WE'VE MOVED

Hello!

Thank you for the amazing 8 years here at A Baked Creation, we can't thank you enough for the memories! But we've decided to move over to a new site - Sincerely, Syl. Please join us there for future posts on all the things you loved here!

Sincerely,
Syl

Sunday, May 26, 2013

Harley Birthday Cupcakes

Logos. Probably the enemy of most decorators. Especially if you don't have a handy printer that shoots out edible sheets that you can apply on top of fondant.

I was given the challenge of doing a Harley-Davidson theme for a birthday party yesterday. Nuh-huh. Not doing it. The logo is way too intricate for small cupcake toppers. But I found a way to simplify it and wanted to share this neat trick with you.
For most things that people request to top their cupcakes and cakes with, there aren't cookie-cutters available for sale. Or if you are able to purchase the shapes you need, is it worth investing in that one specific shape? What do you do then? You improvise with the cutters you already have!

For the Harley-Davidson logos, I used a medium heart-shaped cutter, a small T-shaped cutter, a modeling stick, and tiny letters for impressions.
First, roll your fondant out and neatly cut out the heart shape.
Here's the important trick. If you don't have a cutter for what you need, look to the outside edges of the cutters you already have. As you can see, step two is to trim off the top of the heart with the outer edge of the cutter.
Do the same for the other side for the third step. See how it's starting to look like a shield?
Steps four and five, use the round outer edge of the letter T. Cut out two small dips at the top of the logo.
Time to go sideways. We need another little dip underneath.
Normally I might use more cutters to help, but I found that I was able to trim the fondant with just the T.
Last dip in the logo! When you're done, you can always use a straight edge or modeling stick to clean up the sides.
Finally, impress the letters into the surface! Couldn't use all three colours on one topper? Break it out into three!
And now for some heavenly chocolate photos. The birthday girl is very fond of chocolate.
I glazed the chocolate cupcakes with chocolate ganache.
Then topped it off with a chocolate butter cream swirl. Could have taken it even further with chocolate sprinkles or a drizzle of chocolate. But the fondant toppers would be sitting on top.
Unwrapping the cupcake liner . . .
Thought I would cut it in half to see the three chocolate layers. Yummy!
Happy birthday Donna! Ride on!

Saturday, May 11, 2013

Korean Steak Tacos and Guacamole

We're trying to switch from Where should we eat lunch? to What are we making for lunch? these weekends. We found that we ate out for almost every meal starting on Friday night to Sunday evening. And it's not like we were eating lots of unhealthy fried foods, but it was getting expensive! So we're trying to limit our weekend meal allowance, starting to think ahead during the weekdays, shopping for minimal ingredients, and stay cooking at home. At least for lunch, because we do like trying new restaurants with our friends for dinner.
Last Monday, I flagged a recipe in Curtis Stone's new cookbook, What's for Dinner? (I know how this looks as I'm using his recipes for lunch). Korean Steak Tacos. Perfect as we've been trying different Mexican restaurants in the city and still haven't gotten enough of tacos.

Around midnight, I started making the marinade by whisking 1/2 cup of chopped cilantro; 1/4 cup of dark brown sugar; 3 tablespoons of canola oil; 3 tablespoons of soy sauce (I had dark and light soy sauce at home and opted for the light one); 1 tablespoon of sesame oil; 2 garlic cloves, chopped; 1 jalapeño pepper, chopped; 1 teaspoon of freshly grounded black pepper; and 1 teaspoon of coriander powder. Pour out 1/4 of the marinade, cover and refrigerate. Then place the steak in the dish, cover and refrigerate overnight.
Woke up and gave the steak (about 2 pounds and 1.5 inches thick) a flip to the other side. Mmm this marinate smells so good!
While the other side of the steak is soaking, you can prep the veggies for the taco. It's pretty easy, shred some napa cabbage, cut 1 large carrot into matchstick-size strips, and clean some fresh cilantro sprigs.
Don't forget to make guacamole! We used 3 ripe avocados; 1 jalapeño pepper, finely chopped; 1 garlic clove, finely chopped; cilantro; juice from 1 lemon (oops, forgot to pick up lime); and a pinch of sea salt. Mix well!
Remove the steak from the marinade (discard the marinade) and grill for a total of about 5 minutes on each side (for a total of 10 minutes). Transfer the steak to a cutting board and let it sit for 5 minutes.
While the steak is resting, pop your tortillas into the oven for a light toast. Take out the marinade you saved.
Cut the steak into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Pour the reserved marinade over. Assemble the tacos by spreading guacamole on the tortilla, throwing on some cabbages, carrots, and steak. Garnish with cilantro. Or you can fill the tacos with everything and have the guacamole on the side. Up to you!
Enjoy! How do you go about planning weekend meals? Do you plan for the whole week? Play it by ear?

Disclaimer: An ambassador and account manager for Avocados from Mexico contacted us about featuring their products. A #LuvMexAvocado Blogger Pack was sent to us for the campaign. We received recipes featuring avocados from Mexico, a $25 gift card for the purchase of recipe ingredients, and fact sheets about Mexico and avocados from Mexico. We were not required to use the recipes provided or produce a positive feature. All opinions are our own.

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Wordless Wednesday: May 1, 2013

My bookshelves are full and I'm still looking to add these cookbooks to my wishlist. There's not much to say about this collage of covers except for eeeeee!!! I would have provided more information, but release dates and schedules change, even covers change, but hopefully these ones will stay as they're quite beautiful! So I'll stay quiet for now, plus this post is supposed to be wordless and I've already broken that rule.