kumbaya

i made this campfire cake for my friend's daughter. she was hosting a sleep-out-in-refrigerator-boxes party and thought a campfire theme would be great. after some research on the good ole interweb i found two possible ways to make the cake: make a "normal" cake and have pretzels and candy on top creating the campfire; or make the cake the actual campfire. the latter is what i decided upon.

on some magasine's site (i can't remember which one) i had found the idea and they used 2 store bought pound cakes with the corners trimmed off. that just wasn't going to cut it. then i remembered the buche de noel. that would be perfect. i did take their idea of melting life savers for the fire. i couldn't find any doughnut holes so i grabbed some bridge mixture and tossed them with some icing sugar for the coals. sponge sheet cake

adapted from williams-sonoma CAKES

2/3 cup cake flour

pinch of salt

4 large eggs, separated, plus 1 large egg yolk, at room temperature

2/3 cup granulated sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

position a rack in the middle of the oven, and preheat to 350 degrees F. in a 10x15x1" jelly roll pan butter, parchment and butter again. dust with flour and tap out the excess. sift the flour and salt together in to a small bowl. set aside.

in a large mixing bowl, or the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the 5 egg yolks and 1/3 cup of the sugar. beat on med-high speed until the batter is thickened and pale yellow and falls back on itself like a ribbon when the beaters are lifted, about 3 minutes, scraping the bowl occasionally with a rubber spatula. add the vanilla extract and beat until combined. transfer the yolk mixture to a large bowl; clean and dry the mixer bowl thoroughly.

beat the egg whites in the clean bowl of your mixer, now fitted with the whip attachment, on medium speed until foamy, about 1 minute. increase the speed to med-high and continue beating until the whites are holding soft peaks when the whisk is lifted, about 2-3 minutes. turn the mixer to medium and add the remaining 1/3 cup sugar 2 tbsp at a time. after all the sugar has been incorporated, beat for 1 minute more to have stiff peaks.

using a rubber spatula, pile 1/3 of the egg whites on top of the yolk mixture and begin folding. the first addition will lighten the batter. add the remaining egg whites on top of the mixture and fold them in. still using the spatula, fold in the flour mixture in 4 additions. the batter will be light and foamy.

pour the batter int the prepared pan. bake undisturbed for 12 minutes. if the cake looks set and the surface is lightly browned, tough the top gently. if it feels firm, insert a toothpick in the centre. if it comes out dry, the cake is done. if it comes out wet or with crumbs clinging to it, bake for another 2 minutes.

using pot holders, carefully transfer the sheet cake to a wire rack. let the cake cool int he pan until cool to the tough, about 25 minutes. the cake will shrink slightly as it cools. run a thin knife along the inside edge of the pan to loosen the cake, keeping the knife pressed against the side. invert a wire rack on top of the cake and invert together. lift off the pan and discard the parchment. using both hands, carefully the turn the cake top side up. the cake is now ready to be filled and rolled.

chocolate american buttercream

1 cup butter, room temperature

4-6 cups confectioner`s sugar (depends on how sweet you want it)

1é4 cup cocoa powder

1é4 cup milk (or more if you added more sugar)

1 tsp vanilla extract

beat all ingredients in the bowl of your mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until smooth and creamy. scrape down the sides of the bowl occasionally with a rubber spatula.

mmm, canada

i got an email from jasmine of confessions of a cardamom addict to participate in a food blogging event. this was the first event i had been invited to and was very excited to participate. we could participate in both, or only one part of the event. i decided to do both.

ì`ve lived in bc for over 12 years now and the one thing that i`ve grown to love out here is salmon. wild sockeye salmon is by far my favourite, but any salmon will do. i try not to buy farmed salmon, but it`s not always possible. one day i was watching kitchen nightmares (original british version) and he was making crab cakes. they looked beautiful. i`m sure they tasted great, but i`m not a huge fan of crab. and then the light bulb went on... salmon!salmon cakes

1 pound fresh salmon 1/2 bunch of cilantro (or flat leaf parsley if you're not a fan of cilantro), finely chopped 1 red onion, diced 2-4 cloves of garlic, minced (or to taste) juice of 1 lemon 1 large egg, lightly beaten 1/2 cup bread crumbs 1 tsp salt salt and pepper to taste and a drizzle of olive oil.
preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. place the salmon in an oven safe dish and season the fish with salt and pepper to taste, drizzle with 1 tbsp of the fresh lemon juice and the olive oil. cover with tin foil and bake for 15 minutes. turn the oven off and let the fish rest in the warm oven for 5 minutes. take the salmon out of the oven and once the fish has cooled a bit more, "flake" the fish with a fork. mix the remaining ingredients into the salmon and form "cakes" with your hands or a large cookie/ice cream scoop. cover and refrigerate until you're ready to cook them. i use my griddler, but you can cook them up in a frying pan, too. serve on a bed of lettuce or in a bun like a burger!and of course you'll need a nice canadian wine. i picked up a bottle of rigamarole strictly for the uber cute label. i'm a sucker for stuff like that. turns out it's a very nice wine. i'm not a wine geek and normally i can't smell the "oaky-ness" or "the sun must have been shining whilst the birds flew overhead," you can smell it's fruity. it's label says: "why is it such a rigamarole to simply find a great dry white? the puzzling complexity of terroir, oak ageing, vintages and those ridiculous descriptors is just too much. save that mental energy for calculating the time it would take to harvest our grapes with hedgehogs..." love it! and bonus, it's from bc's beautiful okanagan valley.

the other half of the blogging event was held by jennifer of the domestic goddess and was right up my alley... a sugar high! one of the best memories of my childhood was going to a sugar maple farm up in kleinberg (ontario) when there was tonnes of snow on the ground. i remember the worker pour the hot syrup on the snow in a line and rolling it back onto a popsickle stick. to this day, i think that was the best maple syrup i have ever had. to me, nothing tastes like a sweet canada than maple syrup. MAPLE COOKIES
2 cups all-purpose flour 1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened 3/8 cup packed light brown sugar 1/4 cup maple syrup (the real thing!) 1 egg 1 teaspoon cream of tartar 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 3/8 teaspoon salt
Into medium bowl, sift flour, baking soda, salt and cream of tartar together; set aside. in the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, cream sugar and butter until light and fluffy. add egg and maple syrup. add remaining dry ingredients until just combined. Shape dough into ball; wrap with plastic wrap. Refrigerate dough 1 hour or until easy to handle. Preheat oven to 350*F. On lightly floured surface, with lightly floured rolling pin, roll 1/3 of the dough at a time 1/8 inch thick, keeping remaining dough refrigerated. With floured 3 1/2 inch maple leaf shaped cookie cutter, cut dough into leaves. Place cookies 1 inch apart on greased cookie sheet (or use parchment lined sheets.) Bake 10 minutes or until golden. With pancake turner, carefully remove to wire racks to cool. Repeat until all dough is used, greasing cookie sheet each time.
MAPLE CREAM
2 cups (4 ounces) confectioners’ sugar1/2 cup (1 stick, 4 ounces) butter, softened pinch salt (extra fine if you have it)1/2 teaspoon maple extract1 teaspoon vanilla extract1 to 2 tablespoons maple syrup
Beat the confectioners’ sugar, butter, and salt together. Mix in the maple flavoring and vanilla. Add the maple syrup a bit at a time, until the filling is a medium-soft, spreadable consistency (the filling should hold its shape). Drop a teaspoonful of filling onto the flat side of a cookie. Top with another cookie, placing the flat sides toward each other. Let the cookies sit for several hours to let the frosting set up, so the cookie halves don’t slide around on one another. Store in airtight containers for several days or freeze for longer storage.

moo

i ordered some pint sized business cards and stickers (still yet to arrive) from moo. for 20 bucks american you can create 100 business cards, 99 of which can have different photos. i chose 6 or 7 different pics of my baking for my cards and stickers. there's many other items you can customize, or use their stock sets. the cards have a really nice matte finish and are half the height of the size of regular business cards.

i can't wait to get the stickers!

thanks moo!