Double Chocolate Chip Cookies

by byn on November 10, 2021

in Cookies

This is just a quick post to remind myself that this Double Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe is perfect. These cookies are thick, chewy, deeply chocolate-y and excellent for a variety of additions.

I vividly remember being let down by the last double chocolate chip cookie recipe I tried last summer, because I included it in my first Bakers Against Racism Box. They spread out SO MUCH in the oven, and were so flat and thin. I had to sort of scrape the edges in when I took them out of the oven to try to give them some structure, and I was so disappointed.

Fast forward to this month when my friend Jess brought me back a bag of Trader Joe’s Salted Caramel Chips* from her vacation in the States! After multiple taste tests, I knew I wanted to bake them into some Double Chocolate Chip Cookies with flaky sea salt sprinkled on top. After a bit of Googling, I decided to try this recipe from Two Peas & Their Pod and I have zero notes. This is exactly what I want in a cookie - nice and thick with a super fudge-y texture.

*Chipits also makes Salted Caramel Chips now! Not quite as good as TJ’s but they’ll do the trick if you want to re-create these.

Double Chocolate Chip Cookies

Source: Two Peas & Their Pod

Ingredients

  • 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, room temperature
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 2 1/4 cups flour
  • 3/4 cup cocoa (the darker the better)
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 cup chocolate chips
  • 1 cup salted caramel chips (or just more chocolate chips, or another mix-in)

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350o and line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
  2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugars until light and fluffy.
  3. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix again.
  4. Add the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt and mix until combined.
  5. Stir in the chocolate chips and other mix-ins.
  6. Scoop the dough onto the baking sheets and bake for 8-10 minutes.
  7. Press some extra chocolate chips or salted caramel chips onto the top of the cookies as they’re cooling and finish with a sprinkle of flaky sea salt if you want.

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October on Planet Byn [2021]

by byn on October 31, 2021

in Monthly Recaps

What a joy and thrill to be able to celebrate Thanksgiving with a table full of family this year, and even have a few small birthday outings! Here’s what else was going on during my favourite month of the year:

  • I stuck to the classics for Thanksgiving this year, and for the first time, I finally have everything posted here: My Favourite Stuffing, My Favourite Mashed Potatoes, Root Vegetable Crumble (updated with better measurements), and Pumpkin Cream Cheese Pecan Crunch Pie [Note: links still aren’t working but I PROMISE this will be a priority on my to-do list in 2022]
  • Two of my work besties are also Libras, so we met up for a little Libra Gang Birthday Party at Cinco Mexican in their neighbourhood and had many delicious margaritas and some truly excellent tacos.
  • I took a few days off for my birthday, and on the first day met up with Lydia for brunch at Kerr Street Cafe. It was our first time having brunch in a restaurant since we were in NYC in 2019. We also haven’t been to Kerr St. Cafe in about 12 years and honestly, who knows why, because it was SO GOOD. Lyd had Avocado Toast, I had the Brekky Sandwich and then we split Staxx (Lemon Ricotta Pancakes with Blueberry Compote). I need to go back and try many more things!
  • My friend Sarah organized an epic Fall Birthday Feast for few of her friends at Alo, and it was legendary. This was my second time dining there, where you have a 10-course tasting menu that’s unlike anything I’ve ever experienced before. It also really hits different when you’ve been cooking for yourself for the past 18 months!
  • Switching gears completely, Kristine and I met up at Lone Star for another birthday dinner and the excitement of having a sizzling cast iron skillet of chicken fajitas approach the table is unmatched! I got Lone Star takeout a few times during lockdown but it is NOT the same as having it there where everything is super hot and you’re warned three times not to touch the skillet! I missed this so much!
  • I spent the weekend up in Uxbridge at my friend Erin’s, and we had such an excellent time! We visited The Second Wedge Brewing Co, Nexus Coffee Company for the best latte I’ve had in my life, a cute farm where I picked up a bunch of apples, and finally a kitchen store I can’t remember the name of where we picked up some truly incredible gluten-free treats (including one Twix Bar-like one that was incredible).
  • And now the regular recap of what I was cooking this month, broken down into three categories:
  • Stuff I made from the archives: Honey Buffalo Meatballs
  • Some of my favourite go-to dishes: Swedish Meatballs with Wild Rice (and leftover Cranberry Sauce from Thanksgiving!)
  • New things that I tried and liked: Claire made this Crispy Cheesy Pan Pizza on Dessert Person and I made it in my brother’s cast-iron skillet (which I borrowed months ago and still haven’t returned) and it was mind-blowingly good. This Chili Lime Salmon & Esquites was also quick and delicious and I can’t wait to make it again. I always forget how much I love a quick and simple frittata and this Butternut Squash Frittata was great (except I would roast the squash in the oven first to make sure it’s cooked through and caramelized). I also tried this Roasted Broccoli Salad, which I would make again with a few modifications (less lemon!).

Other non-foodie things I was obsessed with this month:

  • Insecure is back for it’s fifth and final season and I’m so excited, but so sad it’s coming to an end. I already tried to buy Molly’s “Somebody’s Auntie” t-shirt from episode 2, but of course it’s sold out.
  • The Bachelorette is also back and I’m obsessed with Michelle as the lead. All I want is to watch her and Joe fall in love and ride off into the sunset together.
  • I read a lot this month and liked everything I read. Liane Moriarty’s new book, Apples Never Fall, was a bit slow to start but I couldn’t put it down in the second half. The Heart Principle was a quick, fun read (although very sad in the middle section. Baby Girl: Better Known as Aaliyah, was a great portrait of Aaliyah’s life, but I stupidly didn’t realize that so much of it would be about her connection to R. Kelly, which was really disturbing. Cover Story is a must read for anybody who read and collected SLAM Magazine in the late 90s. I loved all the behind-the-scenes stories of the most iconic covers.
  • My true obsession of this month was Angelina Jolie bringing various combinations of Jolie-Pitts to her Eternals movie premieres around the world. They’re all so grown up!

Flashback!

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Pumpkin Cinnamon Roll Cookies with Maple Glaze

by byn on October 28, 2021

in Cookies

People have started coming back to the office! Last week I had two of my co-workers come back for a day, so I welcomed them with this Pumpkin Coffee Cake which was a big hit. This week two different teammates were in, so I used up the rest of my pumpkin puree from the can I cracked open for Thanksgiving to make these Pumpkin Cinnamon Roll Cookies with Maple Glaze. What a joy to bring treats to work again!

My friend Jess made these cookies first (we both share a love for Sally recipes) and they were so cute, I knew I had to make them too. I also had a jar of Pumpkin Pie Spice from Trader Joe’s in my cabinet which is at least two years old, so it was time to start using that up too.

These cookies were fun to make, and I have to say, I have a deep appreciation for a slice and bake cookie. They taste INCREDIBLE, almost like a shortbread cookie, and of course that swirl of spiced brown sugar is to die for. The maple glaze is optional, but sends these over the top. I think this is going to be a recurring treat for me to make every Fall from now on!

Pumpkin Cinnamon Roll Cookies with Maple Glaze

Source: Sally’s Baking Addiction

Ingredients

Filling

  • 3 tbsp butter
  • 2/3 cup brown sugar
  • 1 3/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice
  • 1 tsp cinnamon

Cookie Dough

  • 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, room temperature
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 6 tbsp pumpkin puree, blotted (line a bowl with paper towels and add the pumpkin, let sit for 5-10 minutes and use the paper towels to blot the excess moisture from the pumpkin)
  • 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
  • 2 1/4 cups flour
  • 1 3/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp salt

Glaze

  • 1 tbsp butter
  • 2 1/2 tbsp maple syrup
  • 1/2 cup icing sugar
  • pinch salt

Directions

  1. First get the filling ready by melting the butter, and then in a small bowl, mixing together the brown sugar, pumpkin pie spice and cinnamon.
  2. For the cookie dough, in a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar together with an electric mixer until light and fluffy, about two minutes. Add the pumpkin and vanilla and mix again for about a minute.
  3. Add the flour, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, baking powder and salt and mix again until combined. Mixture will be thick.
  4. Divide the dough into two equal sized portions. Set one aside and place the other on a lightly floured counter, and pat into a rectangle. Use a rolling pin (also floured) to roll out the dough into a 10×8″ rectangle (it should be about 1/4″ thick).
  5. Spread about half of the melted butter onto the rectangle and sprinkle with about half of the filling. Use your fingers or the back of a spoon to gently press the filling into the butter.
  6. Tightly roll up the rectangle into a 10″ log. If the dough cracks (mine did), just use your hands to press it back together. Wrap the log in plastic wrap, then repeat the whole process with the other portion of dough and filling. Chill the logs for at least 2 hours, or up to 3 days in the fridge or freeze up to 3 months.
  7. When you’re ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 and line cookie sheets with parchment paper. Use a sharp knife to cut the logs into 1/2″ slices (or just less than 1/2″). You can use your hands to press the cookies into round shapes if they have a flat edge from resting/slicing.
  8. Place the cookies on the baking sheet (they won’t spread too much so you don’t need to leave too much space). Bake for 13-15 minutes and let cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before moving to wire rack to cool completely.
  9. For the glaze, melt the butter and maple syrup together in the microwave, then whisk in the icing sugar and salt until smooth. Use a fork/spoon/whisk to drizzle over the cookies.

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Santa Fe Salad with Peanut Lime Vinaigrette

by byn on October 26, 2021

in Salads, Sauces, Dressings, Dips & Salsas

After all the treats of Thanksgiving and my birthday, I found myself at the office one day in search of something fresh for lunch. I was trying to think back to my pre-pandemic, pre-non profit days in the Financial District and what my go-to moves for lunch were and the Santa Fe Salad from Earls popped into my mind. It’s the only thing I would ever order when we went there. I walked over to pick up takeout and it was just as delicious (and expensive) as I remembered.

There’s lots going on here: crunchy romaine, roasted corn, black beans, dates, feta, avocado, crunchy tortilla strips and some blackened chicken. The whole thing is tossed with a peanut lime vinaigrette and everything combined together is a flavour (and texture) explosion.

Now that I’ve finally found a feta that I like at Farmboy (this has been a decades long search), I was excited to re-create this at home. I googled for a copycat recipe and found this and it hit the mark. Instead of blackened chicken, I topped it with Chili Lime Salmon, and it was an excellent addition.

Santa Fe Salad with Peanut Lime Vinaigrette

Source: Food Duchess

Ingredients

Peanut Lime Vinaigrette

  • 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
  • zest of 1 lime
  • 3 tbsp peanut butter (regular or natural)
  • 2 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 1 tsp sugar (+ 1 extra tsp if you used natural peanut butter)
  • 1/2 tsp soy sauce
  • 1 garlic clove, grated with a microplane

Salad

  • chopped romaine lettuce
  • corn (I caramelized some frozen corn in a skillet with olive oil, salt and pepper)
  • black beans (I tossed them in with the corn to heat them through)
  • chopped dates
  • crumbled feta
  • sliced avocado
  • crispy tortilla strips (I just bought these at the grocery store)
  • chicken or salmon (I made the Chili Lime Salmon from this recipe, and this rub would also work on chicken, or just use some shredded rotisserie chicken)

Directions

  1. For the vinaigrette, whisk everything together in a small bowl.
  2. For the salad, just assemble according to your preferences and toss with vinaigrette!

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Chocolate Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Pie

by byn on October 20, 2021

in Pies, Tarts & Pudding

For the second year in a row, I wasn’t feeling like making a cake for my birthday. I’ve been obsessed with New Pie Co. for a while, so I decided to try to reverse engineer one of their pies that I was drooling over on Instagram for a while.

I’m not sure if the name of this pie really does it justice. It could just be renamed “All of Byn’s Favourite Things in one pie plate”. It starts with a crust made of peanut butter rice krispie treats, which then gets filled with chocolate pudding and topped with homemade marshmallow swirled with peanut butter.

I luckily have favourite recipes for each of those three components (the chocolate pudding is the same one from last month’s Mississippi Mud Pie), so I just made some measurement adjustments and created this pie of my dreams. It was SO good - crunchy, creamy, chewy, and both rich and light at the same time.

Shout out to New Pie Co. for showing us how to expand our imaginations when it comes to pie! I can’t wait to re-create more of their pies at home.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Pie

Source: How Sweet Eats, Baked Explorations, Butter Baked Goods

Ingredients

Chocolate Pudding Filling

  • 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp sugar
  • 1/4 cup cocoa powder
  • cornstarch
  • salt
  • 2 egg yolks
  • 1 1/4 cups milk (I used 2%)
  • 1 1/2 tbsp butter
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 1/2 oz milk chocolate, chopped

Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Crust

  • 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
  • 10 oz mini marshmallows
  • 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp peanut butter
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla
  • 4 cups rice krispies

Marshmallow Topping

  • 1/4 cup water
  • 1 1/2 pkg unflavoured gelatin
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1/4 cup corn syrup
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 tbsp vanilla
  • 1 tbsp peanut butter

Directions

  1. For the Chocolate Pudding Filling, whisk together the sugar, cocoa, cornstarch and salt in a medium saucepan. Add the egg yolks and milk and whisk until combined.
  2. Set the saucepan over medium heat and bring the mixture to a boil, whisking it constantly so it doesn’t burn. Let it boil for 30 minutes and then transfer it to a medium bowl (you can strain it here if you’re nervous about lumps).
  3. Add the butter, vanilla and chocolate and whisk until smooth and combined. Keep whisking for a few minutes so it cools down, and then let it sit for 15 minutes. Press a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface and let chill for at least 3 hours or overnight.
  4. When the pudding is fully set (or the next day), make the Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Crust. First brown the butter in a small saucepan until nutty and fragrant. Pour into a large microwave safe bowl, and add the marshmallows and peanut butter. Heat in the microwave in 1 minute intervals, stirring in between, until everything is melted and smooth. Stir in the rice krispies.
  5. Add the mixture to a buttered deep dish pie plate, pressing it in to form a crust (I sprayed my hands with non-stick spray to help me here). Let it set up for about half an hour, and then take the pudding out of the fridge and whisk it to loosen up. Pour into the crust and spread evenly with an offset spatula. Set aside while you make the marshmallow topping.
  6. For the Marshmallow Topping, add the first measurement of water to a large bowl and sprinkle the gelatin overtop and set aside.
  7. In a medium saucepan over high heat, add the sugar, corn syrup, second measurement of water and salt. Bring to a rolling boil and heat until 240 degrees on a candy thermometer.
  8. Use an electric mixer to mix the gelatin/water mixture briefly, then with the mixer on low, slowly stream in the hot sugar mixture, pouring it down the side of the bowl.
  9. Once all the sugar mixture is added, turn the mixer to high and whip for 8-10 minutes until the marshmallow almost triples in size and becomes super thick. Add the vanilla and mix again.
  10. Pour the marshmallow directly on top of the chocolate pudding. Melt the peanut butter in the microwave, then drizzle overtop of the marshmallow and use a toothpick or knife to swirl it in. Let the pie sit uncovered so the marshmallow can set up, about 6-8 hours or overnight, before you slice it.

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September on Planet Byn [2021]

by byn on September 30, 2021

in Monthly Recaps

Life continues to slowly inch its way to returning to normal, and I was so happy to have friends over to my place this month! Here’s what was going on:

  • I almost missed PICKLING SZN because of my Wedding Cake Project and Ottawa trip at the beginning of the month, but got organized enough to make a batch of Dill Pickles once I got back. Like last year, I followed the method in The Canning Kitchen (my bible), plus a few small adjustments from my friend Heather (that I remembered to record in the book so I don’t forget next year). They turned out SO WELL. I still want to make a batch of Bread & Butter pickles, which you can do with regular English cucumbers from the grocery store so I’m not in a rush.
  • Lydia came over to watch Bachelor in Paradise with me which is our usual summer tradition that obviously didn’t happen last year. We ordered all our usuals that we missed from Spoon & Fork and it was so fun to have her over again!
  • I got to cook up a gigantic feast for EMMY NIGHT and it made me SO HAPPY! I think I’ve mentioned that some of my lowest/saddest points during lockdown/quarantine were watching awards shows by myself; I’d just be missing my friends so much. They all made a triumphant return for the Emmys, and I made: Ina’s Pan-fried Onion Dip, Beef Bourguignon, Mashed Potatoes, My House Salad with Apples and Candied Pecans, Rosemary Focaccia, and Mississippi Mud Pie for dessert. Emmys themselves were pretty boring, but the food and company more than made up for it!
  • I guess reunions was the theme of the month, because I was reunited with my favourite pizza (and my friends Weedy & Heini) on the King Taps patio and it was even more delicious than I remember!
  • And now the regular recap of what I was cooking this month, broken down into three categories:
  • Stuff I made from the archives: I FINALLY found a feta that I like from Farmboy, so made these Turkey & Feta Stuffed Peppers and they are even better than I remember; used some late season peaches in this Peach & Goat Cheese Summer Salad; I guess I made a hard pivot to Fall cooking after this and made my favourite Broccoli Cheddar Soup
  • Some of my favourite go-to dishes: still loving this Pineapple Chicken & Coconut Rice from Pinch of Yum
  • New things that I tried and liked: I made this Maple Glazed Salmon to go along with my Peach & Goat Cheese salad, and really liked it

Other non-foodie things I was obsessed with this month:

  • I started a (very slow) re-watch of Buffy the Vampire Slayer back in August, and am re-igniting my obsession. This was my hands-down absolute favourite show when it was on, but I’ve never re-watched it and only sporadically tuned in for the last two seasons (who knows what was happening in 2001/2002, but I guess I was busy with school/work). I found Season 1 a bit slow, but was right back into my obsession with all the Angel/Angelus drama in Season 2, plus Faith and the ascension in Season 3. And Sarah Michelle Gellar is perfection! I love her so much!
  • This month I finally read One to Watch (after having it on hold at the library for months) and really liked it; it’s a must-read for any Bachelor fans! I also continued my (very slow) re-read of the Harry Potter series, and read about 1/3 of Order of the Phoenix, before stopping to read Hana Khan Carries On, which is like You’ve Got Mail, except set in Scarborough (instead of Manhattan) and featuring competing Halal restaurants (instead of bookshops). Loved it.
  • Kristine and I went to see Shang-Chi & the Legend of the Ten Rings and it was AMAZING! Oh the joy of sitting in a big, dark, cold movie theatre watching a Marvel movie again!!! Made me incredibly happy!

Flashback!

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Baked Sunday Mornings: Mississippi Mud Pie

by byn on September 22, 2021

in Baked Sunday Mornings, Cakes, Cupcakes & Icing

It’s been a minute since I baked anything new out of my Baked cookbooks, so I thought it would be fun to do a Baked Sunday Mornings post! This recipe is from Baked Explorations and the group made it all the way back in 2012 (who knows what I was up to or why I missed it back then).

When I started planning the menu for EMMY NIGHT* the most exciting thing to me was getting to bake an elaborate dessert after the past 18 months of making things that are easy to drop off on people’s doorsteps. For whatever reason, this cake/pie/chocolate bomb came to mind and I was super excited to make it.

This is a bit of a time-consuming project, because there are four separate components involved, but I was into it. These are the layers:

  • chocolate cookie crust
  • flourless chocolate cake
  • chocolate pudding
  • whipped cream (this was my only change; instead of spreading this all over the top of the pie, I just dolloped it on each slice)

The finished Mississippi Mud Pie was just as decadent as you can imagine. My favourite part was the chocolate pudding; it was so smooth and rich, and I already have another recipe in mind to use it in. The only change I would make to this recipe is to dial back the espresso powder in the flourless chocolate cake, as the recipe calls for 2 tbsp + 1 tsp. It made it just a little too bitter for me.

*More on EMMY NIGHT coming in my Monthly Recap!

You can find the recipe here!

More Baked Sunday Mornings here!

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Planet Byn x Dessert Person: English Muffins

by byn on September 15, 2021

in Bread, Cookbook Challenge

It would be impossible to power rank all the carbs that I love, but English Muffins would easily crack the Top 5. I love them toasted with peanut butter and jam or as part of a homemade breakfast sandwich. There’s just something about all those toasty nooks and crannies!

I always thought it would be fun to try to make them from scratch and when Claire posted her video and I got my hands on my brother’s cast-iron skillet, I was in business.

It’s not that hard to mix up the dough, and the way these turn into English Muffins is on the second rise. You pat the dough out to a 1″ thickness on a cornmeal-dusted parchment paper-lined baking sheet, cover it with more parchment paper and let it rise slowly in the fridge overnight. In the morning, you just use a cookie cutter or biscuit cutter to punch out circles, and then cook them like pancakes!

This all went okay for me, BUT I don’t think I let them cook long enough in the skillet. They were a tiny bit gummy on the inside. I would prevent this next time by cooking them longer OR sliding them into the oven to make sure they were cooked through.

But here’s my question: are the English Muffins we know and love from the grocery store actually SOURDOUGH English Muffins? They have a bit of a funky flavour and tang to them that my homemade English Muffins did not have. Mine were still good, but sometimes when you try to re-create an iconic classic, it’ll just never live up to what you’ve been eating for your whole life.

You can find the ingredient listing + directions in Claire’s video here!

More Planet Byn x Dessert Person posts here!

Note: I ordered a gigantic 3lb box of Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt online, but if you don’t have it, just use regular salt and cut the measurement in half for these recipes.

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August on Planet Byn

by byn on August 31, 2021

in Monthly Recaps

I tried to soak up as much of summertime as I could this month, while also preserving my baking mojo for my big Wedding Cake project at the end of the month. Here’s what was happening:

  • My co-worker and I went out for lunch at the beginning of August to Maro’s, which I forgot how much I love. I think I got take-out from there once last summer, so it’s been far too long. I tried something new and had Zulaikha (pictured above) which is spiced chickpeas topped with fried eggplant, crispy pita strips, and garlic yogurt. It was so delicious scooped up with fresh pita. I need to have this again stat, or try to re-create it at home.
  • Lydia invited me to go on a Costco run with her, and would you believe I’ve only been one other time in my life? We went on a Thursday night about an hour before it closed and it was still SO BUSY. Truly a wild experience. I didn’t buy too much except a bag of Doritos the size of a small child and a gigantic bag of chocolate chips.
  • My friends and I went on a hike up in Milton on the Bruce Trail and I made us these Lemon Zucchini Poppy Seed Muffins as a road trip snack (any car ride longer than 30 minutes is a road trip to me). After our hike, we went to West Avenue Cider House for refreshments. Weirdly they don’t do flights, so I only tried one cider, but it was a watermelon margarita cider, and was delicious. They also have a cute little market on-site where I picked up a loaf of sourdough and some wildflower honey, which I can’t wait to use in some Honey Tahini Challah.
  • I used my sourdough for many, many rounds of Tomato Toast and BLTs which is peak August eating for me. I wait all year for those juicy Ontario tomatoes!
  • Now that I’m back in the office a couple of days a week, I’ve been reunited with my one true love: Me Va Me. I missed it so much!!! I started with Chicken Shawarma, then switched to Falafel and they’re both even more delicious than I remember!
  • I really only baked one other thing this month, was a “30, Flirty & Thriving” Birthday Cake for my work bestie! She loves cookies and cream and chocolate mint, so I made this cake with a mint buttercream and more Oreo crumbles and sprinkles on top.
  • After Emma’s Wedding Cake was successfully dropped off, Heather and I went for an epic feast a Mesa in Hamilton, and it was absolutely amazing. We had mango margaritas, guac and barbacoa enchiladas, and I already need to go again.
  • Because of my self-imposed baking hiatus, this was the first summer since I’ve had this blog that I didn’t cycle through all the in-season Ontario fruit (strawberries, blueberries, peaches) and post new recipes! To be honest, I didn’t really have the inspiration to do this either, and no new recipes were really catching my eye anyway. I hope I’ll get back to it next Summer.
  • And now the regular recap of what I was cooking this month, broken down into three categories:
  • Stuff I made from the archives: zip
  • Some of my favourite go-to dishes: zilch
  • New things that I tried and liked: nada
  • So I didn’t really cook much this month. I was housesitting at Lydia’s for the first week of August, and then I was just eating a lot of Tomato Toast as mentioned above. The one new recipe I did try was Smitten Kitchen’s Zucchini Butter Spaghetti, but like every other zucchini recipe on the planet, do you really even know it’s in there? ZUCCHINI HAS NO FLAVOUR! I don’t know why I try to convince myself otherwise each and every August.

Other non-foodie things I was obsessed with this month:

  • It was time for my annual Disney+ binge at Lydia’s house, and I watched ALL the Marvel content (WandaVision, Falcon & the Winter Soldier, Loki). I thought WandaVision was fantastic, but could have passed on the rest. I also watched my old favourite show Pitch on Disney+ and I explained at length to the cats why it was so good and what a shame it is that it only lasted one season.
  • I read a bunch this month: One Last Stop (good, but dragged a lot and could have been at least 300 pages shorter in my opinion), The Guncle (cute), and While We Were Dating (LOVED!!! So obsessed with all of Jasmine Guillory’s books!)
  • My Love Island obsession continued this month and was mainly fixated on Alana and her awesome hair. I started to Google “wavy hair tutorials” which led me down a rabbit hole into the world of Curly Girl YouTube. I found Manes by Mell right away, watched this tutorial, and now have a bathroom full of sulfate free shampoo, curl cream activators, gels and serums. I am in SHOCK at how her method and these products bring out my natural waves, and they actually look defined and healthy instead of frizzy and messy. Life-changing!

Flashback!

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I made a Wedding Cake [AGAIN]!

by byn on August 29, 2021

in Cakes, Cupcakes & Icing

If you noticed things were a little quiet around here lately, this post will explain why! I was on a self-imposed baking hiatus for the month of August leading up this: my friend/former co-worker Emma’s wedding cake.

Emma slid into my DMs on Instagram last December and asked if I would be willing to make a small, simple cake for her wedding in August, and I obviously agreed. We had a little consultation over FaceTime in March and I got the details: two tiers, simple styling, and a request for vanilla cake with vanilla buttercream (although by the end of the call, I convinced her and Rob to go with a salted caramel filling!). Of course I also asked a hundred logistical questions about where the wedding was and if there was a fridge on site (this is key!).

Luckily I have this here internet website where I record the details of all my baking projects, so I just consulted my post from the last wedding cake I made in 2018, and refreshed my memory on everything. I planned on using the same recipe, scaling, and measurements for a 6″ tier and an 8″ tier for Emma’s cake. I even had the leftover cake boards, dowels and transpo box saved down in my storage locker, so I didn’t even have to buy anything new except the thick/sturdy board that the cake sits on.

In May, I did a full trial run of two 6″ cakes so I could test out the salted caramel filling I wanted to use, from this post by Smitten Kitchen. One went to Emma & Rob to make sure they were happy with everything, and one was used by me for experimental purposes (LOL). I wanted to see how the caramel behaved: was it easy to slice when straight out of the fridge? did it start to ooze when left out at room temp? how about when left out on my balcony in the sun? (I didn’t actually test out that last one; I knew it would melt). I got glowing feedback from the bride and groom, and I was very happy with the caramel. There was absolutely no ooze factor at room temp, so I didn’t have to worry about it exploding out of the side of the cake or making a mess.

I pretty much just chilled out on this project until the second week of August, when I made a list of all the supplies and quantities I needed, and went to Walmart to pick everything up (I loathe Walmart, but they have good prices on baking staples like flour, butter, sugar, eggs etc.) I also made a workback schedule and mapped out my plan for baking, frosting and assembling the cake on the days leading up to the wedding. Like last time, I also secured my driver/helper for day, my friend Heather.

Everything with the cake went absolutely perfectly. I wasn’t even stressed out by the dowels! I might even go as far to say that I had a fun, relaxing day working on the cake and listening to podcasts.

On the wedding day, Heather picked us up (me and the cake), and with the AC blasting we made our way to Waterford (about an hour west of Hamilton). We laughed the whole time about the last time we delivered a wedding cake in a freak ice storm, and how easy our job was this time around. Until we got there.

As soon as I opened the car door a WAVE of heat washed over me. It was probably 40 degrees with the humidity that day. I started to sweat right away, and as quickly and carefully as possible got the cake into the little room in the barn with the fridge. Emma’s mom passed me some flowers and greenery to decorate the cake, which I did as fast as I could because like me, the cake was also starting to sweat. Heather is unflappable in a crisis (not that this was a crisis by any means), and kept me calm while we worked fast, took a quick photo (above) and got the cake in the fridge.

I got a message from Emma at 2am saying that the cake looked beautiful and everyone loved it, so I’d say that’s a success!

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