Potato Leek Soup

After so many sweets this week, I think it's time for something on the savoury side! 

This is a really simple and delicious soup that you can easily serve as a main course, or makes an amazing starter soup as well. 

A bonus is that this is a thick and creamy soup, without the cream! If you are making this ahead of time, you will probably want to add more chicken broth when you re-heat the soup, I found mine got quite thick as it chilled in the refrigerator.

This recipe is from allrecipes.com, give it a try! This makes about 4 bowls of soup.


Potato Leek Soup

• 2.5 pounds white or russet potatoes, peeled and chopped
• I left the peel on my potatoes, personal preference :)
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 1 leek, bulb only
• 1/4 cup butter (I used vegan butter, but any kind will work)
• 1/4 cup white wine
• salt and pepper to taste

1. Boil the potatoes in the chicken broth until soft, and then set aside
2. When potatoes are soft, puree them in a food processor until smooth 
1. You may need to do this in batches. If the potatoes are too thick, add a bit of the chicken broth to thin them out and make them easier to puree. Add the puree back to the chicken stock
3. While the potatoes are boiling, half the leek lengthwise and and soak in cold water to clean
4. Slice the leek halves in very fine slices, and then saute in the butter in a saucepan until transparent
5. Add the white wine to the leeks, and then let simmer for about 3 minutes
6. Add the sauteed leeks to the pot containing the pureed potatoes and chicken broth
7. Stir the soup over medium heat, seasoning to taste with salt and pepper
8. If you want a thinner soup, you can add more chicken broth until it is how you like it
9. Serve as is, or you can top it with chives, cheese, bacon, etc!
10. Enjoy!

My first fondant cake!

Like I was saying yesterday, this past weekend I attempted to cover a couple different cakes (of different shapes and sizes) with marshmallow fondant.  This was an adventure for sure!


First of all, marshmallow fondant is pretty simple to make, but it's not easy at the same time. I thought I was pretty proficient when it came to kneading things, but this was a whole new level of work in the kitchen. It was totally worth it though, it tasted much better than the store-bought stuff!

This was the first cake that I covered, and I think it went alright! It was a simple chocolate cake (using the delicious chocolate cake recipe from the Black Forest Cake I had made in February, but halved) covered with vanilla buttercream. 

I used the 'quilting tool' that I had randomly picked up at Michael's, and encountered another learning curve for the day! I eventually figured it out, but my first few 'stitches' were pretty, um, unique.


I finished it off with a couple little flowers, and voila! My first cake covered in fondant :)

It was a very exciting day. The cake was delicious too!


The other two cakes we covered are still 'works in progress', but when I have a finished product I will definitely put them up for your entertainment :)

Snickerdoodle Cupcakes

Today I realized that I am way overdue for a post about cupcakes! I don't know what has gotten into me lately :)

I made these cute Snickerdoodle cupcakes a couple weeks ago for a baby shower. I had been looking for a reason to make these Snickerdoodle Cupcakes from marthastewart.com, so the timing was perfect.

The original recipe makes about 28 regular cupcakes. I made about 4 dozen mini's and 1 dozen regular cupcakes with it. I think mini cupcakes are so great for events like baby showers and wedding showers, with all of the other treats present a mini cupcake is the perfect size!

I loved the cinnamon flavour, and the sweetness on top from the cinnamon sugar was a great finish.

The stars are made out of marshmallow fondant with some green gel food colouring worked in to get the marbled look. Tangent, I tried covering my first cakes with fondant this weekend. Up until now I had just used it to make decorations/toppers for cupcakes. It is so much harder to cover a cake than it looks! I did manage to cover them, but they are by no means professional looking :) I think I need more practice, and more people to pass my 'practice' cakes off too! I have so much cake at my house right now...

These were so fun to make, and I think they turned out pretty cute!

Snickerdoodle Cupcakes

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 1/2 cups cake flour
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp ground cinnamon (plus extra for dusting the cupcakes)
• 1 cup butter or margarine
• 1 3/4 cups sugar (plus extra for dusting the cupcakes)
• 4 eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1 1/4 cups milk

1. Preheat your oven to 350 F and line your cupcake tins with paper liners.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the regular flour, cake flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon
3. In a second bowl, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy
4. Add the eggs to the butter/sugar mixture one at a time, making sure each egg is well mixed in before adding the next one
5. Add the vanilla and mix well
6. Add the flour to the wet ingredients, alternating with the milk until all is added
7. Mix well, and pour the batter into your waiting cupcake cups
8. For regular cupcakes, bake for 18 - 22 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into a cupcake
9. For mini cupcakes, bake for 8 - 12 minutes, or again until a toothpick comes out clean
10. Frost with your favourite icing (I used vanilla buttercream)
11. If you want, you can mix about 2 tbsp of sugar with 1/2 tsp cinnamon and sprinkle it on top of the icing
12. Enjoy!

Mint Brownies

Once again a massive chocolate craving struck, and I had to make do with what I had in my cupboard.  I was so excited when I realized I had everything I needed to make some brownies!


RIght before mixing in regular chocolate chips, I decided to make some mint brownies and threw in some mint extract and mint chocolate chips instead. Oh how I loved this impulse decision!


I used my Walnut Brownie recipe as a guide, and baked it in a 9" x 9" pan to make them nice and thick :)

These definitely did the trick, at the first bite I was in heaven! They also made a wonderful addition to my breakfast all week :)


Mint Brownies

• 1 cup butter or margarine, melted
• 2 cups sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp mint extract
• 2/3 cup cocoa
• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 cup mint chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 F and grease a 9" x 9" pan (or spray with baking spray)
2. Mix the melted butter and sugar together in a large bowl
3. Add the eggs one a time, and then the extracts
4. Add the cocoa and mix well
5. Add the flour, salt, and baking powder and mix until the batter just starts to come together
6. Fold in the mint chocolate chips and then pour into the prepared pan
7. Spread with a spatula, and then bake for 35 - 40 minutes (or until a toothpick comes out with some crumbs when inserted)
8. Enjoy!

Chocolate Tasting!

A couple of weeks ago one of those 'daily deals' (I can't remember if it was groupon, livingsocial, etc) popped up in my inbox, and it was one I could not turn down! 

It was for a chocolate tasting at a local store, Kerstin's Chocolates. Not only did we get to eat amazing chocolates from all over the world, but we also got to take home 6 gourmet chocolate bars that are made right in her store's kitchen! 

Kerstin really knows her stuff!  As we went through different types of chocolate she gave us a history of the cocoa bean, as well as the different techniques used to process it. It was really fun and a great way to learn about one of my favourite things :)


At the end of the evening, my best friend and I still hadn't had enough of chocolate so we decided to try her Mexican Hot Chocolate.  This was amazing! It was quite rich though; the small size was a perfect finish to a chocolate-filled night.

    

If you want to try something new and fun one night, try a chocolate tasting!  If you are in the Edmonton area, definitely check out Kerstin's store, it is so good.

Note: Kerstin of Kerstin's Chocolates has no idea who I am :) I just had an absolute blast at the chocolate tasting and fell in love with her store!