Cupcake Mosaic

To try and further our icing techniques we were asked to design and construct a cupcake mosaic using between 12 and 24 miniature cupcakes. With a lot of thought and effort, my partner and I decided to make a mosaic of the one and only Gary the snail, from Spongebob Squarepants (who doesn't love Gary?). I was very pleased with our outcome although next time I would like to try a more difficult design perhaps.

Gingerbread

Yes, it's that time of year again where Christmas carols can be heard in department stores even though Christmas is still a month away! To help get into the Christmas spirit we made gingerbread houses that will be put into a display at the Hyatt hotel. I decided to make a simple gingerbread house pattern and decorate it in the colours of Christmas: red, green, and touch of white. I enjoyed this project as it was very fun to be involved in the whole processes of creating the pattern, baking, building, and the decorating of the house. I look forward to seeing my house on display at the Hyatt when our class goes on a field trip closer to Christmas.

Pumpkin Carving!

As a Halloween lab we carved pumpkins in Food Art class. The only directions were: be as creative as possible! I carve a pumpkin every year when Halloween rolls around and I usually end up doing the classic jack-o-lantern with triangle eyes and a few teeth in the mouth. This year I decided to do something completely different and I created a happy Jack the Skeleton, from The Nightmare Before Christmas. I was very pleased with the way it turned out and I really enjoyed seeing everyone else's carvings as well.

Spider Web Cookies

Halloween was only a few weeks ago and in Food Art we made some festive cookies for the occasion. We made spider web chocolate cookies and iced them with black and white royal icing. To achieve the cob web look of the icing we first made a dam with the white icing, then flooded it. Quickly adding black spirals atop the white icing we then used a toothpick to simply drag the black icing along the white. I quickly learned that the last step had to be done quickly, for if the black icing started to dry it didn't give the same final effect. These spooky treats would be a great addition to any halloween party.

Cupcakes with Buttercream Icing

To practice our icing techniques we made yellow cupcakes with classic buttercream icing to decorate them with. I used my 3 cupcakes to practice lettering, star borders, and shell borders. I thought they turned out pretty well, and they tasted great as well! Here were my final products:

Rainbow Cookies!

In the past few weeks of Food Art 11 we've made many delicious treats, one of my favourites being rainbow cookies! After making about 80 cookies the rest of my day was filled with rainbows and sunshine (not to mention tasty cookies)!

Another Loaf!

We made another loaf in Food Art 11 last week to experiment with using different ingredients. This loaf consists of zucchini, dried dates, and rolled oats. An unusual combination, but unexpectedly very tasty! This loaf was more moist than the previous loaf due to the zucchini, and was a bit sweeter than the carrot coconut loaf. Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:
300mL flour
2 eggs
185 mL sugar
5mL baking powder
5mL salt
2mL baking soda
2mL cinnamon
2mL nutmeg
125mL vegetable oil
5mL vanilla
250mL zucchini
250mL rolled oats
185mL dried dates

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius or 350 degrees fahrenheit.
2. Grease loaf pans.
3. Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl.
4. Whisk wet ingredients in a medium bowl.
5. Add wet ingredients into dry mixture.
6. Shred vegetable, pat dry and add to mixture.
7. Chop dates then add to mixture.
8. Fold mixture and spread into loaf pans.
9. Bake for 30 minutes.

First Food Art Product! - Carrot Coconut Loaf

Today I made a carrot coconut loaf in Food Art Class. It was delicious! Adding hazelnuts was the perfect compliment to both the carrot and coconut. Who would have known? Here is the recipe (makes 4 small loafs):

Ingredients:
300mL flour
2 eggs
185mL sugar
5mL baking powder
2mL baking soda
5mL salt
2mL cinnamon
2mL nutmeg
125mL vegetable oil
5mL vanilla
250mL carrot
250mL coconut
185mL hazelnuts

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius or 350 degrees fahrenheit.
2. Grease loaf pans.
3. Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl.
4. Whisk wet ingredients in a medium bowl.
5. Add wet ingredients into dry mixture.
6. Shred vegetable, pat dry and add to mixture.
7. Chop nuts then add to mixture.
8. Fold mixture and spread into loaf pans.
9. Bake for 30 minutes.

I am making this blog to document all of the creations I create in Food Art 11 this year. Hopefully nothing will go terribly wrong and that everything I make will look presentable enough to put on this blog. (As it will be up here whether it's burnt or not!) I think I will enjoy sharing my creations with all of you, and I trust that you'll like it too.