Our little bake sale that could that left us with little sleep to live on for three weeks, in fact, made:

$7,136

Exceeding our $5K goal by more than $2,000!

WE DID IT, VANCOUVER!!! You raised all that in 2.5 hours.

In the beginning there were doubts of filling up the space and having enough bakers to provide the goodies. It was down to the wire as they signed up following strict guidelines and tight deadlines.

Everything came together in the end: we had a long line of eager sweet-toothed patrons before we could even open our doors to the public. Our bakers wowed us with a spectacular array of baked goods and treats, our generous sponsors provided their amazing services and even more baked goods and prizes to raise dollars, and our dependable volunteers put on their warmest smiles and practiced utmost patience to instill some sort of order among the 650+ strong band of supporters from the Lower Mainland.

Our initial concern of how to bring in the crowds, turned into crowd control. At the last minute we secured clickers/counters to help adhere to occupancy rules at the Roundhouse Centre. As for the food, we ended up having  to assure everyone that there is enough food by the time they get inside.

Amazing!

I do believe in the good in people. I believe that if you give the community the opportunity to help in a way that is meaningful and exciting to them, it will step up. And Vancouver…leaped! For a city that is sometimes called clique-y, we can all work together for a great common cause. A city inundated with oft petty “complainers” flocked and lined up patiently for almost an hour, in the cold, and under the drizzle of the Pacific Northwest’s spring weather. This is progress.

Vancouver, you slay me with your warmth, generosity, support, kindness, and enthusiasm. The Roundhouse Community Centre was the place to be last Wednesday and it’s all because a lot of you showed up. Imagine that.

Sweet-teeth from all ages. And there's my partner-in-crime, Melody Fury of GourmetFury.com, ready with her paper bag!

Melody and I could not be more proud. We all did it. We worked together and something good happened.

THANK YOU.

And let’s not stop here. What could we do next? :-)

[All photos were taken by Gourmeted-Dad!]

March has whizzed by. April is beginning to blur . It has been a very busy springtime.  As I’ve mentioned earlier, we’re organizing Bake For The Quake, an event where  bakers, collaborative sponsors, and the supportive Vancouver community come together to raise funds for Japan. There’s no question it’s almost like a second job to organize a charity bake sale event and I won’t even pretend for a second that we know what we’re doing, but we are doing the best we can. Just a couple of days ago there was a strong aftershock that rocked Japan at 7.1 magnitude on the Richter scale, with a few fatalities. Now more than ever, they need our help. So we continue to work hard for this cause. If you’re able and so inclined, please consider donating directly to our fundraising page (it will automatically go directly to Doctors Without Borders). We would also appreciate your help in spreading the word — you might have a friend or family here in Vancouver. Every tweet, link, and word passed along helps. Ah, and we have printable posters for download that would be perfect for posting at your local cafe spot, restaurant, community centre, school, or local community board — just ask for permission first before putting up. :)

Before these all happened, I signed up for an Introduction To Pottery course at the local Shadbolt Centre for the Arts — what this really means is that my schedule for the next 2 weeks is f*****d a balancing act of fragile porcelain. The first class was 3 nights ago and wow, was it ever a humbling experience to make what resembles like mere child’s play:

It doesn’t help that I was practically brain dead from exhaustion. It was a good 3 hours of fortitude, with my patience being counted to the minute. My classmates were a funny bunch, so that is definitely a plus.

I’m not even sure why I’m sharing these embarrassing items to you, but I’m hoping that in a few weeks time, just like when I started cooking, baking, and taking photos, it will eventually become better. One just have to stick with it long enough to make progress.

So while my pottery skills leave a lot to be desired or emulated, this Pound Cake recipe by Dorie Greenspan, is true to it’s name: it is perfection. No tweaking necessary.

I couldn’t ask for anything more after a long day if I’m looking for a non-alcoholic happy hour. Pound cake + tea = instant relaxation. Its soft crust and moist buttery cake goes well with jam. Or if it’s that kind of day, even vanilla bean and dark chocolate ice cream.

If you’re looking at your calendar and you have a busy week ahead, my best advice would be to make this on a Saturday and keep it for the week to nibble on. It will last at room temperature for 5 to 7 days and even those tight deadlines and running around like a chicken without a head would melt in an instant as soon as you take a bite of this.

DORIE’S PERFECTION POUND CAKE
Adapted from Baking: From My Home To Yours by Dorie Greenspan (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 2006)

A tender buttery cake with a soft crust to banish a stressful day. This delightful cake will keep for up to a week at room temperature and is lovely to eat with jams and even ice cream.  - Joy

Yields: one 9”x5” or 8.5”x4.5” pan

Ingredients

• 2 cups unbleached all purpose flour (or 2 1/4 cups cake flour – creates a more tender crumb)
• 1 teaspoon baking poder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter (at room temperature)
• 1 cup granulated white sugar
• 4 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven at 325°F with the rack positioned at the center of the oven. Grease a 9″x5″ loaf pan or an 8.5″ x4.5″ loaf pan with butter. Place the pan on an insulated baking sheet or 2 stacked baking sheets.
2. Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl.
3. Beat the butter and sugar on high speed in the bowl a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Continue until mixture is pale and fluffy, about a full 5 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and the paddle, and reduce the speed to medium.
4. Add the eggs one at a time, beating for 1 to 2 minutes with each interval. Don’t forget to scrape the sides of the bowl and beater to create a homogenous mixture. Add the vanilla extract.
5. Reduce the speed to low and add the flour, mixing only until flour is in. This can also be done by hand by folding the flour into the batter with a rubber spatula.
6. Scrape the batter into the buttered pan and smooth and level the top. Bake in the oven for 45 minutes. Check if it is browning too rapidly, and tent a foil over it if so. If your pan is 9″x5″, the cake needs to be baked for a total of 70 to 75 minutes. An 8.5″x4.5″ pan of cake would require a total of about 90 minutes.
7. The cake is done when a thin knife inserted in the middle comes out clean.
8. Transfer cake pan onto a cooling rack and let it rest for 30 minutes. Carefully run the back of a bread knife between the cake and the sides of the pan to loosen out the cake before inverting out and propping it right side up directly on the cooling rack. Cool to room temperature before wrapping.

Storage: Wrapped in clear plastic wrap, this cake will keep for 5 to 7 days at room temperature or up to 2 months in the freezer.

Even now as I look at the screen to type, I’m still not sure what to say. The past month has been a trip through rolling hills of yays and nays, that the line between living in the moment and  is one big-pixel Gaussian blur. Geeky. There’s drama, action and catching something and almost missed it, suspense, there were fits of impatience, and then there’s one grand patriarch of the family who is ailing. Then you have the fantastical news (yes, I’m being sarcastic), from wars to natural disasters.

I was still going to stay mum about these things, but there is something as human as being compelled to act in spite of one’s suffering, to help another. I’m talking about the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, which hit close to ‘home’ — Asia, where we have a lot of friends and family. I read and watched the news as it happened that early Friday morning, one horrifying update after another. It was during that time on Twitter that Melody ( a fellow Vancouver blogger) and I got to talking about doing something to help. Social media is a powerful thing and what better way to use it than for good? So what do food bloggers do to help? Doing what we do best and do something with the food we love: Have a bake sale!

It’s been a few weeks of planning, but it’s for a very worthy cause! We’re going to have Vancouver’s finest bakers come on board for an evening of baked yumminess. No, it’s not a reference to 4/20 (ha), but I’m talking about some real fine, freshly baked goods that warm the heart: they’re good for you and they’re good for the people we will be helping.

If you would like to join in as a Baker, check the Baker Guidelines and shoot me an email at gourmeted /AT/ gmail /DOT/ com.

If you would like to Sponsor the event, get in touch with Melody at mel /AT/ gourmetfury /DOT/ com.

If you would like to help in any other way, send either of us an email. We’ll be posting more details on the Bake For The Quake website.

You can also donate directly to our Doctors Without Borders fundraising page.

Please spread the word and get involved!
THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT, FRIENDS!

Mmm...peanut butter brownies...

A friend and I were just discussing the virtues of butter. To be more precise, I was oozing with my love for butter and in a mission to convince her (friend, not butter) that it is worth the sacrifice of fat when it comes to baking. Forget about the fat, think of the flavor! Omg, do it for the children. [Hmmm...children of the dairy fat?] Jokes aside, I told her I would rather use real butter and eat in moderation than let the integrity of the recipe suffer.

Oh, here it comes….words I would have to eat.

After all my Hail Butter! Hail Butter! I found another test of my love for it. Imagine seeing the LA Times recipe for Water Kringle and searching for the butter in the recipe and being face-planted with more than half a pound of…M-MM…M-Margarine. And not a single trace of butter.  Oh, my.

What’s a girl who’s never bought it or touched it in over a decade to do? Run out for some before her midnight baking spree? I put on my stubborn hat and told the recipe that it will have to do with butter. And while I was at it, I also took the liberty of omitting the vanilla custard or thick custard crème. Just because…

Sometimes I offer my sacred flours to failure experimentation. Behold, Exhibit A:

Water Kringle Deconstructed

Lightly flavored cinnamon bread with delicious brown butter cinnamon praline never looked so good, yet disappointing and humbling. I didn’t even continue to make the frosting and proceeded to gnaw at my defeat with a cup of coffee. Yes, the filling escaped! ACK!

All the hard work and mess of a counter looked so promising, too.

This weekend, we shall meet again, Danish pastry. I’ll come armed with margarine and custard. If you guys want to bake along with me, the recipe is here.

So what are you planning to make this weekend? Are you trying to conquer a particular recipe like I am?

Just a couple of announcements before we get to the golden luscious bars:

• I want to invite you all beef eaters and lovers (again) to participate in February’s Kitchen Play, featuring BEEF and is fittingly sponsored by Canadian Beef. There’s still time to cook something from the menu and get a chance to win $100.
• Check out John and Stacy’s (of Creek Creek BBQ)  Kickstarter project. They’re raising funds — through backers like you and me (even $5 is accepted) — to get a Cripple Creek BBQ food truck business going.

Aaaand…back to our regular programming…

Weeks ago I accidentally found some Meyer lemons at the Granville Island Market. I stopped dead in my tracks in disbelief. You’d think I won a mini lottery as my eyes bugged while picking up a bag. A lot of my California friends on Twitter talk so highly of these lemons, making me envy Kristina, who has a Meyer lemon tree in her backyard. I asked my Twitter friends what to do with 5 precious lemons and went with the popular suggestion: Meyer lemon curd. It’s so simple to make (check out Robyn’s method of making curd) that I couldn’t resist. That, and it was discussed like people were talking about liquid gold. To make the long story short: it was spoonfuls of zesty sunshine that I want to eat nonstop. I did manage to wean myself, leaving a little over 1 3/4 cups to freeze for later use.

Fast forward to Monday when I finally had time to think of what to make with them. What could be fitting for my pucker-inducing citrus curd? Then I remembered coming across a recipe Lemon Bars on Brown Butter Shortbread in the Tartine cookbook. I used the shortbread part and added oat flour instead of pine nuts — because I have a bazillion bags of oat flour. Don’t ask.

It ended up so incredibly good that I’m getting requests for more shortbread and fruit curd variations.

I love a good crust! The shortbread paired with an equal amount of lemon curd is a marriage of flavors and textures that is sure to be a keeper. Some people prefer thicker “filling”, but for the Meyer lemon curd, equal amounts, is perfect.

These bars are easy to make, so don’t even hesitate to make it. :-)

Get the Lemon Curd & Shortbread Bars recipe

You know the type…the type of recipes that don’t quite wow you, but are worthy to take note of because it has the beginnings of something much better. This is one of those recipes. It’s like a flaky sugar cookie spread on a cookie sheet and topped with cinnamon sugar and sliced almonds. If you do not have a sweet tooth and/or need something to go with your light tea, then this could be one of the better contenders for you sugar-limited bite.

Fresh out of the oven and with just a glass of warm water (can I remind you that I bake after midnight and that I drink water before bed?), it was good! The next morning, the taste was almost like a buttery version of graham crackers, plus the cinnamon and nuts. I like it. Some didn’t care for it. It’s not something they would ask from me again, and definitely not something they would look forward to receiving. My  nephews, on the other hand, enjoyed noshing on them. I know these mostly sound too unfavorable for these cookies, but I do believe that given a few changes, this could be everybody’s new favorite cookie before they even realize it was the one they looked down upon.

So why am I even mentioning this to you if this is not “the best” yet? Two reasons:

(1) You might actually like it as is! Jan Hagels is a traditional Dutch cookie that is close to the hearts of a lot of people. I’ve looked online and it seems that these little cookies have been part of a lot of families’ holiday traditions. Like I said earlier, if you are not too much into the sweet stuff, this could be all the sugar quota for dessert or snack you will need. And…

(2) Perhaps you would like to try it and find inspiration into transforming it into another recipe. I, for one, think that a variation of this could make for a great crust under fruit or nut bars. I’m even thinking of making it into a sandwich cookie. The dough itself could hold a host of different flavors, and sturdy enough to hold crushed nuts (yum). I’m all for experimenting with food and within the next few weeks I will have a date again with this recipe, hoping for a spark of yumminess.

I almost forgot to tell you that what lured me into baking these at 2:00 am was how easy it was to make. The ingredients are easy to find, if they’re not already in your pantry, and you could possibly even make it with kids. This cute Ikea baking set comes to mind just for the occasion.

At the end of the day or week, when the cinnamon lover in you is looking for a quick and easy bite, give this recipe a try. Wrap them up in parchment with a box of tea for a dear friend. Pack them up to share at work. Or on a day like today, when you’ve had enough of Valentine sweets, these Dutch Almond cookies would be a welcome break from all that!

   Get the recipe for Jan Hagels

I’ve been making cupcakes like there’s no tomorrow. I set myself to the task of creating cupcakes that make me groan in goodness. I’m almost there. So the past few days feels like a red letter day where I stuff myself in cupcakes. Ha! Hope you’re enjoying yourself silly, too — with or without someone.

Before I picked up the new “Baked Explorations” cookbook, coffee and crumb cakes meant the same thing to me and I order them faithfully at coffee shops. Color me surprised when I read that there is something called a New York Style Crumb Cake, and it must never, ever, be confused with coffee cake. Honestly, I thought the crumbs were just a matter of preference! Until, of course, I saw the recipe. For sure I thought it must be a joke that the crumb part had more than 2 cups of sugar. Who does that on purpose? During this time of the year when eating healthy seems to be at its height, whoa, I was on sugar death watch alert. But. I trusted the recipe. I gave the authors the benefit of the doubt and let them have it their way with their cake. The sacrificial lamb. And should this had been a failure, you will never hear of it from me because I will give away the book.

As you can tell, it ended well and the crumb cake survived the scrutiny of family and friends, again and again. The crumb was a toss for me — although it was delish, others thought the base cake itself was the true winner and they would have it any day — flavorful, filling and moist even after 3 days. It actually tastes like puto, the light brown steamed rice cake that we eat in the Philippines. I’ve made many variations of this crumb cake and even so far as ‘ruining’ the crumb, slashing it in half and playing with my own ingredients. In all its incarnations in the kitchen, it had withstood the test of many variations. And that, my friends, is a good thing. Because no matter what you prefer, this cake will work for you.

The recipe makes a large cake and begs to be packed on its merry way to a lot of willing bellies. Go ahead, don’t be shy! It’s a total charmer. In fact, yesterday, a soaking wet Vancouver day, I met up with a few friends and gave a few slices to each of them. They were heartily received and from the messages I’ve received today — they were all devoured and enjoyed to the fullest.

Go forth and bake and share! Have a great weekend!

If you’re looking for something beefy to cook this winter weekend: check out my Asian Style Beef Chili with Garlic Fried Rice! And get a chance to win $100 from Canadian Beef, too!

   Get the recipe for New York-Style Crumb Cake