Trouble Makers.

November 26, 2010 at 6:04 pm | Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment
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My kids are great. I love them. That being said, they are also little monsters (my three-year-old even insisted on being a monster for Hallowe’en and her favourite movie is Monsters Inc). I think my kids are such trouble-makers so that I can experience what my parents went through.

When I was only a toddler, my brother and I would hatch plans and get into a terrible amount of trouble. Soon after I learned how to walk, I used the drawers in the kitchen to create steps up to counter. There I was able to get the bottle of Flintstones vitamins and hand them to my brother who proceeded to open said bottle–we ate them all.

Another time, we decided that we wanted all the Fudgesicles and Popsicles for ourselves. So, when my mom and dad went to bed we snuck downstairs to the big chest freezer in the basement. My brother lifted me up while I opened the freezer and took the icy treats. We thought we would be smart and save them so we hid them under our pillow. We awoke to my mother’s screams as she saw a melted brown mess spreading from underneath my pillow.

Now, it is my turn.

It seems like every day my daughters stir up trouble. One incident happened just yesterday. I went to the bathroom and I was gone for under 2 minutes only to return to a gigantic mess of cracked eggs and butter smeared over the kitchen floor and on my little angels. Mind you, this was just after then had been given a bath.

Today, they decided to top themselves. My daughter asked me to peel her an orange. My first mistake was turning my back to them. They grabbed one of their chairs from the craft table and placed it near the cabinets. My eldest daughter climbed up and removed the vaseline from the a basket. All the time I was doing this I was thinking “wow, my children are so great. They can play so nicely and quietly together.” That was my second mistake–my girls never play quietly.

Let’s just say that vaseline is a lot harder to clean up than butter and eggs.

Despite the lack of butter and eggs, I knew I had to make some cupcakes today. It was someone’s birthday weekend and I had to deliver some birthday spirit in the form of baked goodies. It was a bit hard to figure out what to make because this person doesn’t really like sweet stuff. So I racked my brain and decided on Gourmet’s dessert of the month, Spiced Applesauce Cake with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting.

Again, this recipe is perfect to satisfy a desire for autumn flavours (and a cinnamon fanatic like myself). Instead of a cake I made cupcakes so that it would be easier to serve and eat.

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SPICED APPLESAUCE CAKE WITH CINNAMON CREAM CHEESE FROSTING
From Gourmet Magazine
Makes 14 cupcakes

FOR CAKE

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1 stick unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 cup packed light brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 1/2 cups unsweetened applesauce

FOR FROSTING

  • 5 oz cream cheese, softened
  • 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
  • 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1 cup confectioners sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Method

For the Cake:
Preheat oven to 350°F with rack in middle. Line muffin tin with paper cups or grease.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices.

Beat butter, brown sugar, and vanilla with an electric mixer at high speed until pale and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes.

Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition, then beat in applesauce. At low speed, mix in flour mixture until just combined.

Scoop batter out into muffin tin filling it 3/4 full.

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until toothpick inserted into centre comes out clean.

Cool in muffin tins for 10 minutes then transfer to cooling rack to cool completely.

For the Frosting:

Beat cream cheese, butter, and vanilla with an electric mixer at high speed until fluffy.

Sift confectioners sugar and cinnamon over cream cheese mixture, then beat at medium speed until incorporated.

Spread frosting over top of cooled cupcakes.

Life is good (trying to bake a wedding cake pt. 2)

February 15, 2010 at 8:06 am | Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment
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(This is me just less of an evil grin and more of a happy grin. Oh and I don’t have a beard or wear a sombrero.)


Lately I have been elated and it’s a nice change.  For a while I felt very stressed. There were so many changes happening all at once in my life and everything seemed chaotic.

I am a person who likes organization and when you move and your eight months pregnant with a two-year-old organization isn’t even a word you can comprehend. Well, that was the case with me.

Well, we had been living in Whistler for already six months and I was still stressed. The house was always a mess and there was never enough time, or so it seemed. Then something clicked. I started cleaning and organizing. Now I am in a happy place and haven’t been better; life is great.

I think when a your a stay-at-home parent it is important to have a place that feels organized because your in the same setting for basically 24 hours a day sans trips to the market and little outings. That is probably the one piece of advice I would give to someone becoming a stay-at-home parent.  You are a lot more sane when you are in an aesthetically visual place things are more functional.

Because my house is more functional I am able to do more. More equals trying to make a wedding cake part two!

This time I tried my own recipe which I will not post. Apparently my husband and his friends liked it. It was a cake that was made with brown sugar and all-purpose flour so it turned out dense.

I also tried the Whiteout Cake frosting from Baked and this time I was a lot happier with the outcome. I realized that when I make it I have to take the pot of the burner and whisk making sure I get the bottom of the pot. By doing this it is easier to prevent the sugar mixture from burning.

I used 6 inch cake pans and cut each cake in half to make a six layered cake. I was really happy with the results. I cut out of a piece of paper and then laid it on top of the cake. I then sprinkled red sugar crystals carefully over the cut out section and removed the paper.

Unfortunately I didn’t get to take a picture of it but my husband’s friends did.

It was quite a sight with my husband walking into a room full of his friends carrying a cake with a heart on it. Oh, the things he does for me.

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Below is the recipe for the White Chocolate Frosting:

Baked’s White chocolate frosting
1/4 cup white chocolate chips, melted
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/3 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups milk
1/3 cup heavy cream
1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, softened yet still cool and cut up into small chunks
1 tsp pure vanilla

In a small bowl whisk together sugar and flour so that it is thoroughly combined.

Pour sugar mixture into a medium saucepan. Add milk and cream to the saucepan and whisk together over medium heat. Cook until mixture starts to boil and thickens (about 20 minutes). Make sure you whisk it every few minutes. When whisking lift the pan off the burner and thoroughly whisk making sure you scrape the bottom of the pan.

Get your electric mixer ready by putting on the paddle attachment.

Once a boil is achieved pour into a bowl of an electric mixer and mix on high speed and beat until mixture becomes cool.

Reduce the speed to slow and add the butter and mix until combined. Increase speed to medium-high and mix till frosting becomes fluffy.

Add white chocolate and vanilla and mix until combined.

If frosting is not stiff enough place it in the fridge for a but then re-beat to achieve the right consistency.

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