Culinary Adventures with Camilla

Holy smokes it was a good mail day! When I heard that El Diablo Mustard was sponsoring #BurgerMonth, I was excited. We are a little mustard mad in my house. I mean, D has his own bottle of mustard that he will not share with anyone else; he even made a Spicy Carrot Cake - with mustard -  for Easter this year. I initially thought they were sending three mustards and asked if I could pick the three flavors I wanted. Then I found out that I was getting to sample all six flavors.* I think I might have squealed aloud. You have the chance to get a set of mustards of your very own! Click for  link to the give-away . I received: Mango, Heat Meets Sweet; Roasted Chipotle, A Kick of the Southwest; Steakhouse, Hearty Flavor to Treat Your Tastebuds; Texas Chili, Don't Mess with Texas!; Jalapeno, Popping with Pepper Flavor; and Habanero, A Flavor Inferno for Daring Types.  My mind is reeling with what I can do to really highlight these flavors. You'll defi...

The last cake I made for the Darth Gaber cake: Sour Cream Chocolate Layer cake. This made one 9"x13" rectangle and an 11" round. Ingredients 3 C white whole wheat flour 1 C alkalized Dutch process cocoa powdered 2 t baking soda 4 sticks butter, softened 2 C organic granulated sugar 1 t organic hazelnut extract 1 t organic chocolate extract 4 large eggs 16 ounces organic sour cream Procedure Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare your baking pans by lining them with parchment paper. Set aside. In a large mixing bowl, beat together the butter and sugar. When light and fluffy, mix in the sour cream, extracts, and eggs. Fold in the flour, cocoa powder, and baking soda until well-combined. Spoon the batter into the prepared pans. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes until firm to the touch. Cool completely on wire racks.

We spend a lot of time dreaming up ice cream flavors. Great family pasttime, right? I think so. Well, this afternoon the boys agreed on a passion fruit + lemon curd combination. It started off as a raspberry-lemon curd ice cream, but we had some passionfruits in our fruit basket. Done! Ingredients 2 fresh passionfruit (AKA lilikoi), halved 1 C heavy whipping cream 2 T lemon curd 1/4 C organic granulated sugar Procedure Scoop the pulp out of the passionfruit. Reserve the pod for serving. Place all of the ingredients in your ice cream maker and process according to your machine. Ours took about 40 minutes to come to a soft, gelato-like texture. Spoon ice cream into a container and freeze before serving. To serve, use a truffle scoop and place a mini scoop of ice cream into your passionfruit pod. Serve immediately.

February was my first month participating in a fun event - Random Recipes - that I discovered on  Belleau Kitchen . I completely blitzed on the project last month, but decided to jump back in for June when we are celebrating the 40th month with a 40-40 combo - pick the 40th cookbook off your shelf and flip to the 40th page. Click for the details: here . Okay, I failed again. I missed the posting deadline. Damn. I will get back in the Random Recipe saddle one of these months. But I made and posted anyway because this was such a fun, easy, and delicious recipe. I got  The Glass Pantry by Georgeanne Brennan. Wow! I completely forgot about that book. Thanks for reminding me that I owned it. In any case...it was book #40. Page #40: Sweet and Sour Radishes! This post contains an affiliate link at the bottom - for the book. Ingredients 2 bunches organic radishes 1 t sea salt 1 T soy sauce 2 T vinegar (I used a thyme-infused white wine vinegar) 1 t wine (I use...

Welcome to #SundaySupper's giant virtual picnic in preparation for U.S. Independence Day on July 4th and Canada Day on July 1st. I'd say that's grounds for a picnic, don't you? Years ago our city used to do festive parades. With budget cuts and all that...it is no more. But here are a few (old) photos of my mini-patriots from back in the day... So, in the vein of red, white, and blue, I'm sharing a recipe for Savory Red, White, & Bleu Truffles. I got the idea from this week's hostess, Jane of Adventures in Dinner  when she shared her  Savory Truffles  during a #BrunchWeek event this year; I had bookmarked them and adapted to make them Independence Day appropriate. Ingredients 1 C chevre, divided into two bowls 1 T fresh blueberries, smashed 1 T fresh raspberries, smashed 2 T chopped fresh herbs (I used a mixture of parsley, dill, and mint), divided into two bowls 1 T parmesan, grated 1 T bleu cheese, crumbled 1 t chili paste,...

Along with the Devil's Food Cake layers, I made a buttermilk cake for the Darth Gaber cake. This made one 9"x13" rectangle and an 11" round. Ingredients 2-3/4 C white whole wheat flour 1/2 t baking soda 2 stick butter, softened 2 C organic granulated sugar 1 t organic hazelnut extract 1 t organic chocolate extract 4 large eggs 1 C buttermilk Procedure Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare your baking pans by lining them with parchment paper. Set aside. In a large mixing bowl, beat together the butter and sugar. When light and fluffy, mix in the buttermilk, extracts, and eggs. Fold in the flour and baking soda until well-combined. Spoon the batter into the prepared pans. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes until firm to the touch. Cool completely on wire racks.

I know the Darth Vader cake looked awesome, but it also tasted great! We refrained from telling the kids it was organic and whole wheat! Here are the parts...click on the name to go to the recipe post. Devil's Food Cake Buttermilk Cake Sour Cream-Chocolate Cake Simple Chocolate Frosting Chocolate Marshmallow Fondant

When one of my best friends asked us if we'd make a Darth Vader-themed birthday dessert for her soon-to-be-five-year-old, I said, "No problem." I should have said: "Your kid is worth all the martial stress that will ensue from a project such as this!" And he is. Suffice it to say: I am pretty fast and loose with my cooking; my husband insists from straight edges. So, I should stick to the baking and let Jake do all the cake architecture. Mental note for next time!         All done!

For Darth Gaber's birthday cake I needed a lot of cake. I just bake the layers; Jake's the cake architect. We started with these Devil's Food layers. This recipe made two 9"x13" rectangles + 1 bundt cake; you can easily halve or third the proportions as needed. Ingredients makes two 9"x13" rectangles + 1 bundt cake 9 ounces unsweetened baking chocolate 4 C flour (I used a white whole wheat flour) 2 t baking soda 18 T butter (2 sticks + 2 T), cubed 2-1/4 C boiling water 4 C organic granulated sugar 9 T organic sour cream 9 T buttermilk 6 large eggs 1 t organic hazelnut extract 1 t organic chocolate extract Procedure Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare your baking pans by lining them with parchment paper. Set aside. Place the chocolate and the butter in a large saucepan. Heat until the butter and chocolate are melted and smooth. In a large mixing bowl, place the flour, baking soda, granulated sugar, sour cream, buttermilk, ...

This made a gob of frosting. We needed a lot - a lot! - to cover a Darth Vader cake. I actually made 2 batches of this recipe. Yikes...that was a lot of sugar. Hopefully our favorite five-year-old will love it! Ingredients 6 C organic powdered sugar 1/2 C unsweetened cocoa powder 2 sticks butter, softened 3/4 to 1 C organic milk 1 t organic chocolate extract Procedure Sift together sugar and cocoa. Set aside. Cream together the butter and organic chocolate extract. Add in 2 C of the sugar-cocoa mixture, then 2 T of milk. Mix and repeat until all of the sugar-cocoa has been added. If the frosting is too thick, thin it out with more milk. I ended up using about 1 C milk. Frost cooled cake immediately. Let set for about 20 minutes before serving.

Another day, another batch of homemade ice cream...D requested raspberry. I had an avocado and wanted to try it in the ice cream. No one could tell, even after I told them. That just means I'll have to try a completely avocado ice cream soon. Ingredients 1 C organic heavy cream 1/2 C organic granulated sugar juice from 1 organic lemon 1 avocado, diced 2 C organic raspberries Procedure Place all of the ingredients into your ice cream maker and process according to your machine. Ours took about 40 minutes to come to a soft, gelato-like texture.  Spoon ice cream into a container and freeze for 30-60 minutes before serving.

I have only worked with fondant once before. Thankfully, my cousin Tiffany, AKA the Cake Whisperer!, gave me some pointers and sent me links to a recipe for homemade modeling chocolate and one for chocolate marshmallow fondant . Thanks, Tiff! Of course, I can't follow directions to save my life, so I took aspects of both recipes, and the first marshmallow fondant recipe I made, and created my own chocolate marshmallow fondant. Ingredients makes three 5" rounds of fondant 12 C minature marshmallows - loosely poured, not tightly packed 12 C organic powdered sugar 6 T water 1 C unsweetened cocoa powder 1 t organic hazelnut extract 1 t organic chocolate extract cornstarch for kneading food coloring gel, optional (we made black!) Procedure Place the marshmallows and the water in a large saucepan. Cook, on low heat, until the marshmallows are puffy and expanded. Stir the marshmallows with a rubber spatula until they are melted and smooth. S...