Carrot Quiche

It's been a while since I've blogged. I've been busy with many other projects. And while I have been cooking and baking, none of the recipes have been from the Cream of the West Cook Book. I decided recently, however, that I needed to get back to it, and so I looked at the list of recipes I'd intended to try and picked one for this week.

I admit, carrot quiche doesn't necessarily sound all that appealing. And, believe it or not, I'm actually not a huge fan of carrots (though I do add them to soups and stews). I am, however, a quiche lover. It's great for lunch or supper, and it stores and reheats well. I've tried many different quiche combos in the past (broccoli, ham, sun-dried tomato, onion). The idea of carrot quiche was so foreign that I decided it was worth trying.

I didn't make the pastry myself -- that was too much work after a busy week of decluttering and reorganization (which is still in progress). Instead, I purchased a pie shell at Sobeys. I also decided that there was no reason why the carrots would have to be sliced (despite the recipe suggesting they be arranged "attractively" in the pastry), so I bought matchstick carrots (yes, a bit of a cheat or, as I like to call it, time-saver). My only other modification to the recipe was the addition of one small onion, sauteed in some olive oil. I anticipated that the carrots alone might be a bit bland and I also believe that onions make everything better. Reading the recipe, I was worried about the salt content, but decided not to alter the quantities.

The components came together quickly. While I boiled the carrots for 3 minutes, I mixed up the egg mixture and grated the cheese. The assembly took no time at all.

Following the recipe, I preheated the oven to 425F, but I actually baked the quiche for 35 minutes at 375F. Having made quiche in my oven before, I knew that would yield better results. Thirty-five minutes later, I removed the quiche from the oven and let it cool before carving it into 6 pieces for suppers and lunches this week.

The end result was as attractive as any quiche I've made. But how would it taste?

I tried my first piece for supper tonight. It wasn't nearly as bad as I'd feared it might be. I consider it a pleasant supply. The salt balance was good and the cheese really complemented the carrots, which still had a little bite to them (thankfully -- I don't like mushy veggies). It could use a little more flavour, but the nutmeg was a nice addition. In the future, I might try it with a grated potato crust instead of the pastry.

For now, I'll rate it 7/10.

Beauty and the Beast

This month I was thrilled when a colleague shared a baking opportunity with me on Facebook. I hadn't heard of the All Fool's Night fundraiser held by the Cape Breton Regional Library. As part of it, there would be a silent auction featuring altered book art and books to eat. I immediately contacted the organizer to get the details.

Then I needed to choose a book to inspire my cake. I covered a lot of ground in my deliberations -- from Dexter to Ramona Quimby and Murder on the Orient Express to Shopaholic and The Telling Room to In Too Deep (those last two were a nod to my book club). In the end, I choose something popular now as a result of a new movie -- Beauty and the Beast. After reviewing several videos on YouTube and pins on Pinterest to inspire me, I determined that I would make a 9" contour vanilla cake filled with strawberry buttercream and covered in yellow rosettes to suggest Belle's dress. A few white pearls would be added for interest. The centerpiece would be an edible red rose under an acrylic dome if I could find one. I had less than two weeks to plan, prepare, and execute my design.

Naturally, I started with the red rose. I had read online that it was possible to make a rose out of fondant -- the instructions were on the Wilton site. I was skeptical, though. From my experience, the rose would need to be made out of gum paste. I tried making one with some fondant I had on had and my suspicions were confirmed -- fondant simply wouldn't do. I made a special trip to Michaels to purchase new gum paste, some pearls, and new red colouring. I was much happier with the results and made three gum paste roses, along with about eight leaves. I wanted to have back-ups in case something went wrong on the day of the assembly.

I then searched Dollarama for something that would work as a dome over the rose. Nothing seemed appropriate in terms of shape and size. I was getting ready to scrap that design and find a workaround. Luckily, while strolling through Walmart a few days later, I found an acrylic stemless wine glass in the seasonal section. It would be the perfect dome over the rose.

Then the worst part was ahead of me: I had to wait another six days before I could do anything else related to the cake.

On the afternoon before the fundraiser, thanks to a snow day, I baked my cake and levelled it. Since I expected to have some buttercream left over and I was having a few friends over for dinner on Saturday, I also baked four cupcakes. The next morning, I made a double batch of buttercream. I took out about 1 cup and mixed it with pureed strawberries -- and used that to fill the cake, which I'd cut into two layers. Then I dyed the remaining buttercream the yellow of Belle's dress and covered the cake with rosettes. I had seen online that the best way to add candy pearls is to throw them at the buttercream so that the pattern is random. This was hilarious and resulted in pearls all over the floor of my apartment -- but it did work. Finally, I added the rose and a few petals, and covered the rose with the acrylic dome, held in place by the buttercream.

I was very pleased with how the cake turned out. Hopefully it did well at the auction. I would have liked to go, but I was busy at home eating cupcakes with friends. :)