American Baker in Germany

 This is my daughter, Sabrina. She's special in several ways and for so many reasons. But today I just want to talk about one aspect of her. She's dyslexic. She's struggling with learning to read. Because she's in first grade, learning to read is a big part of her academic life right now. She got very discouraged the other day and felt like she was never going to learn how to read. I decided she needed a bit of encouragement. I wanted her to feel that I love her just the way she is. Not because she's a great reader. So, I decided to make a different kind of cake than I've ever made before. I made a cake portrait of my sweet, six-year-old Sabrina. I had some banana cake in the freezer just waiting to be used.  I began by carving the general shape of a face. Years and years ago I used to draw portraits, so I know the proportions of a face. Eye sockets are right in the middle of the face. Eyes are one eye width apart. Noses are about one and a half eye-wid...

This is the same recipe as my vegan chocolate cake. The best chocolate cake recipe ever. Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes: 2 cups (450mL) milk alternative (soy milk, rice milk, coconut milk, etc.) 1 1/2 cups (300g) sugar 2/3 cup (150mL) oil 1 tbsp vinegar pinch of salt 1 1/2 tsp baking soda 2/3 cup (85g) cocoa powder 2 cups (250g) flour  Put the milk alternative, sugar, oil and vinegar into a mixing bowl and whisk until the sugar is dissolved.  This recipe is so easy the kids can help, too.  Add the rest of the ingredients and whisk until there are no more lumps.  It should look a bit like this.  Line a cupcake pan with paper liners and carefully pour in the batter until the cups are about 3/4 of the way full.  Bake the cupcakes at 350°F or 180°C for 15-20 minutes or until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.  These cupcakes are soft and slightly fudgy while being incredibly moist and delicious. Watch us make...

So, there's a trend going around called a sugar sheet. I wanted to try it out, so this is my experience with it. To make a sugar sheet, you need 2 1/4 cup (450g) of sugar, 3 generous tablespoons of glucose syrup, although corn syrup should work as well. And food coloring of your choice. You can also use more or less sugar depending on the size of your project, but you'll need one generous tablespoon of glucose for every 150g of sugar or 3/4 cup of sugar you use.  You'll also need the largest baking tray you have and line it with parchment paper.  Put your sugar and food coloring in a plastic bag.  Combine until the color is all the way through the sugar.  Then add the glucose syrup.  And combine as well as you can. Some will stick to the sides of the bag.  Then dump everything out onto the parchment-lined baking tray and knead the rest of the glucose through the sugar.  You will need to wash your hands.  The sugar shou...