EatSavvy Blog

Topic —  Baking

Bugs for Birthdays

June 08, 2010
Denise Smith

Pocket

My youngest son was turning seven, so a couple of months ago I gave him a choice of themes for his party. After some discussion, we narrowed his choices down to sports, gymnastics or bugs. Bugs won the draw. Spencer loves bugs—any kind of bugs…the slimier and scarier, the better. So I contacted Bugs without Borders, a local company run by a group of female scientists who offer educational programs for children to teach them about bugs and other critters. I hired them to come and give a presentation at his party last week.

As with all of our parties, the birthday cake has to match the theme of the party. A couple of times I admit, I sought professional help for the dessert, but this time I figured that I could take care of the bugs myself. So instead of a traditional cake, I went for a ‘Dirt Cake’, complete with gummy worms and ‘real’ crickets. It was a huge hit! And, much to the other mothers’ surprise (and disgust), most of the boys actually ate the crickets.

With universal appeal, Dirt Cake is a perfect dessert to bring along to a potluck, picnic or cottage weekend.

Dirt Cake

Serves 8

You’ll Need

• 1 package Oreo cookies (no double-stuff)
• ½ cup butter, softened
• 1 package cream cheese
• 1 cup icing sugar
• ½ tsp vanilla
• 3 cups milk
• 2 packages (114 g) instant chocolate (or vanilla) pudding
• 1 small tub Cool Whip
• Gummy worms, frogs or flower candies
• Crickets (with salt & vinegar seasoning)

Prep and Cook

1. Place Oreo cookies in a food processor and blend until crumbly.
2. Remove crumbs from processor, set aside and rinse processor.
3. In clean food processor, mix butter, cream cheese, icing sugar and vanilla until smooth and set aside.
4. In mixer, combine milk and pudding mixes and mix until pudding mixture begins to thicken.
5. Fold in whipped cream.
6. Add the butter mixture to the pudding mixture.
7. Sprinkle ⅓ of the cookie crumbs in the bottom of a rectangular glass pan or any other serving dish (lined flower pots, bowls).
8. Top with ½ of pudding mixture and then arrange a handful of gummy worms on top.
9. Add another ⅓ of cookie crumbs and continue layering until Oreo crumbs are the top layer.
10. Top the dirt cake with additional gummy candies.
11. Chill for a few hours or overnight before serving.

Good to know: Depending on your birthday party theme, you can use individual mini-flower pots or buckets and a trowel to serve the dirt cake. Edible crickets can be found at specialty candy stores such as Sugar Mountain. 

What is your favourite birthday cake idea?

Topic —  Baking

Wedding Part 1

August 19, 2010
Denise Smith

Pocket

Saturday, August 7, 2010 was the perfect day for my wedding. Gord and I were married at 4:30 pm at our island cottage on Lake St. Nora, in Haliburton, Ontario. It was a magical day for all in attendance.

As is the case with most cottage weddings, this summer wedding was anything but traditional—it is a second marriage for both of us, we were married beside the lake, our children stood up for us, our playlist included hits from The Black-Eyed Peas, our dance floor was a dock and we served chocolate wedding cake for dessert!

While planning the menu for the wedding, there was unanimous consent from our children for a chocolate wedding cake. Pastry chef, Leigh, from Farmer’s Daughter in Huntsville, Ontario, worked her magic and created a gorgeous dark chocolate cake with chocolate ganache frosting and fresh raspberry filling, iced with a vanilla buttercream icing. Vertical rows of beautiful, hand-piped flowers encircled both layers of the cake. It was rich, moist and absolutely delicious.

I know I could never reproduce my wedding cake, but I couldn’t help wanting to try. Besides, chocolate cake will never go to waste in our house. I have a number of different chocolate cake recipes I use, but one more than the others. With a few modifications to that recipe, I have come up with something pretty close. As much as I love chocolate, I think a chocolate frosting would be a bit too much chocolate, even for me.

Decadent Chocolate Cake with Chocolate and Raspberry Filling

You’ll Need

Cake:

• ½ cup butter
• 1½ cups granulated sugar
• ½ cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1½ cups sour cream
• 4 squares (4 oz) unsweetened chocolate
• 1¾ cups all-purpose flour
• ¼ cup cocoa
• 1½ tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp salt

Filling:

• 2 squares (2 oz) unsweetened chocolate
• ½  cup butter
• 4 cups sifted icing sugar
• ⅓ cup (75 mL) light cream
• 1 tsp (5 mL) vanilla
• 1 cup fresh raspberries

Frosting:

• ½ cup unsalted butter, softened
• 4 cups powdered sugar
• ⅓ cup light cream
• 2 tsp vanilla

Prep and Cook

Cake:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Butter and flour 2–9” cake pans.
3. Cream butter and sugars together until fluffy.
4. Beat in eggs and vanilla.
5. In top of double boiler over hot, not boiling, water, melt together chocolate and butter, stirring frequently.
6. Remove from heat and let cool.
7. In a large bowl, stir together flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt.
8. Add cooled chocolate and sour cream to the bowl and combine.
9. Divide batter evenly between cake pans and bake for 30-35 minutes or until tester comes out clean.
10. Let cakes cool for 10 minutes and then remove from pans and place on racks to cool completely.

Filling:

1. In top of double boiler over hot, not boiling, water, melt together chocolate and butter, stirring frequently.
2. Remove from heat and let cool slightly.
3. With an electric mixer, cream butter in a mixing bowl.
4. Gradually add icing sugar to the butter, beating well after each cup.
5. Add the cream and vanilla and beat until well blended and fluffy.
6. If too thin, beat in more sugar; if too thick, beat in more cream.
7. Arrange one cake layer on a serving plate, spread with chocolate filling and a layer of fresh raspberries.
8. Place the second cake layer on top.

Frosting:

1. In a large bowl, beat butter on high speed, scraping the sides, until light and fluffy.
2. Add the powdered sugar, cream, and vanilla and mix until smooth and creamy.
3. Ice the top of the cake first and then the sides.
4. Serve with a few fresh raspberries.

More details (and photos) about the food to come in my next blog post.

What is your favourite cake recipe?

Topic —  Snacks

Pumpkin: More than Pie

October 06, 2010
Denise Smith

Pocket

Pumpkins are more than just blank slates for scary jack-o-lantern faces. Short, tall, fat, concave…pumpkins come in all shapes and sizes and, in the fall, the farmer’s fields and grocery stores are full of them. As much as possible, I try to make the most of what’s in season by buying seasonal fruits and vegetables. In the fall, I like to bake and cook with one of the most seasonal Fall fruit—the pumpkin.

One of my family’s favourite pumpkin recipes is Pumpkin Spice Cake, a cake that is moist, delicious and simple to make. Pumpkins are high in fibre and beta-carotene, making the cake higher in nutrition than most processed cakes. If I have enough time to make two cakes, I slice one up and freeze it in individual pieces for ready-made snacks. And, for those family members who aren’t fond of pumpkin pie, try taking one of these cakes for dessert for Thanksgiving dinner.

Pumpkin Spice Cake with Brown Sugar Icing

Makes 10 servings

You’ll Need

• 1½ cups granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup fresh or canned pureed pumpkin
• ½ cup sunflower oil
• ½ cup buttermilk
• 1¾ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• ½ tsp each salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice
• ½ tsp baking powder

Brown Sugar Icing (optional)

• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• ¼ cup butter
• ¼ cup light cream
• 1⅓ cup powdered sugar, sifted

Prep and Cook

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Butter and flour 9-inch square baking pan.
3. In large bowl, whisk together granulated sugar, eggs, pumpkin, oil and buttermilk until smooth.
4. Sift together flour, baking soda, ginger, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, allspice and baking powder; sprinkle over pumpkin mixture and stir until blended.
5. Transfer batter to prepared cake pan.
6. Bake for about 35 minutes or until cake springs back when lightly touched.
7. Cool in pan on rack for at least 15 minutes before icing.
8. For icing, combine brown sugar, butter and cream in a heavy saucepan.
9. Cook over medium heat until icing boils, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat.
10. Whisk in powdered sugar until smooth.
11. Let cool until spreadable consistency and smooth over the top of the cake.

Good to Know: To make your own buttermilk, combine ½ cup milk and ½ Tbsp lemon juice and let stand for 10 minutes. This cake can be made two days ahead, stored in the refrigerator and covered with a lid or plastic wrap.

What is your favourite pumpkin recipe?