Jenn Di Spirito Photography Blog | Vancouver Maternity, Newborn and Family Photographer http://jenndispiritophotography.com/ Jenn Di Spirito Photography is a Vancouver maternity, newborn and family photographer boutique studio serving Vancouver and the surrounding areas. I specialize in colourful, modern photography that captures the authentic emotions and unique relationships of your family. en Copyright 2010 Tue, 31 Aug 2010 10:00:00 -0800 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/ http://www.rssboard.org/rss-specification A Year of Cakes: Week 13 For the next year I am doing a project - a different cake each week for an entire year - following the book All Cakes Considered: A Year's Worth of Weekly Recipes Tested, Tasted and Approved by the Staff of NPR's All Things Considered. You can read about the start of my project here and look at each week to date here.

The recipe: Chocolate Pound Cake

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In Jim's words "finally a chocolate one". And not just a chocolate one, a really good chocolate one.

I decided to try using the fancy (well, fancier than the plain tube pan I've been using) stoneware bundt pan I've had for years and rarely use. Unfortunately, I neglected to measure the bundt pan before hand to make sure it was big enough.

Or maybe I should say fortunately since someone had to eat the scraps of warm cake that I had to cut off the top of the pan so I could turn it over and un-mold it to cool. This cake is amazing. The perfect amount of chocolate-ness and just the right texture.

Recipients: I made this one the day before me and the kids headed up to the lake for a week so half came with us and half stayed home with Jim.

Verdict: Delicious and easy. Definitely a keeper.

Up next: Mary Carole Battle's Mother's Wacky Cake with Seven-Minute Frosting


]]> http://jenndispiritophotography.com/2010/08/a-year-of-cakes-week-13.html http://jenndispiritophotography.com/2010/08/a-year-of-cakes-week-13.html a year of cakes a year of cakes vancouver family maternity newborn photographer Tue, 31 Aug 2010 10:00:00 -0800 A Year of Cakes: Week 12 For the next year I am doing a project - a different cake each week for an entire year - following the book All Cakes Considered: A Year's Worth of Weekly Recipes Tested, Tasted and Approved by the Staff of NPR's All Things Considered. You can read about the start of my project here and look at each week to date here.

The recipe: ATF Gingerbread

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I was really looking forward to making this one even though this was the second gingerbread cake I was making in two weeks. The combination of crystallized ginger and dark beer really intrigued me. And as I mentioned last week, I'm a sucker for cream cheese frosting.

I'm actually a week ahead of my blog posts, just in case something comes up and I'm not able to bake a cake one week. I considered pushing this one off a week since my usual baking day fell in the middle of one of our heat waves and there was no way I was cooking a cake in 30+ degree heat. But we ended up moving to my parents (air-conditioned) place for a couple days so I decided to take advantage and bake it there. A little tricky since my mom, who is a great cook, doesn't like to bake and therefore doesn't own a stand mixer, but I made it work.

And I actually quite liked it when I first tried it. But Jim hated it. He though the chunks of ginger were weird and that it was way too gingery in general. And then I got to wondering if it was the cream cheese frosting that made me like eating it more than the taste of the actual cake.

Recipients: No one, since Jim's reaction to it was so negative. I was kind of scared of foisting the cake on anyone else.

Verdict: I think we've established it's weird. And not getting made again.

Up next: Chocolate Pound Cake

]]> http://jenndispiritophotography.com/2010/08/a-year-of-cakes-week-12.html http://jenndispiritophotography.com/2010/08/a-year-of-cakes-week-12.html a year of cakes a year of cakes vancouver family maternity newborn photographer Tue, 24 Aug 2010 08:00:00 -0800 A Year of Cakes: Week 11 For the next year I am doing a project - a different cake each week for an entire year - following the book All Cakes Considered: A Year's Worth of Weekly Recipes Tested, Tasted and Approved by the Staff of NPR's All Things Considered. You can read about the start of my project here and look at each week to date here.

The recipe: Gingerbread

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I had to post a before and after photograph of this one. I wanted to make sure it was moist so I was checking it regularly but by the time the middle of the cake was set, the edges seemed a little well done. Nothing a bread knife won't fix. :)

I trimmed off the edges and sprinkled a little icing sugar over the top to make it pretty. I hadn't been grocery shopping yet but if I'd had some fresh berries I would have piled a small handful of them in the middle to hide my "testing to see if it's done" marks.

Recipients: Another of Jim's cousins who came by to see the kids.

Verdict: Pretty good. I didn't play with the sugar on this one since there's only half a cup but it was just right as is. The only gingerbread I've ever made is gingerbread cookies at Christmas time and it did feel a little odd to be eating gingerbread in the middle of summer but the fact that it was a rainy day helped.

Up next: ATF Gingerbread. This one looks weird but good - dark beer and crystallized ginger. And it's frosted - I'm a sucker for cream cheese frosting.


]]> http://jenndispiritophotography.com/2010/08/a-year-of-cakes-week-11.html http://jenndispiritophotography.com/2010/08/a-year-of-cakes-week-11.html a year of cakes a year of cakes vancouver family maternity newborn photographer Tue, 17 Aug 2010 21:37:27 -0800 A Year of Cakes: Week 10 For the next year I am doing a project - a different cake each week for an entire year - following the book All Cakes Considered: A Year's Worth of Weekly Recipes Tested, Tasted and Approved by the Staff of NPR's All Things Considered. You can read about the start of my project here and look at each week to date here.

The recipe: Dorie Greenspan's Rum-Drenched Vanilla Cakes

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Not bad at all. I'm not a huge fan of boozy cakes so I went a little easy on the "rum-drenching" but it seemed to get pretty good reviews all the way around. I added a 1/3 cup less sugar than the recipe called for and I think the sweetness was just about right.

Recipients: My family up at the lake this past weekend.

Verdict: They liked it but I think I'd make it sans rum next time.

Up next: Gingerbread

]]> http://jenndispiritophotography.com/2010/08/a-year-of-cakes-week-10.html http://jenndispiritophotography.com/2010/08/a-year-of-cakes-week-10.html a year of cakes a year of cakes vancouver family maternity newborn photographer Tue, 10 Aug 2010 12:25:00 -0800 A Year of Cakes: Week 9 For the next year I am doing a project - a different cake each week for an entire year - following the book All Cakes Considered: A Year's Worth of Weekly Recipes Tested, Tasted and Approved by the Staff of NPR's All Things Considered. You can read about the start of my project here and look at each week to date here.

The recipe: Dorie Greenspan's Swedish Visiting Cake

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After not loving the last few cakes, I was determined we were going to like this one. And we actually did. It was definitely still on the sweet side but I think the fact that this cake is a lot thinner than most (it has no baking soda or baking powder and was only about an inch high) made us not mind the sweetness as much.

That being said, I'm going to deviate from my original plan to follow the recipes exactly. Starting next week I'm going to decrease the sugar slightly. I think we'll like the cakes that much more if they don't give us a stomach ache after we indulge.

Recipients: We cut into this one not long after I pulled it out of the oven and then picked away at it over the next few days. This one was all us.

Verdict: Good. I'd make this one again, minus some of the sugar.

Up next: Dorie Greenspan's Rum-Drenched Vanilla Cakes

]]> http://jenndispiritophotography.com/2010/08/a-year-of-cakes-week-9.html http://jenndispiritophotography.com/2010/08/a-year-of-cakes-week-9.html a year of cakes a year of cakes vancouver family maternity newborn photographer Tue, 03 Aug 2010 14:37:56 -0800 A Year of Cakes: Week 8 For the next year I am doing a project - a different cake each week for an entire year - following the book All Cakes Considered: A Year's Worth of Weekly Recipes Tested, Tasted and Approved by the Staff of NPR's All Things Considered. You can read about the start of my project here and look at each week to date here.

The recipe: Miss Saigon Cinnamon Almond Coffee Cake

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So how many times can I say a cake was way too sweet? I'm really surprised that I haven't been loving these cakes. I have a major sweet tooth. When someone else finds a cake or candy too sweet, 9 times out of 10 I love it. But these cakes have all been over the top sweet.

I'm having a bit of a dilemma. One of the reasons I wanted to do this project is because I always change recipes before I've ever tried them. So I really wanted to bake every cake exactly according to the directions. But is it worth it if they're all turning out too sweet?

I actually made a minor substitution on this one. The recipe called for Saigon cinnamon. I took a half-hearted looked for it in stores and when I couldn't find it, decided to go with regular cinnamon instead. Saigon cinnamon is spicy and we are not a family that loves spice. Plus, I would have hated to bake a cake, pull it out of the oven and then tell Angelo he wasn't allowed to have any.

I did have another little problem with this cake. Usually when I'm making my weekly cake I bake it all by myself so I can really read through the steps and enjoy the process (don't worry, Angelo gets to bake other stuff with me during the week). Not this time. Angelo pulled up his chair to help me and Grace was sitting in her bouncy seat right next to us. So I wasn't totally paying attention when I poured in the vanilla extract. And then remembered it was supposed to be almond extract. This was the very last step and I wasn't about to start the whole thing over. So I just added the almond extract too. Vanilla extra is pretty mild so it couldn't make that big a difference, right?

But it was the streusel layer that was this cake's downfall - too sweet once again. Next recipe with a streusel layer is getting half the sugar.

Recipients: A friend I haven't seen in ages who stopped by for a visit.

Verdict: Okay, but like all the rest, too sweet.

Up next: Dorie Greenspan's Swedish Visiting Cake

]]> http://jenndispiritophotography.com/2010/07/a-year-of-cakes-week-8.html http://jenndispiritophotography.com/2010/07/a-year-of-cakes-week-8.html a year of cakes a year of cakes vancouver family maternity newborn photographer Tue, 27 Jul 2010 14:30:00 -0800 A Year of Cakes: Week 7 For the next year I am doing a project - a different cake each week for an entire year - following the book All Cakes Considered: A Year's Worth of Weekly Recipes Tested, Tasted and Approved by the Staff of NPR's All Things Considered. You can read about the start of my project here and look at each week to date here.

The recipe: Argroves Manor Coffee Cake

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Wow, this one was sweet. The actual cake part was good but there was a stewed fruit syrup that you cut through the batter. It should have been great but it was so sweet it actually gave us each a stomachache.

Recipients: No one, thankfully. :) We each ate a couple slices thinking it had to be better than we imagined. Nope, this cake ended up finding the trash bin.

Verdict: Way too sweet. If I do ever make it again I'll use 1/4 of the sugar required for the fruit.

Up next: Miss Saigon Cinnamon Almond Coffee Cake






]]> http://jenndispiritophotography.com/2010/07/a-year-of-cakes-week-7.html http://jenndispiritophotography.com/2010/07/a-year-of-cakes-week-7.html a year of cakes a year of cakes vancouver family maternity newborn photographer Tue, 20 Jul 2010 14:17:42 -0800 A Year of Cakes: Week 6 For the next year I am doing a project - a different cake each week for an entire year - following the book All Cakes Considered: A Year's Worth of Weekly Recipes Tested, Tasted and Approved by the Staff of NPR's All Things Considered. You can read about the start of my project here and look at each week to date here.

The recipe: The Barefoot Contessa's Sour Cream Coffee Cake

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Nothing much exciting to say about this one. Good taste, a little on the dry side (likely because I overcooked it in my attempt to not under cook yet another one. Not my favourite one of the bunch so I probably won't make it again. If I did I'd definitely leave out the salt from the streusel, it didn't need it.

Recipients: Finally my husband got to eat cake! This one we kept for ourselves and whoever was passing through over the week.

Verdict: Good to snack on with coffee but nothing special.

Up next: Argroves Manor Coffee Cake.





]]> http://jenndispiritophotography.com/2010/07/a-year-of-cakes-week-6.html http://jenndispiritophotography.com/2010/07/a-year-of-cakes-week-6.html a year of cakes a year of cakes Tue, 13 Jul 2010 08:00:00 -0800 A Year of Cakes: Week 5 For the next year I am doing a project - a different cake each week for an entire year - following the book All Cakes Considered: A Year's Worth of Weekly Recipes Tested, Tasted and Approved by the Staff of NPR's All Things Considered. You can read about the start of my project here and look at each week to date here.

The recipe: Procrastinatin' Drunken Monkey Banana Bread

The good news is it was cooked (although I had to cook it for 95 minutes instead of the suggested 60 minutes). The bad news is it wasn't anything special.

The big excitement this week was to flambee cherries - specifically dried cherries plumped in rum and set on fire. I'd never done it before and that part was fun but the cherries on top ended up burnt and I had to pick them out. Anyone who has flambeed cherries (or anything for that matter) before and wants to let me know how to flambee without charring the top layer, I'm all ears.

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Recipients: Some cousins who came over for a visit.

Verdict: Meh. Not making it again.

Up next: The Barefoot Contessa's Sour Cream Coffee Cake.




]]> http://jenndispiritophotography.com/2010/07/a-year-of-cakes-week-5.html http://jenndispiritophotography.com/2010/07/a-year-of-cakes-week-5.html a year of cakes Tue, 06 Jul 2010 22:00:00 -0800 We Have a Winner | Vancouver Newborn Photography
Drumroll please........ the winner is Corinna R.
Congrats Corinna! Watch your inbox, I'll be sending you an email soon.

Happy Canada Day everyone!

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]]> http://jenndispiritophotography.com/2010/07/we-have-a-winner-vancouver-new.html http://jenndispiritophotography.com/2010/07/we-have-a-winner-vancouver-new.html vancouver and lower mainland children family maternity newborn contemporary photography Thu, 01 Jul 2010 22:06:28 -0800 A Year of Cakes: Week 4 For the next year I am doing a project - a different cake each week for an entire year - following the book All Cakes Considered: A Year's Worth of Weekly Recipes Tested, Tasted and Approved by the Staff of NPR's All Things Considered. You can read about the start of my project here and look at each week to date here.

Yippee! I'm moving on from pound cakes.

The recipe: Key Lime Cake

This one had me a bit stumped. I've seen limes around, obviously, but I wasn't really sure what a key lime is and whether or not I could substitute regular old Safeway limes. Hello google (and thank goodness for Facebook).

It felt good to be cooking a cake in a regular round pan - more like what I imagined my year of cakes would be like. The recipe was a fairly simple white cake with a lime glaze over top. And it was cooked perfectly! I have a convection oven and always have used the convection setting but this time went with the regular bake setting and it worked.

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The cake looked gorgeous with the sprinkling of icing sugar I added at the end. And since we were eating it as a dessert for Father's Day, I served it with a bit of whipping cream on the side to fancy it up a bit. Berries would look (and taste) great with it too.

Recipients: Father's Day at my parents' house. I'm only on week 4 and already people are piping up offering their "tasting services". Last week Jim was grumbling about the fact that I'm baking a cake a week yet we never have any cake in the house. I have to say, it's coming in handy to know I'm cooking a cake every week - I can just schedule my baking time for the night before I need a dessert.

Verdict: Delicious. I'll definitely make this one again but I'm going to try using regular limes instead of key limes next time and I'll only put half the amount of glaze on top. My sister thought the glaze was too sweet so I'm probably cut down the amount of icing sugar in the glaze too.

Up next: Procrastinatin' Drunken Monkey Banana Bread. This one involves flambeeing cherries so cross your fingers for me that I don't burn our kitchen down.




]]> http://jenndispiritophotography.com/2010/06/a-year-of-cakes-week-4.html http://jenndispiritophotography.com/2010/06/a-year-of-cakes-week-4.html a year of cakes a year of cakes Tue, 29 Jun 2010 08:00:00 -0800 A new hobby | Vancouver Maternity Photography
With Angelo it was knitting. But it didn't really stick. I don't really have the patience for knitting - it takes forever!

With Grace it was quilting. And it looks like this one is going to stick. I am in love with all the colours and all the beautiful fabrics out there. For those of you who are thinking "really? quilting?". Trust me. This is not your grandma's quilting.

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In fact, there's a whole new movement going on in the world of quilting, and last week it landed in Vancouver with the first meeting of the Vancouver Modern Quilt Guild.

I wasn't sure what to expect since I don't really know what a quilt guild is (and still don't really) but I showed up at Spool of Thread just before 7PM and was pleasantly surprised to be joined by 42 other women - most (but not all) with years of quilting experience under their belts.

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And the quilts they brought! Seriously gorgeous. The talent in that room blew my mind and I was happy to just sit there and absorb it for two hours. And then rush home and start playing with fabric.

If you have a minute, pour yourself a cup of coffee and take a look at the gallery. And if you want to check it out for yourself, the next meeting is Thursday July 15th at 7PM.

And just because she's even cuter on a quilt...
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]]> http://jenndispiritophotography.com/2010/06/a-new-hobby-vancouver-maternit.html http://jenndispiritophotography.com/2010/06/a-new-hobby-vancouver-maternit.html personal vancouver and lower mainland children family maternity newborn contemporary photography Wed, 23 Jun 2010 20:00:00 -0800 A Year of Cakes: Week 3 For the next year I am doing a project - a different cake each week for an entire year - following the book All Cakes Considered: A Year's Worth of Weekly Recipes Tested, Tasted and Approved by the Staff of NPR's All Things Considered. You can read about the start of my project here and look at each week to date here.

I'm debating about renaming these blog posts to 'the ongoing fight my oven' project. I've now had one overcooked cake and one undercooked cake (I swear I'm really not that bad a baker) and I was bound and determined to get this one right. And the author notes right off the bat that this one can be a tricky one to get the cooking time right. Guess what? She was right.

The recipe: Missy G's Sweet Potato Pound Cake

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I really wasn't sure what I would think of this one. Of all the cakes I could make, one with sweet potatoes as the main ingredient wasn't really on the top of my list. But that's one of the reasons I'm doing this project, right?

First, the flavour. Not my favourite. It reminded me too much of pumpkin spice desserts. Maybe I would have liked it better in the fall, closer to Thanksgiving. But Jim loved it so maybe it was just me.

Second, the cooking time. Again it was undercooked! The recipe called for the cake to bake for 70 minutes. I checked it and it wasn't done. And then checked it again, and again, and again. I finally pulled it out after 95 minutes when my testing knife finally came out clean. I still think it was a tad undercooked although the darker spots were likely due to the high amount of sweet potato that was in it.

This week I'm buying a thermometer for my oven to see if I can figure out what's going on.

Recipients: I took this week's cake to the first meeting of the Vancouver Modern Quilt Guild.

Verdict: Okay but even if I could get the cooking time right next time, I don't think I'd make it again.

Up next: Key Lime Cake.




]]> http://jenndispiritophotography.com/2010/06/a-year-of-cakes-week-3.html http://jenndispiritophotography.com/2010/06/a-year-of-cakes-week-3.html a year of cakes a year of cakes Mon, 21 Jun 2010 16:00:00 -0800 A Year of Cakes: Week 2 For the next year I am doing a project - a different cake each week for an entire year - following the book All Cakes Considered: A Year's Worth of Weekly Recipes Tested, Tasted and Approved by the Staff of NPR's All Things Considered. You can read about the start of my project here and look at each week to date here.

The first 3 recipes in the book are all pound cake and I wasn't convinced that one pound cake differed that much from another pound cake so I figured this week's cake was mainly to practice all the steps from last week.

The recipe: Brown Sugar Pound Cake

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And I was right about that, making it was pretty much the same as last week. But I was wrong about one pound cake not being that much different from another pound cake. The brown sugar gave this cake such a rich flavour and I loved the addition of nuts.

If you read about my week one cake last week, you'll know I thought I slightly overcooked the sour cream pound cake. So I was ready this time. Ten minutes before it was supposed to be done, I checked it with a cake tester. And it came out dry. So I checked it again and again and again just to be sure. And it was fine all those times too. So I took it out.

And was so disappointed, 2 hours later when it had cooled, to find out that it wasn't quite cooked. Not sure what to think of the completely clean cake tester but this one definitely needed the full cooking time.

Recipients: This one had a couple potential recipients - a playdate on Monday and a mom's group on Tuesday. But there is no way I was taking anyone an undercooked cake so this one was all for us.

Verdict: The flavour was amazing! Which makes it even more disappointing that I didn't cook it long enough. I will definitely be making this one again, except cooking it for the full time this time around.

The recipe also comes with an optional Cream Cheese Frosting. I didn't make the frosting and I really don't think it needs it. It was a little on the sweet side as it is and I think adding the frosting would have made it too much.

Up next: Missy G's Sweet Potato Pound Cake (not so sure about that one).




]]> http://jenndispiritophotography.com/2010/06/a-year-of-cakes-week-2.html http://jenndispiritophotography.com/2010/06/a-year-of-cakes-week-2.html a year of cakes a year of cakes Tue, 15 Jun 2010 08:00:00 -0800 Contest Entries Due Friday | Vancouver Maternity Photographs
Not sure what I'm talking about?
For the 5 days leading up to my new website launch, I gave you my top 5 reasons why you need a portrait session this summer. Now I want to hear from you.

Let me know why your family needs to have a portrait session with me this summer. The winner will receive a complimentary portrait session with me this summer and an 11"x14" wall print from the session.  My panel of judges will look through all the entries and choose their favourite.


Email your entry to jenn@jenndispirito.com with "why I need Jenn to photograph my family" in the subject line.

I've had some great entries so far; I'm glad I'm not the one who's going to be judging them! Keep them coming!

And just because a photograph makes every blog post better....
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]]> http://jenndispiritophotography.com/2010/06/contest-entries-due-friday-van.html http://jenndispiritophotography.com/2010/06/contest-entries-due-friday-van.html newborn vancouver and lower mainland children family maternity newborn contemporary photographs Sun, 13 Jun 2010 20:24:28 -0800