Uploads from ©EpicureanPiranha ~, tagged epicurean

Mom's 80th Celebration Cake

nobody@flickr.com (©EpicureanPiranha ~) — Sun, 12 Aug 2012 21:27:02 -0700

For Mom's 80th Birthday, I created this large 11 x 15 inch two-layer lemon-scented butter cake, filled and frosted in Italian limoncello flavoured buttercream, topped with a layer of almond paste, then covered in limoncello flavoured fondant, to give a mirror-like finish. Unfortunately, I ran out of time to make more buttercream (takes quite a while to make) and had to make due with what I had left to decorate the cake. Then a little hole appeared in my small piping bag and my writing ended up a little wonky, but with the fresh roses, everyone thought it was quite pretty nonetheless! I must say that the flavour, delicate and not too sweet except for thin layer of fondant & almond paste, was the perfect pairing for the sparkling Rosé we served with it ♥ I also made small, delicate Lemon Cream Bundt Cakes in pretty shapes which I decorated with fresh rosebuds and placed in small, tall glass cake pedestals with glass domes to decorate the table and give away to friends who helped.

My Festive Cocktail Dinatoire for Mom's 80th - 14

nobody@flickr.com (©EpicureanPiranha ~) — Sun, 12 Aug 2012 21:27:02 -0700

©EpicureanPiranha ~ posted a photo:

Some of the goodies you see: Tiny Marinated & Bar-B-Que'd Chicken Tikka skewers which I served on a fresh Cucumber Mint Raita in small verrines (I BBQ'd them the night before, then threaded them with green pepper & reheated them before serving - these are on the square serving platter front left); Smoked-Salmon & Fresh Dill Canapés on thin Rye Bread spread with Lemon Pepper Butter (center front); miniature Vol-au-Vents filled with Ratatouille that I prepared with fresh herbs from my garden & veggies cut in brunoise (seen in the small rectangular serving dish, center); Sue's Deviled Eggs; tiny Cheese, Jalapeno, Olive Empanaditas in a Cheese-Butter Crust (seen on the small glass cake pedestal behind the Deviled Eggs) ...

My Festive Cocktail Dinatoire for Mom's 80th - 07

nobody@flickr.com (©EpicureanPiranha ~) — Sun, 12 Aug 2012 21:10:02 -0700

©EpicureanPiranha ~ posted a photo:

This was the cocktail buffet table. I had prepared tiny Tex-Mex Muffins which I served in shallow,rectangular verrines with Home-Made Chili-Tomato Compote (seen to the right in a square serving tray); Smoked-Salmon & Fresh Dill Canapés on thin Rye Bread spread with Lemon Pepper Butter (right-back on elevated platter, and background left) - Solange assembled them for me); tiny Marinated & Bar-B-Que'd Chicken Tikka skewers which I served on a fresh Cucumber Mint Raita in tiny verrines (I BBQ'd them the night before, then threaded them with green pepper & reheated them before serving - these are on the square serving platter in the background); tiny Cheese, Jalapeno, Olive Empanaditas in a Cheese-Butter Crust (seen on the glass cake pedestal with the pink ribbon, centre); miniature Vol-au-Vents filled with Ratatouille that I prepared with fresh herbs from my garden & veggies cut in brunoise (in the small rectangular serving dish, behind the flower vase); and Cheese Curry Sablés, that I made using pretty cookie cutters (on the small lacy porcelain pedestal dish, center-left). Sue's delicious meatballs are on the long rectangular porcelain dishes; her Chicken & Almond tarts with Sweet Chili Sauce (centre-right on a vintage-style rose-coloured cake pedestal); her scrumptious Shrimp Patties with Chili, Ginger, Coconut Milk Sauce which she served on fresh basil leaves in cocktail spoons (seen on the left in a large antique round platter); I also made small, delicate Lemon Cream Bundt Cakes in pretty shapes which I decorated with fresh rosebuds and placed in small, tall glass cake pedestals with glass domes to decorate the table and give away to friends who helped.

My Festive Cocktail Dinatoire for Mom's 80th - 05

nobody@flickr.com (©EpicureanPiranha ~) — Sun, 12 Aug 2012 21:10:02 -0700

©EpicureanPiranha ~ posted a photo:

This was the cocktail buffet table. I had prepared tiny Tex-Mex Muffins which I served in shallow,rectangular verrines with Home-Made Chili-Tomato Compote (seen to the left in a square serving tray); Smoked-Salmon & Fresh Dill Canapés on thin Rye Bread spread with Lemon Pepper Butter (center front and to the right - Solange assembled them for me); tiny Marinated & Bar-B-Que'd Chicken Tikka skewers which I served on a fresh Cucumber Mint Raita in tiny verrines (I BBQ'd them the night before, then threaded them with green pepper & reheated them before serving - these are on the square serving platter front right); tiny Cheese, Jalapeno, Olive Empanaditas in a Cheese-Butter Crust (seen on the glass cake pedestal with the pink ribbon, centre-left); miniature Vol-au-Vents filled with Ratatouille that I prepared with fresh herbs from my garden & veggies cut in brunoise (seen in the small rectangular serving dish, center-right); and Cheese Curry Sablés, that I made using pretty cookie cutters (on a small lacy porcelain pedestal dish, center-left).

All wrapped up ~

nobody@flickr.com (©EpicureanPiranha ~) — Fri, 11 May 2012 13:15:33 -0700

©EpicureanPiranha ~ posted a photo:

My Kugelhopf looking pretty all wrapped up in cellophane with a large ribbon bow. I gave it to my parents :-)

Lemon Zest, Brandied Currants & Sultanas

nobody@flickr.com (©EpicureanPiranha ~) — Fri, 11 May 2012 12:51:16 -0700

©EpicureanPiranha ~ posted a photo:

Lemon zest, brandied currants & sultanas flavour this delicious Kugelhopf.

Old-world Charm of Old Québec

nobody@flickr.com (©EpicureanPiranha ~) — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 11:36:48 -0700

©EpicureanPiranha ~ posted a photo:

Explored :: position 382 on Apr 25, 2012

♥ o ♥ o ♥ Huge thanks to all of you wonderful friends for your comments and favs! ♥ o ♥ o ♥

Old Québec, its walled city perched high on a bluff above the Saint Lawrence River and the lower town or Quartier Petit-Champlain by the water's edge, has roots going back to the early seventeenth century. This entrance in an old stone building on Rue Saint-Jean is an example of some of the old-world charm that makes Québec so unique. Unfortunately, I didn’t notice the name of the restaurant as I walked by and quickly snapped this shot in the late evening.

Baby Shower ~ the lovely table

nobody@flickr.com (©EpicureanPiranha ~) — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 10:10:02 -0700

©EpicureanPiranha ~ posted a photo:

My dear friend Loni, Mieke's mom, and some of Mieke's friends organised this lovely baby shower. I made the desserts ~ marie

A Special Birthday Cake ~

nobody@flickr.com (©EpicureanPiranha ~) — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 09:18:21 -0700

©EpicureanPiranha ~ posted a photo:

I created this cake for my very special friend (& auntie) Solange. It's a hazelnut buttermilk cake, sandwiched with a fresh hazelnut butter & Belgian chocolate filling, iced with Swiss meringue buttercream. I dipped hazelnuts into caramel and made caramel coils for the decoration ~ she was over the moon & it made my week!

Dainty Lemon Sour Cream Bundt Cakes

nobody@flickr.com (©EpicureanPiranha ~) — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 11:14:03 -0700

©EpicureanPiranha ~ posted a photo:

A clearer photo of my tiny bundt cakes. These are so delicious and the bonus is they keep well, if you manage not to eat them all at once!

Petite Lemon Sour Cream Bundt Cakes

nobody@flickr.com (©EpicureanPiranha ~) — Mon, 13 Aug 2012 08:39:14 -0700

©EpicureanPiranha ~ posted a photo:

In addition to the Birthday Cake, I also made a dozen small Lemon Sour Cream Bundt Cakes in pretty shapes, some of which I decorated with fresh rosebuds and placed in tall glass petite cake pedestals with glass domes to decorate the table; I later gave some away to friends who had helped either making food or assembling the verrines & platters ♥

In answer to some of your questions: It does take quite a while to prepare everything! We were 23 people in all. What takes time in addition to the baking and cooking is the planning and final preparation - assembling the verrines, canapés, the platters of hors d’oeuvres, and all the presentation. The birthday cake was also very long to prepare! Fortunately, Solange (my aunt who is my age) came to help me with final assembly on the day, and our friend Susie had prepared four delicious dishes. But it was all so much worth it just to see my Mother’s surprise and joy!

My Celebration Cake for Mom's 80th Birthday

nobody@flickr.com (©EpicureanPiranha ~) — Sun, 12 Aug 2012 21:37:22 -0700

©EpicureanPiranha ~ posted a photo:

For Mom's 80th Birthday, I created this large 11 x 15 inch two-layer lemon-scented butter cake, filled and frosted in Italian limoncello flavoured buttercream, topped with a layer of almond paste, then covered in limoncello flavoured fondant, to give a mirror-like finish.

Unfortunately, I ran out of time to make more buttercream (takes quite a while to make) and had to make due with what I had left to decorate the cake. Then a little hole appeared in my small piping bag and my writing ended up a little wonky, but with the fresh roses, everyone thought it was quite pretty nonetheless! I must say that the flavour, delicate and not too sweet except for thin layer of fondant & almond paste, was the perfect pairing for the sparkling Rosé we served with it ♥

PS: I took all these photos very quickly, handheld, and with very little sleep, which is the reason they're not as sharp as I would have liked!

My Festive Cocktail Dinatoire for Mom's 80th - 06

nobody@flickr.com (©EpicureanPiranha ~) — Sun, 12 Aug 2012 21:27:02 -0700

©EpicureanPiranha ~ posted a photo:

My darling friend Sue (Susan Potter) helped me by preparing her scrumptious Shrimp Patties with Chili, Ginger, Coconut Milk Sauce which she served on fresh basil leaves in cocktail spoons (seen on the left in a large antique round platter); her Veal & Beef Meatballs (center front); her Chicken & Almond tarts with Sweet Chili Sauce (to the right on a vintage-style rose-coloured cake pedestal); and her lovely Deviled Eggs.

Cocktail Dinatoire ~ closeup 02

nobody@flickr.com (©EpicureanPiranha ~) — Sun, 12 Aug 2012 21:27:02 -0700

©EpicureanPiranha ~ posted a photo:

These looked so pretty! Smoked-Salmon & Fresh Dill Canapés on thin Rye Bread spread with Lemon Pepper Butter (center front - Solange assembled them for me); miniature Vol-au-Vents filled with Ratatouille that I prepared with fresh herbs from my garden & veggies cut in brunoise (seen in the small rectangular serving dish, top left); and Sue's (Susan Potter) lovely Deviled Eggs decorated with chives & capers.

Freshly baked ...

Lemon zest, brandied currants & sultanas flavour this delicious Kugelhopf. This is a rich yeast bread, as opposed to a cake, but the texture is quite rich, almost cake-like, because of all the eggs and butter.

My Kugelhopf

Explored :: position 141 on Monday, May 12, 2012

Wow! Thank you so much for your fav's & comments & for "Explore", everyone! ~ Epi

Lemon zest, brandied currants & sultanas flavour this delicious Kugelhopf. This is a rich yeast bread, as opposed to a cake, but the texture is quite rich, almost cake-like, because of all the eggs and butter.

Oh Christmas Tree ...

Explored :: position 422 on Monday, May 11, 2012

Wow! Thank you so much for your fav's & comments & for "Explore", everyone! ~ Epi

Orange Ginger Cranberry Cake ~

I love the Christmas tree bundt cake mold from Nordic Ware in which I baked this cake ~ the heavy cast aluminum mold ensures the shapes come out perfectly. Although it's a little hard to see in this image, there are pretty little vintage train cars that run around the bottom edge of the cake!

Raspberry Basil Compote Ebelskiver ~ Delish!

Explored :: position 331 on Monday, April 25, 2012

Wow! Thank you so much for your fav's & comments & for "Explore", everyone! ~ Epi

The first filling I made was a fresh raspberry basil compote, which I used to stuff the dumplings and serve alongside. Delish! also tried stuffing them with a little compote and some intense, 82% black chocolate, and then made more which I stuffed with cherry preserves.

It was my first try and I used a little too much batter for the bottom half I think, so they weren't as perfect as they could have been. Later batches looked much better but by then we were into devouring, as opposed to picuture-taking!

Even though I’m a chocoholic, my fav’s were the ones without the chocolate. I had used very dark, 82% chocolate, and having tried this, I would now opt for a more mellow, 70% chocolate. But my next batch will be with caramelized pears ....

PS I used the Williams-Sonoma recipe for the batter, which was delicious but makes a lot! The recipe and pan should come labelled with the warning that these little stuffed pancakes are addictive!

Danish ebleskiver ~ almost ready!

The first filling I made was a fresh raspberry basil compote, which I used to stuff the dumplings and serve alongside. Delish!

I also tried stuffing them with a little compote and some intense 82% black chocolate, and then made more which I stuffed with cherry preserves.

Attempting to make ebleskiver

Lighter than the usual pancake, Danish ebleskiver look like perfect dumplings and can be stuffed with all sorts of goodies, from sweet to savory. I purchased a traditional, cast iron ebelskiver pan, and decided that I’d try some sweet fillings as a breakfast treat...