June 22, 2013

Our Wedding Cake Tastings

While many couples go to wedding cake tastings in bakeries; we've been holding our own private tastings in the comfort of our home. I've been testing different versions of our cake for a couple of months now and with just 63 days to go, the ruling is in.... gluten free almond cake with ruby red summer strawberries and vanilla whipped cream.  T and I didn't have the patience to create the whole cake, so stopped when we had our own version of Strawberry Shortcake.  Yes, you heard that right, he' not only tasting, he's in the kitchen with me, using his designing skills to decorate the layers with berries.

For our wedding the cake will be all dolled up with a classic swiss meringue buttercream.

Alas, another check off our list!

V & T's Strawberry Shortcake



June 14, 2013

I Scream....You Scream....We All Scream for Sous Vide Ice Cream!



Okay, okay, I know, perhaps we don't all scream for sous vide ice cream! However, after you try my Creme Fraiche ice cream using the SousVide Supreme, then my readers you may just indeed scream! I have a new gadget in my kitchen, I'm not at all a gadget girl outside of my gelato machine, electric stand mixer and my food processor....all of these gadgets are a must in any kitchen. The SousVide Supreme is now one of my must-haves...it's so much fun! It creates succulent ribs that fall from the bone, the most perfect fish you'll ever sink your teeth into and tenderizes those inexpensive cuts of meat like a champ! If any of you have ever skirted away from a homemade ice cream recipe due to tempering the eggs for fear of scrambling the eggs then you will be happy to know that this lovely new gadget takes away that worry. I must say I'm over the moon for my Creme Fraiche Ice Cream, it's just delicious on its own, however pairs well with all of those soon to be in season fresh berries. For those of you that are questioning this whole SousVide Supreme thing? It's a water bath cooking device, in order to cook in it you have to vacuum seal your ingredients in a special bag called a cooking pouch, there are different types of pouches, some are specifically used with a vacuum sealer or if your ingredients contain a lot of liquid as my ice cream base does, then you can use the SousVide Supreme Zip Pouches. As you'll learn with liquids, you never want to vacuum seal as you'll suck all of the liquid up into the vacuum sealer and not only create a big mess, but you'll most likely destroy your sealer, so you'll need to simply use the Archimedes Principle of sealing the bag.