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COUNTRY LIFE IN BC • SEPTEMBER 2018


September and birthday celebrations A twist on a classic birthday dessert that takes the cake


I don’t know about you, but my friends’ and


families’ birthdays tend to congregate at certain points on the calendar: June, August, September and December. Even the dates have a tendency to clump up together, with a


Jude’s Kitchen JUDIE STEEVES


number who actually celebrate birthdays on the same day,


which can be problematic. I’ve tried a variety of different birthday cakes


over the years, from simple angel food cakes to heavy Bacardi rum cakes, every sort of cheesecake, upside-down ice cream cones with clown faces and the favourite of most of my family: chocolate anything... But my daughter Emily changes it up in a


different way when it comes to birthday cakes for her family. One year we carved out the first slice of cake and a torrent of colourful candies slid out onto the plate. It was a beautiful cake and perfect for the little one with the sweet tooth that it had been created for. This year, she held a rainbow-themed birthday


party for a few friends of both she and her six- year-old. Luckily, her friends’ youngsters are good friends of the six-year-old, so everyone had a great time. However, the crowning glory of the party was what all the kids assumed


were mini ice cream cones sitting on a pedestal cake plate with a glass cover over the top. I don’t know why they didn’t wonder about melting, since the temperature outside was warm enough that the rainbow-coloured slip ‘n slide was a big hit for all of those in their rainbow-coloured bathing suits, but kids, right? Anyway, when the first kids took a bite out of those ice cream cones and


discovered they were rainbow-coloured cake pops in mini ice cream cones, covered in a white chocolate coating with rainbow-coloured sprinkles, there were looks of amazement all around – and glee. So, I thought I’d share with you how she made these super-sweet, very-fun


confections, which could be surprising and satisfying for both adults and kids. Be warned though: she’s sworn she will never make them again. They were easy enough to make, but tedious for one person to assemble – especially at midnight when the kids were all in bed, so you might want to engage a friend to give you a hand.


She accompanied these treats with a tray of sliced veggies artfully arranged in a rainbow and a platter of sliced fruits in a rainbow arc with mini- marshmallow clouds at either end. It was a very celebratory display. Next on the calendar is a return to ‘normal’ for thousands of those involved


one way or another in the school system. Summer’s over and it’s back to the routine of fall, lunches and all.


OATMEAL & APPLE BARS


These aren't very sweet, but they're rich, crunchy, chewy and delicious and they’re great for taking on the trail or putting into a lunchbox. It’s apple harvest time, so enjoy them while they are at their best.


1 c. (250 ml) whole wheat flour 2/3 c. (150 ml) brown sugar 1/2 tsp. (2 ml) salt


1/8 tsp. (1/2 ml) allspice 1/2 c. (125 ml) margarine 1/4 tsp. (1 ml) vanilla


1 1/3 c. (325 ml) oatmeal 1/2 tsp. (2 ml) baking soda 1 tsp. (5 ml) cinnamon


1 tsp. (5 ml) grated orange zest 1 egg


2 c. (500 ml) apple slices


• Pre-heat oven to 350° F. • Grease a 9x9-inch pan. • Blend flour, oatmeal, baking soda, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, allspice and orange zest in a medium-sized bowl.


• Melt margarine in a small bowl and beat the egg into it; then add that and the vanilla to the dry ingredients.


• Knead with your hands or use a wooden spoon to mix thoroughly. • Pat half the mixture into the bottom of the greased pan. • Peel, core and thinly slice apples to make at least two cups and spread evenly over the dough in the pan.


• Pat the rest of the dough on top and bake for about 30 minutes or until it begins to pull away from the side of the pan.


• When it cools slightly, press the top layer firmly into the apples. • Cut into bars when cool.


RAINBOW CAKE POP CONES A surprising treat that’s fun to eat, but very sweet.


Vanilla cake batter (use a mix, or make from scratch) Buttercream icing (see recipe below) 6 bottles of brightly coloured liquid food colouring 2 12 ounce (340 gram) bags of white chocolate chips 24 mini ice cream cone cups Rainbow-coloured candy sprinkles 24 red candies as the cherry on top


Buttercream icing: 4 tbsp. (60 ml) softened butter


1 tsp. (5 ml) to 1 tbsp. (15 ml) cream Pinch of salt


1 c. (250 ml) icing sugar 1/4 tsp. (1 ml) vanilla


• Begin by making up the vanilla cake batter and dividing it into six bowls so each can be dyed a different colour. She figures there was about a cup of batter per bowl, and each bowl made two small cupcakes. • Be generous with the colouring. Use half to three-quarters of a 7.1-ml bottle of each colour: green, yellow, red, blue, purple and orange.


• Prepare cupcake pans, using liners or not, whichever you like, and bake as directed in the recipe for the cake.


• Meanwhile, prepare buttercream icing. Use softened, not melted butter, and beat it until fluffy. Beat in icing sugar; then add a teaspoon of cream (or milk) and add the vanilla and a pinch of salt. Add in a bit more cream if it’s too thick, and continue until it’s the right consistency for icing.


• Cool and crumble the cupcakes into six bowls, separated by colour. Add a spoonful of icing to each bowl and gently mush it into the crumbled cake, until it resembles play dough.


Now for the fun part! • Take about 1/24th of the cake mixture from each bowl and gently press into a ball with some from each of the other five bowls of coloured cake. Don’t mix the colours. Just press the bits of cake together to form a ball. The amounts don’t need to be the same in each ball.


• Place the balls in the freezer for just five minutes, to help them firm up. • Meanwhile, melt the white chocolate, ready to dip the cake pops. Dip each of the mini (not regular-sized) ice cream cup cones briefly into the melted chocolate as a bit of ‘glue’ for the cake.


• Immediately place cold cake balls into each cup. • When all are done, begin with the first one and dip the cake into the melted chocolate and return to the freezer for another five minutes to firm it up. • Don’t try to carry them all on a tray together, but instead use something you can pack them in so they don’t all fall over on the way. • When you remove them from the freezer, dip them once more in the melted chocolate and kind of swirl it on top so it resembles ice cream. Top with coloured sprinkles and a red candy to look like the cherry on top. • Harden them all in the freezer for another 15 minutes or so and then remove and just watch their faces when they bite into them! • Makes 24


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