CAKE ON THE BRAIN

i want to down that pitcher of lemonade right now!...

2012-05-26T17:45:49.552-07:00

i want to down that pitcher of lemonade right now!! the weather is making me thirsty :P

Sandra, thank you for your comments! My friend is...

2012-05-26T14:34:23.831-07:00

Sandra,
thank you for your comments! My friend is Serbian/Croatian (one parent is Serbian and the other Croatian) so I imagine that everything they I ate growing up at his house was both...and I don't think we ever discussed where Pljeskavica came from originally! I did look it up initially before posting this and all the bloggers and recipe sources in English seemed to call this savoury cheese pie thing "savoury cheese strudel". Perhaps this is because in America, if you called it a "Savoury Cheese Pie", it seems to connotate a pastry crust with a filling between two layers (like Chicken Pie of Apple Pie). In America, a strudel is something layered. Thus, these Serbo-Croatian-Americans use the term to indicate something that is like a strudel in technique but "savoury" in taste. So you say a "strudel" is supposed to be only sweet? I thought that a strudel just meant something made with lots of layers...I thought it was a technique in baking...there's also strudels from other countries (and I do agree strudels from other countries like Germany are always sweet). I just followed the lead of the name given to similar recipes from other Croatian bloggers and recipe writers who called it a savoury cheese strudel. Some called it Gibanica. Some called it Savoury Cheese Strudel. I don't think anyone ever did agree as far as I could tell because I was looking in comments and there was much debating about the terms. I have no idea. I don't even speak the language.
Does this mean that this thing I made is called Burek? I read where one person said the terms are interchangeable and because I don't speak the language, I went with it!
I have a Croatian colleague who I spoke to about the pljeskavica recipe. She gave me a bag of Vegeta! :) She advised me to shape it instead into little sausages and then it's called something else ( I forgot!) I also have a Serbian student and I talked to him about it. Seems as if everyone has their own version! It's all good though!

Hi,I am only eightteen but I read your blog for qu...

2012-05-26T03:21:36.743-07:00

Hi,I am only eightteen but I read your blog for quite some time now and I especially love your cake recepies... But now I came acroos your pleskavica and gibanica recepie and I have to correct you a bit :) Pleskavica is originally from Serbia or Bosnia, even though every country in South East Europe (like Slovenia and Croatia) knows its own version... And about gibanica, well the name is not accurate because in Slovenia (where I am from)we use the term for prekmurska gibanica (over Mura moving cake), and even though strudel and burek look quite the same they are not the same things. Strudel is usually ate as dessert, because it can also be sweet and it can contain fruit, but burek is always salted, it contains more fat and it can also contain meet or spinacha. I hope this will help you in the future, and I really wish you will try to make prekmurska mibanica becausse it is one of the best desserts I ever ate :)) Sorry for some mistakes in the last commente :))
Best wishes from Slovenia, Sandra

I seriously hope that lemonade is as good as it lo...

2012-05-25T02:44:36.085-07:00

I seriously hope that lemonade is as good as it looks!

so this is a total drag for you, but i am also exc...

2012-05-20T21:25:38.534-07:00

so this is a total drag for you, but i am also excited to see what you will come up with! i remember you were pretty bummed when you first had to go gf and now you are like the master of gf! i bet you will reach a point where you won't even miss the hard stuff (sugar) anymore.

look absolutely nice!

2012-05-20T19:56:08.605-07:00

look absolutely nice!

Success!! Used the food processor this time and th...

2012-05-20T13:23:06.510-07:00

Success!! Used the food processor this time and they came out perfick!! Thanks for the scrumptious recipe and the advice x

The perfect BBQ accompaniments...now we just need ...

2012-05-20T13:21:40.549-07:00

The perfect BBQ accompaniments...now we just need some sunshine here in the UK! :-)

I got mine at Michaels Craft store...and used a 40...

2012-05-18T15:52:50.799-07:00

I got mine at Michaels Craft store...and used a 40% off coupon too. It's a Wilton Product, which you can purchase online too.

where can I buy the forget me not flower cutter?

2012-05-18T15:50:53.296-07:00

where can I buy the forget me not flower cutter?

hey lady where you been? i hope everything's ...

2012-05-17T22:08:52.153-07:00

hey lady where you been? i hope everything's okay!

Oh Mrs. E! I think for sure it's because you d...

2012-05-17T19:05:33.976-07:00

Oh Mrs. E!
I think for sure it's because you did not use the blender or food processor. The cooked quinoa must be cooked enough (test by tasting) and after blending, your batter should be smooth. Whisking will not work as well because the quinoa doesn't break down. Good luck! do have another go at it!

Oh I did cook the quinoa first! (Dippy I may be, b...

2012-05-17T13:30:53.038-07:00

Oh I did cook the quinoa first! (Dippy I may be, but I'm not a complete fruitcake!)I either didin't cook it long enough, or I should have used the blender (i.e. with a blade attachement) rather than just whisking the mixture. Fear not though, I'm definitely going to give it another go. x

Mrs. E, In no way should the cupcakes be a little ...

2012-05-14T15:18:21.804-07:00

Mrs. E,
In no way should the cupcakes be a little "bitty"...I take that to mean that they are lumpy? Did you follow the instructions exactly? That is, did you process the entire mixture in the food processor or blender until smooth? Did you COOK your quinoa first? If you used raw quinoa, you would indeed have chunky, granular cupcakes. These cupcakes should be the moistest, smoothest cupcakes you've eaten! Good luck and do let me know if you missed a step or two because it's almost impossible to have granular cupcakes with this recipe.

I made these the other day and they were gorgeous,...

2012-05-14T13:29:14.195-07:00

I made these the other day and they were gorgeous, if a little 'bitty'. I thought I'd be able to pass them off as regular cupcakes with the family but my daughter did ask what the little bits were. I personally like the texture but wondered if they are supposed to vbe loike this. What could I do to make the texture smoother?

Connie, I am so glad you were able to eat a decent...

2012-05-08T19:14:02.994-07:00

Connie,
I am so glad you were able to eat a decent macaron! If you were my neighbour, you'd be getting quite a few!
Avanika,
thanks! I think that the macaron myth is deflated. If I can make them with pasteurized egg whites or regular eggwhites, then anyone can!

Wow. It's amazing that you managed to actually...

2012-05-07T21:54:35.981-07:00

Wow. It's amazing that you managed to actually incorporate the flavors into the macaron itself. I think people don't experiment much because of the 'difficult' rap its got. These look amazing!

Barb, I'm so happy to hear your whole family l...

2012-05-03T21:28:47.418-07:00

Barb,
I'm so happy to hear your whole family loves the cupcakes! Haven't heard about the President's Choice brownies...will have to check it out! However, these cupcakes really are so easy you don't have to buy premade stuff, right?

yenno what's shocking? i had my first real mac...

2012-05-03T19:26:56.569-07:00

yenno what's shocking? i had my first real macarons at thierry just 2 days ago! i tried macarons the actual first time at society (the restaurant) but they were terrible! the ones at thierry were chewy and sooo delicious, just as a macaron should be

i still cannot get over your gorgeous kitchen!! ...

2012-05-03T19:25:19.433-07:00

i still cannot get over your gorgeous kitchen!!

oh and not sure if you saw my reply to you on my blog about dunking engineers at ubc. to my disappointment i've never seen nor heard about that event!

Valerie, they were so good I DID make them the nex...

2012-05-03T14:08:53.503-07:00

Valerie,
they were so good I DID make them the next week for the bbq and found some Vegeta at Superstore...putting that into the meat mixture. It tasted really close to what I had originally tasted at his house.
Shpresa,
Oh wow! never thought to use seltzer in the meat too! I'll try that! thanks!

you can find vegeta in almost any kind of european...

2012-05-03T13:59:06.939-07:00

you can find vegeta in almost any kind of european market, and for the pljeskavica you are also supposed to add a bit of seltzer water, i cant remember exactly how much but just a splash and deff add vegeta next time :)

Wow, these definitely are all you said. After eyei...

2012-05-03T09:18:19.124-07:00

Wow, these definitely are all you said. After eyeing the quinoa brownies on President's Choice website for a while I saw these and it was my incentive for trying it. My GF hubby loves them and the kids were bartering for the mini ones I made.

Thanks for the reply !! I googled to see if I can...

2012-05-02T15:30:37.536-07:00

Thanks for the reply !! I googled to see if I can replace the MP with fresh whites...and the proportion seeems to be 2 teaspoon MP + 2Tbsp = 1 white...

I guess this recipe is kind of like having an extra white without the moisture ? like more "concentrated" protein ? It will be interesting to test it out with just an extra white...

On the other hand, I will first try out your recipe with real egg whites (You mean the black sesame one without the black sesame, is that right ?) Hopefully that will give me good results... since over here I haven't see pasteurized egg whites nor meringue powder... but I have eggs aplenty !!

Thanks for the tips... and I thoroughly enjoy your lovely blog !! Makes me miss Vancouver, too... Cheers, Anne

Anne, I'm no expert with macaron powder. As I...

2012-04-30T15:00:26.955-07:00

Anne,
I'm no expert with macaron powder. As I understand it, it's what the professional kitchens use. On the other hand, Meringue Powder I buy is just powdered egg whites with some stabilizer in it. I think if you're going to go the fresh egg white route, it'll be easier. Just use another recipe on my site that uses real eggs. Separate the yolks from the whites and you're good to go. The only reason I use meringue powder and cream of tartar is because I'm using pasteurized egg whites from a carton.

If you use real eggs, you avoid the problem of having to ensure that the egg whites have enough protein in them and are stable enough to maintain their structure.