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He Works Hard For The Money

Bonjour! We are now 4 months into this crazy blog! w00t! This week's blog is jam-packed with new culinary adventures, so let's get started!

In my last blog, I warned you all that last week was going to be busy! I wasn't joking! My first job of the week was for a woman at the College of Mass Comm at MTSU, where I work. She wanted to celebrate our faculty members making it through the year with some yummy treats from moi! What did we come up with? Raspberry-Oatmeal Cookie Bars and my DIVINE Lemon Cream Cupcakes!

For the cupcakes, the batter is pretty standard plus some fresh lemon juice and zest. The Lemon Cream Icing is what really makes this cupcake! It is essentially just milk, sugar, lemon juice, and zest, but it is so creamy and fresh! 'Tis amazing! This is a nice alternative to those heavy and rich traditional cupcakes.

These cupcakes are definitely one of my top 10 favorite things in the world! 

The cookie bars were a new recipe that I tried out for this order. She wanted something healthy and light for summer, so I gave her Raspberry-Oatmeal. It is so easy to make and were a huge hit! The recipe will be posted at the end of this blog! The bottom layer of the cookie tastes almost like a big soft graham cracker, then it is topped with raspberry jam and crumbled pieces of the bottom layer. Everyone stopped by my desk and complimented them! :D

Low-fat, High-flavor!

As you can tell from the pictures so far, I am trying a new way to take my pictures. I made this light box using a carboard box, wax paper, printer paper, and my Exacto knife! Now, I just need to make a bigger box for my cakes!

Second order for the week, the groom's cake that is a 3D replica of the Star Wars character Boba Fett's helmet. The cake was about 6 or 7 layers of lemon cake with blueberry cream cheese icing between the layers and a vanilla buttercream on the outside, which was then covered in fondant. Why vanilla buttercream and not my cream cheese icing? Cream cheese icing does funny things to your fondant and will make it sag and deteriorate. Once coated in the vanilla buttercream, I set it in the fridge overnight. 

The next afternoon, I began my fondant work. How in the world was this huge purple/blue mound going to become a helmet? I have to tell you, I was a little overwhelmed at first... That soon faded. As soon as I started coloring my fondant, I new this was going to be amazing. For the green color, I marbled juniper green fondant with black fondant to give it that battle-worn look. I covered the top of the dome, then I placed black square on the front for the visor of the helmet.

The next step was to wrap the rest of the cake in my juniper green and black marbled fondant and make the antennae. The antennae was a dowel rod painted white with fondant for the top piece. When wrapping the rest of the cake, I wrapped the entire thing, then used my Exacto knife to make the front visor. 

The only thing left to do was the red trim, yellow blocks, ear pieces, helmet scuffs, and assembly. Here is the finished product:

I am quite proud! I modified the background, obviously, lol.

Once decorated, I made some cakes for a wedding cake tasting that I had that weekend, then placed them in the fridge until time to go.

Delivery time! I made the 3.5 hrs trip to Pigeon Forge, TN with my car on full A/C. The venue was on the side of a mountain... That scares me, even without a cake. I always feel like my car is just going to flip over at such steep angles. It seriously like a 80 degree angle up that sucker. I was alone, so my cake was sitting in my floorboard. When my car began going up that mountain, the cake started to lean over... OMG! It sort of messed up the front, but once I got to the venue, I smoothed it back out. No problem! Here it is at the venue:

Rewind back to when I was talking about the layer's of the groom's cake. I had a lot of cake scraps and icing leftover, so I decided to make another batch of cruffles. Oh my goodness... I am in love! These Lemon-Blueberry Cruffles are amazing. I made approximately 50-60 of them, and they were gone as soon as people saw them. The big flavor was lemon, then you get a little blueberry, and the vanilla coating just ties them both together. It was quite delicious and so MOIST. 'Twas delicious! 

I ordered these mini chinese takeout boxes a couple of months ago, and I finally found a reason to use them! They hold 3 cruffles perfectly!

Let's take a break from the sweets for a section on our friend, Mr. Savory! 

One of my biggest loves, as most college students, is pizza. I seriously make pizza dough at least once a week, lol, sometimes more. I have always just flattened the dough with a rolling pin or by hand. Last week, I decided to mix it up and try PIZZA TOSSING! All you do is take some dough, flatten it into a small disk, stretch some over the fist, and toss. Sounds simple, right? Not so much. You have to watch your fingers, as the dough tears so easily during this process. You also have to make sure you catch it, of course, too! It took a few pieces of dough, but I did it! Here is some of my tossing action:

Almost missed this one:

This weekend, after the delivery of my groom's cake, I went back to Maryville and spent a few days with my friends and family. It was quite amazing and was much needed after a semester full of work! My family, having seen my blog and heard of my mad cooking skills, requested a couple of things cooked for them. My aunt wanted dinner one night and my papaw wanted French baguettes. 

For my aunt, I was supposed to use a wok to cook an asian dish, but we put it off until next time. I went over to her house to hang out, then she offered to buy us fast food if I went to get it. After much consideration, we could not come up with a restaurant. Then it came to me, why the heck are buying fast food burgers? I can make better burgers here, and for a lot cheaper, lol. This dinner was kind of spontaneous, so I had to use what she currently had in the kitchen. I raided her pantry and refrigerator for ingredients. I began by preheating olive oil in my skillet and making my patties. I used fresh cracked black pepper, garlic salt, onion powder, and hamburger seasoning on my patties. Once the skillet was hot, I chopped some onions and sauteed them for a couple of minutes before adding my patties. For a little smokey flavor, I added bacon bits on top of patties as they cooked and a little with the onions as they cooked, too. They were then topped with American cheese and sesame seed buns that were steamed with the burgers. The end result was the MOST AMAZING burger I have ever had. It was so tender, juicy, full of flavor, and just perfect. It was so good, that I forgot to take a picture, sorry!

When I went to visit my papaw, he was telling my about his love of French bread and that he wanted me to make some for him some day. Why wait and not make it now? I pulled out my recipe and found all the ingredients it their kitchen. My nana, grandmother, kept checking up on me as I cooked, lol. My recipe is very simple, but requires a lot of kneading... about 10 minutes worth. Once kneaded and proofed, I formed the baguette:

Here it is uncooked.

I placed a pan of hot water in the stove, as well as spraying the oven walls with water to get a crispier crust. At about half-way through the baking, i brushed each with olive oil. This gives the baguette a great drown color, as well as flakier crust and amazing color! Once done, I sampled, then gave my papaw a chunk. He loved it, as did I! I didn't take a picture of the end result, I'm sorry! 

Later that night, i had to swing back by to get my phone charger. There was only one baguette left, lol. My nana even loved the bread, and she ain't afraid to speak her mind.

Alright, back to the sweet talk! 

Colored sugar(sanding sugar) is quite expensive. You can expect to pay upwards of $5 for a small jar of the stuff. I have wanted to use sanding sugar for a while, but I didn't want to shell out that kind of money. While visiting with my aunt, she showed me some clips from Rachael Ray. One of her tips was on hot to make your own sanding sugar. It involved dunking the sugar in water, vodka, and coloring, then drying. I was going to try this method, but a little research showed me a much easier way! 

All you do is water down some food coloring paste, place sugar in a tupperware container, then drizzle coloring on top of sugar, close lid, and shake vigorously! 

The starting stages of the process, the sugar clumps, but the shaking will loosen it up and disperse color!

Once done, I placed on plastic wrap for a couple of minutes, then I jarred it up in some spice jars that my nana had given me! I even had enough to make a cool display in my eiffel tower jar!

Here is a really cool picture of jars! I didn't mean to, but I ended up making all the colors of the rainbow, lol!

If you have made it through this blog, snaps for you! My fingers now hate me... lol! 

I have a couple of orders in the coming weeks, but I am looking for more! If you are interested in purchasing a cake, cupcakes, or cookies, email me at joshua.alan.burgin@gmail.com! 

Alright, that about does it for this edition! Until next time, have a good night and tomorrow!

Recipe of the blog:

Raspberry-Oatmeal Bars

1 cup Brown Sugar

2 cups All-Purpose Flour

1/2 tsp Baking Soda

1/4 tsp Salt

2 cups Quick-Cooking Oats

1/4 cup Butter/Margarine 

3/4 cup Unsweetened Apple Sauce

1 1/2 cup Raspberry Jam

Directions: 

1)Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2) Combine all dry ingredients.

3) Add apple sauce and cut in butter using your hands or a pastry cutter until crumbly.

4) Using 3/4 of mixture, press into a 9"x9" pan that has been greased and lined with wax/parchment paper.

5) Spread jam over crust, leaving 1/4" of edge exposed to prevent jam from burning.

6) Crumble leftover crust mixture over jam.

7) Bake for 25 minutes or until done.

8) Cool and enjoy!

Aww, shucks! Is that for me?

Oh, how I love this time of the year! My allergies are gone, classes are finishing up, and my favorite vegetable is ready to be harvested! What is my favorite vegetable? Yellow Corn! I hated it for the longest time, until my Nana made me eat it off the cob last Summer. OMG, what was I thinking hating such an amazing and delicious food? This week, Kroger was having a pretty amazing deal, so everytime I went, I bought some! I think Rachael(the roommate) might be getting tired of it :p 

So why is Corn just a big deal in this blog, if you have already tried it? The answer: shucking. I have never shucked corn, and I almost forgot about the Corn Silk! It was quite interesting! For those who have never shucked corn and cooked it fresh on the cob, here is a little pictorial of how to do so:

Peel off leaves and as much corn silk back and snap off. Use a paper towel to remove remaining corn silk.

Cleaned corn with ends removed for easier handling

Bring water in a pot to a boil and add corn. Cook for 8 minutes, remove, butter, and salt. I add a little pepper, too!

My fully prepared corn! Yum!

What is better than corn for dinner? Steak and corn for dinner! It is a new month, which mean I can have a red meat item! Rachael and I decided to do steak again :D This time, I made up my rub! It was amazing! The recipe is to be shared at the end of the blog!

My dinner :D

30 minutes later :p 'Twas amazing!

Now that we have had dinner, it is time for dessert! 

It has been a busy week for La Boulangerie de Burgin! I had two cake orders this week, plus three more were placed for future dates. The two orders this week were Mother's Day cakes. One was a coconut cake, which I just love doing(mainly because of the leftover cream cheese icing :p). The other was a last minute order for a Double-Chocolate Cake w/ Bohemian Colors. 

The Coconut Cake:

Psh, coconut cake, 'tis a piece of cake, right? "Can you write on the cake?" Oh no, there is the curveball! Writing on cream cheese icing... It takes a bit of work. Cream cheese icing likes be somewhat runny, so I had to tweak my recipe some. I am quite please with the result, and it tasted like Heaven! 

 

:D Happy Mother's Day to all!

Double-Chocolate Cake:

This order was from a friend in my French class, who will also be a fellow study abroadee in Caen. She gave me the order on Wednesday, which was plenty time to do it since classes were ending. She stated she wanted a chocolate cake with chocolate icing, but wanted bohemian colors on the cake. Also, a big blue fleur de lis in the middle. I though about it for a few hours, then I came up with my game plan. I have heard from fellow cake decorators about doing a RIT(Royal Icing Transfer). Royal icing is basically egg whites, sugar, and cream of tartar, so it is tasteless and won't mess with chocolate flavor. I decided that was the best way. Here is how to do a RIT:

Print off the desired image or sketch it on a piece of paper. Tape the paper down on a flat surface and lay a piece of wax paper, shiny side up! Tape the wax paper down, too!

Color royal icing, pipe borders, then flood inside the borders with a thinned royal icing. Let dry overnight.

Once dried completely, CAREFULLY remove from wax paper and place on your cake.

I absolutely loved the outcome! It was really gorgeous and I love how the bohemian colors pop against the dark brown color of the chocolate. 

Now that the cake was complete, it is time to deliver. This delivery was to a person I have never met before, another first. I found the apartment, knocked, knocked again, and knocked again. No one answered! Oh, goodness! What the heck am I supposed to do? I got back in my car and decided to come back later. I texted the client and let her know. She replies by saying that she was there and that she is standing outside waiting on me, lol. We finally find each other and the cake is delivered! Success!

Alright, I hope it isn't cold, 'cause I am about to rock you socks off! La Boulangerie de Burgin has gone NATIONWIDE! Select products are now available on Etsy! Go check it out at http://www.etsy.com/shop/LeBoulanger :D Shipping rates suck, but it is great for those who don't live in my delivery area!

 

My online shop! http://www.etsy.com/shop/LeBoulanger

Alright, now that La Boulangerie de Burgin has gone nationwide, the next step is INTERNATIONAL. That will be a few years, right? WRONG! I have been offered my first INTERNATIONAL ORDER! Madame Gouttry, who is in charge of placing students in host families at l'Université de Caen Basse-Normandie, read my brief summary of myself, which includes details of my business and website. She looked at the website and would like me to make her son's birthday cake on the second week I am in France! If this goes well, who knows where it will lead! Wish me luck!

What excitement this week has given me! Next week will be just as exciting! I have 2 orders and a cake tasting. One of my orders is for a 3D grooms cake! I am pumped! Pictures and more will be posted on the next edition!

Thanks for joining me on this installment! Until next time, have a good night and tomorrow! 

Steak Rub:

3 tbsp Olive Oil

1 clove Garlic - Minced

1/2 tsp Basil

1/2 tsp Rosemary

1/2 tsp Thyme

1/2 tsp Parsley

1) Combine ingredients

2) Massage into steaks

3) Let rest for 15 minutes

4) Cook on Medium heat to desired doneness

Cake and The City

Welcome to a very exciting edition of "New Day, New Way - Kitchen Edition 2010!" This entry is filled to the brim with exciting adventures! I have a lot of sweet treats for you, but first let's talk dinner!

First up: EGGPLANT!

For those who have never had eggplant, do it! Eggplant has terrified the bojangles out of me for quite a while. I finally decided to take the plunge, and boy, I am so glad I did! The recipe I chose: Eggplant Parmesan. This recipe will be featured at the end of the blog! It is too good to keep to myself!

You begin by washing, peeling, and slicing the eggplant:

There are tons of seeds in the eggplant, but they are soft and edible. Don't worry about them!

The next step is to bread the eggplant as you would Chicken Parmesan, except I use Panko bread crumbs to add a nice crunch! Then, the eggplant was baked for 10 minutes to crisp the outside and soften the eggplant. Once done, it is then layered with spaghetti sauce and cheeses! Once layered, bake until golden brown.

All layered up!

Done!

Once done, I serve with a side of penne noodles and more spaghetti sauce! Eggplant is such a wonderful vegetable, well technically it is a fruit, but most regard it as a vegetable. It takes on the flavor of anything you put it in and has a nice texture! If you haven't done so already, try it!

Alright, enough savory, BRING ON THE SWEET!

This past week was Clean-stuff-out-of-the-cupboard-that-has-been-up-there-since-January Week! I have had 4 bags of popcorn that have just sat there for months, so I started to think of ways to use it up... I decided, after much consideration, to do CARAMEL CORN! This past December, I was introduced to Garret's Caramel Corn in Chicago... They ain't got nothin' on me! It was so easy, and DELICIOUS! You just melt butter, brown sugar, cream of tartar, and a few select other ingredients.

Then you mix and bake!

Wonderful!

Not a sweet popcorn person? How about a cookie? I finally perfected my Royal Icing Cookies! Here are some fleur de lis cookies that I made for my French class:

A girl promised to show me how to "dance big" if I brought them in, lol!

Not a cookie or caramel corn person, how about a cupcake?

My aunt challenged me to make a cupcake that she found on YouTube. Bah, I totally owned it and made many more designs for her! I also had extras that I used to sweeten my professors :p A note to all future and current college students: Teachers seem to be lighter on the grades when they are on a sugar high, lol!

The side cupcakes at the top of the picture are the design she challenged me with!

Here are the cupcakes I took to my professors :D The bottom left one is my favorite!

Not a cupcake, cookie, or caramel corn fan? Try some Hummingbird Cake! My grandmother made this cake for my sister's birthday :D It was AMAZING! It is like a banana bread and spice cake had a baby and covered it with cream cheese icing... I am getting the recipe and making it soon!

So, you're not a fan of Hummingbird Cake, cupcakes, cookies, or caramel corn? Try the newest addition to the La Boulangerie de Burgin menu: CRUFFLES! (Cake+Truffle=Cruffle) It is essentially icing and cake mixed up, balled, and covered in chocolate. I took these to school this past week. Everyone loved them! One girl bit into it, and then she yelled "OMG! Are you Jesus?" (Not meaning to be sacrilegious!)  

You have been teased enough with my TOP SECRET project! It is time for the unveiling! (Right after I preface the photo!)

My darling sister, Ashley Elizabeth Burgin-Young, turned 25 this past Wednesday. I had plans to come in on the 23rd to celebrate her birthday and my little sister's, which was on the 18th. I had to unfortunately cancel my trip due to lack of funding and scheduling issues. I really wanted to celebrate Ashley's birthday with her, so I devised a plan to surprise her on her birthday, with the help of my mother(she paid for my gas :D). My last day of classes was the day of her birthday, so I would drive straight to Maryville after class to Margarita's, a Mexican restaurant where my family was taking Ashley for her birthday. Of course, I would not show up empty-handed, so I made her birthday cake, which is my TOP SECRET project! Anybody who knows my sister knows of her "Sex and The City" obsession. So, I based her cake off the main symbol of the hit series/film: the Manolo Blahnik. Here is the inspiration:

Gorgeous, right?

I then devised my attack plan for the cake. I wanted to make a high heel modeled after this shoe out of gum paste and a cake shaped like a shoebox. I started the cake on the 18th by molding my high heel out of gum paste. For those who are interested in using gum paste, it takes DAYS to dry! 

While the shoe sole dried, I decided on the cake flavor: A hybrid of Dark Chocolate and Devil's Food Cake with an Orange-infused Whipped Cream Frosting! How delicious does that sound? 

The cake after being torted and iced, time for crumb coat and fondant!

The fondant was frozen in sheets to obtain the crisp edges of a shoebox! Here is the final product:

Now, how to surprise my sister. I arrived in Maryville right after they got to the restaurant. I called my sister's phone and began singing "Happy Birthday" as I walked in. I had my mother make sure her back was to the door. As I finished, I told her to turn around and there I was right behind her. She looked at me for 2 seconds with the most confused face and then BAWLED her eyes out! She had no clue! I wouldn't trade that moment for the world! I love me sister so very much!

Here we are at Margarita's :D

One last picture! Here is a picture of one of her birthday presents. He is a Chorkie(Chihuahua/Yorkie)!

Adorable!

Well, if I type anymore, my fingers may just runaway! Thanks for reading and have a great night and tomorrow! Check back next week for an all new culinary adventure!

Recipe for Eggplant Parmesan:

Ingredients:

1 Eggplant, Peeled and sliced 1/4" thick

2 cups Panko Bread Crumbs, or regular

1 tbsp Italian Seasoning

1 Egg, lightly beaten

1 jar/can Spaghetti sauce

1 package Mozzarella cheese

1 cup Parmesan, grated

1 tsp dried basil

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees

-Peel and slice eggplant to 1/4" thick slices

-Dip eggplant in egg then roll in breadcrumbs, place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper

-Bake for 10 minutes 

-Remove from oven and layer pie dish with a coating of sauce, then a layer of eggplant, then cheese. Repeat and end with cheese on top. 

-Sprinkle basil on top

-Bake for 20-30 or until golden brown

-Serve and enjoy!