I’m excited to do the first ever giveaway on my blog! I wanted to thank you all for following Sugar for the Brain or just for passing by sometimes! Thanks for your comments and likes! Last week the blog reached 5000 fans on Facebook! A HUGE thank you for that! This is amazing! I’m planning to do a new Decorated Cake Roll very soon, I know you love them!

So here is the 50$ value prize one of you will win!

The Rules

• No purchase necessary.
• Open to U.S. and Canada residents over 18 only.
• One entry per person, plus additional qualified bonus entries (see below).
• The winner will be selected by random draw (with Rafflecopter) from amongst all eligible entries received by the contest closing date.
• The winner will be announced on the blog on Wednesday, June 26th 2013.
• Contest closes June 25th, 2013 at 12:00 a.m. Eastern Time

How to enter

Verify all entries with the Raffelcopter widget below.
Leave a comment on this post with the answer to the question “What flavor of ice cream are you dying to try?”. The comments might take time to appear on the blog, but don’t worry, your entry will count!

For additional bonus entries you can do the following:

• Follow Sugar for the Brain on Facebook
• Share the Facebook Giveaway Post on your own Facebook page
• Follow Sugar for the Brain on Pinterest
• Follow Sugar for the Brain on Twitter
• Share this post on Twitter
• Follow Sugar for the Brain on Bloglovin

a Rafflecopter giveaway
The giveaway is sponsored by Sugar for the Brain.

What’s coming on the blog? A giveaway and a short post on how to follow me on bloglovin instead of google reader (you may know by now that it’s closing on July 1st).

As for this recipe, it answers the question “What can I do with my egg yolks when I make an Angel Food Cake?”. Lucky you, you can do this tart! If you are a creme brulee fan, you won’t be sorry you tried this recipe! I think I’m beginning to have a thing for creme brulee now! Maple syrup makes everything better

It is quite an easy recipe if you have a store-bought shortcrust or if you have one in the freezer. It’s the longest part, but it’s not that long either.

When you make the recipe below, you might have too much creme brulee mixture for the pie. If you do, pour the remaining mixture into ramequins. Place them in a baking dish and pour hot water to about 3/4 up the sides of the ramequins. Bake for 40 minutes at 325°F. Sprinkle with brown sugar or powdered sugar and caramelize, using a gas torch. You can also broil the cremes in the oven.

Creme Brulee Maple Apple Tart
Yield : about 8 servings

• 1 Shortcrust Pastry, I used this recipe (it makes 2 crusts)
• 2 Cortland apples, peeled and each cut into 8 wedges
• 1/8 cup sugar
• 6 egg yolks
• 1/3 cup maple syrup
• 1/2 teaspoon maple extract
• 1 1/4 cups 35% cream
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons powdered sugar, to caramelize

1. Place the oven rack in the lowest position. Preheat oven to 375 °F. 
2. Line a 14×4 inches tart pan with the shortcrust. Place the apple wedges over the crust, overlapping them slightly. Sprinkle with the sugar. Bake for 40 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and maple syrup. Add the cream, the vanilla and the maple extract. Pour over the hot pie and continue baking for 15 minutes.
4. Sprinkle the tart with icing sugar and caramelize, using a gas torch (or broil in the oven). Let cool and refrigerate until completely chilled.

An “almost silent” post today!

Wow… these brownies. Well, I’m biased because I just love the combo chocolate/coffee. And I’m not even a coffee drinker! Anyway, they are totally delicious! And I also have a special place in my heart for swiss meringue buttercream. I hope you enjoy them! I think the photos turned out great too!

Espresso browniesBrownies
Recipe from A Farmgirl’s Dabbles 

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into cubes
• 3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
• 1-1/2 cup sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons instant espresso powder
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup flour
• 1/4 cup Walnuts (optional)
• 2 ounces semi sweet chocolate chopped or chocolate chunks (optional)

Espresso Swiss Meringue Buttercream (SMB)
Recipe from Sweetapolita 

• 5 large egg whites
• 1-1/4 cups sugar
• 1-1/2 cups unsalted butter, cut into cubes, room temperature
• 1/2 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoons espresso powder
• 2 teaspoons boiling water
• Pinch of salt

For the brownies:

1. Preheat oven to 325° F. Butter and line a 8×8-inch baking tin with parchment paper, leaving a 1-inch overhang on the two longer sides.
2. Melt the chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water at low heat until the chocolate is melted. Remove from heat and whisk in sugar.
3. Add the eggs, one at-a-time, stirring until smooth after each addition.
4. Whisk in the espresso powder, vanilla and salt.
5. Sift flour over the chocolate mixture and stir gently to blend well.
6. Add the walnuts and chopped chocolate.
7. Pour the batter into the prepared baking tin.
8. Bake brownies until puffed and dry-looking and until a cake tester inserted in the centre comes out with a few moist crumbs attached, about 30 to 35 minutes. Remove from oven and transfer to a wire rack. Cool completely in the tin.
9. Using the paper overhang, carefully lift the brownies out of the pan. Cut in squares.

For the SMB

1. In a small bowl, mix the espresso powder with the boiling water. Reserve.
2. Make sure there is no grease in the bowl and on the utensils you’ll be using for the buttercream.
3. Add egg whites and sugar to a heatproof bowl (or bowl of standmixer) set over a saucepan of simmering water at low heat, whisking constantly until temperature reaches 160°F.
4. Whisk with a stand mixer until the meringue is thick and glossy and the bowl doesn’t feel warm to the touch.
5. With mixer on low speed, add the butter a cube at a time. Mix until it has a silky texture. If it looks curdles, continue beating until smooth. You can’t overbeat the buttercream.
6. Add vanilla, salt and espresso, beat until combined.
7. Transfer the buttercream to a piping bag fit with the tip of your choice (I used the 1M). Pipe a small amount of buttercream on top of each brownie square. Add shredded chocolate and a coffee bean if desired.

Just a quick little post to give you the recipes and the how-to for these cute little birthday treats, the sundae cupcakes! I made them yesterday for my 28th birthday.

Since I’ve seen the superb banana split birthday cake of alanabread, I wanted to try her technique for faux ice cream made with buttercream. Turned out it wasn’t super easy, but I think it’s because I didn’t have the right tool. One of these ice cream scoop would have been very handy but I just had a small one, too small to put on a cupcake.

I suggest you use a buttercream recipe with powdered sugar and butter instead of swiss-meringue buttercream (I found it was more difficult to make the faux ice cream scoops with the swiss-meringue buttercream).

You’ll need :

• The cupcake recipe of your choice (I used the Best vanilla cupcake from Cupcake Project)
• The buttercream of your choice  (I used the quick vanilla buttercream from Food Network)
• Ganache thinned with corn syrup
• Sprinkles
• Maraschino cherries (with stems)
• Chopped peanuts

How to :

1. Make the cupcakes. Let cool.
2. Prepare the frosting. Freeze until hard.
3. Prepare the ganache. Add corn syrup to get a dripping consistency (not too runny though).
4. Shape the buttercream with a ice cream scoop. Place a scoop on top of each cupcake.
5. Drizzle the ganache on top of the scoops. Add sprinkles and peanuts and top with a maraschino cherry.
6. Enjoy!!

Science of Baking (I like to call it the nerdy corner) will be all about the science behind what we bake. I love science! I think you do too because I’ve had a lot of positive answers when I proposed to do this section on Facebook (a long time ago!). I hope I’ll be able to do real experiments, like the post I did with the cake pops that crack, to show you what is really happening when you add high-protein flour instead of low-protein or if you don’t beat the egg whites enough.

I don’t have a degree in baking so I’m using the knowledge of great books and sources that you’ll find below each post.

Feel free to ask your questions! I’ll gladly do a Science of Baking post to answer it!

My recipe calls for cake flour; can I substitute it with all-purpose flour?
Nah, not really.

(And here come the scientific part, if you want a very simple explanation, jump to “In a few words” below)

The difference between cake flour and all-purpose flour (and between all kinds of flour for that matter) lies in the amount of protein (gluten). Gluten is a protein composite formed with two other protein: glutenin and gliadine. When you add liquid to flour, the two proteins bind together (in a web-like network way) to form gluten. Gluten contributes to the structure of your cake (holding it together) and its elasticity.

Cake flour has less protein than all-purpose flour which in turn has less protein than bread flour. Because it has less protein, Cake flour will produce less gluten than all-purpose flour. This will result in a more tender cake. For example, a lot of gluten will lead to a baguette-like texture.

Not only can you choose a low protein flour to reduce the amount of gluten formed in your cake, but there is also other ways to inhibit the formation of gluten (fat, alkaline and acid ingredients, etc). This will be the subject of the next Science of Baking.

Substitutions
Even if I do a lot of cakes, I never bought cake flour. I’ve always used substitutes with great results. The goal of these recipes is to lower the amount of gluten by substituting a little amount of all-purpose flour by cornstarch, which has no gluten. I’ve tried many recipes, here is a few:
http://low-cholesterol.food.com/recipe/cake-flour-substitute-87689
http://joythebaker.com/2009/09/how-to-make-cake-flour/
http://frugalliving.about.com/od/makeyourowningredients/r/Cake_Flour_Sub.htm

In a few words
If you use all-purpose flour instead of cake flour, you’ll get a cake that is less tender and fluffy. This is because cake flour has less gluten than all-purpose flour and less gluten makes more tender cakes.

Sources
Blais, Christina; Larrivée, Ricardo (2007). La chimie des desserts, Les Éditions La Presse.

Chattman, Lauren (2009). The baking answer book, Storey publishing.

Potter, Jeff (2010). Cooking for Geeks, O’Reilly.

I LOVE angel food cake. And I don’t know if I should be ashamed of the next statement or not, but I’ve never, ever, eaten a homemade angel food cake. Always the boxed one (Betty Crocker), which I find sooooo gooood. I could really eat all the cake, no joke.

Making a homemade angel food cake sounded like a great challenge. But in the end it’s not really harder than your usual cake. It’s just a lot of egg whites. A.L.O.T. And of course, if you’re like me, you don’t want to lose your yolks so you plan at least another recipe to use them. So this weekend I made: an angel food cake, crème brulees, crème brulee apple tart (coming up) and an apple crisp because I had too many apples for my tart. Big weekend Yummy weekend.

For this recipe, I would advise that you use a stand mixer, because the egg whites rise almost above the whip of the mixer so I can’t imagine the challenge to whip them evenly with a hand mixer. My cake was delicious, but it could have been fluffier.

Angel Food Cake
From Sweet Sugar Bean I  really love her photos, you should take a look!

Cake

• 1 cup cake flour *
  1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 12 egg whites at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

Garnish

• Whipped cream
• Raspberries (or any other fruit)
• Chocolate, grated

* You can make 2 cups of cake flour by adding 1/4 cup cornstarch to 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour. Just keep the other cup for an upcoming cake recipe! Don’t use all-purpose flour only, your cake will be too dense. Learn why in the New Section: Science of Baking.

1. Preheat oven to 375°F
2. Make sure there is no grease in the angel cake pan, the utensils and the bowls you’ll use.
3. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour and 1/2 cup of sugar. Repeat 2 times. Set aside.
4. In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the egg whites, the salt and the vanilla and beat until foamy. Add the cream of tartar and beat until soft peaks form.
5. While beating, gradually add the cup of sugar. Beat until stiff peaks form.
6. With a spatula, gently fold in a quarter of the flour-sugar mixture. Continue alternating between adding a fourth of the flour mixture and folding.
7. Pour the batter in the angel cake pan. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until it springs back when pressed with your fingers.
8. Invert pan and cool completely. Run a knife around the edge of the cake pan to unmold. 
Garnish with whipped cream, fruits and grated chocolate.

Hello everyone!

I hope you’re having a great week so far!

Here the weather has been so beautiful, sunny and hot, pretty much like an early summer! I found that it boosts up my energy and spirit! And I started baking in summer so it brings back memory and an amazing urge to bake! Good for me, and good for you too

I made some donuts, yeah! They are mini, pink and brown so they are pretty cute! No frying involve (you’ll need a donut pan). The dough isn’t very sweet so you can add a very sugary glaze of your choice.

Enjoy!

Strawberry and Chocolate Mini Donut (baked)
Donut recipe adapted from Buns in the oven
Yield : 24 mini-donut

Donuts:

• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 egg
• 6 tablespoons sour cream
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil

1. Grease two mini donut pans.
2. Preheat oven to 375 °F.
3. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, sugar, cocoa powder and baking soda.
4. In a small bowl, beat together the vanilla, egg, sour cream, milk, and oil.
5. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry until just combined.
6. Spoon in each donut form (might be easier if you transfer the dough to a piping bag and pipe into each form). Fill each form half full (else they won’t look much like donuts)
7. Bake for 8 minutes or until the tops spring back when you touch them.
8. Let the donuts cool in the pan before glazing.

Strawberry Glaze
I suggest you use the recipe from Cooking classy. For my glaze I changed the recipe a little, adding some strawberry extract, but the result wasn’t really good.

This month’s Daring Baker’s challenge was amazing! I had never heard about savarin before. Frankly, it’s a long process (3 waiting time for the dough to rise!), but it’s so worth it! You can choose many flavors of syrup and filling so it’s a very versatile dessert.

“Natalia of Gatti Fili e Farina challenges us to make a traditional Savarin, complete with soaking syrup and cream filling! We were to follow the Savarin recipe but were allowed to be creative with the soaking syrup and filling, allowing us to come up with some very delicious cakes!”

Savarin
Servings:8/10
Recipe with Photo Tutorial (PDF)

• 2½ cups (600 ml) (12-1/3 oz) (350 gm) bread flour *** I used All-purpose flour with great results
• 2 tablespoons (30 ml) water, lukewarm
• 6 (320 gm) large eggs at room temperature, separated
• ½ satchel (1½ teaspoons) (4 gm) instant yeast or 15 gm (½ oz) fresh yeast
• 4 teaspoons (20 ml) (20 gm) sugar
• 2/3 stick (1/3 cup) (80 ml) (75 gm) butter at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon (5 ml) (6 gm) salt
• ¼ cup (60 ml) (2 oz) (55 gm) butter for greasing the work surface, hands, dough scraper & baking pan

Sponge

In a small bowl mix 2 tablespoons (30 ml) lukewarm water, 3 tablespoons (1 oz) (25 gm) flour and yeast , cover with cling film and let rise 60 minutes

Dough

1. After 30 minutes put the egg whites in the mixer bowl and start working with the paddle at low speed adding flour until you have a soft dough that sticks to the bowl (about 2 cups or 270 gm) and work until it comes together, cover with cling film and let rest 30 min.
2. Add the sponge to the mixer bowl (**I messed up here, the sponge and the dough must be together in the mixer now! I added the dough at the end of step 9, everything was alright anyway!) along with a tablespoon of flour and start mixing at low speed.
3. When it starts pulling away from the sides of the bowl add one yolk and as soon as the yolk is absorbed add one tablespoon of flour.
4. Add the second yolk , the sugar and as soon as the yolk is absorbed add one tablespoon of flour.
5. Raise the speed a little. Add the third yolk and the salt and as soon as the yolk is absorbed add one tablespoon of flour.
6. Keep on adding one yolk at the time and the flour saving a tablespoon of flour for later.
7. Mix the dough until is elastic and makes “threads”.
8. Add the butter at room temperature and as soon as the butter is adsorbed add the last tablespoon of flour.
9. Keep on mixing till the dough passes the “window pane test”.
10. Cover the dough with cling film and let it proof until it has tripled in volume (2 to 3 hours).
11. You can prepare the Pastry cream now if you chose to use it, and refrigerate it.
12. While you wait prepare your baking pan buttering it very carefully not leaving too much butter on it.
13. Grease your dough scraper, your hands and your work surface and put the dough on it and fold with the Dough Package Fold two or three times around (5 folds twice or three times). Cover with cling foil and let it rest 15 minutes on the counter.
14. Turn the dough upside down and with the help of your buttered dough scraper shape your dough http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ta2_h6Qogp0 in a rounded bun.
15. Make a hole in the center with your thumb and put it in the prepared pan.
16. Cover with cling film and let rise in a warm spot until the dough reaches the top of the pan (about 1 hour).
17. Pre-heat oven to moderate 340°F/170°C/gas mark 3.
18. Bake the Savarin for about 40 minutes until the top is golden brown.
19. Meanwhile prepare the Syrup.
20. When the Savarin is done take it out of the oven and let it cool.
21. You have two choices now : you can brush it with syrup right now or you can let it dry out (so it will lose some of his moisture that will be replaced by the syrup) and brush it later on.
22. Whatever you decide the day you want to serve it and fill the hole with your filling of choice and decorate it. You can serve the Savarin with some filling on the side.

Maple and White Beer Syrup
Recipe from Unibroue

• 6 oz. White beer
• 1/3 cup maple syrup
• 1/4 cup orange juice 

Bring beer, maple syrup, and orange juice to a boil and reduce by half. Brush Savarin with syrup. (If you want to soak the savarin in this syrup, double the recipe).

Pastry Cream and Chantilly
Servings: 1 savarin plus some for serving
Recipe with Photo Tutorial (PDF)

• 2 cups (500 ml) milk
• ¼ cup (60 ml) (2 oz) (60 gm) sugar
• zest of one lemon
• 2 large egg yolks
• 1 large egg
• 2 tablespoons (30 ml) (1¼ oz) (35 gm) cornstarch
• ¼ cup (60 ml) (2 oz) (60 gm) sugar
• 1 cup (250 ml) heavy cream

1. In a saucepan bring to a boil milk and sugar.
2. In a bowl whisk together egg yolks, egg, cornstarch and sugar.
3. Add the hot milk to the eggs one tablespoon at the time to temper it.
4. Pour in the saucepan again and bring to a boil stirring constantly.
5. When the cream thickens remove from the stove.
6. Put cling film onto the cream (touching the surface) and cool.
7. Pour 1 cup (250 ml) cold heavy cream in mixer bowl with the whisk attachment. Beat until whipped.
8. Combine with the cooled pastry cream adding a tablespoon at the time of whipped cream until it gets to the right consistency.

What a great day to take the time to think about what we can do to reduce our ecological footprint on Earth! What do you usually do? Recycle? Eat organic food? Eat local? Etc. Etc.

I’ve never talked about this on my blog, but I’m very concerned about environmental issues (as well as animal welfare) and have been for as long as I can remember. I had to do something to show my support even if it’s just a simple Earth Cookie. It gives us a chance to talk about this matter.

When I was just a little girl, I had these information sheets about animals and there were additional ones which addressed environmental issues (we are talking about 20 years ago!!). I distinctly remember pictures of fish, birds and mammals trapped in oil or in 6-packs rings. From this moment on, I was a little ashamed of being human. And about these 6-packs rings, I developed a compulsion where each time I have one at home, I cut every single little holes just to be sure no animal can be trapped in it. We do what we can, right?

As a Quebecer, Canadian, this day takes an all-new meaning too because since we elected our new Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, our involvement in environmental protection diminished (not to say vanished). Mister Harper pulled Canada out of Kyoto Protocol (we are the only country who withdrew!), unprotected a lot of rivers and backed up oil sands companies (this isn’t new, though). And this is just a few examples because in Quebec we have other matters like the Plan Nord and gas exploitation coming our way. This is all very frustrating!!!

I’ll finish this topic by inviting you to see these 50 ways to help the planet ***. I know sometimes it’s very frustrating to “do your part” and see that powerful people or your neighbor don’t give a s**t.  But I hope that someday more people will join the battle and the children of our children can still enjoy the beauties of our planet.

Let’s save the planet together <3

*** It’s funny because in this list there is “Don’t preheat your oven”. I never do. I am thinking a little about the energy, but mostly I don’t do it because I always take too much time to do a recipe!

(Oh and these cookies are DE-LI-CIOUS!!!)

Marjorie
xxxx

Chocolate Malt Cookies
Yield: 36 cookies
Adapted from The Faux Martha

• 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup cocoa
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cup sugar
  
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 tablespoons chocolate malt powder
• 1 egg

1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Line two baking sheets with Silpat or parchment paper.
2. Combine together flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
3. Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Mix in egg. Add the chocolate malt powder.
4. Slowly add in flour mixture until evenly incorporated.
5. Roll dough into teaspoon-sized balls. Flatten balls with the bottom of a glass. Bake up to 16 on a sheet leaving a 1-inch space between each cookie. They will spread about half a inch.
6. Bake for 8 minutes. Cool for 1 minute on baking sheet and carefully transfer to a cooling rack.
7. Allow to cool completely before decorating.

Royal icing

• ½ cup cold water
• ¼ cup meringue powder
• 4 cups sifted powdered sugar.
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

1. Beat meringue powder with water until peaks form.
2. Add the powdered sugar and beat until combine.
3. Separate the royal icing in two and color one part in blue and the other one in green.
4. Add half of the blue icing to a piping bag fitted with a #2 tip. Pipe a circle following your cookie’s shape. Let dry about 5 minutes.
5. Now you need a more liquid royal icing. Add a little water to the remaining blue icing until it spreads quite fast, but not too much. With a spoon, put a little royal icing in the center of the cookie. With a toothpick, drag the icing to the edges. You can burst any air bubble with the thootpick. Let dry.
6. Add half of the green royal icing to a piping bag fitted with a #2 tip. Pipe the outline of continents on each cookies. Add a little water to the remaining green icing until it spreads quite fast, but not too much. With a spoon, put a little royal icing in the center of the continent. With a toothpick, drag the icing to the edges. You are done!

I hope everything is fine! School is over (for the week at least because I took a summer course!) so I’ll be posting more often! I have plenty of ideas just waiting to be baked! I really can’t wait!

For now I wanted to share a little about my experience in the Natrel Lactose Free Campaign. If you follow me on Facebook and Twitter you already know a little about it and might have seen the recipes I made!

Natrel is a well-known Canadian dairy product company. I received their email about 5 minutes after I sent my thesis proposal for corrections (which was quite a big deal). It was a big reward! The email said that they wanted to pay me to create and photograph a recipe. I was totally happy yet very surprised that they had found my blog among the many many great blog out there! So even if the deadline was quite short (short for a girl in school that is) I said yes! So I made the first recipe and then they approached me for a second one! Yeah!

So here are the two recipes I made for them and some more pictures I took!

You can find the recipes (and recipes from other bloggers too) on their website. If you live in Canada, there is also a contest waiting for you!

First Recipe : Raspberry Truffle Chocolate Squares