The First Event - My Sister's Wedding

After a lot of work, our first event was a success! Everyone loved the Dessert Table and that made me very happy.

I've learnt a lot over these past few days, I had help from my beautiful family and friends and everyone shared their thoughts and advice.

Since this was my first time preparing sweets for a wedding and in a large quantity, I had to research a lot about it and test the recipes, over and over again.

I learned that, in the end, it is likely that you will end up changing your menu and your technique/recipe.

This happened to me. At first I had planned to make a little cake called "bem-casados" - which means "well wed" - usually given as a gift to the guests. I tested recipe after recipe, trying to get the right texture. I tried five times before getting it right. I then realised that we were giving the guests a different gift and considering the way I wanted to display them (not wrapped, just like little macarons), the weather (it was very hot), the decoration and the time required to finish all of them, I decided to go in a different direction.

Another thing I learned was that, if you are catering alongside another business, things do not always turn out the way you had expected. For example, I had asked the decorater and the catering people not to display mousse at the table, it was supposed to stay in the fridge and then be served with the cake.

They did not follow my instructions, which could have caused the mousse to melt and lose its flavour. This could easily have hurt my image. Since I was part of the bridal party, I couldn't supervise the serving of the mousse. They looked pretty at the table, however they could have been ruined.

Luckly my mousse was well chilled and very firm and so it was fine.

This is something we need to be aware of, because if you are not in charge of the whole process, others may not follow your instructions and this can hurt your business.

Thankfully everything worked out fine and everyone was very happy. I was very grateful to receive their feedback!

I still don't have the official photos, but here are few examples of my sweets:

- Passion fruit and Lime mousse

- Liqueur and Chocolate truffle bonbons, and
- Brazilian nut brigadeiros.

Thank you all for your support!

Here's to a great beginning!

Cheers,

Dee.

Preparation

I've been gone for a while, but for a good reason.

Since I arrived in Brazil, I've been researching the sweets I'll be preparing for my sister's wedding. I need to know what are the must-haves, what is new, what would the  guests like and what will match with the wedding.

There are so many options and versions of the traditional wedding treats that is mind blowing, but I believe now I've reached a pretty good selection.

In my research I also found out how many different types of sweets you need to have, how soon you need to start preparing them and for how long they will last. It's pretty cool.

Anyway, now that I have my menu and quantities, I have to start my research of the best places to shop for my ingredients and start testing a few things. It's a bit close to the wedding, but I can't skip any steps, this has to be perfect!

The good thing is, I have a pretty good "team" to help me out, we are also planning the logistics of the preparation, storage and transportation.

The fun is about to start! I'll keep you updated on our progress.

Thank you for joining me in this journey.

Cheers,

Dee.

Alternative ingredients

While researching for my sister's wedding treats, I've come across a really interesting idea for a substitute for an often-used item in desserts: whipped cream.

Here in Australia the number of people with food allergies and intolerance is absurd! It's one of the highest prevalence rates in the whole world!

Why is it that in some countries kids can eat absolutely anything and over here childcare centres have to be, for example, "nut free" zones?

I wish I knew why that is, really.

Well, anyway, not going to get into that, but I'm here to talk about alternatives.

As you may have noticed, there is one common ingredient in a HUGE amount of desserts in Brazil (it's crazy when you stop to think about it), and that is: CONDENSED MILK.

Man, how we love cooking with condensed milk! - something else I need to research about. :)

Anyway, when I think about starting my business here in Aussie land, I wonder how I would substitute my dear condensed milk to reach out to those who can't have dairy, or any other ingredients I might need.

And what about whipped cream? Sure we can try making it with soy cream or something like that, but can we find a healthier option, an alternative to cream?

Well, for the condensed milk situation, I'm aware of some websites that sell the soy condensed milk from Brazil, it's quite expensive, but if you want to make an investment, that's something you need to think about.

But in a happier note, I saw a post on Low Carb Healthy Recipes'Facebook page talking about an alternative to whipped cream for our dear lactose-intolerant friends!

That is, coconut milk!

The idea is to chill the coconut milk overnight and then whip that adding a little bit of vanilla and cinnamon, which sounds pretty yummy.

I haven't tried that yet, still waiting for the opportunity, but it does seem like a good idea.

As soon as I prepare something with it, I'll make sure I tell you all about it.

I reckon it will be quite light and with a really nice texture to complement our desserts, don't you think?

So what about you, do you know any other great substitutes for baking ingredients?

I would love to hear from y'all.

Thank you for reading.

Cheers,
Dee.

Looking for Inspiration!

One of my sisters is getting married at the end of March and she asked me to prepare the sweets and little gifts for the big day!

It's very exciting for me, I've never done such a thing, but I'm confident that it will be great.

Before making something for someone else, I like to research and test the recipes before making the final product, this time it won't be different.

I'm still looking for inspiration, I have some ideas, but I want to be certain of the choices I'll make.

I know what my sister wants, so now I just need to find the best way to give her that.

Testing the recipes and decorations will be a lot of fun, what I'll need is to find a nice group of people to taste and give me their feedback on it.

This is going to be awesome, my very first market research, I'm loving it!!

So let's get going!

I will love to know your ideas about sweets for the wedding day!

Thank you for being part of this journey!

Cheers,

Dee.

Brigadeiro!

Sometimes when I need that quick fix of sugar, something sweet and quick to make, I go straight to the Brazilian classics.

Last night, I decided to go with something called Brigadeiro.

You see, for us Brazilians, Brigadeiro is the most basic recipe someone can learn, I even had a class when I was in second grade where my teacher was teaching us how to prepare those little things.

It's delicious and simple.

If you don't know what Brigadeiro is, I'll tell you.

It's condensed milk and chocolate balls covered with chocolate sprinkles.

Sounds good?

Today I'll teach you how to make it, then.

Ingredients:

- 395 ml of condensed milk
- 1 tbsp of butter
- 2 tbsp of chocolate powder (it depends on how chocolaty you want it, I mean, you can add a little bit more or not as much, just to your taste)

Preparation:

In medium heat, add in a sauce pan the butter and let it melt for just a little bit, then add the condensed milk and the chocolate powder.

Stir it well. This is the hard part.

If you want to roll it in little balls (like bonbons), then you need to be very careful not to overcook it.

You have to stir until it is ready, do not stop, otherwise it might get lumpy.

When you see the mixture loosing up from the pan as you stir, turn off the heat and stir it for about 1 minute more.

Let it cool down for a while and place it on a plate so it will cool down a little bit more (the thing is, if you just turn the heat off and leave the mixture in the sauce pan, it will keep cooking, therefore, you should let it cool down a little bit and then transfer the mixture to a plate).

And that's it!

Now you just have to roll the little balls and put some chocolate sprinkles!

Tip: put some butter on your hands before rolling the brigadeiro balls so it won't all stick to your hands.

Tip 2: if you wish, you can place the brigadeiro in little cups instead of rolling them. You just need to turn off the heat when the brigadeiro gets a little bit thick, before it starts to loosen up from the pan.


This is a great option for kids' parties, they will love it!

I hope you have enjoyed it!

Thanks for reading.
Cheers,
Dee.

Bittersweet

http://snstoman.wordpress.com/2012/05/27/sugar/

After a great couple of weeks back with my family in Brazil, I am finally back in Sydney!

My time there was really lovely and I had an opportunity to research a little bit about the things that I thought I missed the most (culinary wise).

There was a shop that I just knew I had to go, for me, they have the best cakes in my town, and with my creations, I'm always comparing to them and hopefully I will get my cakes to taste like theirs.

There is nothing too fancy about them. However, there is something quite special about their “essence”; it is the fact that as soon as you walk through their doors that amazing smell of fresh baked cakes fills you!!

But with their cakes, what I love about them is how super soft and moist they are, which is, for me, a perfect combination!

So the expectation was huge, all I could think about was getting my hands on one of their cakes.

As soon as I had recovered, a little bit, from the jet lag, I went to the store and bought my favourite: chocolate truffle - it has a touch of cherry that just makes the cake amazing.

It was just what I expected it would be - the soft and moist cake with a creamy chocolate and cherry filling.

After finally having what I was craving for, I went there again, just a few days before returning to Sydney, and bought a few different slices of cakes they had on display that day to sample all the different flavours.

That’s when it happened: disappointment. The cakes were extremely sweet, I took one little bite and that was it.

I didn't remember how sweet the cakes were, I was just so excited about trying their selection again that I just didn't think it trough.

Well, it is not like the cakes were bad, I wouldn't say that, but at that moment I realised that, as much as a dessert we like is meant to be sweet, we need to find a balance, something that can contrast the sweetness of it, otherwise we can get sick of it really fast.

Seems obvious, but it’s not!

I used to be crazy about sugar and all-things-sweet but as I got older and started analysing the things I ate, I started to notice how sugar overtakes the flavour of things and quite often you can see yourself trying things that just taste the same because of the lack of contrast and the overpowering sugar in them.

Now it’s time to research and experiment old and new recipes with less sugar, or simply introduce a little twist to contrast the sweetness of the dish.

I would love to know your opinion about this.

Thank you for reading.

Cheers,

Dee.

Happy New Year!!

2013 has come to an end and I had to stop for a minute to thank everyone for their support.

It has been an amazing year! I met incredible people, had fantastic experiences, tried new things and I learnt a lot!

I am very grateful for everyone who supported me and helped me get this far, and I know this is just the beggining.

We all know that today it's just another day, but we should hold on to that feeling that everything CAN change and be better, that WE can be better this new year for as long as we can, because it is up to us, as long as we have hope, we'll have the strenght to persue our dreams.

We don't know what's going to happen next year, but give it some time, it may take a few months to get what you wished for, but as long as you try and hope, a lot can happen!

So let's get togheter with our family and friends, and just have a lovely time!

Leave all the bad experiences you had this past year behind, only take with you the lessons you've learned from them and don't forget the good memories!

I know I will!

Happy New Year everyone!!