Dessert By Candy

Bumpy Road To Korvapuusti

Many of us experienced Pinterest Disappointment before. You come across an enticing pin. You carefully follow the recipe. What you end up making looks nothing like the exquisite original that caught your attention in the first place. You question your own ability and you doubt the integrity of the recipe. In the end, you feel like you wasted precious time, effort, and ingredients. Do you let out a deep sigh and move on or do you try to figure out what went wrong?

I experienced all of the above when I tried to make Finnish cinnamon roll korvapuusti last week. Full disclosure: I did not follow the recipes exactly. Combining the recipe from The Kinfolk Table , My Blue And White Kitchen, and my own bread baking experience, I thought it would be a straight-forward treat for Sunday brunch. I was wrong.

Learn, Candy, Learn

One of the most important lessons for me in 2014 is the quest to keep pushing myself out of my culinary comfort zone. Cooking and baking with unfamiliar techniques, ingredients, and equipment forced me to learn many new and wonderful things. ‘Tis the season for resolution so I resolve to continue trying something new in the kitchen at least once every week in 2015.

I did not waste any time and quickly found not one, but two fun things to learn. In Chinese cooking, smoking food with tea is a classic cooking technique. Unfortunately for me, the prospect of setting up a smoker indoor sounds more than daunting. Turns out, it is rather simple and clean up is a breeze. Why did I wait so long  to learn? Thank you Angela Ching and her well-written recipes to demystify this cooking technique.

A Look Back At 2014

I made a resolution at the beginning of the year to push myself out of my culinary comfort zone. In 2014, I tackled unfamiliar cuisines, challenging baking projects, and childhood favourites that I thought I could only indulge while dining out. And let’s not forget I jumped feet first into the world of confectionery! Even though every project seemed a little out of my reach at the time, I learned from both successes and failures. I am confident to say that I have become a better cook thanks to a year of learning. Let’s take a look back at some of the highlights.

10. Swedish Baking

Between travels to Sweden and my fascination with goodies sold at the IKEA Swedish Marketplace, I wanted to learn more about Swedish baking. Rather than wait for my next trip to the Scandinavia, I rolled up my sleeves and recreated the experience in my own kitchen instead. Last year I made kanelbullar (cinnamon buns), lussekatter (St Lucia buns), prinsesstårta (princess cake), and semlor (cardamom almond cream buns). I love them all, especially the technically challenging princess cake. It was the first time I made a dome cake freehand, covered with tinted marzipan, and formed little marzipan roses. Plenty of cake decorating techniques that I mastered in one baking project!

Healthy Holiday Supper

Holiday celebration is often synonymous with decadent food consumption, especially for those occasions which food plays a central role. This year, I defied tradition and designed a menu for Christmas supper that did not sacrifice taste for a healthier twist. It was every bit as enjoyable and I looked forward to leftovers even as I finished the last bite on my plate. I call that a win-win situation.

Healthy Christmas Supper

Smoked Sturgeon Goat Cheese Spread on Pita Cracker
Mushroom Pate on Seeded Cracker
Arugula, Pear, Walnut Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette 
Roasted Boneless Leg of Lamb with Herb Crust 
Mint Relish 
Freekeh with Crimini Mushroom
Garlic Broccolini 
Buche de Noel with Ricotta Orange Chocolate Filling and Chocolate Frosting 
Coffin Ridge Sparkling Pear Cider

Most Wonderful Time Of The Year

It is Boxing Day in Canada and that means another Christmas has come and gone. Updates at Dessert By Candy were few and far between in the last few weeks. First I was overwhelmed with Candy By Candy pop up shop. Once that was over, I faced the conclusion of an important chapter of my professional life. After 14 years as a software developer, I bid (perhaps temporary, perhaps permanent) farewell to the tech industry. It is scary to leave the familiar and comfortable. Most emotionally-challenging though, is the fact that I no longer see my colleagues everyday.  Fortunately, my mind is already pre-occupied by some opportunities ahead. I will be more involved with the food industry and there will be lots of new things to learn. I hope to share with you more exciting news as my plans take shape.

As soon as I packed my belongings from my cubicle, I came home to prepare my kitchen for two baking classes. It is rare that I have free time on my hands so I sent out an open invitation to all my friends back in early December offering free baking classes to  anyone interested. On Sunday afternoon, three friends came to my place and we spent an afternoon making double cheese & chive bread, sundried tomato loaves, and strawberry marshmallows. The following day, I guided a  culinary-savvy 14-year old to make macaroni & cheese, pumpkin cinnamon rolls with eggnog glaze, and fluffy peanut butter nougat. Three recipes in each class and all done in four hours flat, not a minute overtime! It made me so happy that my students enjoyed the class and picked up some useful tips.

With everything going on, I somehow still managed to fill my days with plenty of holiday cooking and baking. Mind you, planning was minimal at best and I simply flew by the seat of my pants. Last night I finally had a quiet moment to organize the massive collection of photos I took over the last few weeks and made a mental tally. I must admit I outdid myself.

Kristlemas Special Bar

When I planned for Candy By Candy pop up shop, I designed the collection based on tried and true recipes. On one hand, I knew that those were popular items I made in the past with predictable yield. On the other hand, I was bursting with creativity and wanted to try new things. It was hard to suppress that creative urge and not veer from my game plan. When I finished with all the planned recipes and still had a bit of time on my hands, this Kristlemas Special Bar was the result.

I created this milk chocolate bar with Christmas on my mind. It is a twist on my popular Peanut Butter Nougat Bar. Instead of peanut butter, the fluffy nougat is packed with Nutella. It sits on top of a thick layer of tender hazelnut shortbread with hints of cinnamon and allspice. To complement this mellow flavour, I chose to enrobe the bar in milk chocolate. This chocolate bar tastes sweet but with a warm spicy kick.

Candy By Candy Pop Up Shop

Every year I come up with a list of things that I want to accomplish. Often the list is made up of new things to learn and challenges that push me out of my comfort zone. For 2014, running my own pop up shop tops the list. Back in summer, I had a false start and sadly put away my plans. A few weeks ago, all the stars aligned and I am excited to announce that Candy By Candy is up and running! It is with great pleasure that I invite you to drop by online or at my first market at Stratus Vineyard’s Kristlemas Market on December 14!

For my first foray of pop up shop, naturally I go with what I do best: handmade candies and chocolate treats. I’ve been honing my confectionery skills for years but I made improvements by leaps and bounds in the last 12 months. For every batch of candies that I made, I kept detail notes on every aspect but especially how well they were received. But product development is only a small fraction of the entrepreneurial experience.

Kuri Squash Meringue Pie

This week my American friends will celebrate Thanksgiving. For me, it is but a distant memory. My family feasted on a turkey-less supper and the menu was packed with pumpkin, squash, and sweet potato. It was low-key and light on meat, just the way I like to eat. For dessert, I gussied up our family favourite kuri squash pie with toasted meringue topping for a festive look.

The pie was made with a gingersnap crumb crust. I roasted a kuri squash and made a thick puree from the flesh and skin. Part of the appeal of this squash is that the skin is so thin it is edible! The other reason is of course its incomparable taste. That hint of nutty chestnut flavour is my favourite. You can find out more about how to make this pie when I first started this family tradition years ago.

Gingerbread Village

It began innocently enough with a $4 cookie cutter that I bought last year. My local grocery store carries seasonal house brand products and I love to discover hidden gems. The 3D mini gingerbread house cutter is a perfect example. When I saw it at the store, I doubted if I would ever use it. As adorable as the photo looked on the packaging, I detest making rolled cookies. But for merely $4? I bought it without hesitation because I knew I would need it some day.

“Some day” came sooner than I expected. My friends and I share annual tradition of holiday cookie swap every November. Like most of our themed cooking parties, everyone pulled out all the stops to bring our best cookies to share. I decided nothing quite say over the top than mini gingerbread houses, each uniquely decorated. It was time to put my cookie cutter, piping bag, and tweezers to work.

Southern Party For 40

Last Friday I catered my skating club’s end of year party at a friend’s home. I had an idea of the menu weeks in advance but did not flesh out the details until pretty late in the game. Luckily experience with cooking for large group came in handy and I drew on all the lessons I learned in previous years. So what makes for a good menu?

I prefer to have a theme instead of just a mish-mash of dishes. I went with a southern theme including many traditional dishes from American south. So when a plate is piled high with bites of everything, there is some sort of continuity instead of many clashing flavours. Also, employing a variety of cooking methods is key. In a home kitchen, I do not have infinite oven space or stove tops. A menu that uses oven, stove top, slow cooker, and made-head dishes can optimize on cooking time so every dish will be ready at approximately the same time. I reduce any last minute assembly to minimum because the logistics of transferring all the food from my home to the party location is already a big challenge. No need to make things more complicated than it already is. This is the menu I served:

Southern Party For Forty Skaters

Devilled Eggs with Chives & Tarragon

Cream Cheese & Red Pepper Jelly on Melba Toast

Buttermilk Biscuits with Pimento Cheese & Bourbon Pickled Jalapenos

Tangy Apple Cabbage Slaw

Broccoli Slaw in Buttermilk Dressing

Potato Fennel Salad

Macaroni and Cheese

Mini Cornbread

Barbecue Baked Beans

Chicken Drumsticks with Alabama White Barbecue Sauce

Sweet and Smoky Oven Spareribs

Banana Butterscotch Pudding

Apple Slab Pie

Peach Cherry Almond Cobbler

Bourbon Bread Pudding