No tricks, just really, really tasty.

It was my friend Noeleen's birthday yesterday, and she loves angel food cake, so I made this for her:

It may not be anything too pretty to look at, and it certainly doesn't resemble a cute woodland critter, or involve some fun word play.  It's just angel food cake (recipe courtesy of M-Stew), raspberry coulis (my mom's recipe), lemon curd (via Baking Bites), and whipped cream, aka THE GREATEST COMBINATION EVER.  Once again my kitchenaid stand mixer has earned its keep, allowing me to lounge on the couch, while it whipped the egg whites into the frothy basis of this cake. This cake makes me wish Noeleen had a birthday once a month. Make this for someone you love ASAP.

Luck of the Owls

Just before Valentine's Day I saw this owl  sweet treat project from Sugar Swings:

However, the owl body was made from a heart-shaped York Peppermint patty, and I figured like many amazing things (caffeinated Crystal Light, Hulu, the Nordic Ware factory warehouse, endless supplies of cheap dutch-pressed cocoa, etc., etc.), it would only be available stateside.  BUT!  I had forgotten the wonder of Shopper Drug Mart, which was selling bags of the patties at a serious discount after Valentine's Day.

Obviously, I bought a few bags, but since Valentine's day had passed, I needed to come up with a new project and given the time of year, St Patrick's Day owls seemed like the obvious choice. Like Sugar Swings, I used M&Ms for the eyes, with the pupils drawn on in edible ink.  Candy-covered chocolates served as the beaks.  And instead of tootsie rolls covered in fondant for the wings, I used yellow candy melts (leftover from the claws of the recent owl cupcake project....) to free-hand draw wings, which I then painted gold with some mint extract and gold luster dust. 

 
Rushika came to help with the assembly line, and we attached all the pieces together with some melted mint-chocolate, and voila: pepperminty cuteness.

Owl Things Considered

Last month I saw these cupcakes from Sweet Custom Treats:

I knew I wanted to make something similar, but I wasn't totally into the idea of pretzels on my cupcake, so  decided that some Ovation Mint Chocolate Sticks would be the perfect replacement.  you probably have had these chocolates before - restaurants used to give them out with the bill?  They look like this:

Tragically, it would appear that these are a "seasonal item" as I went to about 15 different stores looking for them and no one was selling them. I posted on Facebook, seeking help - lots of good suggestions, but none of the leads produced anything. I even went to stores that I figured would have leftover Christmas stock they hadn't gotten rid of (hello, dollar store!), but, NO DICE.  I was ready to give up, when my mom produced some non-Ovation brand version of the sticks bought at various specialty stores across the province:

So. armed with my mint chocolate sticks, I made some Devil's Food Cupcakes and rushika and I got to work.

First, we constructed eyes out of Hershey's Cookies & Cream Drops and some melted chocolate:

Then we iced the cupcakes with a simple chocolate buttercream icing, adding the eyes and chocolate mint "branch,"  as well a  beak - candy previously used for the carrot noses of melted snowmen cookies.

We melted a few yellow candy melts and drew on talons using a #3 icing tip.  GORGEOUS.

You Aorta Know....

I love themes. And colour-blocking. And over-the-top projects. And my friends. And baking.  Valentine's Day is the perfect way to celebrate all of these. Last year, I was inspired by personal hero Leslie Knope's Galentine's Day to host a Palentine's Day sugar-palooza:

 

Candy Buffet!

Sugar Cookies!

 Lemon-Raspberry Linzer Cookies!

 Red Velvet Cupcakes!

 Chocolate Raspberry Whoopie Pies!

 Cookie Dough Truffles!

I had such a good time last year that I decided to do it again this year, but I decided to scale back.

 

First up, dinner - Red pepper & goat cheese quiche, buttermilk biscuits, spinach salad, raspberry lemonade, and raspberry jello:

 (To scale back, I only made a half batch of the biscuits.....)

Onto sugarfest:

 Chocolate lollipops:

 I don't know if I can ever make a spread without cookie dough truffles.....

Sugar cookies, red velvet cookies with white chocolate chips, and shortbread:

 Lemon cupcakes with raspberry buttercream:

Mini candy buffet: