5 ways to use your Brioche Pasquier Loaf

1. Cinnamon Toast

Cinnamon Sugar: 2/3 cups sugar mixed with 1 tbsp ground cinnamon

Toast your brioche slice and liberally butter sprinkle the cinnamon sugar on top leave for about a minute then tap off the excess cinnamon sugar back into the cinnamon sugar pot/jar.

2. PB & J Sandwich

All you need is your favorite jam be it strawberry, raspberry, or bramble on one slice of brioche and peanut butter on the other. Then enjoy!

3. Hamburgers

Some trendy burger joints are now offering brioche buns for a small extra fee. And other trendy burger places are using sliced bread instead of buns. So, I thought I’d use both trends and use sliced brioche for my hamburgers!

4. Chocolate Chip Bread Pudding:

260g sliced Brioche Pasquier, cubed

100g chocolate chips

3 large eggs

40g light brown sugar

2 tbsp of dark rum

600ml full fat milk

4 handfuls of demerara sugar

Lightly butter a baking dish and add the stale cubed bread. Sprinkle the chocolate chips over the stale cubed bread. Whisk the eggs, brown sugar, rum and milk together before pouring all over the stale cubed bread. Then sprinkle about 4 small handfuls of the demerara sugar over the top, this is what gives it a nice sugary crunch on top. Heat the oven to 170C. Soak for about 20 minutes while the oven heats up. Bake in the oven 40-50 minutes. Let it cool slightly before serving!

5. Classic Bread & Butter

Let’s be honest Brioche is delicious and I ate at least half of my Brioche Pasquier loaf with a slathering of butter. Sometimes with Maple Moose Butter! When it's paired with the sweetness of the brioche loaf it is something pretty special! Yum! 

notes: I was given a couple of loaves of Brioche Pasquier to try, please see my contact/policy page for further information. Moose Maple Butter was also given to me at Food Blogger Connect. Recipe is adapted from Nigella’s Kitchen.

Jellybean Vanilla Cupcakes

I am a part of the PTA at the girl’s school at for one of the last fundraisers we held a cake stall. Basically the parents who won’t be buying cakes tend to donate cakes and then the parents who don’t donate end up buying the cakes.

Since me and Baby-Baker went early and helped set it all up we had first pick of the plates. We had a good plate it had a princess and bumblebee cupcake and other delicious looking cakes.

However when Mini-Baker arrived she was not happy with the plate we choose. She wanted a different plate because it had a fairy cake with jellybeans on it. If it had been sooner I might have just swapped one cake for another. However the room was already full of people looking for cake and if we did it then other children would have wanted to do it.

Basically I had to promise that we would make cupcakes and put jellybeans on them. We even bought jellybeans at the quick trip to the store after school. So, the following day we made vanilla cupcakes with vanilla frosting colored blue topped with jellybeans.

This vanilla cupcake recipe is adapted from the hummingbird bakery book and I’ll be honest they are pretty darn good vanilla cupcakes. Children really could care less about gourmet cupcakes and adventurous flavors. I find they are just happy with either a simple vanilla or chocolate cupcake as long as it’s decorated to their liking.

Jellybean Vanilla Cupcakes:

120g plain flour
140g golden caster sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
a pinch of salt
40g unsalted butter, room temp
120ml whole milk
1 medium egg
1/4 tsp vanilla bean paste or extract

Heat the oven to 170C and line your cupcake pan with 10 cupcake liners. In a free standing mixer or large bowl combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and butter until crumb-y. Slowly pour in half of the milk and mix until just combined. Add the egg and vanilla to leftover milk and gently whisk before adding to the mixer and mix until just combined and smooth, try not too over mix! It will make the cupcakes holey and heavy. I use an ice cream scoop and I fill the scoop and trigger release into the cases! Bake for 20-25 minutes until lightly browned and spring back when gently pressed. Skewer should come out clean. While cooling make the buttercream frosting.

vanilla frosting:
250g icing sugar, sifted
80g unsalted butter, room temperature
2 tbsp whole milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
blue food coloring paste just a drop
Jellybeans

Beat the icing sugar and butter together until it's completely combined. Add the milk and vanilla extract and beat until smooth and at your desired constancy! Then add the food coloring a little bit at a time, paste makes a great color quickly so you need very little. Then beat until the frosting is completely blue! Top with jellybeans and enjoy!!

Welcome to America

My parents moved us around a few times while I was growing up. So, I have lived in Wisconsin, Indiana, and Minnesota. We never left the Mid-West, but it's amazing how states are different. 

It's also amazing the amount of friends and family I have spread across that area. Today my girls and I are flying to Minnesota to stay with my parents for five weeks! We won't be able to see everyone, but we will be meeting up with as many people as we can. 

I do plan to have some down time and in that time I hope to update my blog with any foodie things I do! 

I have some blog posts already pre-dated over the first few weeks, just a few things I have been up to this past week. There are books, bars, cupcakes, and a giveaway! 

There is hope that I will be Tweet-ing, Instagram-ing, Pinterest-ing and Facebook-ing as well so be sure to follow me! I usually follow back as long as I haven't hit any following limits so please find me and say hi! 

Coconut Lover Coconut Cake

There are either coconut lovers or coconut haters. It’s a rare thing to be an “in-betweener” when it comes to coconut.

It’s like having a rare blood type.

I happen to be a coconut lover. I love it in baked goods and in savory dishes. It is also one of those flavors that pairs well with a variety of fruit.

But for this cake it was all coconut: coconut cake with coconut frosting!

I actually made this cake a while back when I was hosting my friends with a chili night! It all started when I was asked if I made cornbread.

Of course I said yes and then before I knew it my girlfriends were round for chili with cornbread and a coconut cake for dessert. I felt like staying with the Southern American feel of the meal.

The cake was soft and spongy and the frosting was smooth and silky both with the right amount of coconut flavor! 

We had some great food that night, if I do say so myself. That coupled with the great company was a very good night! Who could ask for more?

They did ask for the recipe, which I still haven’t gotten to them so I thought, might as well pop it on here!

Coconut Cake:

235g plain flour

4 tbsp corn flour

2 tsp baking powder

¼ tsp salt

170g unsalted butter, room temp & cubed

6 egg whites

240ml coconut milk

120g sweetened shredded coconut

1 tsp vanilla bean paste

Heat the oven to 180C. Grease two round (8in) cake tins lightly flour, tap out any excess flour.

Sift the flour, corn flour, and baking powder into the bowl of a mixer or a large bowl if hand mixing it. Mix in the sugar and salt until combined. While mixing on a low speed add the butter cube by cube and mix until the mixture is coarse and crumbly.

In a separate bowl beat the egg whites, coconut milk, shredded coconut and the vanilla paste until well combined.

Add half of the wet mixture to the dry and beat until combined. Scrap the sides and bottom of the bowl before adding the rest of the wet mixture. Mix on a medium speed for about 25 seconds, it should be light and fluffy.

Divide the batter between the two prepared cake tins. Bake for 30-40 minutes. The tops should be a light brown and should spring back when lightly pressed. Let cool completely in the pans before removing.

Coconut Frosting:

300g caster sugar

6 egg whites

342g unsalted butter, room temp &cubed

1 tsp vanilla extract

¼ tsp salt

160ml coconut milk

While the cakes are cooling and not before because the frosting needs to be used pretty much right away and it won’t go well on a hot cake!

In a heat proof bowl mix the sugar and egg whites together, place on top of a simmering pot of water (make sure the bowl does not touch the water) and whisk for 6-8 until the sugar dissolves. It will thin out as the sugar dissolves.
Then place the mixture into the stand mixer and whip with the whisk attachment for 6-8 minutes on a medium speed until it’s cooled down and turns into a light meringue.

Turn the mixture down to low and add the butter cube by cube. Once all the butter is incorporated turn the mixture up to medium and whisk for 4-5 minutes, it will look curdled at one point, but keep mixing it will come together to be smooth and glossy.

Then add the vanilla extract, salt, and coconut milk and whisk for about 1-2 minutes or until smooth.

to finish:

120g sweetened shredded coconut

Remove the cakes from the tins and level them if necessary. Place one layer on a serving plate or cake stand or whatever you have before dolloping a bunch of frosting on top of the layer.

Smooth it on the top and down the sides before carefully placing the second layer on top, upside down so the sharp edges are on top.

Add a thin layer of frosting as a crumb coat and let it set before adding the rest of the frosting. Once it’s frosted coat the cake in the shredded coconut!

notes: This recipe is adapted from flour by Joanne Chang. 

Hungry Monkey: A Food-Loving Father’s Quest to Raise an Adventurous Eater by Matthew Amster-Burton {book review}

I long for the days when I only had to think of myself at meal times. I know what I like and therefore I find it easy to feed myself.

Now I have a husband and two little people have likes and dislikes of their own. Which means dinnertime especially can be nothing short of my worst nightmare.

To be fair to my husband it’s not his fault he’s allergic to all citrus, but it is something I have to accommodate for.

My Mini-Baker loves all veggies and will try anything and everything at least once. My Baby-Baker loves meat and point blank refuses to try anything.

When I first became a mom I did stress about food. My Mini-Baker didn't like jarred baby food nor did she like homemade food, whole or pureed. She was only happy with toast and some fruits.

I felt like I was failing at one of the 3 fundamental things that all children (and adults) need: food, clothes, shelter.

I wish I had this book then, I would have saved me a lot of stress and allowed me to relax and know that it would be okay. It wasn't until she was 8 or 9 months old that I realized there was no need to stress. I caught her watching my fork go to the plate to my mouth. From then on she ate what we ate and did so just fine. 

According to Amazon I bought this book in 2011 well after both my little ones were weaned, so there were parts that I really related too.

He tells us how at first he was very smug at his 2 year old ate pretty much everything, but little did he know that by the time she was 3 she would start to get picky.

When Mini-Baker was about 2 ½ years old she loved Chilli Beef, our local Chinese does the best, so I didn't blame her. We were so tired of her stealing ours we ordered her her own portion and she ate all of it. I was so smug about it I told everyone!

We took her again for a treat around 6 months later and again ordered her her own portion expecting her to demolish it. No, such luck she decided that it wasn't that good and much preferred to just eat the rice. I wasn't so smug after that and was prepared when her sister came along.

Baby-Baker currently loves olives and hot sauce, sometimes together. But I know one day that might not be the case. For know though we have lots of olives because I love them too.

This is the reason that children are so hard to feed. One day they love something the next day they don’t.

Now that they are both older and discovering their own tastes when I meal plan they get to suggest something they would like for dinner. I always listen because it saves me the hassle of figuring out what to make!

If you are a foodie, parent, or both this book is for you. It’s full of parenting truths only learned by experience, but it’s also full of recipes!

In chapter 18 he states that his food fantasy is to take his daughter to Toyko for the ultimate culinary vacation. Well his fantasy came true as he writes about it in his second book Pretty Good Number One: An American Family Eats Tokyo which I have downloaded on my kindle app and will be reading while I am visiting in the USA!

If you are a parent I would love to hear what your kids favorite foods and dishes are! Please leave a comment below! 

notes: I bought this book as stated above years ago, I have just re-read it and felt like writing down my thoughts on it. I will be posting a post on my summer reading soon! Matthew Amster-Burton also writes a blog called Roots and Grubs.

Happy Birthday Mr. President

In May of 1962 Marilyn Monroe sang ‘Happy Birthday’ to the President of the United States in a sexy sultry way that has made history.

First it was one of her last public performances, but mostly because of the alleged affair between her and JFK.

Not gonna lie I love a good conspiracy! Did they have an affair? Did JFK have anything to do with her death? We will never know!

If I don’t step away I can drive myself crazy with that sort of stuff. So, I will leave the conspiracies to theorists and I will get on with the cake making!

I am a little behind in posting this cake, it was about a month ago that a friend’s son was turning 21, and he requested this cake for his birthday.

The cake was a marbled vanilla and chocolate tray bake with a layer of buttercream before the top layer of white sugar paste.

Our friend gave me the stencil- that was super useful! So, with the stencil and my cake painting knowledge from Sprinklebakes I made this:

It is a simple design, but it has a bold stylish effect. The color pastes were gently mixed with a little vodka to make it easy to spread out and it turned out exactly how we all wanted it too!

I also gave them a pan of chili brownies because they were the same friends that requested chili brownies and told me they weren't hot enough! So, this time I added a bit more chilies to the brownies and they said they did have a bit more of a kick to them! I guess I will have to up my game again! 

Four for Less: New Baking Books & my thoughts

I haven’t been buying a lot of new cookbooks, but that’s not to say there aren't ones that I want! 

There will always be books I want, but I have been a bit more sensible lately and actually passed along a few of the books that I haven’t used recently.

I have also refrained from replacing ever one of the books I gave away with new ones. I only replaced four of them.

With these:

Which is still less then the amount I gave away! 

The Book of Buns: Over 50 brilliant bakes from around the world by Jane Mason

I like it!

Description (from the back cover): “From every corner of the world this beautiful collection of recipes will inspire you to bake buns – both familiar and new – and share them with your friends and family as part of a wholesome meal or as an indulgent treat to celebrate a special occasion.” 

My thoughts: I bought this from The Book People as it was at a really reasonable price. I don’t have the best of luck with breads, but it is an area that I want to pursue a bit more. Also I like the idea that the recipes are inspired from different cultures all over the world. Jane Mason starts by saying a bun is a bun is a bun. Basically saying buns are universal. She then shares with us the basic bread ingredients we will need to create buns and some shaping techniques used in bun making. Then the book is split into two categories – Everyday Buns and Occasional Buns.

Here are a few recipes, from both categories, I have book marked to try out: Laugenbrotchen, Sfoof, Bun Muska, Iced Buns, Skillingsboller, Coconut Buns, and Apple Buns.

Patisserie by William and Suzue Curley

I love it!

Description (from the inside cover): “Patisserie is an introduction to the most revered of culinary disciplines; it illuminates and explains this often-daunting field, leading you through the basics toward a world of beautiful and elegant patisserie. For beginners and the more advanced alike, this is the essential masterclass in patisserie and is set to become a classic book on the subject.” 

My thoughts: The publishers sent this book to me after I re-tweeted their post and won a copy! It is a beautifully published book, but it’s not just what it looks like it’s smart too. It is a wealth of information. Not only are we given the authors credentials, but they give us the evolution of patisserie, which I found very interesting. Food history is interesting to me. Then they give us the basics so ingredients, equipment, and some tips to get us started. If this isn't daunting then we can move on to the next part which is how to make the foundations of all patisserie which is what you need before you create some beautiful desserts.

This is one of those books that I love looking at and I have been carrying it around with me for a couple of weeks now reading and looking at all the mouth watering and awe inspiring patisserie! I would love to attempt to make all of it! Hopefully with my littlest one starting full time school in September I will have a little bit more time to give to seeing how well I do at patisserie!

Sally’s Baking Addiction: Irresistible Cookies, Cupcakes, & Desserts for Your Sweet-Tooth Fix by Sally McKenney

I love it!

Description (from the back cover): “Sally McKenney started her wildly popular blog Sally’s Baking Addiction in 2011, and she’s made the internet a whole lot sweeter! So whether you like cookies, cupcakes, brownies, bars, candy, cakes, pies, or muffins, there’s a tempting treat for you. Indulge in Sally’s Death by Chocolate Brownies, her Pretzel Peanut Butter Cups, her Nutella Frosted Banana Cupcakes and loads more.”

My thoughts: I was a little late to the party when I stumbled upon Sally’s blog a while back. There was a recipe for something I was after and when I goggled it her site came up. I was hooked from the first look. The writing and photography were great, but the sweet treats were even better. One of the posts I read was about how her book was out. So, of course I went to Amazon and ordered myself a copy.

The cookie section is my favorite and it’s fitting, as there are cookies on the cover. The other recipes look good too, but I love a good soft on the inside and crunchy on the outside cookie. I can’t wait to give the Cake Batter Chocolate Chip Cookies and the Salted Caramel Dark Chocolate Cookies a go! If you like Sally’s blog you’ll love her book.

Jamie Oliver’s FoodTube presents: The Cake Book by Cupcake Jemma

I want some more of it!

Description (from the back cover): Jemma Wilson from Crumbs & Doilies is the cupcake queen of Food Tube. Featuring four chapters of beautiful seasonal recipes, plus the need-to-know basics, this book has all the essentials for amazing baking all year round.

My thoughts: This book I picked up at Sainsbury’s for a bargain at 3.50! I already own a couple of cupcake books and wouldn't have bought it at full price. Mainly because it didn't have anything particularly new to me, but I would recommend this to anyone who doesn't have as many baking books as I do! It also doesn't mean that I won’t be trying out a few of these recipes as soon as I get a chance! It’s a wonderful little book that has a lot of inspiration and it fits in a bag so you can take it anywhere and drool over the pictures!

I think I will be trying the Cookie Dough Cupcakes or the Toffee Apple Cupcakes ... or wait maybe the Cherry Bakewell Cupcakes. Or even better yet I should try all of them as someone on Instagram suggested!

notes: I haven’t had a chance to try any recipes from these books yet. It’s not very often that I “review” books without trying out a recipe, so for this post it’s just me sharing and writing about some new books I required. I bought or won these books, for more information please see my contact/policy page. Find me on Instagram 

Oatly Espresso Cupcakes - for a real Buzz

I attended Food Blogger Connect so that I could learn more about the online foodie world I have gotten myself into! I wouldn't be anywhere else I love it here!

I do love books though; sometimes I wonder if I had put a bit more time into my book blog I would be somewhere else right now?

There isn't enough time for what-ifs and I figured I might start combining my love for food and books anyway (see my side bar for what I’m reading now)!

I’m just getting off topic this post is about Oatly… wait I haven’t gotten there yet.

At Food Blogger Connect I learned a lot and I ate a lot! In-between all the learning we had snack breaks and one of the brands there was Oatly - they were serving these amazing Coffee Shakes and delicious cinnamon rolls.

The coffee shakes were so good I kept going back for more! Oatly has a subtle oat flavor that I found refreshing and delicious; even better when paired with espresso.

Oatly is a nutritious alternative to milk. It is full of oaty goodness and made of natural ingredients no crazy additives here.

On the second day of FBC14 I started chatting with the ladies who were at the table and when I said I was a baker and would be interested in using Oatly in my baking they loaded me up with some of the product to try!

I couldn't get the Coffee Shake out of my head and so I decided to make espresso cupcakes. They turned out beautifully and had a very subtly nutty taste that just added to the flavor. One of these cupcakes could easily replace my morning cup of coffee! 

Oatly Espresso Cupcakes

20g instant espresso powder

240ml oat drink

80g margarine

280g sugar

240g plain flour

1 tbsp baking powder

¼ tsp salt

2 large eggs

Heat the oven to 190C. Line the muffin pan(s) with liners; this recipe makes more then 12.

Weigh out the espresso powder in a small saucepan then add the oat drink. Gently heat the mixture until the powder dissolves. Take off the heat.

Beat the margarine, sugar, flour, baking powder, and salt until it looks like breadcrumbs.

Add the eggs to the slightly cooled espresso oat drink and gently whisk. Combine about 1/3 of the espresso/egg mixture with the dry ingredients and beat on a low speed. Increase the speed to medium while gradually adding the rest of the milk until the batter is smooth. Using an ice cream scoop fill the liners with batter (about ¾ full) and bake for 18-20 minutes or until it springs back when gently prodded and if a skewer comes out clean. While they are cooling on a rack make the frosting.

frosting

50ml creamy oat

16g instant espresso powder

250g icing sugar

80g margarine

Like the cupcakes weigh out the espresso powder in a small saucepan before adding the cream and heat just long enough to dissolve the espresso powder without boiling it, like I did the first time because one of my children were bleeding from a small cut after stepping on a rock. It smells burnt if you boil it and then you have to start again. Once it’s done right set it aside to cool

Beat the icing sugar and margarine together to look like breadcrumbs, and then gradually add the espresso cream to taste. Once it’s to your liking increase the speed and beat until lighter in color and spread-able.

to finish

Optional toppings- chocolate covered coffee beans or chocolate sprinkles

Using a pallet knife scoop some frosting on top of the cooled cupcake and spread evenly and then top with chosen topping.

I still have some Chocolate Oatly and an alternative to single cream left to use up so who knows what I’ll make next? I mean really I haven’t thought of anything to use it for so it’ll be just as a surprise for me as it is for you!

If you’re looking for Oatly it’s found in Waitrose, big Sainsbury’s and Tesco, or Holland & Barrett. The full range of products can be found online. I really want to try the Chai Oat Drink. I love chai as much as I love espresso.

notes: If you want to see what I learned at FBC14 check my post here! If you follow me on Twitter you’ll have seen my love for books in my tweets for #bookadayuk or #fridayreads I love to talk books so tweet me if you’re reading a good one! If you are interested to learn more about Oatly visit their website they are nice people. I was given the product to try, but I was not asked to post about it. Please see my contact/policy page for further information. The recipe is adapted from hummingbird bakery Cake Days.