A Very Tasty Canada Day

By / Food / July 1st, 2012 / 2

 

canada_day_cake
I began with great ambitions. I was going to make a dairy-free version of Italian Meringue Buttercream Icing for my Canada Day cake. What could possibly go wrong? Well, a lot ended up going wrong. I will, in an upcoming blog, explain the whys and hows of a beautiful, fluffy meringue experiencing its unfortunate demise upon meeting Mr. Vegan margarine. In the meantime, I had company coming and a prepared vanilla cake (the boxed variety). I needed a dairy-free white icing. The intention with the icing was to depict the Canadian Flag. I could have relied on the old icing sugar and vegan margarine, or icing sugar and milk substitute (coconut milk in my case). But, I was looking for an icing that was decidedly less sweet. So, off to the store I go. I found a product called Healthy Top. It’s non-dairy, non-soy, non-gmo, non-gluten and made from coconut oil, almonds, cashews, sweet almond oil and sugar. Although it wasn’t quite like good old whipped cream, it’s the best tasting product I’ve found so far, and it was perfect in a pinch. It whips up nicely in about 3 minutes.

The next adventure was fashioning the cream into a Canadian flag. My 8 year old took on the job of adding red food colouring to some of the whipped topping. We discovered pretty quickly that we’d need a drop or two of black food colouring to turn the frosting from pink to red. Guess what I didn’t have in the pantry? On to plan B. We pulled out our maple leaf cookie cutter and placed it on the cake, then sprinkled red sugar crystals into it. It did the trick, I think.

grilled_chicken

For the main course, we went with a kind of fajita blow-out. We marinated chicken breasts in citrus and fresh herbs, then grilled them over a hot charcoal fire (hence the charred bits!).

grilled_asparagusgrilled_peppersbasil_mayo

We tossed some red peppers and asparagus on as well as a sweet accompaniment. Basil and garlic chives added to mayonnaise gave the fajitas a tasty kick. Add to that fresh lettuce from our garden, and we had the makings of a tasty meal. Ane to drink? We started with a cocktail of Campari and sweet vermouth with a squeeze of orange followed by Mas de Bressades rosé for dinner.

What are you doing to celebrate?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Rosemary Mantini has always loved words. When she isn't working as the Associate Editor at Tidings Magazine, she's helping others achieve their writing dreams, and sometimes she even relaxes with a good book and a glass of wine.

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