Dessert By Candy

Matcha Kinako Marshmallow

I have this under control, really I do! But things go from bad to worse when the water heater broke down within the last 24 hours during another extreme cold weather alert. Strange as it sounds, the mundane tasks of maintaining my living comfort slightly divert my attention away from the emotional turmoil at hand. So perhaps my water heater bailing on me is actually a blessing in disguise (not).

Before this unpleasant discovery in the shower, I washed all the dishes in hot soapy oblivion. Good thing too because I can always shower at the gym next door but I sure can’t stand to have a sink full of sweet sticky mess. It was all for a worthy cause though. After a decade of procrastination, I finally made my first batch of homemade marshmallows. Heaven knows I spent way more money than I should on “artisanal” marshmallows over the years. It is certainly not difficult to make at home and I already mastered all the necessary skills. Cooking sugar syrup? Easy. Whipping super hot syrup into egg whites? I can make Italian meringue with my eyes closed. Working with gelatin and candy making? I made far more complicated things before. Go figure what took me so long to make one of my favourite treats. Obviously I cannot go all vanilla about it. I made a batch of ethereal Matcha Kinako Marshmallows.

Sweet Dreams and Nightmares

I’ll be brief today. I made a platter of decadent Meyer Lemon Cream Puffs that embodies the phrase “what sweet dreams are made of”. But that all happened amidst a haze of tears and uncontrollable sobbing. A cherished relationship has come to an end and I lost one of my closest confidant. I feel like wandering around a nightmare that doesn’t end. It will be a very long time before I am okay again.

What does that have to do with cream puffs? Well, it means they are superbly easy to make given my less than optimal concentration. And the result is visually stunning and a treat for the taste buds. Let me break it down for you.

Beer For Breakfast

It’s always sad when the party’s over. With yesterday’s conclusion of Sochi Winter Olympics, life returns to normal. I no longer check the TV schedule and set my alarm clocks at strange hours. But what a party! Our national pride swelled to an all time high when the Canadian men’s hockey team captured gold medal and successfully defended Olympics champion title. Canadians across the globe put our lives on hold and glued to the action on ice. Chants of “We Are Winter” “Hockey = Canada” “Go Canada Go” were heard at the stadium, in bars, at homes, in a church, in a mosque, and on social media. Cheers erupted with every goal. Hockey is a key part our national identity and I am proud to be Canadian. Congratulations to all our athletes who represented Canada!

Aside from our love for hockey, Canadians also care deeply about beer. The two just go hand in hand. Due to time zone differences, the gold medal game was broadcast live at 7am in eastern standard time. Yes, our government made a one day exception to the liquor laws to allow bars to serve alcohol at early morning hours! Just because I can doesn’t mean I should. I am not much of a beer drinker so guzzling down a cold one first thing in the morning does not appeal. However, beer is versatile so I made a beer-centric breakfast to cheer on Team Canada.

Stung By Bee Sting Cake

I am self conscious of crying wolf. In all honesty, I fully intended to bake the bee sting cake every time I said I would. Smitten Kitchen’s recipe captured my attention the day it was published and I couldn’t stop thinking about this yeast-leavened cake with crunchy caramelized almond topping and pastry cream filling. I always have a soft spot for yeast-leavened cakes.

Months flew by and the recipe remained untouched in my to-bake pile. Even I got tired of myself making grand proclamation that I would have a bee sting cake to share tomorrow. I sheepishly stopped talking about this cake and wondered quietly why I just couldn’t deliver. Timing is the biggest hurdle. Yeast-leavened cakes go stale quickly so it is best served the day it is baked. That means I need to wake up before the crack of dawn if I hope to get out the door on time for work with a cake in my backseat. Guess who’s been waking up in the middle of the night to catch the Winter Olympics live broadcast? The timing is finally right.

Cheering Party For Our Skaters

Like many people, my attention has been completely occupied by the Winter Olympics spectacle since February 6. I carefully check the racing schedule before bed every night and wake up at ungodly hours to watch the live broadcast. This year there are many speed skaters competing who come from inline speed skating background. They are skaters that we met at races, some we even know personally. Last Saturday I invited my inline skating friends over for a cheering party for long track and short track speed skating races.

Obviously I did not want a fussy menu. I didn’t want to be kept in the kitchen while everyone was watching the races! I wanted nibbles that can be kept at room temperature all evening long. I wanted snacks that are easy to eat without the challenges of balancing plates, forks, and knives on the lap.  Oh and boys like meat. This is my menu of dips, sticks, and bite size sweets.

Olympics Cheering Party For 10

Antipasto Skewers

Garlicky Cashew Pork and Pineapple Skewers with Cashew Satay Sauce

Lemongrass Chicken Skewers

Beer and Sriracha Marinated Beef Skewers with Green Chile Sauce

Miso Tahini Eggplant Dip

Mushroom Pâté

Ethereally Smooth Hummus

Moroccan-Style Spicy Carrot Dip

Two Tone Tortilla Chips, Salt & Pepper Potato Chips, Pita Chips

Blood Orange Chocolate Chips Olive Oil Cake

Blood Orange Ricotta Bar

Apricot Cheesecake Bar

Sweet Treat For My Valentine

Anticipation is part of what makes an occasion special. After many years of food blogging, I am still not used to coming up with seasonal recipes well in advance. It almost baffles me how food magazines need to “celebrate” holidays months early. Grilling in the snow or roasting turkey in sweltering heat just feel wrong. So perhaps anticipation is only good in small doses.

As usual, I prefer to stay low key for Valentine’s Day. It is the holiday with a carte blanche to get sappy, sentimental, and over-the-top just because. But I am not making craft projects in grade school. I am a grown up and  I get self-conscious serving heart-shaped food in red, white, and pink.

By pure coincidence, I have blood oranges and ricotta at home to use up. Kukla’s lemon ricotta bar recipe on food52 sat long enough on my to-bake list. I love the classic lemon bar. How can I not be intrigued with the added richness of ricotta? I gave the recipe a try in anticipation of Valentine’s Day.

I Have A Store! And Cookies!

My own online store and a batch of fresh cookies were on my mind the last few weeks. Cookie craving is predictable and the lack of cookies is simply my stubborn refusal to add more junk food to the house. I finally caved and made a batch of Kinako Chocolate Chips Cookies. I love the result and can’t wait to share the recipe with you at the bottom of this post.

Another piece of news that I cannot wait to share is the grand opening of my online store! I gave you a preview of my self-published cookbook not too long ago. I ran into a few bumps on the road but now the ordering, printing, and shipping are running like a well-oiled machine. After a bit of number crunching, I’m thrilled that the cookbook is available at $16CAD with free shipping to Canada and the US! I already filled a bunch of orders during the weekend and the books are ready to ship from the printing facility now. Come take a look inside! I’m very proud of my first book with previously unpublished recipes as well as old favourites from the blog. I hope you’ll like it too.

Snow Day Cooking

Many of us in the Northeast got slammed with more snow on Wednesday. Winter 2014 lives up to its promise of a good old fashioned Canadian winter with frigid temperature and more snow than we care for. I worked from home to avoid messy traffic. It was a bonus that I got to stay close to my kitchen all day long so I took the opportunity to bake bread. It doesn’t take up much time nor attention but I do need to stay close to the rising dough. That was my recess activity on Wednesday.

I surveyed my fridge and pantry. An opened jar of sundried tomato in olive oil, a small handful of black olives, a bit of thyme, and some grated cheddar cheese. I recalled a Dan Lepard recipe for sundried tomato loaf. He called it absolutely delicious but also loathed by artisanal bakers. I had to smile…absolutely true! And often overpriced to boot! Baking from home can be economical and it is the case here.

Kinako Blondie with Nutella Swirl

Italy meets Japan in this very American bar cookie. Kinako Blondie with Nutella Swirl is my contribution to this year’s World Nutella Day. Melting pot, anyone?

Lately I am infatuate with kinako, toasted soy bean flour. This traditional Japanese dessert ingredient is prized for its nutty toasty aroma, reminiscent of roasted nuts. I roll mochi with it and make a creamy warm drink with milk. It didn’t occur to me to use kinako outside of Japanese cuisine until I saw a tweet from Brave Tart a while ago.  As soon as she planted the idea in my head, I could not stop thinking about it. On this special occasion, I decided to create a dessert using kinako and everyone’s favourite chocolate hazelnut spread.

My journey to create these Kinako Blondie with Nutella Swirl was not all smooth sailing. I first began my search for blondie recipes that blend wheat flour with gluten free flour. I found plenty of truly gluten free recipes as well as many 100% wheat flour recipes. The closest I got was BAKED’s Brewer’s Blondies recipe which uses a measly two tablespoons of malted milk powder to enhance the flavour. None of the recipes look persuasive enough to what I had in mind.

Double Dipper

Table manner is a big deal at my family. My parents taught us to use cutlery at an early age. I recall lessons on setting dinner table with multiple forks and knives and spoons for each guest  so we would not be clueless at restaurants. Chopsticks are the everyday utensils and heaven forbid if we could not use them properly. Dexterity and accuracy are basic minimums. We must be able to hold them correctly so the two sticks never cross and can move independently of each other. No reaching over at the table. Only pick up the nearest piece of meat or vegetable even if there’s a meatier or better-looking morsel further out. There is a saying that goes a child’s table manner is a reflection on parenting. My Mom definitely took it to heart.

Needless to say, double dipping is frown upon. Cutlery or not, contaminating a dish with saliva is simply unthinkable.

I relax a bit after many years of living on my own and come to appreciate the necessity of double dipping under the right circumstances. That means when I am dining solo and not sharing my food. Last night Little Brother and I got into the spirit of Super Bowl and had nachos for dinner. First, we must get around the issue of double dipping.