no bake recipe

A few weeks ago, when I was planning my cake for a school project, I wondered what the easiest way to make my cake look clean and professional without spending too much money on decorating supplies and tools.

I knew fondant was my best option to get the clean look I wanted, but this was something completely new to me. I had never tasted or worked with fondant before. And frankly, I was extremely intimidated.

I had always thought fondant was only for the professionals. This was not something I needed to be messing with, and had no need to learn. Wow…could I have been more wrong?! (Channeling my inner Chandler for any of you Friends fans out there!)

Well, I did a little research and found there is more than one way to make fondant. I chose the easy way.

This marshmallow fondant is very simple, fun, and inexpensive to make. It makes your cake look like it came straight from the display case of a professional bakery. And the best part is it is edible! It is not too pasty or gummy (as I’ve heard) other fondants can be.

the ingredients 300x199 How to Make Marshmallow Fondant

kneading the fondant 300x199 How to Make Marshmallow Fondant

Even though it is edible, it is extremely sweet and your teeth will probably hurt if you try to consume too much.

[Read more...]

Nanaimo Bars, a Canadian Treat

Many of you may not have had, or even heard of a nanaimo bar. I know I had no idea what it was the first time I stumbled on to a recipe from Cakespy. But of course, I was intrigued.

Darn you Cakespy, and all your tempting recipes!

To answer the most obvious question first – what exactly is a nanaimo bar? – I turned to Wikipedia.

According to Wikipedia,

“The Nanaimo bar is a dessert of Canadian origin popular across North America. Made of chocolate no-bake square, it is named after the West-Coast city of Nanaimo, British Columbia. It consists of a wafer crumb-based layer, topped by a layer of light vanilla or custard flavoured butter icing, which is covered in chocolate made from melted chocolate squares.

Many varieties are possible by using different types of crumb, flavours of icing (e.g. mint, peanut butter), and types of chocolate. Two popular variations on the traditional Nanaimo bar involve mint flavoured icing or mocha flavoured icing.” You can read more about the history of these tasty bars here!

I asked a few of my friends on Facebook if they had ever had a nanaimo bar, and I asked my favorite Canadians if they had ever had one, or knew what it was.

The response was basically, no idea what that is – but I’ll try it! One of my friends had seen them at a coffee shop he worked at, but he was the only one.

So, I set out to try my hand at the famed Nanaimo Bar.