January 26th, 2012 § 0
These treats are one of my all time favourites. They’re called Nanaimo bars after a town in British Columbia that shares the same name. They’re quite common in that region, although not many have heard of them outside Canada. Although the three layers may seem like a lot of effort, it’s definitely worth it! They’re also no-bake bars, which is handy if it’s one of those days when you don’t feel like turning on the oven. :)
December 31st, 2011 § 0
Wow. 2011 gone already. I once heard that time seems to more quickly as you age. Each year that passes by is a smaller fraction of your life. When you’re four years old, a year is a quarter of your existence! By now, as I edge further into my twenties, I find myself thinking ‘Really? Today is Dec 31? It’s that time of year already?’.
This past year was a busy year for me. I continue to live up to my title ‘The Baking Medic’, trying to bake every week if I can. Despite my best efforts, not everything that I bake is shared on this blog. Sometimes there is just no time to take a good photograph before it is all gobbled up!
December 14th, 2011 § 0
I am beginning to think there are two magic ingredients in baking: cream cheese and condensed milk. In the past, I have made various desserts that taste heavenly but are so simple and easy it almost seems impossible. Without fail, they have contained either condensed milk or cream cheese. Some that use cream cheese include my white chocolate mousse, my cream cheese icing, my chocolate chip cookie cheese cake brownies. As for condensed milk, it is a key ingredients in my chocolate fudge, banoffee pie and homemade ice cream. This recipe uses both! And little else.
December 7th, 2011 § 1
Last night I was struck by a craving to bake. Do you know the feeling? When you just. need. to. bake. However, at 5.30pm I was reluctant to try and brave the hordes of other students buying dinner at Tescos so I was restricted to what storecupcoard ingredients I had. Luckily with me being me, there is almost always chocolate, butter, flour and sugar in the house. A few eggs generously donated by a flatmate (perhaps with a vested interest in the products of said baking…?). And finally a quick look in the fridge revealed a tub of cream cheese. Et voila! Everything you need to make these absolutely heavenly Chocolate Chip Cookies Bars right at your fingertips.
November 30th, 2011 § 0
Holiday Sweets & Treats Class: The Buche de Noel!
For a while now the Fine Chocolate Society has been running baking classes for its members. Each time it’s a challenge and a pleasure to think of new creative themes for the class. In the past we’ve done simply a Chocolate Baking Class and a very hands on Cupcake Decorating Class. This time I decided that since Christmas is fast approaching, a Holiday Baking themed class would be perfect.
November 20th, 2011 Comments Off
I first saw this recipe last summer, whilst perusing my favourite baking blogs for other summery treats. This ice cream recipe immediately caught my eye. It’s only uses two ingredients and requires NO ice cream maker! ‘How is this possible?’ I hear you cry (well maybe you didn’t, but that’s certainly what I shouted). The answer is that it uses two of the best ingredients in the world: condensed milk and whipped cream.
November 16th, 2011 Comments Off
This cake is a victory cake. Victory in the sense that I have triumphed over my MSA and I am enjoying a few days of well earned freedom (relatively speaking…). This cake is very special to me. I have wanted to make it for a very long time, ever since I saw it on I Am Baker, a simply breathtaking blog that mostly is dedicated to cakes. It’s so simple, yet eye catching. I can see it being perfect for a summer celebration or wedding anniversary, yet the snowy white of the roses also remind me of Christmas. However, it has just never been the right time to bake this magnificent cake – until now.
November 10th, 2011 Comments Off
Canada's best Carrot Cake... dressed as a pumpking!
Well, hello there! It’s been a wee while, but fear not. The baking medic as still been hard at work! So while today I will be only posting about one recipe, I’ll give you a sneak peak at a few of the things I’ve made in the fast few months.
The recipe today is “Canada’s Best” Carrot Cake. Now, that seems like a pretty extravagant claim to make, seeing as Canada is freaking HUGE (geographically speaking…did you know almost 41 UKs would fit that vast country of mine?). However the recipe came from one my much loved magazines, Canadian Living. This magazine has a lot of memories for me; my mum was always subscribed to it and I remember flicking through the pages at the back, marveling at the beautiful pictures of… food. Even as a kid I had a bit of a one track mind.
May 29th, 2011 Comments Off
Cupcakes appeal to me for a variety of reasons — they are petite individual desserts, don’t require a plate and fork to eat, have a high icing to cake ratio and there is almost an infinite number of ways to decorate the wee things. From a simple smear of buttercream, to elegantly piped designs, to cupcakes that look like Cookie Monster to these darling Hamburger cupcakes. With such scope for innovation and creativity, it’s no wonder that cupcakes are so popular.
I wish I could say I thought up the idea to make these ingenious cupcakes — but alas, I did not. I saw them on Bakerella and I knew immediately that I had to try them myself. They’re the perfect edible trompe l’oeil — the round of brownie sandwiched between the two halves of cupcake and covered with the brightly coloured icing makes for a very convincing burger! If you want, you can also serve these “burgers” with sugar cookie “fries” (seriously… check out the Bakerella link. She is incredible).
May 27th, 2011 Comments Off
This is post number 2 for the Interesting Food Project (IFP)! Unfortunately, I can only give you one of the recipes. The Mediterranean Pasta was a creation of mine and I can’t quite remember the amounts of everything I threw in. However, I can give you a vague list of ingredients and I’m sure you can concoct something tasty. :)
