The Dashing yet dangerous Italian Meringue Butter Cream

I had decide to embark on the 'perilous' adventure of making this lovely icing with my friend Jen, but she's abandoned me for another end of the planet  so I decided to attempt it alone. Perilous because stories are dotted all over the 'net of how wrong it can go.

I picked a an easy(ier) recipe off the internet, after scouring through hundreds and tried my hands at it.I will forever be grateful for that recipe: 

http://www.completelydelicious.com/2010/10/project-food-blog-challenge-4-how-to-make-italian-meringue-buttercream.html

Essential equipment: Food mixer &  Sugar thermometer

The food mixer is needed because the eggs must be whisked at very high speed. I don't think it's humanly possible to whisk that fast for as long as the recipe requires. The Guinness Book of Records should look into a challenge like that.

The sugar thermometer is needed because the sugar syrup must be at the soft ball stage, which is a particular temperature. The Cake Tekniks shop the makola mall sells sugar thermometers, in case you're looking for one.

Sugar/ candy thermometer 

It took me ages to attempt it because I wanted to get my hands on a Sugar/Candy thermometer. It's said to be essential in making the icing, unless you can gauge exactly how sugar behaves at every stage.

You basically need  sugar, water, egg whites, butter and essence.

sugar

Only the egg whites

Cubed Butter at room temperature (unsalted)

That's basically all you need to create this magical, fluffy buttercream.

I was nervous about the outcome  so I documented the process very carefully. 

I put the sugar and water into a pan and stirred it with a whisk. It took about 3 minutes and 30 seconds to boil. I then got the chance to use my sugar thermometer. About 3 more minutes later the temperature climbed to the soft boil stage. 

At this point, no more heat!

Meanwhile, I had put the egg whites in the mixer bowl already and had started whisking at low speed so and I just tipped in the sugar syrup when it was ready, being careful not to hit the sides of the bowl or the whisk attachment while pouring.

When it all went in, I turned it up the mixer to high speed.

You should smell the eggs cooking.

The mixture has to be beaten at high speed until the mixture cools to room temperature. This is to ensure the eggs are completely cooked. 

My mixing bowl is plastic, so it did not heat up as much as a metal bowl would have (I think). 

I allowed it to mix on high speed for 10 minutes and then decided it had reached room temperature.

I then reduced the speed to medium and in went the butter, a few tablespoonfuls at a time.

Some recipes suggested switching to the paddle attachment for the 'heavy mixing'. I ignored the advice (and regretted it later,lol!) Next time I make it, I will switch to the paddle at this point. The icing is much smoother, with no extra buttery bits, in my experience.  

Added in the vanilla essence, turned it on  high to incorporate for just over a minute.

Then taste! 

It can be stored in the fridge, even freezer, quite well. But good luck not finishing it all!

One of my favourite cake bloggers has a similar different recipe, minus the sugar thermometer - in case you don't have one and want to attempt it too.

http://cakejournal.com/tutorials/how-to-make-italian-meringue-butter-cream/
(I made this too and will compare them later)

I used mine to ice a cake for a friend's baby shower. What will you use your's for??

Ice Skating...in Ghana?? o_O

Winter and I have a love-hate relationship. I love winter fashion and winter sports (well, watching, as I am usually too cold to participate for long) but hate being frozen!
So an ice rink in sunny Ghana may just be the solution...fun on ice + the sun! #Winning!! [I hope,lol]
Aburokyire aba Ghana ooo!!!!

Aburokyire aba Ghana!!! 

The rink is located at the Lizzy Sports Complex in East Legon, Accra. The timing could not be better, it's right on time for Christmas. I am told this is the first of its kind in West Africa. By the way,the rink is made of synthetic material (sorry to those of you who planned to scoop the ice into bottles to take home) so it won't melt in the sun.

Skates In The City will be running from the 15th of December 2012 to the 13th of January 2013. Do something new this season...even if it's just continuously falling over on your bum,lol.
Shame I didn't hear about it in time, I might have had an ice themed birthday party, but it may not be too late for you to organise an event. I'm sure it can be given out for private functions like birthday parties and corporate events, so set up an event and invite me. 

I'm informed that It's open daily from 9am to 9pm.

Rates: Children 12 and under: ghc8 

                        12 and over: ghc10

They were very generous to include the cost of renting the skates too. I'm sure not a lot of people have ice skates lying around the house, so that will be very
If you're new to skating [read as risk adverse,lol ], there's a professional skater on hand to offer lessons. If not, enjoy falling, but do get up each time! 

Check out and like their Facebook page for more information: https://www.facebook.com/SkatesInTheCity

Material losses < Good times

Ever heard the saying, it goes something like this: he who thinks he's standing should be careful, lest he falls? Or something like that. Yeah. That saying has taken on a whole new meaning for me since my blackberry was stolen on Sunday at the Labadi beach. I've been there enough times to think I could keep myself and my valuables safe. Who knew how sadly mistaken I was,lol. If you "lose guard" for two minutes you will be 'kwashey'-ed.
I've been a disorganised wreck since then. I had no idea how much information I relied on that phone to provide and I'm still experiencing withdrawal symptoms.  Lesson learnt: hard copies are still the best!  Allllll this happened because of yam and turkey o! Oh! Smh. Follow your heart and not your stomach. But, if you decide to follow your stomach store your valuables somewhere safe.
I've just been wondering if there is security of any kind at the beach? There should be police posts there with all the stuff that goes on there, shouldn't there? If they won't keep us citizens safe, they should at least guard the tourists. Anyway, I will "super-glue my phone to my body" next time I go there. They will have to take me with it.

I've learnt so much about phone security since then [why my friends didn't share all this with me when I still owned the phone, I cannot tell. smh]. My parents seem rather happy with the turn of events, as I'm not perpetually hunched over, typing furiously on my keypad. And of course, no more pinging noises to disturb them. One man's meat...
Anyhoo, saw the pictures we took on Sunday and realised what a great time we had! Mr Kakashi your pics are gorgggggeous!!! xxx
Good times are always  better than material things, right...right??
*sniffs*

Sundays are beach days

The Sensei

Kakashi captioned this pic "Bottos watchers". I'm calling it "Life is not fair."

*sees phone and remembers* *sobs*

Do not covet your neighbours' property but she lives no where near me so I'm coveting her sunnies! (ps. VIP's stylist should note they're for ladies) 

Google is the new Chanel -_________- lol

The Reason!- Don't go to Labadi beach without eating this yam and turkey. That's the only reason why I go there! lol. watch out for the pepper though. It's slow but sure.

Found Eddie's 'self animals', lol

Usain Bolt, eat your heart out

Labadi Beach 

Be careful at the beach! Those guys are Usain Bolt fasssst. 

Curly Aspirations

I've been thinking a lot about going natural lately. During the exams period I had some braids that looked very natural and I got loads of compliments. I even got mistaken for a fashion designer once, hehehe. (I must have been looking exotic). All this positivity had me thinking I could actually pull this feat off.

But when I tell people that I am going to stop relaxing my hair the responses I receive vary. They range from raised eyebrows and  LOLs, to "it won't suit you" , "your face is too small "and "you're too adventurous for natural hair".                                                                                 
                                                                          

I love being told I can't do something, so I can accomplish it and come back with a report and not say I told you so. So naturally, pun intended, I became more determined.
But I decided there wasn't going to be any big chop (BC) for me, no matter how liberating it's said to be. I didn't feel particularly bound or imprisoned, so thanks but no thanks. I only want a curly change because I've gotten bored with my relaxed hair, because it isn't down to my back yet. I've developed a passion for big, curly hair. Think Scary Spice.

my hair in it's hey days....

Also, I remember how I looked in high school, I'm not going back to that 'little girl look'...not until I'm old enough to make it count,lol. When asked to guess my age people always stay within the18 - 21 bracket, until very recently. Now I get 22s and 23s. If I slack by showing up with short natural hair I fear I might backslide to 12 - 14 -______-

So I went to see the lady who had been hooking me up with all the lovely braid styles, because she's a great natural hair stylist (if you want her contact details let me know). She does my friend Amakie's hair most of the time and her hair always looks great.

Amazing Amakie

I had been doing my research and reading blogs:   6-foot-long-hair  * Transitioning movement * Curly Nikki * guyanesesista for advice. My grand plan was to keep both textures for as long as I could and cut off the relaxed ends when I felt it was long enough to style. Once I had gained enough length to style it on it own, then I'd cut the relaxed end off. That was my well thought out plan.
She proposed that I cut it all off. But I insisted on sticking to my plan. So she suggested cutting my hair a bit, so my hair would grow faster and not break.
Sounded reasonable to me....

                                                                            o_O

It's obvious that hairdressers don't use imperial or metric measures. They use light years!!! 

There were some hysterics, maybe a attempt at rejoining the hair, but none of that is important now.
I love changing up my look and going natural won't change that. I think it's going to facilitate a lot of new looks. I can't wait! Honestly though, I think this is going to be a test of wits [my hair has always had a will of its own], maybe I'll finally have no choice but to learn the elusive virtue of patience. Keeping an eye on other newbies, like naturalista gh because I'm going to need lots of reminders why I wanted to do this in the first place,lol. I've also been told that it's easier to go natural when you live outside Africa, because of availability of products, etc. *scratches head* I guess I'm gonna find out about all this and more.
Stay tuned :D

ps. Somewhere in the world Miss Fizz of LITK is probably rotfl at me for my previous belligerence. 

Any Business Start Up Trainees in the house?

Did anyone attend this program???

 I was super busy that day so I could not even daydream about attending, but I still want to know what happened. So fill me in if you were there. Pretty please. 

Glitz Africa Fashion Week(end)

I managed to miss the Glitz fashion week. 

Why? 

Because I've not been listening to Yfm and thanks to Vodafone, I still have nO broadband internet. I live under a rock so I heard about the 3 day show after I had fully booked my weekend. I still wanted to squeeze it in because I desperately wanted to see Aya Morrison strut her stuff. I need her swimsuits in my life!! *fingers crossed that she has 'em in my size*. Her swimwear is divine, it takes the fear out of exposing potentially wobbly bits by the pool or on the beach. It also doubles as motivation to get your body beach ready to rock one of her sexy African print inspired swimsuits.

How hot are they?!?!

Unfortunately I missed it :( but I will get that swimsuit by hook or by crook.
I will have to catch up on the excitement by reading all about it in Bentsifi's Tattle in The Mirror this Saturday.  And thanks to FashionistaGh I can actually get a glimpse of what I missed *sobs*

Were you at the Glitz fashion week?  How did it go? Who was your new discovery? You weren't? why not? Spill.

Ghana's plan for world domination: Azonto?

I'm posting this a little late but...anyhoo

It seems that the BBC has also gone azonto crazy...or should I say azonto-curious?
Azonto has officially gone global: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-18495493

Plus Youtube is flying Ghana's flag today!!!

Now the whole world will know this is true,lol:

Before ruling the world, Azonto first won obroni hearts: http://alawyerinheelsandanapron.blogspot.com/2011/12/oburoni-azonto.html

  

Got an ivy league education: http://alawyerinheelsandanapron.blogspot.com/2012/03/ivy-league-azonto.html


Inspired craziness in Scandinavia :

[smh @ those boxers]


I'm stopping now or I'll repost all my beloved azonto vids, check them out here: http://alawyerinheelsandanapron.blogspot.com/2011/12/azonto-practice.html.

But even thought it's been travelling all over the world, I still think these Ghanaian high school kids rock:



The higher Azonto flies, the further Ghana music goes #winning!

Sarkodie has been nominated for a BET award this year:

http://www.bet.com/shows/bet-awards/2012/nominees/best-international-act-africa.html

 let's hope he brings it back to Gh!

I'm waiting for Azonto to make it into the dictionary and for Microsoft to incorporate it into their programs so Word doesn't correct me all the time, now that'll be TOTAL world domination!

Ps. I feel like Pinky and the Brain could have some use for azonto, Brain may finally succeed in taking over the world...
narf!

Offside rule for women - in ENGLISH!

I intended to write a summary of the unprecedented week we had in Ghana: aviation tragedies in the sub-region, a gargantuan slap which is dividing public opinion, trials of public interest and interesting agitations.
But alas I decided to commit myself to preparing for my exams so I couldn't [i'm so tired of talking about it, and i'm sure you're tired of hearing about it too! shame we can't boycott them]. This is the point where you chime in and encourage me and say it will all be worth it, wish me well, pray for me blah blah blah, yadda yadda yadda.

The World cup qualifiers have started, I haven't been watching the matches simply because I forgot the times. I have been studying. That said though, I love the World Cup. Note that I said world cup, and not football. Because I CANNOT stand the constant emotional stress that people put themselves through, several times a week during football season, to support their teams as they play league matches.  The time, the effort, the hope, the suspense, the disappointment!. It beats me. My heart is not cut out for such vigorous work. I save it all up over a respectable four year period and go football crazy for a little over a month. I think this is sensible and a judicious use of emotion, time and screams.
I always get entangled in this particular series of unfortunate events:
Unfortunately, because I spend so little time on the game I do not understand some of the rules. The one that baffles me the most is the offside rule. Most unfortunately, I forget all about it until it comes up in a game. But I never get a clear explanation because the ones to do the explaining are all so caught up in watching the game! The game ends and I forget all about it until the next game....and the vicious cycle continues. Sometimes someone has pity on a poor soul and attempts to do me a favour by explaining it at half time, but I never get it. They never speak English, they always speak football...which I'm not as fantastically fluent in.
This situation has persisted for years now. Till today!!! God bless Rachael for sharing this on Facebook and the writer for finally clearing it up [ and he used a shoe scenario! I can sooo relate :D ].
I can't wait for the next football game to demonstrate my new [clear] understanding of the rule!!! #winning. Go forth! dazzle and impress fathers, brothers, boyfriends and other ladies. Don't forget to annoy the (smug) women who understood the rule before you did.


Offside rule for women:
'via Blog this'

In preparation for the World Cup, the "offside rule" explained for women:
You're in a shoe shop, second in the queue for the till. Behind the shop assistant on the till is a pair of shoes which you have seen and which you must have.
The female shopper in front of you has seen them also and is eyeing them with desire. Both of you have forgotten your purses.
It would be rude to push in front of the first woman if you had no money to pay for the shoes.
The shop assistant remains at the till waiting.
Your friend is trying on another pair of shoes at the back of the shop and sees your dilemma.
She prepares to throw her purse to you.
If she does so, you can catch the purse, then walk round the other shopper and buy the shoes!
At a pinch she could throw the purse ahead of the other shopper and "whilst it is in flight" you could nip around the other shopper, catch the purse and buy the shoes!
BUT, you must always remember that until the purse has "actually been thrown", it would be plain wrong for you to be in front of the other shopper and you would be OFFSIDE!

finally! Enlightenment has come. 

Thank me later.

The Sky Fell Down

I didn't watch the news reports or take any of the pictures myself, but 10 people have been confirmed dead tonight as a cargo plane crashed into the Hajj Village near the El Wak sports stadium in Accra (which is alarmingly close to a filling/fuel station, as well as thousands of people and millions of dollars in infrastructure).
The plane flattened some cars on its way down, including a trotro ( 207 benz bus), killing its passengers. The crew of the plane, 4 I think, survived.

Joy Fm has the story: http://edition.myjoyonline.com/pages/news/201206/87684.php 

It seems a lot of unprecedented things are happening lately, first the black out during the match and now this. I feel sorry for Poor president Mills who will in some way be blamed (I've already received a broadcast to the effect that it was because he was watching Music Music, a popular TV show and not paying attention to tower control at the airport). Perhaps someone could lessen his burden and fire or suspend the parties responsible [ok,  now I'm taking the piss, I'm sorry ,lol ]

There is no point going over the fact that our airport is badly located, it's waaaay to close to a huge number of people in case of an emergency (that is even if we had the required emergency response for such a situation). I shudder to think of what would have happened if the plane had caught fire and, fanned by the wind, had reached the filling station on that road...
hmmmm...
I was informed that the 'rescue' emergency services reacted quite commendably to this disaster. They secured the fuel leak with foam and took other timely measures to save a bad situation from getting worse. I hear the fire service was on point today! Kudos to them.
Thank God that it was a cargo plane and not a passenger one and that this didn't happen during the Hajj season...and that it had just rained so there weren't as many people about...just thank God.

Here are some pictures:

Nana Kofi Acquah of http://africaphotographer.blogspot.nl/ has put up some pictures as well (spot the difference between a professional and phone camera photos) :

What are the odds of taking a trotro and being flattened by a plane[!] on your way home?!? oh hoh! That's some awful, rotten luck, especially for those who haven't even travelled in a plane before. My heart goes out to the families of the victims. Let's pray that their deaths will be the catalyst to bring some major changes much sooner than much later, as is usual of us. May they not be forgotten.

but ps. those who were there taking pictures, ad3n??? what if the plane had caught fire? ehn?? because you want to know and have something to say abi??! please don't take unnecessary risks with your lives.

Apart from the dangerous location of the airport and the probably preventable nature of this event, which we have all known for years (analysts please don't disturb us on the radio stations), there's something else that's reallllly bugging me. In the surrounding circumstances it is terribly trivial and perhaps finicky of me to even bring it up...but I have to or I won't be me...
A plane CRASHED...but you might not have known it from the Facebook and twitter updates that were 'released' as people heard about it. It became a plane crush...0_o who crushes on planes instead of people?? hmm, it's not by force to update your status on social networks for all the world to see, especially if  your spellings are suspect. "a plain had crush" " a flight has crush" "crush landed plane"
oh hoh! 
I'm  informed my good people are saying a prane clash landed, but I cannot confirm this.
hmmmm.
Please take note that, thanks to the internet, everything you write on Facebook or tweet or however you release it into cyber space can probably be seen by the rest of the world. Try to spell correctly ok. Please.
Apparently, even the station of the nation was guilty of this offence *sigh*

can you see GTV saying crushed too? smh

God help us.