A Break from Baking: Easy and Frothy Iced Coffee

My friend, Andreya and I were feeling parched after a romp through the forest with her adorable puppies. We decided that an iced coffee would hit the spot just right (and I figure that since we live in Vancouver, we only have a short window of opportunity to enjoy something iced!).

Aren't they super cute!

Anyway, back to more important things in life....like coffee

*WARNING: MEASUREMENTS ARE NOT EXACT (our apologies; we sometimes like to do things on the fly)

There was an old pot of coffee chilling out from this morning so we decided to use what was leftover for our icy beverages (yay for not wasting!). 

Ingredients (for two large iced coffees):

Coffee (your favourite kind will do; preferably strong coffee as the taste will get diluted by the other ingredients; enough coffee to cover the ice)
Ice (approximately 2 cups) 
Milk (we used 1%)
A dash of vanilla
Sugar (to your preference)
Whipped cream topping (optional)
Shaved chocolate (optional)

Method

1) Put ice into a blender
2) Pour coffee over top of the ice until just covered
3) Add a splash of milk
4) Add sugar (we added approximately a tablespoon; don't worry about the sugars not dissolving, the blending allows the sugars to be fully incorporated)
5) Blend until frothy (ours turned out super frothy and yummy from the milk and sugars!)

If your iced coffee still is lacking in coffee flavour, add a couple of teaspoons of instant coffee mixed with a small amount of water (till just liquid-esque)

Additional (optional) steps:

1) After pouring the iced coffees into two tall glasses; use the same blender to make your whipped cream
2) We used about a cup of whipping cream and a couple pinches of granulated sugar; pour this directly into your blender (no need to clean up the iced coffee mixture as this adds additional flavour to the whipped cream)
3) Blend the ingredients until you achieve the desired texture and stiffness (takes about 2 minutes or so depending on how awesome your blender is)
4) Shave a block of chocolate (we used mint chocolate) with a cheese grater for a chunky effect or simply use a straight edged knife to create mini chocolate curls

Voila, delicious and frothy iced coffees for two. 

You could also try adding different types of extracts or syrups. Be careful when adding mint extracts as they can overpower the iced coffee. 

Some suggestions:

Hazelnut Mocha (Addition of hazelnut chunks and chocolate syrup)
Mint Chocolate (Addition of real mint leaves and chocolate syrup)
Caramel (Addition of caramel drizzle)

Would love to see your icy creations!

Beautiful Baking (Blending) Sweeties

What in the sugar is a macaron?

I have been receiving many orders and questions about SD Bake Shoppe's macarons so I hope that I can answer most of your questions in this post. 

I have described what a macaron is in previous posts, but I did not go very in depth. Here is an FAQs list regarding the Parisian treat!

"I would like a maca---a macar---". Don't worry! I had trouble pronouncing it for the longest time too. 

How to say it: MA-KAH-RONS (You can give it the French 'r' as well if you want to be fancy) 
How not to say it: MA-KAH-ROONS. Macaroons are made with coconut and do not taste at all like macarons. 

"What is it made out of?"

The shells are made out of almond flour, icing sugar, aged egg whites, granulated sugar and water.

"Is it gluten free?"

It is gluten free, but because I bake a lot of non-gluten free items at the bake shoppe I would recommend that those who have a serious allergy should not consume them. 

"What is a 'good' macaron?"

A properly made macaron should have an airy shell that collapses delicately when bitten. It should also have a slightly chewy centre and a delectable filling inside (as shown below)!

"These are pricey! What is so special about them?"

Macarons are my favourite type of cookies in the whole entire world, but they are also one of the most temperamental and difficult cookies to make. The ingredients and tools needed are quite expensive. I buy good quality almond flour and only use my stainless steel pans imported from France (I don't use these pans for any other type of cookie). They are also quite time consuming as there is a lot of wait time and they need a whole lot of TLC, planning ahead and preparation!

"How do you make different flavours?"

I personally only change the flavouring of the filling of my macarons rather than the shell itself. 

"How long do they keep for?"

I have heard that they last up to three months in the freezer, but I wouldn't want to freeze them for over a month depending on the type of filling.

"Why is it that specialized macaron orders have a minimum?"

Because I do a lot of custom work, most customers prefer particular coloured macarons. Colouring macarons is a lot more difficult than colouring other types of cookies as you cannot simply separate the batters and colour them.

Hopefully that answers most of the questions you may have about macarons! Keep an eye out for some of our past and future macaron tutorials.

Beautiful Baking Sweeties

The Laziest Chocolate Fudge Cupcakes with a Mint Chocolate Ganache Filling

I love baking everything from scratch as the end product feels so much more rewarding, but there are exceptions...

Yesterday I really wanted to surprise my fiance with cupcakes at his work (since I had a portion of the day off---a rarity!). He works about an hour away from where I live so I needed to make something expedient yet yummy. I didn't want to rely solely on my box of chocolate fudge cake mix so I made a few alterations. I had some leftover mint chocolate ganache in the fridge from filling my macarons the other day so that inspired  me to make chocolate fudge cupcakes filled with mint chocolate ganache.

Ingredients:

For the Cupcake:

Chocolate Fudge Cake Mix (you can pretty much use any boxed cake mix, but I like the idea of chocolate on chocolate)

Mint Chocolate Ganache (dark or milk chocolate would also work; you could probably use white chocolate as well, but I am personally not a huge fan)

For the Topping:

Approximately 1 Cup of Whipping Cream (or more!)

Approximately 2 Tablespoons of Confectioners Sugar (some people like a sweeter topping so feel free to add more; you could also use granulated sugar instead if you don't have icing sugar on hand)

Optional: You could add some green food colouring to really highlight the mint flavour. I also added some crushed up mint chocolate chips (I just crushed them because I thought it looked more 'gourmet')

The Method:

Mix your cake mix according to the box's directions:

It's okay if your mixture is a bit lumpy!

For easy pouring, I always put the cupcake mixture into a liquid measuring cup. Some people like to use an ice cream scoop, but I find this method works a whole lot better for me. After transferring the batter, place cupcake liners in your cupcake pan and fill the individual cups with batter three quarters of the way. Then take your refrigerated mint chocolate ganache and spoon about a tablespoon into the centre of the cupcake batter. The batter I used was fairly thick so the ganache didn't fall to the bottom like I expected it to.

Pop them in the oven at 350 degrees F for around twenty minutes. The toothpick test will still work with these cupcakes, just stick your toothpick on the side of the cupcake rather than the centre (or else you might mistaken the yummy chocolate ganache for uncooked cupcake batter). 

Once the cupcakes come out of the oven, place them on a rack to cool. Now it's time to make the whipped cream topping! My fiance absolutely hates icings of any kind, but adores whipped cream so I made this just for him.

Take your whipped cream and pour it into a chilled mixing bowl to avoid potential whipped cream floppiness (I popped mine into the freezer for about five minutes). Then add your confectioners sugar and whip your whipping cream until it is stiff. You want it fairly stiff so you can pipe it onto your cupcakes like icing. If the cupcakes will be consumed later, don't pipe on your whipped cream too far in advance. 

I added some green food colouring to my whipped cream, but it looks great in white as well. 

Wait till your cupcakes are completely cooled then fill a piping bag fitted with a medium-large star tip (or any tip!). Ice your cupcakes and then sprinkle some mint chocolate chips on top if you like. So good that I ate three in one sitting.

Beautiful Baking Sweeties!

Finishing my Cake and The Cinderella Bridal Show

Had an amazing time talking with all of the brides at the Cinderella Bridal Show. Got to meet a whole bunch of other wedding vendors including my cake crush, Reddy Made Cakes. Her flavours were so amazing that my fiance and I nearly hired her on the spot for our wedding cake! I was so happy with the way things turned out at the show and I am even happier that I am 'stuck' with a ton of pink and yellow chocolate. Yum! Here are some pictures from the show including our first cake!

I decided to keep it simple and try sugar flowers for another cake.

Here I am with my sample dessert table. Hopefully in future we can display even more sweets. Hope to see you there at our next event!

Beautiful Baking Sweeties

Tahitian Vanilla Bean Macaron Filling

I am so sorry for the lack of posting (pretty sure half of my posts lately have begun with an apology lately)! I have been crazy busy with school, teaching and preparing for the Cinderella Bridal Fair. As promised though here is the recipe and tutorial on how to make Tahitian vanilla butter cream macaron filling.

This filling is literally to die for. I know most bakers say that, but seriously, this is the best butter cream I have ever had (a close second would be our baked strawberry butter cream). I cannot stress enough how good quality ingredients actually make a difference. I used to be one of those bakers that would say "oh that recipe calls for butter? I'll just use margarine!" Oh how things have changed. I now try and follow recipes as closely as possible as I have noticed that I get the most amazing results.

Anyway, the key to success in this recipe is to make sure that you know how to make the perfect butter cream base and make sure that you get the best quality vanilla bean that money can buy. I had never had something made with real vanilla bean before (I had become so accustomed to the vanilla extracts), but this flavour blew my mind. This butter cream filling kind of tastes like the best vanilla ice cream you have ever had. I encourage you to all try it. Even if you're not a huge vanilla fan like me, this recipe will change your mind. I guarantee it. I chose to use my vanilla butter cream for macarons, but use it on cupcakes or cakes to make your desserts even more divine.

If you would like the ingredients for the basic butter cream, take a look at our baked strawberry butter cream recipe.

For the method, I used the method suggested by Technicolour Kitchen with a few modifications.

Separate the egg whites and place them in a large heat proof bowl. I like to use a metal bowl that isn't too deep. You don't want the bottom of the bowl touching the simmering water. Place the sugar directly into the bowl with the egg whites. Give it a quick whisk just to incorporate the sugar and egg whites. Place the bowl over top a pot of simmering water. I use a medium sauce pan so that the bowl can sit on top without falling into the pot. Once the bowl of egg whites and sugar are placed on top of the simmering water, continually whisk the mixture. DO NOT stop whisking as this will cook the egg whites. Once all of the sugar is dissolved and your mixture is white and foamy, it is ready to be poured into your stand mixer (or keep it in the same bowl and begin whisking with an electric whisk; this probably won't work with your hand whisk). This step may take about three or four minutes of intense whisking and yes, your arm and wrist will most likely hurt after this. It takes a while to get it to this stage and I usually have to take a break.

Once your mixture is in the stand mixer, whisk it until it's shiny and white. It won't foam up or form stiff peaks the way a meringue would (although the ingredients are near identical). Make sure it's semi stiff, but it's okay if it's a little bit floppy.

Adding in the butter is actually the toughest step. The first four times I made it, I kept ending up with chunky butter cream. Although it tasted fine, it didn't have the best texture. I cannot stress this enough: you MUST use room temperature butter. It should be almost melting as you cut it. Turn your stand mixer down to medium speed (about a 6 or 8 on a KitchenAid stand mixer). Add in the butter generously and whip the egg whites, sugar and butter together just until it is combined. You should end up with something that looks like this:

No chunks and super creamy. At this point I would no longer whip or beat the mixture.

Split open a Tahitian Vanilla Bean (available at Galloway's Foods in Burnaby and Richmond for you locals out there!) with a sharp knife, scrape out the centre with the back of your knife (don't use the sharp end as this will pick up the hard bits of the bean) and fold in the contents with the butter cream. It may seem like you're not getting a lot of vanilla out of it, but this small amount is just enough!

I used my butter cream for these pure white macarons. Delicious!

Beautiful Baking Sweeties