B-b-b-baking: Super Fail Cinnamon Bun/Biscuit Things

Long time no see! I know I haven't been updating very much lately, and it's predictable, but I have to blame school. When I didn't have a midterm, I had a paper, and when I didn't have a paper, I had a midterm. That happened for the whole month, believe it or not.

Anyways, my day was pretty decent today until a bit into the evening. I can't find any evidence of a term paper that I wrote last semester, and I need to give a copy to one of the professors who will be an academic reference for my grad school application. I turned my room upside-down, and decided to make peace by baking something. It works sometimes...

Things I have learned today about cinnamon buns:
- Cinnamon buns were not made to be yeast-free. Whoever said you can make "perfectly fine" cinnamon buns with baking powder and baking soda in place of yeast...I'm not very happy with you, but it could have been that I just did something horribly wrong, which is very possible.
- You're supposed to spread the topping ingredients one at a time so that you don't just end up with a difficult-to-distribute cinnamon sugar paste.
- They smell really nice, and this relaxes me.
- In theory, they are very easy to make. It just takes patience - one virtue I lacked tonight.
- You could very likely replace the cinnamon topping with any other sweet or savoury filling :)

They look sort of okay from the top...

And then you see the bulging splits in the sides... :(

Super Fail Cinnamon Bun/Biscuit Things (adapted from Krissy's Creations)

Dough
1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/3 cup brown rice flour

1 1/4 cup buckwheat flour

1 1/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp table salt

2 tbsp white granulated sugar

6 tbsp corn oil

1 1/2 cup unsweetened soymilk

Cinnamon-Sugar Filling

2 tbsp white granulated sugar

1 tbsp ground cinnamon

2 tbsp corn oil

1. Pre-heat oven to 425 F and line a baking pan with parchment paper.

2. Combine dry ingredients in a medium-sized bowl. I would suggest going by the original recipe's 2 3/4 cup all-purpose flour instead of my weird mixture. You'll probably get better results. I only used a bunch of random flours because I realized too late that I only had 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour left, and ended up going into my collection of gluten-free ones. They have now been taken out of my gluten-free baking items area to avoid contamination.

3. In a large bowl, combine sugar, oil, and half of the milk. Then add the dry mixture. I would continue adding the other half of milk until the consistency you need has been reached. Something strange happened for me with the gluten-free flours and the amount of milk.

4. Dust the parchment paper with some extra flour, and flour your hands. Flatten the dough into a rectangle, about 1/4" thick, until it is smaller than the baking pan by a bit over an inch on both sides lengthwise.

5. If you want to be dumb like me, combine the sugar, cinnamon, and oil to make a paste and try to spread it evenly on the top of the rectangle. Otherwise, spread the oil first, then sprinkle the sugar and cinnamon.

6. Using the parchment paper to help you, roll the rectangle into a lengthwise log. Slice the log into 8 even pieces.

7. Spread the 8 cinnamon buns evenly on the baking pan and bake for 15 min.

8. Remove from oven and place onto cooling rack. You can top it with icing or a glaze if you'd like.

I ate the ugliest one, so that they don't look that terrible to my family tomorrow morning :( It did taste like cinnamon, but I think that as a result of the addition of so much random flour and playing around with it, it turned out more like a biscuit. I made enough glaze for one with 1/2 tsp soymilk, 2 tsp confectioner's sugar. I must make a batch of real cinnamon rolls to redeem myself.



Hopefully, you'll have better luck than I did...

See you again in a couple of weeks!

-M

Budget-Friendly Bites: Cowgary Commute (Part 3: Quick Cow Cuisine - a.k.a. Peters' Drive-In)

...And last but not least, enjoy the third and final part of the Cowgary Commute series~

One of the best-known local eateries in Calgary is "Peters' Drive-In" at 219 - 16 Avenue NE which is open daily from 9am until midnight (with the exception of holidays). Neither E nor I had ever been there, so we had to give a try before leaving.

This picture was taken from the the Peters' Drive-In official website. We went before noon on a Sunday, so there were wayyyyy less people in line. Thank goodness.

I was told that the typical thing for people to order was a milkshake and a burger. The milkshakes were one size and came in a fantastic retro-y cup for $4.50 - between the size of a medium and large pop from McDonald's - and there were a lot of different flavours to choose from. You had the option of mixing up to 3 flavours if you wanted to, but I'm kind of glad we didn't. E and I got a watermelon milkshake, and unfortunately, we were less than impressed with it. There was way too much flavour syrup in it that it was very very obvious that it was flavour syrup or at least fruit juice with a LOT of sugar. I can't imagine what it would have tasted like with 3 flavoured syrups in it :/ Also, the "drink" was so thick that you couldn't really suck it through the straw to drink. E said that it might have been okay as a dessert if a spoon was served, or at least a larger straw, but I beg to differ. Then again, I don't have even half as much of a sweet tooth as him. You know something is way too sweet if E says it's too sweet.

As for food, we got 2 cheese burgers, 1 small fries, and 1 onion rings. We also later replaced our milkshake with a small iced tea, which was about the size of a medium pop at McDonald's for $1.50 including tax. G got a small Coke, small fries, and a double burger. N got a blackberry milkshake and a double cheese burger.

The cheese burger came with two decently-sized, but thin beef patties, cheese, special sauce (consisting of BBQ sauce and ketchup among other things), mustard, and a bit of chopped onions and relish. Normally, neither of us like relish or anything else with pickles, but it wasn't very detectable in the burger, which made it taste pretty good! The burger was at least as big as what you would get from McDonald's, and the cheese burger was only $3.60.

The fries were just crispy enough, and not heavily salted, which was great! E said the size was about an extra large order of fries from McDonald's, and it was only $3. The fries were 3 times as thick as the ones from McDonald's, and much tastier! The onion rings were pretty good, but nothing that special. Again, it was about the size of an extra large fries from McDonald's for $4, which is actually quite decent as well.

Sorry for not taking more pictures... I wanted a picture of the burger and the seagulls, but I was too hungry. This meal was "brunch".

All in all, while I don't think the milkshake is worth it, I would actually go back for the food! The only thing is that it's a 3 hour drive from E-town, but I'd definitely go if I was in the area! :D

-M

B-b-b-baking: Cowgary Commute (Part 2: Cowgarian Cocoa Cake)

I meant to do the whole series yesterday, but honestly, I was way too tired. I ended up going to sleep after posting Part 1. Here's Part 2~

By the time E and I had gotten back to where we were staying, it was still quite early...about 8:30pm at the latest. As well, my friends like chocolate cake, so I said I would make some, and that was that. They don't do any baking, so they didn't have any baking supplies and I had to bring my own. Yes, I packed my own loaf pan, whisk, spatula, measuring cup, and freezer bags of my own cake mix, pancake mix, and sugar in my luggage. :P

There was a cake that Ochikeron made for Halloween that I liked. She used matcha powder, but I didn't have any, and figured that I might be able to substitute for it with cocoa powder to make a chocolate version. 

Things I have learned this weekend about baking in Godwin & Nick's condo:

- Baking never happens in their condo unless I do it. Correction, baking from scratch. Apparently, they have experimented with Pillsbury :P
- The air seemed to be a bit drier, which may have been a factor in the slightly subpar resulting cake.
- Their gas stove/oven is kind of freaky. When you bake something in it, it keeps making this "fwoomph bang!" at certain intervals as the metal expands.
- They didn't have any toothpicks, so I used a wooden chopstick to check the cake. I don't suggest doing that because the chopstick is too smooth. Also, if you end up putting the cake back into the oven after checking it, the big hole lets the heat in and can make the cake drier on the inside.
- Cake is eaten right after it is baked, and goes well with ice cream, but everyone is too lazy to go out and get it.

Such a weirdly-shaped cake....I think it looks weirder because there aren't really any cracks.  It also has large chopstick holes. :/

It looked a little bit better after being sliced. I managed to slice it into 12 pretty even pieces without really thinking about it :)

Simple, Light Chocolate Cake (adapted from Ochikeron)

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tbsp cocoa powder
1/2 tsp table salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/3 cup corn oil
2 eggs
1/3 cup + 3 tsp golden yellow sugar
2 tbsp milk

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Line loaf pan with parchment paper.
2. In a medium-sized bowl, mix together oil and 1/3 cup sugar.
3. Separate two eggs, placing the two egg whites into another clean medium-sized bowl.
4. Add the egg yolks and milk into the oil and sugar mixture one at a time until combined.
5. Sift the dry ingredients into the same mixture, fold until just combined, and set aside.
6. Whisk the egg whites in separate bowl until white and foamy, then add 1 tsp sugar. Whisk again until soft peaks form, then add another 1 tsp sugar. Whisk again until peaks become a bit stiffer, and add the final 1 tsp sugar. Whisk until glossy, and immobile.
7. Fold in 1/3 of the meringue into the batter until combined.
8. Gently fold in the rest of the meringue very gently so that the batter is lightened in colour and texture.
9. Pour the batter into the loaf pan. Drop the loaf pan on the counter a few times to release air bubbles, and use a spatula to draw a lengthwise incision down the centre of the cake.
10. Bake for 15 min at 350 F. Turn down the heat to 320 F and bake for another 30-35 min.
11. Remove cake from pan onto plate, slice, and serve.

It turned out okay, but it wasn't quite the result I wanted. It didn't rise as high as I would have liked, and the batter came out a little thicker than I would have wanted. The cake's texture was light and fluffy, but a little bit dry...the taste was quite faint, but I didn't mind. More cocoa powder, and possibly some chocolate chips could be added to make it more chocolatey. Just remember that because you're adding more of a dry ingredient, that you'll also need to add more liquid - probably milk. Lots of things to keep in mind for next time! :)

Whisking the egg whites by hand makes your arm a bit sore, but it saves you the cost of purchasing an electric mixer! (Or in my case, packing an electric mixer in my luggage...)

Look forward to Part 3!

-M

Cardio and Cooking: Cowgary Commute (Part 1: Crepes for Carnivores?)

I took a little trip with E down to Cowgary for the weekend after finishing all my term papers and presentations. He finished his midterm exams too, so it was all good! Since my pictures encompass 3 different post segments, this is the first of a 3-part series of posts dedicated to my trip!

We stayed with my friends at their condo for the weekend, so I decided to put in some work to thank them :) I made a full breakfast of pancakes, eggs, and hashbrowns. Godwin complained that it wasn't a full breakfast because there was no meat. He said there was a need for sausages, yet he didn't want to give up his chicken sausages.

Things I have learned this weekend about pancakes:
- Adding too much milk makes them runny, which makes them become all weirdly-shaped and thin.
- They are a quick and easy-to-make breakfast food, but get cold quickly, so keep them warm in an oven like I didn't do.
- Wal-Mart eggs are apparently non-stick...I didn't have to add oil, and they were super easy to flip. Sketchy.
- Gas stoves cook things including pancakes a lot faster!
- Thin pancakes are different, but in my opinion not bad. It leaves room for you to eat other breakfast foods too :D

E has such an interesting way of eating pancakes. I have yet to meet anyone else that eats pancakes like he does. First, he spreads butter on top. Then, he salts it (think of lightly seasoning a steak like they do in the movies). Then, he drizzles syrup on top. Then, he segments it with a knife, lengthwise, then vertically. Then, he skewers a few squares with his fork and eats them. Every time he eats pancakes! It's fascinating.

Brought to you by "I can't believe it's not butter!" and "Aunt Jemima" :P

Almost Crepe Pancakes
*Makes 10-12 thin pancakes*
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tbsp golden yellow sugar
1/2 tsp table salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 cup milk
2 tbsp corn oil + extra for cooking
1 egg

1. Place an oven-safe dish or pan in the oven and preheat to 200F, and heat a pan over medium heat.
2. Combine milk, oil, and egg.
3. In a separate bowl, add flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder.
4. Sift dry ingredients into wet, and mix until just combined. Try to make smooth without overmixing.
5. Add some cooking oil into hot pan, and cook two pancakes at a time by adding slightly less than 1/3 cup batter on each opposite side of the pan.
6. When cooked, remove pancake from heat and place in preheated dish in the oven until ready to serve.
7. Flip pancake when dry around the edges and bubbles stay open. Brown on each side, and repeat for the rest of the batter.
8. Serve with your favourite fixings and other breakfast items!
9. If you don't actually want them that thin, just add more flour, or add less milk.

Now you're ready to walk for 2-3 hours, wandering around Cowgary!

-M