Classic Cream Puffs

Classic Cream Puffs filled with whipped cream

Light as air pâte a choux are leavened by eggs.  Steam forms as the puffs bake, and the dough expands to hold the steam.  Inside, the puffs will have a light, moist, bubbly eggy dough that’s absolutely delicious.   Eggs are a foundation ingredient and integral part of making cream puffs and this recipe makes good use of 6 whole eggs plus 1 egg for brushing for a golden-brown crust.  

Place dough in a piping bag and pipe mounds on lined baking sheet. Alternatively you can use a large tablespoon to scoop mounds

The baked choux can be filled with anything your heart desires: whipped cream, custard, pastry cream, ice cream or even savoury fillings.

I’ve developed a classic cream puff recipe for @BCEgg, a non-profit organization that regulates BC's egg farms.  Please vote for my recipe by clicking on the link HERE. I’ve entered my cream puffs in their contest and would be grateful if you vote for me!  BC residents can vote once a day every-day until the contest ends on November 1, 2019

Baked puffs can be split and filled or a small slit can be cut into the puff after baking to allow steam to escape and the insides to dry out.

CREAM PUFFS

½ cup water

¾ cup milk

½ teaspoons salt 

½ cup butter, cut into pieces

1 ½ cups bread flour

6 large free range eggs

Egg wash: 1 egg and 1/2 tsp salt, mixed well

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. In a saucepan combine water, milk, cut up butter and salt.  Stir occasionally over medium heat. ensuring butter melts completely.

When the mixture bubbles, add flour and stir quickly. Continue to stir until dough comes together well and pulls from side of saucepan

Transfer the dough to bowl of mixer. With the paddle attachment, mix the dough until combined well.  Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each and scraping down the sides. After last egg, beat the dough on high speed for 15 seconds. Repeat until dough is consistently smooth, thick, and slightly shiny.

On parchment-lined baking sheets, the dough into 2-inch balls, leaving one inch of space between each.

Brush egg wash on the tops of the dough and bake in preheated oven at 400 degrees Fahrenheit, for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown, rotating halfway through.

Allow the puffs to cool on the baking sheets. Poke a hole to allow steam to escape and to dry out the insides, if desired.  Split cream puffs and stuff with a scoop of ice cream or poke a small hole in the bottom of each creampuff, and use a piping bag pipe in filling of whipped cream, pastry cream or filling of choice. Sift powdered sugar over the top and serve immediately.

STRAWBERRIES AND CREAM MATCHA CHIFFON LAYER CAKE

strawberries and cream matcha chiffon layer cake

HAPPY SUMMER! 

There's nothing like fresh local strawberries in the summer!

I created this unique sky-high matcha cake recipe to celebrate my best friend's birthday as she's a matcha lover.  

I am entering this original recipe I developed for BCEgg (a non-profit organization that regulates BC's egg farms) because it uses a lot of eggs!  I chose a chiffon cake for this contest because quality eggs play a significant role in chiffon cakes.  I prefer chiffon to angel food cake because it uses the entire egg rather than just the whites and the crumb is tender and moist.   This recipe in particular uses 7 large free-range eggs.  There is no butter; instead vegetable oil is used to maintain a moist crumb.  I used avocado oil but any neutral vegetable oil will do.  Mechanical aeration of the egg whites helps to leaven the cake layers to achieve a light, fluffy sponge.  Ordinarily, a chiffon cake is baked in a tube pan but my recipe doesn't do this. 

VOTE FOR MY RECIPE BY CLICKING RIGHT HERE!

You have to be 18+ and living in BC, Canada to vote and you can vote once every day until the end of the contest on Sept 8, 2019.  There is no purchase necessary, but you have to fill out a form on THIS LINK and prove residency in BC. 

SUNDRIED TOMATO AND BROCCOLI QUICHE (GF, Keto, Paleo)

sundried tomato and broccoli quiche in almond flour crust

Hi everyone!

As you know I love eggs and there’s no shortage of recipes with eggs on my IG feed @cakebrain & on my food blog 𝐂𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧.

I’m so excited to share with you a quiche recipe I developed for @BCEgg, a non-profit organization that regulates BC's egg farms.  The recipe can also be found on the Vancouver Sun site.

I’m hoping that you’ll vote for my recipe by clicking right here! 

I’ve entered my quiche recipe in their contest and would be grateful if you show me some love by voting for me!  You have to be 18+ and living in BC, Canada to vote and you can vote once every day until the end of the contest on May 17, 2019.  There is no purchase necessary, but you have to fill out a form on the above link proving residency in BC. 

free range eggs from Rabbit River Farms

I'm small potatoes in this contest as many of the other contestants have thousands of IG followers and are professional "influencers"; but I'm hoping y'all appreciate all the recipes I've freely shared on my blog over the past 12 years and give me your vote!  or give me your vote every day until May 17 lol!

I'm sharing a gluten free tart crust recipe for the quiche because some of my readers are Celiac/gluten intolerant, paleo, keto or low carb. I used free range Omega3 eggs from Rabbit River Farms, a local ethically run, organic egg producer. I'm simply in love with their golden yolks! #sponsored #ad #BCEgg

golden yolk love!

prebaked tarts filled with egg custard filling; ready for the oven

baked tart! 

𝗦𝗨𝗡𝗗𝗥𝗜𝗘𝗗 𝗧𝗢𝗠𝗔𝗧𝗢 & 𝗕𝗥𝗢𝗖𝗖𝗢𝗟𝗜 𝗤𝗨𝗜𝗖𝗛𝗘

Special equip: FOUR 4 ½-INCH tart pans w/ removable bottoms.

Makes 4 tarts

𝗔𝗟𝗠𝗢𝗡𝗗 𝗙𝗟𝗢𝗨𝗥 𝗖𝗥𝗨𝗦𝗧

(GF, Paleo, Low Carb)

1 ½ cups almond flour

2 tablespoons melted butter (avocado oil, or coconut oil)

½ tsp Pink Himilayan salt

1 cold large egg, free range

𝐀𝐥𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐅𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐓𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐂𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.

2. Combine almond flour, butter, salt & egg in a bowl. 

3. Equally portion tart dough among 4 tart pans

4. Using fingers, press firmly dough up sides & press evenly across bottom. Prick crust bottom with fork

5. Place on baking sheet & bake for 15-20 min, until lightly golden. 

6. Set aside while you prepare filling

𝗤𝗨𝗜𝗖𝗛𝗘 𝗙𝗜𝗟𝗟𝗜𝗡𝗚

6 large eggs, free range

¼ cup heavy cream

¼ cup chopped broccoli florets

¼ cup sun-dried tomatoes, packed in oil (drained); chopped

¼ cup shredded cheese (feta, cheddar or mozzarella)

¼ tsp fresh thyme leaves (optional)

salt & pepper to taste 

𝐒𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐓𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐨 & 𝐁𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐢 𝐐𝐮𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐞

1. Combine eggs & cream in a bowl & lightly beat together; season with salt & pepper

2. Add chopped broccoli florets, chopped sun-dried tomato & shredded cheese to mixture & stir to combine.

3. Equally portion out quiche filling among 4 cooked tart shells, which are on a sheet pan.

4. Bake in 350°F oven for 20-25 min; or until just set

CINNAMON TWIST RING MADE WITH WILD YEASTS

Cinnamon Twist Ring made with my sourdough starter, Douglas

My teen-bae requested cinnamon rolls...but the only problem is I don't want to use commercial yeasts.  I want to employ Douglas, my sourdough starter!  She's always complaining about the "sour" flavour and how she wants me to bake like I used to (without Dougie)

JAPANESE SOUFFLE PANCAKES

Summer's almost here!

I can feel the anticipation in the air!

I've been madly testing Japanese Cheesecake recipes the last few weeks and tweaking my recipe for both Matcha and Londog Fog flavoured Japanese cheesecake.  During all this time I haven't actually tasted the Uncle Tetsu cheesecakes that have been selling like crazy (limit of one per customer!) because of the crazy 2 hour lineups.  

🦄UNICORN CUPCAKES

gf chocolate cupcakes with raspberry-blueberry-vanilla swirl buttercream

No worries people, no unicorns were harmed in the making of these cupcakes.

JAPANESE CHEESECAKE

Japanese Souffle Cheesecake 

LEAFY ELSTAR APPLE PIE WITH ALL-BUTTER CRUST

LEAFY ELSTAR APPLE PIE WITH ALL-BUTTER CRUST

Said the 10 yr old upon tasting the pie: "Mommy, your apple pie exceeds expectations!"

Marie-Hélène's Apple Cake

Marie-Hélène's Apple Cake

Sweet September

Foraged-Blackberry No-Churn Ice-cream & Totoro Choux au Craquelin

What to do with the many buckets of FREE local blackberries you've picked along railroad tracks, parks and roadways in Vancouver? How about Foraged Blackberry No-churn Ice Cream?

FATHEAD BAGELS

What kind of witchcraft is this?

I've never had a gluten free bread that has this amount of chew in it.  While mixing the dough you can imagine my skepticism that the ingredients would turn out looking like proper bagels.  I even had fewer hopes of them tasting like bagels let alone tasty ones.

SMALL BATCH CARROT BANANA MUFFINS (refined sugar free)

Would you like some muffin with your gratuitous slab of salted grassfed butter?

LEMON MERINGUE TARTS (Paleo, GF, Refined sugar free)

A tiny slice of the 4"Lemon Meringue Tart I made 

Am I in the minority? do you salivate like Pavlov's Dog when you see a lemon meringue pie cross-section like this?

VEGAN MATCHA CACAO CAKE

Organic Vegan Matcha and Cacao Cake

Dabbling in the Dark Arts:  vegan baking! ;)

BRAIDED LATTICE APPLE PIE

Braided Lattice Apple Pie!

Humble Pie

TOTORO BUTTER COOKIES WITH MATCHA LEAVES

SO, this is me lesson prepping for tomorrow's Creative Writing 11 Book Chat tomorrow.  I had my students select a Canadian Novel for an independent project which culminates in a Tea 'n Cookies Book Chat with their peers.

Silly me...I asked what they'd like me to bake and they said "Totoro Cookies!"  

I don't know why I was hoping they'd all say "CAKE!" --but they didn't.  

Ah well.  They're not for me to eat anyway!

I used matcha powder to create tiny leaf cookies to rest on Totoro's head.  With the leftover matcha dough I made some larger leaf cookies 'cause I didn't want to make any more of those time-consuming tiny leaves anymore 🤣

I added black sesame paste to a blob of cookie dough in order to make the tiny black sesame sprites. They were so cute but something about grey cookies is so unappealing to many people.  I guess they don't look appetizing being the colour of soot!

Raw cookie dough is so tasty-looking to me.  I prefer how it looks to the baked product because you can see the crisp lines and Totoro's cute expression very clearly.

In case you want to make these with a totoro cutter, be aware that they cost $$$.  All you have to do is google it and you'll find plenty of styles of Totoro cutters to buy.  Before I bought a cutter, I used a cardboard template that I cut out.  I traced the cookies with a knife and they were tedious but they turned out well.  Alternatively, if you're crafty you can cut up an Arizona Tea can and create your own personalized cookie cutter.  I have a pusheen one that I made like that because I'm too cheapie to pay money for more cutters.  

Totoro Vanilla Butter Cookies 

• 2 Cups unsalted butter, softened (2 sticks)
• 1 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 Large egg 
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 5 Cups sifted all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 tsp teaspoon coarse salt
• OPTIONAL: 1 teaspoon matcha powder (for the matcha leaves)
• OPTIONAL: 1 teaspoon black sesame paste (or ground black sesame seeds) (for the soot sprites)

1. Preheat oven to 350degrees F.
2. Put butter and granulated sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment; mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Mix in whole egg and vanilla. Reduce speed to low. Add flour and salt and mix until combined.
3. Halve dough; shape each half into a disk. Place one disk in plastic wrap and refrigerate. You can use the other half for the optional coloured decorations or soot sprite cookies.  Continue making cookies with the remaining refrigerated dough.
4. Roll out dough and cut with a template or cutter.  Transfer cookies to parchment-lined cookie sheet.
5. OPTIONAL LEAVES & SOOT SPRITES:  take a handful of dough and add 1 teaspoon of matcha powder to it, kneading until thoroughly combined. Roll out and cut into tiny leaves to decorate Totoro's head.  Take a handful of dough and knead in 1 teaspoon black sesame paste and knead thoroughly until combined.  Roll out and cut into soot sprites.
6. Bake for 13-15 minutes or until lightly browned (Totoro's ears will get brown first, so watch them)  The soot sprites will take only 10-12 minutes and the tiny leaves take 7 min.
7. Let cool on wire racks. Store in airtight containers at room temperature up to 3 days.

MINI MOCHI CUPCAKES: MATCHA & CHOCOLATE

Basho's gone, but you can make these Mini Mochi Cupcakes yourself!

Do you miss this tiny Japanese cafe on E. Hastings street?  Well, cry no more because you can easily make these mini gluten-free Japanese sweets.  Just pull out your knitting needles, knit a cozy for your potted succulent plant and whip up some matcha tea to go along with your sweets.

This mochi recipe is highly adaptable; you can add your own unique flavours.  Stay tuned for more flavour possibilities!

Happy Lunar New Year!

Celebrate with cake!

Happy Chinese New Year! 

Gung Hay Fat Choy!   Sun Neen Fai Lok!

It's the year of the rooster...and today married Chinese people everywhere are handing out red envelopes to kids.  So the kids are raking in the money$$$

My kid's birthday party is today and she wanted a DQ ice cream cake, which means pretty much nothing for me to blog about.  So I made my go-to cake for all-around snackin' while the kids indulged in their oreo blizzard ice cream cake.  

This Coconut Chiffon Cake is made from coconut oil instead of veg oil or butter, which gives it a nice light coconut scent and flavour.  Because I'm gluten intolerant (hello Hashimoto's disease...you suck) I used my current fave gf flour mix that I picked up from Costco in the States.  Costco Canada doesn't carry it here in Vancouver which is a shame. 

I wish you Health, Wealth & Happiness this Lunar year and may your celebrations be filled with a good amount of cake too!

Gluten Free Coconut Chiffon Cake with berries

Drip Cake: Chocolate Quinoa Layer Cake with Vanilla Bean Buttercream (gluten free)

Made my own Birthday Cake. Yes I did😆

6 inch GF Chocolate Quinoa Cake layers and Vanilla Bean Buttercream

This is my favourite part of making a cake

Decorated with my fave goodies: matcha macaron, Lindt chocolate balls, dragées, a mini KitKat and mini Coffee Crisp and crushed macaron shells

The chocolate ganache was perfect. I threw dragées on the side of the cake too and they stuck🙌

It's late November and the only thing blooming in my garden are these little purple Daikon flowers.  I just let the daikon go to seed and never did harvest the daikon (so bitter!)  The flowers sure are pretty...and edible

Scroll down past the recipes to watch a video of me assembling the layers

Gluten Free Oatmeal-Banana Bread

My 9 yr old's Gluten Free Oatmeal-Banana Bread...all made in the Vitamix!

I'm the only person in the household that avoids gluten because of my autoimmune disease...Hashimoto's.  One of the things I miss a lot is a really good Banana Bread...full of gluten. There's something about the texture of gluten-full banana bread that I miss!  But lucky for you I hit upon a lovely oat flour banana bread that is not only super easy to make (in one container!) but has an amazing texture and flavour.

She made mini doughnuts too! They were absolutely delicious with my espresso...and my 15 hours of marking