Style Icon : Kate Middleton

Since England has had so much excitement lately due to the Diamond Jubilee, the Olympics etc. I have decided to write a little post on my style icon, the epitome of elegance and grace, Kate Middleton. Not only are her style choices amazing at royal events; her casual style is just as impressive. Here are some of my favourite Kate outfits.

My Absolute Favourite:

The colour of this dress is perfect for her skin tone. The lace back is perfectly elegant. Her pairing of a simple bun up-do and drop earring really finish the outfit.

This outfit shows how down-to-earth Kate can be. I love her simple slippers paired with the matching button-up, as well as the perfect pair of skinnies to flatter her legs. 

Great for the upcoming fall season. Kate loves pullover sweaters paired with a blazer. Although this outfit is simple every piece compliments the other. 

Are you seeing a pattern here? Kate loves her skinnies, but don't we all? The bright yellow top adds a pop of colour to this staple outfit.

How lovely!

Salted Caramel Brownies

I found this recipe on my fav food blog Baked Bree, the results are AMAZING! I have never tasted a brownie like this, the cake is moist and the caramel is the perfect touch. I paired them with Brown Sugar Ice Cream and some fresh berries. This dessert is perfect year round, but I would advise buying the best quality ingredients so your results are perfect. 

As far as the method goes, this was the first time I had ever made caramel and although I was nervous about burning the sugar  it turned out great. Just make sure to watch the saucepan when it comes to a boil so the sugar doesn't begin to stick to the pan and burn. The brownies are quite simple just use a large bowl so that when you begin to whisk constantly the batter doesn't fly everywhere. Also, make sure you add the eggs one at a time and they are at room temp. If you don't have Kahlua use any other type of flavoured alcohol (I used Grand Marnier).

I also want to advise that this recipe makes a lot of brownies, so I would say a half recipe would be more than enough for six people.

Salted Caramel

• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 Tablespoons light corn syrup
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon fleur de del
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 
  
• Brownies
• 1 1/4 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 Tablespoons cocoa
• 11 ounces bittersweet chocolate (I had an assortment of different kinds)
• 1 cup butter
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 5 eggs, room temperature
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 Tablespoon Kahlua
• 1 teaspoon fleur de sel
• 1 teaspoon coarse sugar

Instructions

1. Bring sugar, water, and corn syrup to a boil over medium-high heat.
2. While the sugar is coming to a boil, get everything ready to go. Trust me, sugar can go from perfect to burnt in about 5 seconds.
3. When the sugar turns a deep amber color (around 350 degrees, but I do not use a thermometer for this), Slowly pour in the cream. Whisk constantly. The mixture may seize, especially if your cream is cold, but keep whisking, it will come back together. Add the sour cream and fleur de sel.
4. Whisk it until it is smooth and comes together. Set aside and get working on the brownies.
5. Chop the chocolate. This is looking good already.
6. In a small bowl, combine flour, salt, and cocoa. Mix well, and set aside.
7. Melt the butter and chocolate over a double boiler. You can do this in the microwave if you want.
8. Stir the chocolate until nice and smooth.
9. Add both sugars.
10. Whisk in the eggs.
11. Add the kahlua and vanilla.
12. Mix in the flour mixture, stir until it is incorporated.
13. Line a 9×13 pan with parchment or tin foil. Spray with cooking spray. Pour half of the brownie batter into the pan.
14. Pour the caramel over the batter.
15. Add the rest of the batter to the top. Bake for 30 minutes in a preheated 350 degree oven, rotating the pan halfway through. Take the brownie out of the oven and sprinkle with the sea salt ans coarse sugar. Cool completely before cutting.

Pins this month!

Hi all,

So, over the past couple of months I have really started taking to Pinterest. If you don't already know, Pinterest is a website where you can organize or "pin" pictures, recipes, ideas, projects all in one place. It's also a sort of social networking site connecting you to other user's boards etc. This website is great for recipes! I have found several that I have tried and loved! I also find inspiration for my wardrobe under the women's apparel section. Today, however, i'm just going to share a couple of food blogs aswell as some recipes I have tested from this website.

Brown Sugar Ice Cream:

This is from the food blog Baked Bree which I love. Bree makes wonderful recipes and her blog looks amazing. I highly recommend popping by and taking a look!

The recipe is fantastic and simple and the finished product is delicious!

http://bakedbree.com/brown-sugar-ice-cream

Stuffed Bananas:

This is a great idea for the upcoming summer months. Although Mother Nature hasn't brought the warm weather to Vancouver yet, I would definitely give this recipe a try on your BBQ!

http://www.edibleexistence.com/2011/05/dessert-from-grill-stuffed-bananas.html

Basil Lemonade:

I had something similar to this last summer from the Vancouver asian food truck The Roaming Dragon. I absolutely loved it, so when this recipe popped up on my feed I was sooooo excited. This is great to make for an patio dinner or picnic.

http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/basil-lemonade-10000001213226/index.html


Rolo Marshmallows:

Great idea for a campfire. I definitely will be giving this one a try! What's better than chocolate and marshmallows?!

http://simplybephoto.com/wordpress/2012/06/rolo-marshmallow-logan-utah-photographer/

My Favorite Cook Books

Mastering The Art of French Cooking
Julia Child

The How-To Guide:
This book taught me a lot about the basics of cooking. The first few chapters are a base for every cook including: a decription of every piece of kitchen equipment you'll ever need, a decription of the various temperatures for cooking and baking and there extreme importance, and an introduction to several cutting methods. The chapters are very well separated and the recipes are of a wide range; starting form simply cooking eggs to sweet souffles. If your new to cooking this book is irreplaceable, the instructions are detailed and easy to follow.

Jamie's 30 Minute Meals
Jamie Oliver

A Revolution to Cooking Food Fast:
Jamie taught me how to be an efficient cook. His approach to cooking is simple and creative. As long as your ingredients are fresh and good-quality this book will help you produce amazing meals. Some recipes to note that are especially fantastic: Rhubard Millefeuille (great for summer BBQ's) and Rib- Eye Stirfry. The book also includes a lot of simple curry recipes which are easy to make.

The Best of Mrs. Beeton's British Cooking

A classic for any home! This small recipe books is full of English classics! From Lemon Pudding to Chicken Pie, this collection is full of tradition. I enjoy this one because of the simplicity of the recipes; each recipe has very few ingredients so creating amazing meals is easy. A must-have for those who love homecooking.

The Perfect Scoop
David Lebovity

After purchasing a Kitchen-Aid Ice Cream Maker attachment for our mixer this has been in constant use. Although the recipes take time and effort the results are fantastic. I recommend making your ice cream the night before and placing it in the fridge and freezing it the next day as the outcome seems to have been better for me. This is great for the upcoming summer months and who doesn't love a nice bowl of ice cream!

My Famous Banana Bread

So unusually make this recipe as a loaf but I recently bought a mini loaf pan from Market Kitchen, a small kitchenware store on Granville Island. So, I decided try out my recipe with the smaller loaf pans.

Here's the recipe:

1/2cup margarine
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups mashed ripe bananas ( around 3 large bananas)
2 cups ap flour
1 tsp baking soda

Preheat oven to 350F if you have a convect use it
Grease and flour your loaf or loaves pa s

Cream margarine and sugar until smooth
Beat in eggs
Then mashed bananas
Add flour and baking soda until just combined
Feel free add nuts such as pecans or chocolate chips now (I usually add 1/2 of a cup)
Pour into prepared pans ( I use an ice cream scoop)
Bake for 1 hour in large loaf pans or for 25 mins in mini loaves pans

Check with toothpick
Remove and cool on wire racks

Makes one loaf (9x5) or 10 mini loaves

Hope you enjoy your banana bread!!
xx

Easter Baking Recommendations

So, as the Easter weekend comes to an end I wanted to give you all a review on the new recipes I used; some were flawless other's needed a bit of work. So here goes my first blog post:


Carrot Cake:
I always love to try new recipes and thinking of the Easter Bunny I decided to attempt a carrot cake. I had heard of the Joy of Baking website before and heard good reviews, so I decided to give their recipe a go. I also enjoyed the fact that a video was included; as I always find seeing the texture and consistency of the batter, icing, etc. helps me immmensely when i'm trying things for the first time.

The recipe, which I linked below, was FANTASTIC! The batter was smooth and fragrant, and the cakes came out prefectly risen and I had no trouble removing them from the pans. I made the cakes the day before then assembled them the next day so they were fully cooled, I did; however, only make half of the icing recipe. I did this because my famiy doesnt like pounds of icing and I also don't like when you can only taste the icing of a cake. Overall, this recipe was a 9/10.
http://www.joyofbaking.com/CarrotCake.html

Egg Custard:
This recipe I found on Epicurious, I was a little hesitent at first to use an American Egg Custard recipe as I am used to English one's passed down through my family. But, I was up to giving it a go.

This recipe was excellent the custard set perfectly and everyone enjoyed the taste. I decided to make two pies, so I doubled the recipe. I ended up with tons of custard, I ended up having enough to make around four pies! So, I would say if you were looking for two regular sized pies one recipe will be plenty.

PS don't add the food colouring I found no need the pie was yellow enough for me.
Overall, 9/10
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/grandmas-egg-custard-pie/