What's for Breakfast?

When I was growing up, breakfast was a big deal. We always had a delicious breakfast with a hot cup of "tea". Tea could be chocolate, or peppermint tea of if you are an adult coffee. This would be accompanied by freshly squeezed oranges. My dad used to juice the oranges every morning. Mind you he didn't have the fancy juicer it was all manual. God Bless HIM. Breakfast was anything from liver and banana, ackee and saltfish and roast breadfruit, callaloo and fried dumplings. Any of those combinations.

Now that I am a mom it is still a big deal. I prepare breakfast for my boys. From Oatmeal Mondays LOL to fried green plantains with eggs and sausages, baked beans, fried dumplings. This is served with hot chocolate or peppermint tea and a glass of orange juice.

I guess traditions don't go away or die. They are just reborn in another form. The foundation is still there.

Let me know what are some of your favorite breakfast items whether then or now.

Baking Soda vs Baking Powder

A friend of mine asked me what the difference was between baking soda and baking powder and I thought to myself other people might be wondering.

Firstly they are both leavening agents. This means we use them when baking to make our cakes, cookies and such rise.

BAKING SODA

Baking Soda of Choice

Baking Soda is bicarbonate of soda. When it is combined with an acidic ingredient like buttermilk or vinegar like in a Red Velvet cake the resulting chemical reaction produces bubbles of carbon dioxide that expand under oven temperatures, causing baked goods to rise.

Note: The reaction begins immediately upon mixing the ingredients, so you need to bake recipes which call for baking soda immediately, or else they will not rise.

BAKING POWDER

Baking Powder of Choice

Baking powder has some baking soda and acid in there, which when combined with a liquid create the same reaction as baking soda. There are several different types of baking powder namely single acting and double acting. I use the double acting, reason being the single acting baking powder reacts with moisture so you have to bake the product immediately after mixing (similar to baking soda). Whereas the double acting can stand for a while before baking.

This is good for me when I am baking alot of cake from the same recipe using my small oven : )

You can use baking powder as a substitute for baking soda but you can't use baking soda when you have to use baking powder.

Hope this helps.

Consistency

It's been difficult for me to keep up with this blog, but my "new resolution" as of today is to be more concsistent. You know each week gives you an opportunity to have a "new week" resolution. Why leave it for the beginning of the year? You and I know that sometimes by week 3 as life begins to set in we have already fallen off the resolution wagon. But let me encourage you to use each week as your opportunity to rejuvenate yourself and start all over again.

Stay tuned as I resolve to be more consistent. Thanks for tuning and let me know what are your thoughts are.

Happy New Year 2012

The new year brings a freshenss with it, that allows you one more time to get it right. Thank God for this opportunity. We look forward to sharing many things with you this year and please feel free to leave a message for us.


Thanks for following and by all means share the link.

It's Christmas Time

It's that time of the year when you think of Jamaican Rum Cake or Christmas Cake as it is called back in Jamaica. The fruits have been soaked for weeks if not months and the weekend of baking begins.


I look forward to this time of year. It reminds me of my childhood when my mom used to make upwards of 50 cakes just to give away for the holidays. My job was to "rub" the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Imagine doing that with a hand mixer. Thankfully I now own a machine that can do this for me  : ) 


I have continued that tradition, here in the US and have been enjoying the experience ever since.


Thanks to my mother for instilling a love for baking. 


Enjoy the holidays and look out for more holiday memories.

Come with us to the Labor Day Parade - September 5

Hey Beautiful People,

Renaee's Cakes is on the move again. This time we are going to the Annual Labor Day Parade September 5 in New York.

Our booth will be set up on Eastern Parkway, between Washington Ave. and Classon Ave. Please come and support us as we make our first debut at the Parade.

On our menu will be Carrot Cake Delight, Coconut Toto, Bread Pudding, Jamaican Rum Cake, Rock Buns and Juices.

Tell your family and friends and we hope to see you there.

What's for breakfast? - Fresh Baked Raisin Scones

It's one of those days when you get up and you think to yourself, I think I want some scones this morning. Enjoy the pics while I enjoy the treats. Ok so that was mean. : )