Great British Bake Off - Week 1: Swiss Rolls

It was at the end of the Great British Bake Off last year that I thought it would be cool to go along with their weekly themes and I realized I'd have to wait a full year to implement this idea. But here we are; GBBO may be on a new channel and I don't know anyone's name except Paul Hollywood but we're moving forward with this weekly challenge.

The first week's theme was cake. I've learned a bit more about the preparation for the different rounds and I think I could maaaaybe get through the first two challenges but holy guacamole, show stoppers. Definite weak spot. Initially I was going to just make a cake and be all sorted. But instead, I opted to go for the technical challenge.

 

I made a yule log a couple years ago (I shudder as I link you to that ancient post with terrible photography and lighting...not that I've improved much) and this seemed very similar, just smaller. The commercialized version of this is a ho ho in the US so there's that too.

These would definitely not pass the criticism of the bake off judges as they are definitely not symmetrical although they do have a nice swirl, in my amateur opinion. I also just couldn't bring myself to make more dirty dishes and melt white chocolate for the drizzle. We'll live.

Other things to keep in mind:

• Yes, you need parchment paper even if it means going back into the store and waiting in line again
• Yes, the egg whites will eventually become stiff peaks even if you've been beating them for 10 minutes already and think it will never happen
• Yes, you need a bigger bowl
• Yes, you can lose some of the crunchy edges to make the cake easier to roll
• No, the world won't end if there's no white chocolate drizzle

Recipe 
from GBBO website

Cake

• 30g butter, melted (keep the wrapper for greasing)
• 60g cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 Tablespoon boiling water
• 6 large eggs, separated
• 150g sugar (divided into 100g and 50g)

Filling

• 150g butter, softened
• 300g icing sugar (powdered sugar)
• 1 teaspoon peppermint extract (or not if you think it will taste like toothpaste)

Topping

• 200g plain chocolate
• 200g milk chocolate
• 100g white chocolate (optional)

1. Preheat the oven to 180C. Grease and line a deep baking dish (or jelly pan or brownie pan, just don't fill it all the way up) with butter and parchment paper. Also grease the parchment paper.
2. In a small bowl, mix the melted butter with the cocoa powder, boiling water and vanilla.
3. In a medium bowl, beat together the egg yolks and 100g of sugar until smooth. Add the chocolate mixture to the egg mixture and beat until incorporated.
4. In a large bowl, beat the egg whites for eternity until stiff peaks form. The egg whites need room to expand and become fluffy. Add the 50g of sugar after the peaks form, whisking until combined.
5. Mix 1/3 of the egg white mixture into the chocolate mixture to increase the volume and loosen the cake mix. Fold in the remaining egg whites until incorporated.
6. Pour the cake mix into the prepared pans (if you only had one pan, use half the mixture and then repeat for the second round). The cake mix shouldn't spread too much on its own so spread it evenly in the pan. The mix will rise during baking but then settle back in so will be relatively thin and as deep as you pour it.
7. Bake until firm, 15-20 minutes.
8. Allow the cake to cool completely before doing the filling and rolling.
9. For the filling, beat together the butter, icing sugar and peppermint until fluffy.
10. Once cooled, place the cakes on a cutting board or other clean surface. Carefully peel back the parchment paper and discard.
11. Spread the filling evenly across the cakes. 
12. Gently roll the cake from the short end 2-3 times, until you reach the middle. Repeat on the other side of the cake so one sheet makes two rolls.
13. Cut the cake rolls where the two sides meet. Cut the rolls into even sections so you have 6 mini rolls per pan.
14. Allow the rolls to set while you prepare the chocolate topping by melting the plain and milk chocolate together in a double boiler.
15. Pour the chocolate over the rolls to coat. It's neatest to do this on a cooling rack with a tray beneath to catch the excess chocolate.
16. Lastly, melt the white chocolate on its own and pour into a piping bag (or ziploc bag with the corner cut off). Drizzle each roll with the white chocolate.
17. Enjoy! And put your feet up because this is a lot of steps. 

Summer Reading List

Do you remember when you were a kid how you would get a suggested summer reading list? And then you would get back to school and be like 'look how many books I read this summer! Give me extra credit'. No? Just me? Cool story, bro.

Typically people release summer reading lists at the start of the summer but doesn't a book in any other season prove to be as enjoyable? I have a running list of books on my phone so when I'm in a store, I usually add to it or when I'm done reading something I know what to pick up. But my list never seems to get shorter and often I'll finish a book and find it wasn't on my list after all. Always reading. Here's what I read this summer:

1. Notes from a Blue Bike (Tsh Oxenreider) - This sounded very promising and was recommended by a blogger I follow. Former expat moves back to the US with her family and then realizes 'hey, travelling/living abroad and a family are not mutually exclusive'. This was more an autobiography of moving around and providing tips on how to pursue living abroad, homeschooling, sustainable food sources etc. when you have a family. So not entirely relatable for my stage of life but the big take-away for me was you make what works for you work for you, there's no 'right' way which is a strong message. She also has a blog and other books which I might read at some point.

2. The Handmaid's Tale (Margaret Atwood) - Like everyone else, I heard about this after the Hulu series launched. Knowing nothing about it, I thought it was a historical drama because of the picture I saw of Elizabeth Moss from the show where she had on a bonnet and long dress. False. This is one of those 'not too distant futures' of a dystopian society. Couldn't put it down, it's SO GOOD.

3. Commonwealth (Ann Patchett) - This book and the next two were impulse purchases. I'd heard of this book and was waiting for a friend in a book shop (danger zone!). I wasn't intending on buying anything but they had a sale shelf and I picked up a book, read the back and as soon as I could smell that new book smell, I was hooked. And going home with three books. This one follows a mish-mash of siblings (two families broken up by an affair and divorce then smushed together by remarriage and 6 step-siblings between them) from childhood into adulthood. Lots of changes in perspective and jumps in time which I quite enjoy. I also realized I'd read State of Wonder by the same author which was similarly amazing.

4. Proud to Be a Mammal (Czeslaw Milosz) - One of the sale books, this one was selected solely because it's by a Polish author. Turns out that he is like THE Polish author, well done. After my trip to Poland a couple months ago, I've felt like I should support my heritage more, starting by being able to name one Polish author. This is actually a collection of his short stories and essays so I've been reading it in conjunction with other books.

5. All the Light We Cannot See (Anthony Doerr)- This is one of those books eeeeeveryone was reading last year but I just now picked it up at a friend's moving sale. In the same vein as Sarah's Key and The Nightingale (both excellent options, btw), this follows multiple characters during the lead up to and duration of World War II, primarily in France but also in Germany. The main character is a young French girl who is blind and living in Paris when the war breaks out. Similarly, her counterpart in Germany is a young orphan boy with big dreams about being an inventor before getting swept up in the war. Needless to say, I couldn't put this down and read all 500+ pages in about 3 days. It was fantastic.

6. The Sellout (Paul Beatty) - There was a guy I worked with who would spend his lunch break happily reading. Also was happy for us to interrupt him and chat over lunch so that was nice. I used to read at lunch in school but got made fun of for it sooo then I stopped. Now I've started again so take that middle school bullies! Anyways, aforementioned coworker was reading this once and so I thought I would give it a go. Currently in progress, it's definitely different from other book formats and subjects I've read before.

7. Thank You for Being Late (Tom Friedman) - My dad gave me this book for my birthday (which is great because books!). The last Friedman book I read was The World Is Flat back when the internet was still ramping up to flatten the world. I think it's thoroughly and officially a plane again. To be read in the near future (sorry, dad).

What book recommendations do you have? Do you read different kinds of books in the summer versus fall versus winter? Is winter a more serious book reading season while summer is more beach reads that keep things light and carefree? Thoughts. Words. Feels. 

Affogato

There's a cafe around the corner from my flat that I pass on the bus every day but have never been into before. This weekend, that all changed. It was nice and sunny out and I'm always looking for iced coffee so I wandered in and everyone was so friendly! I asked them if they had any cold coffee drinks and I swear, I thought they were going to break out into a coordinated dance routine.

Apparently one of the baristas was just dying to make an affogato. How has this not become everyone's favorite coffee drink?? IT'S ICE CREAM!!! And espresso but ICE CREAM!! How do you take your coffee? As ice cream. Game changer.

 

This is probably the most ridiculous recipe because guess what? All you do is pour a shot of espresso over a scoop of ice cream and it's officially a coffee beverage. Done. Sold. I may or may not have had some before writing this post.

Recipe

• 1 scoop of ice cream (traditionally vanilla, also tasty with salted caramel or chocolate)
• 1 shot of espresso (or two, you are your own person)

1. Make shot(s) of espresso.
2. Place scoop of ice cream in a mug, bowl or other vessel.
3. Pour shot(s) of espresso over ice cream.
4. Consume and be happy that you're a grown up having ice cream for coffee. 

Poland: More Than Pierogis

Back in May, I took my first trip to Poland. We were going as a family quest for information so I didn't have a huge itinerary or bucket list. Obviously I was planning to eat a lot of pierogis but I was not prepared for the level of food Poland has to offer! Not just the variety of traditional food but also quantities. There were numerous occasions where we dined with family and it was just course after course of homemade dishes that I'd never heard of! The below is a summary of the more traditional ones (I think...) which I hope to try and make one day.

1. Pierogis- Okay, yes, there is more than just pierogis in Poland but come on! Pierogis! They come in all kinds of varieties including fruit! I'd never had blueberry pierogis before but I will certainly be having them again.

2. Babka- This is a kind of cake which is open to interpretation. Sometimes it's a desserty cake and sweet but the variety I found more often was a potato babka. It looks like a loaf of mashed potatoes so thick, you can slice it like bread. And oh so greasy and delicious.

3. Bigos- In my brain space, I often mix this up with babka because it starts with a 'b' too. Bigos though is a saurkraut dish with meat. I don't actually like saurkraut but I love bigos. The saurkraut is soft and not sharply fermented like the saurkraut I'm used to. Mixed with kilbasa or beef, it becomes a hearty stew, minus the broth (sometimes called Hunter's Stew which I've had in the US).

4. Goulash- Now this is a stew. Again, there are a number of ways to make this but it reminds me of chilli but with an eastern European flare. In my mind, it's like the Polish equivalent to American chilli. 

5. Ice Cream- Fine, Poland didn't invent ice cream but they love it. Ice cream everywhere. Sometimes it's more like gelato but they have the home-churned variety as well. Perfect for the hot summer days of sun! We went to Bubble Waffle which has locations all over the world so check it out.

City Guide: Calgary

Almost every year since graduation, my college/uni friends and I have done a summer trip together. Always somewhere new and always a mix of outdoorsy and city things. We've been all over the west coast of the US from LA to Vancouver, Puerto Rico, North Carolina and now Calgary, Canada. Outdoor activities include hiking, kayaking, or jet skiing (one time it was cliff jumping) while our city activities keep us cultured so we go to museums or well-known restaurants.

We stayed at a place half-way between Calgary and Banff National Park so we could easily go from our active selves to our city selves and in between, we cooked a lot of meat and ate a lot of eggs. Shopping for 8 people is tough and there was a point where we had 8 dozen eggs, 8 loaves of bread and an $8,000 cucumber (okay, they refunded us $7,998 for that one). Somehow, I escaped dinner duties but managed to make a whole lotta pancakes, french toast (see 8 loaves of bread comment) and cinnamon rolls throughout the week.

Here are some of the activity highlights I would recommend if you're planning a tip to Calgary anytime soon:

1. Lake Louise- When deciding where to go, we get very scientific and make a survey of places to go. The survey results usually end up being ignored but someone suggested Lake Louise and we said 'sounds great!'. This is what brought us to Canada. We did the Plain of Six Glaciers trail which goes around the aqua lake and up into the mountains. This was an all day hike but not extremely steep so doable for beginners but bring lots of water! At the end of June, there was a bit of snow across the path so prepare yourselves for that as well. But! You are rewarded by an amazing little tea house (appropriately called The Plain of Six Glaciers Tea House) at the top of the mountain. They don't have running water, bottled water is heli-dropped to them, but their cakes are delicious.

 

2. Sulphur Mountain- This was a more difficult climb which was mostly comprised of switchbacks. It's advised to allow 2-3 hours for this hike so not as long as Lake Louise but there's also a gondola you can take up (and/or down) the mountain instead. This is attaction is part of a larger attraction with a hot springs spa (highly recommended) and cave tour. The view of the Canadian Rockies can't be beat and we even had a couple mountain goats cross our paths. If that's not a reason to bust into Julie Andrews songs, I don't know what is.

 

3. Banff Canoe Club- Initially we were looking at kayaking/canoeing on Lake Louise but having done the hike already, we opted for something new and found this kayaking club right in Banff which was pretty cost effective and allowed us to paddle around a creek and then a calm lake surrounded by mountains (okay, and one highway). The staff were super friendly, even if they did accidentally ring us up for 450 boats (there's a theme here with the over-charging). Definitely bring bug spray, the swarms are legit.

 

4. Skyline Luge- Moving away from the hiking genre of activities, this luge is basically real-life Mario Kart in Calgary's Olympic park. You take a chair lift to the top, get a safety demonstration and away you go! While I don't think they'd let you tie balloons to the cars, Mario noises are not discouraged...

 

5. Ice Cream- No hike is complete without a post-hike milkshake. Or at least that's our motto. We went to Old School Ice Cream after our first day of hiking and proceeded to go there after every one of our hikes. Luckily, the staff changed every day so they don't seem to have noticed how much ice cream we ate here. They are cash only though but accept USD at a 1:1 conversion rate.

 

6. Heritage Park- I was sceptical about this one but it turned out to be really fun! It's basically a recreation of Canada through the ages so important historical figures' homes are rebuilt, there's an old main street with a working post office and general store as well as small roller coasters. A steam boat cruise is included in admission and takes you around the reservoir with a great view of downtown Calgary.


7. Maple Lattes- We happened to be in Calgary for Canada Day, their 150th in fact! As if everything wasn't maple leaf forever already, we found Rosso's to have a maple latte on special. Who knows if this is a full-time deal or not but over ice and it was a perfect hint of Canadian pride without being overly sweet. They're also known for their coffee quality so worth a trip for straight up coffee as well.

 

8. More Ice Cream- Made by Marcus in Calgary was our final ice cream stop of the trip. They had only a few flavors but also unique sundaes (think hand toasted marshmallows and macaron topping) that were  made with soft serve. Milkshakes and boozy flavours were also in order.

 

9. Calgary Farmer's Market- Literally our last stop before the airport, we initially went to this market looking for Jelly doughnuts shop but it was full of so many other places to eat and stock up on maple things (and crafts), we almost lost track of our mission. But in the end, Jelly doughnuts was amazing (maple bacon doughnut, highly recommended) and should also be visited.

 

And because 10 is better than 9:

10. Nature- In general, just embrace the amazing scenery of mountains, sky and trees. You're bound to see a rainbow (or two!) after one of the many flash mountain storms and we even caught a meteor shower one night.