I made a cake last week to for a long needed fam jam, I didn’t want to make anything to extravagant or anything too sweet so decided on something simple like strawberry short cake.
Here’s the recipe here! I only have 9″ pans and it worked great, next time I would double the recipe to get 4 layers (2 cakes cut in half).
The sponge was light and moist, I didn’t even need to use a simple syrup.
Here are some step-by-step picture instruction on how I assembled the cake.
1. firstly, I cut the cake in half and spread some strawberry jam on the bottom. Considering that strawberries aren’t really in season, I bumped up the strawberry flavour with jam.
2. Spread a thin layer of sweetened whipped cream on the bottom, fill with sliced strawberries then spread another thin layer of cream on top on the strawberries. This helps both layers stick together.
3. Top with the other half of cake and mask with the whipped cream.
Making it all smooth.
4. Decorate accordingly.
This recipe is a definite winner and will probably use the sponge recipe over and over again!
Going to Biff’s for Winterlicious/Summerlicious has been an annual thing for Carmen, Philip, Viv and I, the first time we headed here was because I read good reviews and their dinner menu was only $25 and who couldn’t pass that up (but this year it was $35)? Take a look at their Winterlicious menu.
Having such busy schedules, we try to at least all get together at least once a year! I apologize ahead of time for the picture quality, the lighting was really bad.
I love the atmosphere of Biff’s, it’s like you’re actually stepping into a light and airy French bistro. As soon as we got seated, we got a warm bread basket with some sour dough rolls (I love warm bread, +1 for Biff’s already). I was incredibly hungry so I literally inhaled one, only after smothering it with butter!
Biff’s has a daily special for $1 oysters after 5pm, how can you go wrong with $1 oysters? Philip and I started with half a dozen oyster between the two of us. They took kind of a long time to come but I guess they were taking their time shucking fresh for us. Fresh, salty, briny and served with a red wine mignonette, lemon and fresh horseradish. Simply Delicious.
We also got the Roasted Bone Marrow Pudding, $12.00, it was served with three pieces of toast, parsley salad and Maldon salt. I swear they mixed in some pureed mushrooms or something because it had a strong mushroom flavour but it was still super tasty. The toast was a little too toasted for my liking and the Maldon salt was unnecessary.
Okay. Time for the bones of this blog, my Winterlicious meal!
Carmen, Viv and I got the Cured Albacore Tuna. It had a little pickled radish salad and a harissa aioli, even thought I’m not sure what harissa is the whole dish was delicious! The radish salad gave a nice fresh crisp texture in contrast to the soft buttery tuna & aioli.
Philip got the Pâté de Campagne, it was nice cause the pâté wasn’t completely smooth and had a new meaty texture to it. Really, really good.
For our mains, Philip and I got the Roasted Pork Belly. It was served with pork crackling, braised cabbage and half a fingerling potato. It was my first time eating pork crackling and it tasted like the pork version of shrimp crackers, super crispy and light. Over all the dish was great, good contrast with textures and the flavours were mellow, clean and not heavy at all…even though you’re eating a chunk of pork belly. The portion was small but I don’t think I could’ve eaten a piece of belly bigger than that nor would my butt like that.
Viv got the Skin Roasted Arctic Char for her entree, served with lentils and green beans. She thought the fish was a little over cooked but an overall good dish.
Carmen got the Flatiron Steak Frites (sorry no picture), having a sharp steak knife was the only compliant; Carmen was having a hard time cutting the steak with what seemed to be a butter knife.
Carmen and Viv got the Gâteau aux Amandes which is basically almond cake. It was light and airy but I thought it was bit dry but no complaints from either of them and they seemed to really enjoy it.
Croissant & Chocolate Bread Pudding is what I got and I absolutely loved it! it was rich, soft and fantastic. Paired with caramel sauce which is my absolute favourite flavour ever! It was a win for sure.
The service was phenomenal, the servers were attentive and several people came over to make sure we were enjoying our meal and everything was okay.
I’ve blogged about the amazing chocolate cake Demetres has here but this time we went for what Demetres is famous for, their crepes and waffles!
This place gets super packed on the weekends and you’ll probably have to wait for about 15 – 20 minutes for a seat but it’s sure worth the wait.
(That pump is a gigantic scoop of ice cream, they never skimp on the ice cream here.) Jessica and I shared the Moo La La cause I can never finish one myself. It had Nutello iced cream, sliced almonds, sliced bananas and chocolate sauce. We finished it at a pretty impressive speed.
Cherry got the Strawberry Shortcake, she said it was alright but she likes the one at Destiny’s better. I try it but I’ll take her word for it.
Sau shared a the Life Sentence waffle with her friend Kelly. Peanut butter ice cream, brownie chunks, slices of banana on a waffle!? What more could you ask for?
This is what Harriet got, I’m not sure what it was called but I know it had mocha ice cream, Oreo crumbs and chocolate sauce.
I love Demetres and will always be a go to place for dessert!
I drive by Danny’s fish & chips all the time but the thought of going in never crossed my mind until last night when I was craving for something deep fried and greasy. Looking up different fish & chip joints near my house I decided on Danny’s.
We came around 7pm on a Friday night and the place was packed! To be honest I was a little shocked that it was that busy and we had to wait but not for too long. Danny’s is a family run restaurant with the father and son on the fryers while the daughters served. I love family run businesses, something about them just makes me what to spend my money there more!
My mom and I decided to share so we can get more! No complaints from my mom since I offered to treat her to dinner.
My mom got the halibut & chips, $10.99, it came with one piece of fish and a mountain of fries…oops I mean chips. Everything was fried well, the fish was cooked perfectly and so were the chips but I tend to like my chips crispy so I wasn’t a big fan.
I got the shrimps, $11.49, I didn’t get chips cause I was going to eat my moms but I guess they threw in some cause my plate looked pretty empty. I came with packaged cocktail sauce (lame, I wished they made their own). The shrimp were great like really good, meaty and crispy but $12 for 7 shrimp? Kind of steep don’t you think?
How could we go to a fish & chips place without getting mushy peas?
These were really good, even my mom said so and she’s been to England plenty of times and has eaten plenty of fish & chips with mushy peas.
I liked Danny’s but I wouldn’t say they have the best fish & chips in town so I guess my search isn’t over yet.
I have a soft spot for J-town, I love getting sushi from their fish market and the Cafe Green tea has the best Japanese curry with bread chicken ever! So I thought I would give Niwatei a try since my sister was raving about their ramen, also because they had a Groupon for $20 worth of food for only $10.
It’s a tiny restaurant with about 10 or so tables and an open kitchen.
It got kind of busy while we were eating even on a Tuesday night.
I came here with my mom and we got one ramen set, one ramen and a appetizer. This is my Miso Ramen for$7.80; I thought the soup base was too salty and there wasn’t enough chashu in my bowl, only two small slices. The upside to my meal was that the ramen noodles were really good, they were perfectly cooked with a nice chewy texture.
My mom got the Tonkotsu Shio Ramen set for $12.80 which comes with an appetizer of your choice and dessert. My mom also made a comment about the temperature of the broth, it just wasn’t as hot as we wanted it. *Note the ramen set is only available for dinner and weekends, also J-town in closed on Mondays.
This is the karaange chicken which is basically fried chicken. It was nicely fried with a light crust and a hint of spice.
My mom got the Mini seasoned Beef with rice as her appetizer. I had one bite and needless to say I ate the whole thing, the beef was tender, the onions were nicely caramelized and the sauce was sweet and savoury at the same time. It was so good, I stopped eating my ramen just so I could eat this.
Chocolate Chiffon Cake was the dessert of the day, it was dry and lacked chocolate flavour. My mom said it was probably day old from the grocery store which is probably true…sadly.
Honestly I don’t think I will be going back Niwatei anytime soon, I would rather pay a little more at Ippai and get hotter broth and more chashu or pay less and go to Cafe Green Tea for basically the same thing I would get at Niwatei.
Bobbette & Belle has the cutest bakery I’ve ever seen, bright, elegant and very Victorian! Everything about Bobbette & Belle is so well put together, from their retail store to their website and blog. Groupon had a coupon for $20 worth of goods for only $10.
The wall of goodies! From cookies, brittle, meringues to marshmallows!
The selection of french macarons! From left to right: chocolate, pistachio, vanilla, chocolate hazelnut, raspberry, cassis, salted caramel and passion fruit.
Wall of display wedding cakes, so gorgeous! So much detail put into their cakes.
Top going clockwise: Red velvet, strawberry and vanilla. The cupcakes were extremely moist and dense. The butter creams were soft, light and fluffy; just perfect. For the vanilla cupcakes you could actually see the little specks of vanilla bean throughout the cake.
I also got some cupcakes to go, salted caramel and mango passion fruit. Along with the cupcakes I got a pack of chocolate marshmallows and a sticky toffee pudding!
Spent a lovely chilly Saturday going around downtown satisfying my food cravings with the family, our first stop was at Hank’s for brunch. I’ve been dying to come to Hank’s after reading pretty good reviews for their brunch menu.
Before heading over to Hank’s we stopped by St. Lawrence Market to grab some coffee to keep us warm for our trek. I love the atmosphere at Hank’s, it was warm and modern at the same time. Dark brown worn out wooden floors, bright white walls, ceilings and some stools and the pops of colour from the art created by local artists.
We got seated right away but the waitress was really rude, she instantly grabbed my cousin and boyfriend’s coffees out of their hands and said no outside drinks (I used to work at a restaurant so I know the rules but she didn’t even give them the option of finishing it outside). I mean if the food wasn’t as good as it was I would have been so pissed and she would have ruined Hank’s for me.
Jessica and I got the Pacific Eggs, $13, Two poached eggs, English muffin, Wild smoked salmon, sautéed spinach, hollandaise & home fries. We both absolutely loved our dish, the eggs were perfectly cooked, the smoked salmon was delicious and not fishy at all. Probably the best smoked salmon eggs benedict I’ve ever had. Oh and the home fries were super crispy which I loved!
Satya got the Breakfast Poutine, $9, the poutine contained sausage, a poached egg, cheddar cheese, tomato, fries and hollandaise sauce. Needless to say Satya loved it and so did everyone else who tried his poutine. Only compliant was there wasn’t enough sausages.
If you know Chris you know he loves cinnamon buns and he loves french toast so what better option then the Cinnamon Bun French Toast, $10, it was served with Quebec maple syrup and fruit salad. I had a bite and it was more like raisin bread french toast than cinnamon bun.
My mom got Hank’s Benny for $13, two poached eggs with fresh tomato salsa, avocado, toasted english muffin & hollandaise sauce served with crispy home fries
My sister just got the Eggs Any Style for $8 and you got a choice between bacon, sausage or peameal bacon.
Even though our waitress was incredibly rude the food made up for it, Hank’s will definitely be one of my go to places for brunch when I’m downtown. Oh, and the prices are really reasonable for the portions and taste!
What’s not to love about poutine? Fries, melty cheese curds and hot steamy gravy poured all over. Smoke’s is the place to go to get great poutine, seriously!
I had to take my Ohio friends to Smoke’s before leaving they went home, I mean what’s more Canadian than poutine?!
The menu, simple but done right! This was my first time heading to the Queen Street location, it’s a fair bit smaller compared to the one on Adelaide Street. Also there wasn’t much seating, just some bar stools.
Satya and I shared a regular sized Double Pork Poutine, $7.99. This was probably the BEST poutine I’ve ever had. The pulled pork was absolutely delicious, it was sweet and savoury at the same time and not overly salty. The bacon gave the whole poutine an extra salty, crispy element and the peppercorn gravy was perfect. When you would get a piece of peppercorn, it was a nice surprise of heat. Perfect ratio of toppings, cheese curds, gravy and fries.
This is the Pulled Pork Poutine, $6.99.
The Montreal Poutine contains shaved Montreal smoked meat, kosher dill pickle and mustard.
Nothing but rave reviews by the Ohioians! I’m already planning my next trip to Smoke’s this weekend!
A must try if you live or if you’re just visiting Toronto!
1070 Major Mackenzie Drive East Unit# H5 | Richmondhill, ON
I come to Vic Hong when I’m usually craving Vietnamese food or just want a quick bite. It’s a small restaurant where you have to write down your order number on a scrap piece. The food is good but in my opinion not as Kim Po (but I do think Kim Po uses a lot of MSG).
The decor is kind of gaudy in my opinion.
Satya got the B.B.Q pork chop with rice, $6.95. He loved how the pork chops had a limited amount of fat and bone on them. Flavourful, nicely grilled and tender, needless to say he ate his dinner pretty fast.
I got what I thought was something else so don’t judge me on how big my meal was. On my plate there is B.B.Q beef, shrimp on sugar cane, 2 spring rolls and vietnamese noodles. I could barely finish half this dish but it was really tasty and beef was seasoned well. My favourite part of the dish was the shrimp on sugar cane, I love how after eating the shrimp part I could just chew on the super sweet & juicy sugar cane. Oh yea, everything on my plate was $11.95.
My mom got fried pork on rice for $6.95. She wasn’t impressed, the pork was too greasy and said she should have gotten the B.B.Q pork chop on rice instead.
After much deliberation on where to go for my father’s birthday, we settled for A la Kitchen. This is my second coming here and after being quite impressed with the first time, why not come again? A La Kitchen has been open for quite a few years (5-6?) now but it wasn’t till recently have I tried it and they serve up some good Shanghainese food.
We started off with some appetizers, from top left going clockwise: pan-fried shrimp, cold bean curd with mushrooms, drunken chicken, more bean curd and jelly fish. (Sorry, I don’t know the exact names of each dish.)
This is so good! It’s basically fish pieces that are deep fried in a batter with seaweed pieces served with ketchup. The fish is perfectly cooked, the batter isn’t too thick and I love the hint of seaweed which isn’t over powering at all; it’s just perfect and I could probably eat the whole dish myself. Highly recommend.
I think this is called something like salted pork belly soup with bean curd & bamboo shoots.
I don’t really know what this is called in english or chinese but it’s egg whites cooked with crab meat served with a raw egg yolk. You usually mix the yolk in with the whites so the residual heat will actually cook the yolk and also eaten with black vinegar. Yum!
This is a popular Shanghai dish called Dong Po Pork which is made by slow braising pork belly in soy sauce with bok choy. The pork belly was tender but it wasn’t melt in your mouth nor as moist as I expected, it was just okay.
How could you go to a Shanghainese restaurant without trying their xiao long biao (soup filled pork dumplings)? These weren’t the best I’ve had but one of the best I’ve had in Toronto, the skin wasn’t too thick and the filling was moist and flavourful.
On the top is a piece of lion’s head, don’t worry it’s not actually lion. It’s a giant pork meatball braised in some sort of sauce, this was definitely probably the yummiest thing I ate that night. The dish came with two giant meatballs and I probably ate one all by myself. The bottom is crispy duck served with a little white bun, I didn’t like it as much so I just gave it to my mom to finish.
We ordered a bunch of other dishes too but these were my favourites of the night.
jyauu.home.blog 