A Degree in Cell and Molecular Gastronomy?

Yes, I finally graduated from my BSc in a Specialization of Cell and Molecular BIOLOGY! But these days as I search for jobs and cook I find myself falling further into the culinary aspects of the molecular world as opposed to Genomics. This whole Molecular Gastronomy craze both annoys and intrigues me. I truly believe in a whole and healthy meal; you know those ones that have been prepared the same way for generations. On the other hand I am constantly interested in the 'what, why, and how can I mess with it to make it better' aspect of life.


In comes this month’s Daring Cooks challenge, a recipe from Alinea the leading edge cookbook on molecular gastronomy. Supposedly this is the easiest recipe in the book as it doesn’t call for any ingredients or instruments that would have to be checked out of the lab. The idea was to present five different powders made from simple dehydrated ingredients to accompany a lush burre monte poached Skate wing.

For this challenge I decided to powder Capers, Lemon, Red Onion, Cilantro, and Field Strawberries from last weekend’s Quinn Farms raid. Everything was going well until the last minute of dehydration. You see I was one of the participants that didn’t own a dehydrator and had to “wing it” with the microwave. Each ingredient that I painstakingly attended to tried eagerly to burn in mere seconds after almost 30 minutes on low. Luckily I caught them before they all burnt to a crisp and most were salvaged. Needless to say I spent most of Sunday making and ruining powders.

Despite the small setbacks everything turned out wonderfully. The burre monte poached skate was tender yet juicy and each powder added a burst of flavour to every succulent bite. I really only made the strawberry powder for aesthetic reasons, but in the end it was one of my favourites. The lemon and red onion powders were transformed into an intensely flavourful complement to the Skate that I wasn’t expecting.

After the two days of dehydration and prep that went into this dish I don’t think that I will be making it again anytime soon, but I'm so glad to have tried it. Thanks to Sketchy's Kitchen for picking such a wonderful challenge and you can find the recipe for this and other challenges at The Daring Kitchen.

Strawberry Ice Cream/Sherbert and Strawberry Picking

Over the past month my roommate Adam and I have been following La Ferme Quinn's blog eagerly anticipating the upcoming strawberry, raspberry, and blueberry picking season. Well last week they posted some succulent pictures of plump raspberries and strawberries so we set the date.




Saturday July 12 we drove west, just across the Montreal Bridge and onto a beautiful island called Ile Perrot. Quinn Farm is only about 25 minutes by car (including a Tim Horton’s coffee stop) so it was the perfect outing for a Saturday afternoon. Ian was a real trooper and joined in the fun even though he is allergic to strawberries.


(picture of my roomate Adam)


Quinn Farm is such a beautiful and vast place with old rustic farm houses and miles of vegetable and fruit patches. When we arrived we were given two large baskets and put on a waggon that drove past the raspberry, apple, blueberry, pumpkin, Christmas tree, current,and asparagus fields (I think I even saw zucchini blossoms) right up to hundreds of rows of strawberry plants.

But of course, when we started picking the sky turned grey and it started to drizzle. Because Ian couldn't pick the strawberries he stood behind me the whole time with a giant umbrella pointing out where he saw some big juicy berries. He's the best eh!


By the time we were finished with the strawberries it was too wet to slosh our way through the raspberry bushes (what an insane storm!) so next weekend we're heading back over the bridge to fill up on all the other berries. I can't wait!



Lately I have become an Ice Cream queen due to David Lebovitz's "The Perfect Scoop" so the second we arrived back at home I started on the Strawberry Sour Cream Ice Cream. I couldn’t help myself so I doubled the amount of strawberries called for, not the best idea in terms of texture and I ended up with more of a sherbert, but all those field berries made the tastiest strawberry "sherbert" that I have ever had!

I had a hard time picking between the Strawberry frozen yogurt or ice cream and in the end the ice cream won out. But, here is the frozen yogurt recipe, it looks very similar and I will be trying it soon.


(Note from Ian: The large, shirtless man on the right hand side of the photo was a very sweet man. He had actually taken his shirt off because it was raining, and he had brought the tiny girl semi hidden at the center of the photo Strawberry picking, but it started raining and she was cold, so he took his shirt off and drapped it on her. She then ran around the field picking and eating strawberries, it was really cute, she ran by me and had a whole face smeared with strawberries and the biggest smile ever. )

Olive Oil and Balsamic Strawberry Cupcakes with a Herbed Mascarpone Cream -Iron Cupcake Earth: Savoury

So here it is, this month's addition to Iron Cupcake Earth: Savoury Cupcakes! And no, Savoury isn't spelled wrong, for some reason certain words are spelled differently in Canada like 'flavour', 'savour', 'favourite', and 'colour'. Anyways, I am the last person that should be telling anyone how to spell so I will just say that Ian and I are both still amazed that this little blog won the last Iron Cupcake Challenge, and thanks to all of you who voted!

I was a little afraid to make savoury cupcakes after seeing one entry that was a meatloaf cupcake with mashed potato topping. Could I live up to that? Did I want to live up to that? That cupcake will get my vote for sure!

The other night Ian took me out for dinner at this chic little restaurant down the street where I had a delightful appetizer. It was a strawberry and bocconcini caprese salad tossed in fresh basil pesto and aged balsamic vinegar, then topped with a light and fluffy herbed whipped cream. Yum, it was so different, yet so delightful I had to recreate it in a cupcake.



The cupcakes are made with a strawberry and aged balsamic vinegar syrup mixed into a vanilla cupcake batter. I substituted half of the butter for a deliciously fruity Extra Virgin Olive Oil that gave a great savoury taste to the whole cupcake. Once they cooled I drizzled some thick aged Balsamic over top.

I obviously was not going to add bocconcini to the cupcake so I used thick Mascarpone Cheese and blended it with some whipped cream to create a lighter texture. Then I minced up some basil and oregano to make a wonderful herb infused topping for the cupcake.

So that is the story behind these savoury cupcakes. But, if you know anything about Ian, you know that he is allergic to those lovely strawberries so I switched out the syrup for some lemon zest and watched him stuff one after another of the lemon olive oil cupcakes into his mouth. I guess they were a hit no matter what the flavour!

Voting should be open on Saturday, May 30 at 8 p.m. at NO ONE PUTS CUPCAKE IN A CORNER, and will be open through Friday, June 5 at 12 noon. I don't really think that we can win anything again, nor would it be fair, so go and check out all the other entries and vote for your favourites!



And now for the sponsors:
A sweet cupcake ID bracelet by INSANEJELLYFISH, something sweet and dangly from CHERRYCREEKCHARMS .
a sweet surprise from Sweet Cuppin' Cakes Cupcakery,
PLUS, IronCupcake:Earth can not forget our good friend, CAKESPY, who is now going to be doing a piece for our winner each month until further notice - sweet!
Last and certainly not least, don’t forget our corporate prize providers: HEAD CHEFS by FIESTA PRODUCTS, HELLO CUPCAKE by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson, JESSIE STEELE APRONS ; TASTE OF HOME books; a t-shirt from UPWITHCUPCAKES.COM . Iron Cupcake:Earth is sponsored in part by 1-800-Flowers

Olive Oil and Balsamic Strawberry Cupcakes with a Herbed Mascarpone Cream

Strawberry Balsamic Syrup
adapted from A Good Appetite Blog
1 cup strawberries, fresh or frozen (frozen worked really well)
1/4 cup sugar
2 tbsp. balsamic vinegar

Olive Oil and Balsamic Strawberry Cupcakes
1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup fruity Extra Virgin Olive Oil
3/4 cups sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup milk
1-1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt
Strawberry balsamic syrup
aged balsamic vinegar for drizzling on top

Herbed Mascarpone Cream
2 tbsp. fresh oregano minced
4 tbsp. fresh basil minced
1/3 cup mascarpone cheese
1/4 cup whipped cream, no sugar added

Strawberry Balsamic Syrup
If using fresh strawberries cut them in half & remove the stems. If using frozen thaw them. Mix the strawberries with sugar & let stand for about 15 minutes. Place in a small saucepan & add balsamic. Let simmer over medium for about 15 minutes. The strawberries should create a syrup. After 15 minutes of cooking puree until you have a uniform syrup.

Olive Oil and Balsamic Strawberry Cupcakes
Preheat oven to 350°. In a large bowl, cream the butter, olive oil and sugar until smooth and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Combine the flour, salt, and baking powder then add in four parts, alternating with the milk, strawberry balsamic syrup and the vanilla extract, beating well after each addition. Line two 12-cup muffin tins with cupcake papers. Spoon the batter into the cups about three-quarters full. Bake until the tops spring back when lightly touched, about 20 to 22 minutes. Once cooled, drizzle with aged balsamic vinegar.

Herbed Mascarpone Cream
Gently mix together the whipped cream and mascarpone until smooth. Add in the minced herbs.