Let them have cake!  Canada Cake!

Happy Birthday Canada!

Kraft Strawberry Canada Cake Recipe

Prep Time:15 min
Total Time: 4 hr 30 min
Makes: 12 servings, 1/12 dessert (183 g) each

Ingredients:
1 pkg. (298 g) pound cake, cut into 12 slices
2 cups boiling water
2 pkg. (85 g each) JELL-O Strawberry Jelly Powder
3 cups ice cubes
3 cups sliced fresh strawberries, divided
2 cups thawed COOL WHIP Whipped Topping

* COVER bottom of 13×9-inch dish with cake slices; set aside.
* ADD boiling water to jelly powders in large bowl; stir 2 min. until completely dissolved. Add ice cubes; stir 3 to 5 min. or until jelly is thickened. Remove any unmelted ice. Stir in 1 cup strawberries; pour over cake slices. Refrigerate 15 min. Cover with Cool Whip.
* REFRIGERATE 4 hours or until jelly is firm. Arrange remaining strawberries over dessert to resemble the Canadian flag.

Other Great Cakes

Photo by k-ideas

Photo by gursky

Photo by PeacePlusOne

Photo by PeacePlusOne

Photo by craftycake

Photo by CakesWithCharacter

Photo by joey jo

Clothes line birthday cake for Alexa.

Photos by Sweet Pudgy Panda a member of the YummyLocal Flikr group

These are the voyages of the Tee & Cakes Bakery in Boulder Colorado where baking inspiration is out of this world (no pun intended).  I present you the Starship Enterprise in fondant & cake form.  This is a creation worthy of the name that’s written across in frosting, though you can’t really make out the design of the back portion of the ship it’s still worth an honourable mention.

Check out the other cool cakes that Tee & Cakes have to offer

Bakery: Tees & Cakes
Location: Boulder Colorado, USA
Website: www.teeandcake.com

What’s chewy, delicious, and coconut? Coconut Macaroons! This is one of the easiest recipes I’ve found so far so enjoy these delightful cookies (or considered small cakes) and share them with some friends.

Now this is the recipe for the North American Macaroon which takes after the Scottish macaroon which are sweet and very thick. This variation allows for the little pastries to be dipped in chocolate but that’s entirely up to you.

Ingredients:

Egg whites: 3 (large)
Sugar: 1/2 cup
Golden corn syrup: 1/2 cup
Salt: 1/4 tsp
Vanilla: 1 tsp (extract or powder)
All purpose flour: 1/2 cup
Sweetened coconut flake: 2+1/2 cups

Chocolaty Variations Ingredients:

Chocolate bar: 3 oz (about 90grams)
Chocolate chips: 32 (to decorate, optional)

Directions:

1. Sift the flour, set aside (optional but recommended).

2. In a stainless steel bowl over a saucepan of simmering water, whisk together the egg whites, sugar and salt.

3. When the mixture is warm to the touch, remove from heat and stir in the corn syrup, vanilla, flour and coconut flakes*.

4. Cover and refrigerate for about an hour or until the dough is firm.

5. Preheat oven to 325 F.

6. Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place small mounds (about 1 tbsp) of the dough on to the parchment-lined baking sheet 2 inches apart**.

7. Bake for 15-20 minute or until golden brown.

8. Remove from the oven and let cool on the baking sheet for about 10 minutes. Remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Thanks to Bahar at 1001recipe for the macaroon recipe!

Not your ordinary wedding reception with the typical 3 tiered white cake but instead very unique and  interesting way of celebrating in Japan.    The tuna in the video is about 150,000 yen (approx $1696 Cdn).

Would you trade in your wedding cake for a giant tuna fish?

For 10 years now a company in Kanagawa prefecture has been offering tuna-cutting marriage ceremonies. The fish in this particular video is a 100kg BigEye tuna.

This chocolate cake is insanely rich, moist, creamy and did I mention chocolate?

As directed this cake is intended for grown ups only.  I think the wine and loads of chocolate really gave that away if it wasn’t already evident.

Ingredients

Cake

1 3/4 cup(s) all-purpose flour
1/2 cup(s) unsweetened cocoa
1 1/2 teaspoon(s) baking soda
1/2 teaspoon(s) salt
1 1/4 cup(s) sugar
1/2 cup(s) softened butter
1 teaspoon(s) vanilla
2 eggs
1 cup(s) red wine, use your favorite red wine
1/3 cup(s) confectioners’ sugar

Filling
2/3 cup(s) butter, softened
4 cup(s) confectioners’ sugar
1/3 cup(s) cocoa
1 teaspoon(s) vanilla
4 tablespoon(s) half and half

Directions

1.  For Cake: Pre-heat oven to 350˚F. Grease/spray a Bundt pan.

2.  In a medium bowl combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

3.  In a large bowl, beat the butter until fluffy. Add the sugar and continue beating until light and fluffy. Beat in vanilla and eggs until well combined. Add the dry ingredients and the wine, alternating and mixing well after each addition.

4.  Spread the batter into the Bundt pan. Place on a baking sheet and bake for 30-40 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Cool for 15 minutes then remove from pan. Cool completely before adding chocolatecream filling.

5.  For Filling: In a large bowl, beat the butter until fluffy. Gradually add the sugar, beating well. Add the vanilla and cocoa. Beat in the half and half until creamy.

6.  Using a serrated bread knife, carefully slice off the top half of the Bundt cake. Set aside the top. Using your fingers, press down on the center of the bottom of the cake to make a small “canal” or “moat” all around the bottom section of the cake.

7.  Place the filling in a pastry bag. Fill the moat with the chocolate filling. Replace top half of cake. Dust top of cake with powdered sugar. Slice and enjoy.

Every year on November 11th we acknowledge the sacrifice and courage of those who have given their lives and served this country.  Besides wearing our poppies to say thanks we can remember to participate in the Remembrance day service by giving a minute of silence on the eleventh day on the eleventh hour.   The War Cake is to symbolize the type of foods eaten in times during the war when luxury foods weren’t too accessible.

War Cakes may vary depending on the personal recipes, but traditionally they are very heavy, dark, and made with less eggs, less milk, and less sugar.

Ingredients:

Combine and boil for 5 minutes only:

1 lb (about 2 cups) raisin
1 cup water
1 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup lard
1/4 cup butter
1 tsp each cinnamon, ginger, ground cloves
1/2 tsp salt

Let cool to lukewarm, then sift together and add:

2 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda

You can adjust the flavour of the cake by adding vanilla or brandy.

Directions:

Pour into a well-greased pan, about 8″ square.

Bake at 325°F for about one hour, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cake doesn’t come out sticky.

Toronto Remembrance Events:

Now don’t get us wrong, The IKEA restaurant is far from being fine dining but prices are ridiculously low and IKEA is a great alternative to any mall food court.  A lovely breakfast at IKEA includes scrambled eggs, sausages, and home fries will set you back a whole $1.  Feel free to add 2 apple filled pancakes for another $1. Breakfast for $2 bucks…you can’t even buy a hash brown and a coffee for that price anywhere else.

If you’re going to shop at IKEA for the whole day (like most of you do) you might as well stop by the restaurant to recharge for that long maze of a walk before you check out and so you’ll have enough energy to assemble your furniture when you get home.

IKEA menu items include:

Bistro / Exit Cafe

• Hot dog – $0.50
• Cinnamon bun & coffee – $2
• 2 Hot dogs + fountain drink (free refills) – $2
• Frozen yogurt (70% less fat and 20% less calories than icecream) – $1
• 2 Hot Dogs, Chips, and Soft Drink – $2.50

Restaurant

• BBQ quarter chicken with fries, mashed potatoes, or salad – $5.69
• Organic pasta with organic vegetarian tomato sauce.  (Add 5 meatballs for $1.49) – $1.99
• Stuffed salmon with vegetable medallions and carrots drizzled with a chive & dill sauce. Rich in Omega 3 – $6.99
• Two pieces of Haddock served with crispy french fries and a slice of lemon – $5.49
• Scrambled eggs, sausages, and home fries. Add 2 apple filled pancakes – $1
• Vegetarian broccoli & cheese quiche and salad – $4.99
• Delicious sponge cake, raspberry jam and green marzipan – $2.29

Click here to visit the IKEA site

“It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown”, or should I say Great Pumpkin CAKE has arrived!  Have some fun with your tube pan this Halloween and make the awesome pumpkin cake.  Think about it this way, it’s a lot more creative than those fruit cakes you give away on Christmas and probably tastes better too.

We would like to thank Kraft Canada again for the cool recipe and invite you all to check out the pumpkin cake video on their website.

What you need:

1 pkg. (2-layer size) cake mix, any flavour
1 pkg. (250 g) PHILADELPHIA Brick Cream Cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter, softened
4 cups icing sugar
Few drops each: green, red and yellow food colouring
1 flat-bottom ice cream cone
Directions:

1. Prepare cake batter and bake in 12-cup fluted tube pan. Cool in pan 10 min. Invert cake onto wire rack; remove pan. Cool cake completely.
2. Beat cream cheese and butter in medium bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Gradually add sugar, beating until well blended after each addition. Remove 1/2 cup of the frosting; place in small bowl.
3. Add green food colouring; stir until well blended. Spread half of the green frosting onto outside of ice cream cone; set aside. Reserve remaining green frosting for later use.
4. Add red and yellow food colourings to the remaining white frosting to tint it orange.
5. Spread onto cake to resemble pumpkin. Invert ice cream cone in hole in top of cake for the pumpkin’s stem. Pipe the reserved green frosting in vertical lines down side of cake.

Kraft Kitchens Tips
Cooking Know-How For a more rounded Great Pumpkin Cake, use a tall 12-cup fluted tube pan. As the cake bakes, it rises and forms a rounded top. When cake is unmolded (upside-down), the bottom of the cake will be rounded. If the cake is baked in a shorter 12-cup fluted tube pan, as it appears on the video, the resulting cake will be flatter.

Fun IdeaPlace black gumdrops on sheet of waxed paper sprinkled with additional granulated sugar. Use a rolling pin to flatten each gumdrop, turning frequently to coat both sides with sugar. Cut into desired shapes with a sharp knife. Use to decorate frosted cake to resemble a jack-o’-lantern.

How to Pipe FrostingTurn a resealable plastic bag into a handy piping bag for professional-looking decorated cakes. Simply spoon the frosting into the bag and seal the bag. Cut off a tiny piece from one of the bottom corners of the bag. Twist the bag at the top and holding the bag with one hand, guide the tip with the other. When you’re done, the whole bag goes right into the garbage for easy cleanup!

Panda bread anyone?  I think this is got to be one of the coolest recipes I’ve ever seen and as soon as we can completely decode the recipe I’m gonna make a dozen.  This recipe is courtesy of my friend Evelin who has so kindly passed it on to us while she was browsing through this Japanese website (Cookpad.com) for interesting eats. We here at Yummylocal have used Babelfish.com to help translate the page and this is what we can decipher so far.

Ingredients:

230g All purpose bread flour
70g Cake baking flour
30g Sugar
210g Yolk Liquid (Milk + 1 Yolk)
4.5g salt
18g unsalted butter
4g dry yeast
8g of powered green tea (maccha) dissolved in 10 ml of hot water
8g of chocolate powder dissolved in 10 ml of hot water

Note: Please feel free to adjust the amount of green tea (maccha) and coco powders to you liking.

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2. Mix all the ingredients except for the green tea and chocolate
3. Divide the batter into three parts into 3 bowls
4. Colour 1 part with the green tea and one more part with the chocolate.
5. Separate the chocolate batter into 4 parts for the eyes and ears.
6. Start to assemble the panda bread using the pictures below as a guideline
7. Place in oven and bake for 20 minutes

I’ll keep experimenting with this recipe and update you guys with any changes.

Good luck!

*  *  *  * Update *  *  *  *

Okay guys,  we’ve been receiving a lot of positive feedback for this post and we’re destined to get this recipe right because a lot of you out there really want to make it.

Please let us know how your panda breads turn out and please take pictures!

Thanks to Nirwin and Amanda for helping out with the translations.

More updates to come!

ThePanda Bread wall of shame:

YummyLocal flikr Group Reviews:

mila0506: my first attempt of making the panda bread ~~ too bad it doesn't look like panda at all~~ here is the recipe and how it should look like....