Easter Carbs

What better way to break forty days of fasting for Lent than with carbs?

It's common among my friends and coworkers to give up sweets, potato chips, and/or pop during Lent. I admire their commitment and will power. I know we talked about this sort of thing when I was a kid attending a Catholic school, but I don't actually remember giving anything up myself. Maybe I did and was so traumatized by it that I've blocked it from my memory. Or maybe because it was a "small t" tradition, it wasn't overly emphasized in my family. Whatever the case, I don't normally participate in fasting for Lent.

In more recent years, though, I've picked up alternative practices. For example, for a few years in a row, I collected 40 food items to donate to the food bank. Another year, I selected 40 items to donate to charity (inspired by a 40 bags for 40 days challenge that just seemed to be a bit too much of a commitment). When you shift your perspective in this way, you find that there are many options to make an impact that don't involve food. Donate $40 to a local charity. Volunteer for 40 hours with a non-profit organization. Engage in 40 random acts of kindness. This is my preferred way to observe Lent, but everyone should do what works for them. 

Now, despite the fact that I haven't fasted, I'm still happy to participate in the breaking of the fast. From chocolate Easter bunnies to hot cross buns and everything in between, this is one calendar custom with delicious traditions.

Today, I'm happy to have an invitation to a turkey dinner. Naturally, I felt compelled to make dessert. Inspired by Facebook memories of Easter past, I decided it was time to make cupcakes again. French vanilla sponge with vanilla buttercream dyed a pale yellow and topped with rainbow Eggies (and a few with Junior Mints Eggs). The colour is on point and the flavour is top notch. 

But before I get to that, I'll start my day with one of the raspberry Easter eggs that I made earlier in the month. Alongside a cup of coffee, I'm sure it will be heavenly. 

I know I've said more than once that I thought a particular confection was my best work yet, but the response to these raspberry Easter eggs has been incredibly positive. The raspberry ganache centre had a beautiful texture and the addition of the lemon juice really brought out the fresh berry flavour. One day, I'll sell these in a very chic chocolate lounge. 

And of course, I can't forget to mention hot cross buns. Ever since moving to Cape Breton, I've been hunting for the best hot cross buns. Almost every year, I take off Holy Thursday and visit local shops and bakeries, buying all of the delightful things I can find. It's less about Easter and more about the start of Spring (which brings with it balcony coffees, gardening, and Birkenstock season). I've bought hot cross buns in North Sydney, Sydney River, Sydney, and Glace Bay. But there are two key issues. First, it's not uncommon to have to buy hot cross buns in large quantities. One year, the smallest pack I could find was 8. Now, as one person, I can't possibly eat 8 hot cross buns before they go stale and hot cross buns are the sort of thing were you eat one or two to get your fix and then you're over it for another year. The second issue pertains to the icing cross that is common here. I've seen it made with a very loose royal icing and I've also seen it made with buttercream. While it adds a delightful sweetness if consumed immediately after buying, leave it even a few hours and the sugar begins to absorb moisture from the air and the icing begins to weep and melt. It's a sticky mess (and that impedes toasting them when they're a few days old). 

Consequently, for the last few years, I've made my own hot cross buns. I use a small batch recipe that I found online, which makes only 6 small buns and I riff on that to make it my own. (Next year I may try cutting the recipe in half, because really 3 would be the ideal number to make.) This year, I used a bread lame to cut the crosses into the buns, thereby eliminating the need for an icing cross (I realize that traditionally a flour paste is used to bake the cross into the top of the bun, but it seemed like an unnecessary step). And I also glazed them with apricot jam, which gave them a delicious flavour. Next year, I plan to substitute apricots or blueberries for the more common raisins. (I may have to write a note to my future self so that I remember to try one of these variations.)

Until then, I'll enjoy this year's Easter carbs while I can, for Eggies and hot cross buns come but once a year.  

Happy Easter!

Random Acts of Craftiness 4

Well, it's September and I just finished my 2016 Random Acts of Craftiness challenge!

In August, after seeing a post by SeaLemon, I became a little bit obsessed with duct tape. So, I made a few duct tape pencil cases. I honestly love them. They look funky and are practical.

I mailed one to Stacey and gave one to Cathy. And I made so many that a few people not on the original RAC list also received them, including my coworker Alyce and one of my student employees. As a consequence of this obsession, I have amassed a duct tape collection that is cause for concern -- so if you have other duct tape craft ideas, please let me know!

Now, another summer student saw a Hello Kitty pencil case and joked that he wanted a Hello Kitty wallet. So, for fun, I googled the instructions and figured out how to make one for him. It's solid yellow on the outside with Hello Kitty trim and on the inside, as you can see below, there are Hello Kitty and solid pink pockets.

There was a minor flaw in the design -- some of the duct tape didn't quite stick correctly -- but we fixed it with a little crazy glue. Apparently his wallet is a great conversation starter with the ladies.

Finally, I made Luscious Lemon Cupcakes for a Rotary auction and made a few extra so that I could bring one to Cathy, who I hadn't seen in more than four months!

And so that's it! Random Acts of Craftiness 2016 is complete! It's been fun to have something motivating me to take a break from work and do something I love. To see the other installments, click on the RAC label at the top right hand corner of the page.

Hopefully everyone's enjoyed receiving their surprises.

Until next time!

Creativity Lost and Regained

It's been several months since I wrote an entry for this blog and there are many reasons for that. I was recovering from an illness that left me with hardly any energy for a long time. Then I had to pack up my crafting area while a new door and windows were installed in my apartment. Next, my evenings were filled with course prep and teaching. Before I knew it, it was August and I was busy attending Action Week events, singing in the Jazz Festival, and traveling home for a vacation. In short, there's been little time for crafting, baking, or any other hands on creativity in my life (though, there has been some writing and singing).

This past weekend, however, was an opportunity to get back into the kitchen. My friends were involved in the Rotary fundraiser in North Sydney and I decided to bake cupcakes for the auction. Admittedly, I wasn't sure about this idea. For a moment, I wondered if I should paint some chalkboard wine glasses instead, but I did recall that cupcakes had been in the auction before, so I figured why not. And even if they didn't make a lot of money, every dollar would count.

After quite a long hiatus from Pinterest, I found myself browsing the site during my vacation. I was intrigued by and had pinned a recipe for Neapolitan cupcakes. They looked delicious and I was happy to have a reason to experiment with the idea. The cake was chocolate and vanilla, and the frosting was strawberry. Naturally, I had to make it my own, so I decided that strawberry cream cheese icing made with real strawberry puree would put them over the top. I also thought they needed a little something special on top. I considered several options: strawberry jelly beans, dark chocolate pieces, the little strawberry candies from a box of Runts, whoppers. In the end, I decided a cherry sour would be the "cherry on top," so to speak.

And so I set about baking cupcakes and then making frosting. While conditions were fine for baking, they were quite challenging for frosting. The humidity was incredibly high on Saturday. My strawberry cream cheese icing made with Madagascar bourbon required significantly more sugar than normal to be of an appropriate consistency (I've since Googled and discovered that the addition of cornstarch would have helped the situation -- good to know for next time). Eventually, the battle with humidity won, I topped each cupcake with a pink swirl and a cherry sour. I then chilled them until it was time to drive to North Sydney.

Now, naturally, I had to cut open one of the cupcakes to try. Quality control is an important part of baking, especially if you intend to auction off your goods! I was very pleased with the results. The inside of the cupcake was a sight to behold! The chocolate cake surrounded the vanilla. These were some of the most unique cupcakes I'd ever seen. I'm honestly still not sure how exactly that effect was accomplished! And the icing, of course, was as heavenly as ever. You really can't go wrong with strawberries and cream cheese.

About an hour before I was due to be in North Sydney, I removed the cupcakes from the fridge and packaged them for the event. I had picked up brown cardboard cupcake boxes from Michaels for this purpose (yay 50% coupon!) and placed four in each. They looked pretty and professional, which made me very happy. (I am only sad now because I didn't take a photograph of them in the boxes!) I figured the auction organizers could decide whether to split them up or not.

Dressed and ready to go, I was very concerned about the humidity melting my cupcakes and even more so about the cherry sours melting and running all over the icing. (Then they'd be Dexter-inspired...) I rushed to the car and turned the air conditioning on bust for the drive over. Trying to avoid them toppling over, I held the handles of the reusable grocery bag they were in as I made a few sharp right-hand turns. I briefly paused at my friend's house and gave her a cupcake to try before we continued on to the event, which was held at the Yacht Club. Cupcakes delivered, I strolled around to see the other auction items. I was surprised to see just how many homemade items were available: jam, pickles, beets, fudge, bread... I felt less self-conscious about my contribution as a result. My friend and I grabbed wings and fries, and sat down at the best table in the joint (right next to the door) to wait for the auction to begin.

I eventually learned that the organizers had decided to break up the cupcakes and auction them four at a time. I wasn't sure this was a great strategy, since I couldn't imagine anyone paying much for just four of them, but I noticed that this had been done with several of the other homemade items. At this particular auction, that approach seemed to work quite well. Jams, beets, and fudge were all going for $25-30 each. And when the time came for my three boxes of cupcakes, they did equally as well. Who would have imagined that my cupcakes were worth more than a Joe Carter (Blue Jays) autographed picture? Not me. (And probably not Joe Carter either...)

So, it was good to get back into the kitchen after many months away from baking and I had a lot of fun at the auction. And now I must put on my thinking cap to decide what I'll make for a cake sale later this month! Stay tuned!