sweetened condensed milk
• 3 large eggs at room temperature

1. Preheat the oven to 325° F.
2. Generously butter and line the bottom of an 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 - inch loaf pan and set aside.  
3. Mix together the gf flour, psyllium husk and baking powder in a bowl and set aside.
4. Put the butter and sugar in a standing mixer and beat until creamy and light scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl occasionally.  Mix in vanilla extract and salt.  
5. Add the condensed milk and mix until well incorporated scraping down the sides of the bowl once.
6. Add the dry ingredients and mix until combined. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition until combined. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl, ensuring all ingredients are combined uniformly. 
7. Transfer the batter to the prepared loaf pan. Smooth the top with a spatula ensuring the batter is relatively even.  Bake until the top is dark golden brown and a tester inserted in the center comes out clean, about 1 hour 20 minutes (70-90 min). Cool completely in the loaf pan on a rack, then unmould.  Delicious the next day too!

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