Culinary Adventures with Camilla

  This is the October #TheCakeSliceBakers event and, since I have skipped a couple of months, I'll recap what we are all about... In this group, we are given a selection of three cake recipes. We each choose one cake to bake, and then on the 20th - never before - we all post about our cake on our blogs. There are a few rules that we follow, but the most important ones are to have fun and enjoy baking & eating cakes! Follow our  Facebook ,  Instagram , and  Pinterest   pages where you can find all of our cakes, as well as inspiration for many other cakes. You can also click on the links below to take you to each of our cakes. If you have a blog and are interested in joining The Cake Slice Bakers and baking along with us, please send an email to thecakeslicebakers at gmail dot com for more details. The Cake Slice Bakers also have a new Facebook group called  The Cake Slice Bakers and Friends . This group is perfect for those who do not have a blog but wan...

This month, for  Food'N'Flix , Debra of  Eliot's Eats  is hosting. She asked us to watch  The Holiday * and you can read her invitation  here . And I already shared my Gingerbread Marshmallows , but given that I watched the movie three times in the rental period - yes, really! - I was inspired to make a second recipe. After telling the family about the movie over dinner, Jake actually agreed to watch it with me. So, I didn't ask twice...I just sat down and said I was ready. Dishes could wait! In my Gingerbread Marshmallows post, I mentioned the scene in Graham's house when he serves Sophie, Olivia, and Amanda mugs of hot chocolate...with five marshmallows each.   Sophie: Daddy, she has more marshmallows than I do. Graham: No she doesn't, you each have five. Graham [to Amanda as he hands her a mug]: You have five, too. Also, in the original ad that Iris places about the home exchange, she mentions hot chocolate: "A fairy tale English cottage set in a tr...

This month, Sue of  Palatable Pastime  told the Baking Bloggers that for October: "Let's pop some batter into a pan and bake up one of Autumn's favorite breakfast treats. All forms of donuts- it just has to be baked rather than the fried type." Here's the #BakingBloggers virtual donut shop... A 'Hole' Lotta Fun with Mini Donuts by Culinary Adventures with Camilla Apple Cider Baked Doughnuts by Cookaholic Wife Baked Apple Cider Doughnuts by The Schizo Chef Baked Chocolate Spice Crumb Cake Donuts by Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice Baked Cookies and Cream Doughnuts by Tara's Multicultural Table Baked Donut Recipe Without A Pan by Recipe Pocket Baked Donut Muffins by Sneha's Recipe Baked Glazed Lemon Donuts by Making Miracles Chocolate Donuts with Chocolate Chips by A Day in the Life on the Farm Double Chocolate Baked Donuts by Karen's Kitchen Stories Filled Donuts by Sid's S...

photo courtesy Jenn G. The week before a birthday dinner party, we started testing recipes. We argued about whether or not rice krispie treats were fancy enough for a birthday dessert.  One kid said, 'Yes!' The other vehemently disagreed and retorted that 'Matcha is overused, especially in this house.'  Really?   'It belongs in a tea cup and maybe in mochi, but not in a cake and not in a rice krispie.' Well, I posed the question to my social media circles and the birthday girl herself chimed in: "For my birthday, YES!!" So, it was decided. But it was only one of three sweet treats to cap off the evening...just in case others felt the same way that D did.   Ingredients  makes one 9" round (easily doubled) 6 T butter (I use salted butter) + more for buttering the pan 6 C marshmallows 1 t pure extract 1 T matcha* 6 C rice krispies *Just a quick note about matcha. Matcha is "powdered tea." Unlike drink...

"S'mores for breakfast, boysies!" I hollered from the picnic table about our last campsite of the trek. Silence descended and sticks stopped flying across the site. What did you say, Mommy?!?  both boys gaped. Actually, I think all three of my boys just stared at me. But after 10 days of cooking in the wild, and on the verge of heading home, I was done. Done, done, done, done, done. Done cooking on one burner. Done smelling like a campfire. Just plain done. And since we had skipped s'mores the night before, everything was ready to go. Jake did suggest that we hike up to pick fresh blackberries and stick them in there. That was slightly redeeming, nutritionally speaking. So, I strapped on running shoes and off we went. He whispered as we went, maybe even more excited than the boys about our breakfast prospect. "You got marshmallows, right?" Yes. "You have chocolate?" Yes.  "Dark?" Of course. "Annnnd you didn't ...

When D and I designed the birthday cake for our friend Stella, there was no question about what color it was going to be. Pink! So, D made a batch of hazelnut marshmallow fondant and dyed it pink. Ingredients 6 C minature marshmallows - loosely poured, not tightly packed 6 C organic powdered sugar 3 T water 1 t organic hazelnut extract pink gel food coloring 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. Add a few drops of food coloring to the melted marshmallows. Add 4 C of the powdered sugar and begin to stir with the spatula. Stir until the sugar begins to incorporate and it becomes impossible to stir anymore. It will be paste-like. Scrape the marshmallow-sugar mixture out onto a table covered with parchment and dusted with powdered sugar. The mixture will be sticky and lu...

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...

R insists that I have made this combination before. I can't find it anywhere, but this is what he wanted to bring for his classroom birthday treats today. Despite just getting home from a 2-day camping trip and wanting to do anything but bake last night...I did it. Oh, and they had to be gluten-free for a few people in his class. First I had to make the honey marshmallows, but I didn't let them set, so I guess it's really honey marshmallow cream . Marshmallow Ingredients 1 C water, divided 3, 1/4-ounce envelopes unflavored gelatin 2 C organic raw sugar 2/3 C honey Place 1/2 C of water in a large mixing bowl. Sprinkle gelatin over liquid and allow to soften, 5 minutes. Place remaining water, sugar, and honey into a large saucepan. Melt all of the ingredients together, without stirring, and bring to a boil. Boil until the syrup reaches 240 F on a candy thermometer. With the mixer on low speed, slowly pour hot syrup down the side of the bowl, being s...

I needed some marshmallows for developing a recipe - or two or three - this weekend. To go with bacon, I opted to make some maple syrup marshmallows. I used some of this in its "still cream" state, before it sets. butter powdered sugar 1 C water, divided 3, 1/4-ounce envelopes unflavored gelatin 2 C organic raw sugar 2/3 C maple syrup Prepare a 9×13 inch pan by oiling it with butter. Dust powdered sugar over the oiled sides of the pan. Place 1/2 C of water in a large mixing bowl. Sprinkle gelatin over liquid and allow to soften, 5 minutes. Place remaining water, sugar, and syrup into a large saucepan. Melt all of the ingredients together, without stirring, and bring to a boil. Boil until the syrup reaches 240 F on a candy thermometer. With the mixer on low speed, slowly pour hot syrup down the side of the bowl, being sure to avoid the whisk as it will splatter the syrup and could possibly burn you. Once all of the syrup is incorporated gradually increase ...

I didn't make these - Jenn's mom, Connie, did - and I don't have a favorite recipe for rice crispy treats. But these were so adorable, I just had to share the photos. Make your favorite rice crispy recipe* and wrap it with a fruit leather. So cute! *Click for Kellogg's original recipe: here .