Friday, August 14, 2009

Treats! (Shabbat Kallah + Friday Night Seudah)

Here be treats. Most of this is for the Shabbat Kallah, but the circular strawberry-chocolate cake is for my hosts tonight.



These are cookies dipped in non-pareils.



These are chocolate peanut butter ganache tarts, with the recipe courtesy of the awesome 'Couldn't Be Parve' blog.


And here's the strawberry-chocolate cake for tonight's hosts:


I'm going to make an awesome Mommy one day.

11 comments:

RT said...

It's thoughtful of you to bake for the party and your hosts. The goodies look good. You certainly will make an awesome ,loving and a nurturing Mommy one day!

David Staum said...

Hi Chana,

I have to respectfully disagree.

Yes, I'm sure you'll be a wonderful mother one day, but I don't think your baking abilities are any indication of that one way or the other. There are plenty of people who don't cook/bake very well and make wonderful parents, and vice versa.

And in any case, making contemporary style sugar loaded sweets is certainly not the best thing for kids to be consuming on a regular basis. The stuff looks delicious, but it's not what's best for kids. When they're young it's better for them to get used to fresh fruit, not chocolate cake.

Shabbat Shalom.

dustfinger said...

Hi DYS,

I have to respectfully disagree with you.

Those of us who know Chana know that she was not brought up with junk food and cakes. What she's saying is that she loves to bake/cook, and that her children will definitely appreciate these abilities because not everyone possesses them.

Oh and by the way, some fruits have way more carbs than cake and research shows that over-eating fruit just like over-eating cake is one of the causes of abdominal obesity.

David Staum said...

dustfinger,

Fresh fruit?

I'm not blanketly disagreeing, but I'm skeptical of that claim. Do you a link to the research?

RT said...

DYS,

The following is based on articles I read in Diabetes Care as well as Diabetes in control. Unfortunately, I can't find the article online at the moment; if/when I find it I'll attach a link for you.

The research deals with carbohydrate consumption(fruit specifically), spikes in blood sugars and high triglyceride levels in one's blood .

Fructose, also known as fruit sugar (levulose) is a simple sugar twice as sweet as sucrose (table sugar). Fructose, especially its excessive consumption, may increase:

1) The risk of abnormal blood clotting ailments and hypertension (high blood pressure)

2) The risk of type 2 diabetes

3) Total blood cholesterol levels (it serves in part as the raw material for the synthesis of cholesterol within the body)

4) LDL - “bad” cholesterol levels, and blood triglyceride levels, especially in diabetics (fructose has a greater propensity to increase serum triglycerides than glucose).

Also, consumption of large portions of fructose (more than a couple of servings a day; one serving of fruit = the size of a tennis ball) can lower metabolic rate and cause de-novo lipogenesis (the conversion of sugar into fat) since the liver can only metabolize limited amounts of fructose, thus causing abdominal obesity. Like with many other things in our life, when it comes to fruit consumption, moderation is the key here, the only win-win situation.

הצעיר שלמה בן רפאל לבית שריקי ס"ט said...

Well done.

...though nobody wants to bite into a gummybean when eating a cake..

Chana said...

HaTzair,

Clearly you don't know the people I know.

The Cousin said...

Very well done once again on the baking.

Never thought I'd see a debate about nutrition on your blog!

(I'll remain on the sidelines for this one--though I have my own opinions)

RT said...

I found the article. It's in:

The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition November 2008 , 88(5):1189-1190

See the editorial which is titled: "Why large amounts of fruit may not be healthy".

Shira Salamone said...

Oh, fooey, never mind the food fight--I want some of that cake! :) Looks delicious! I'll try to be good some other time. :)

Malka said...

Chana, have you always been such a baker?