Poutine, You Say?
A celebratory birthday treat made to look like a Canadian snack really takes the cake.
When my daughters were young, I made them elaborate and creative birthday cakes. For my daughter Rhiannon’s fourth birthday, I made a castle cake to go with her princess-themed party. It sounded better in theory than it ended up looking, but it gave me motivation to keep trying and to expand my ideas.
Eventually I had other successes. I did a three-tiered heart-shaped princess cake. There was a purse cake, complete with little accessories, and a couple of cakes with a beachy vibe. I also tried my hand at making flower marshmallow cupcakes—for which you use scissors to cut miniature marshmallows into “petals”— just like my mom used to make for special occasions. They
required a lot of work but looked really beautiful.
As my daughters got older, life got busier and it seemed easier to purchase store-bought cakes for their birthdays. But recently, something inspired me to give cake-making another try.
A few days before Rhiannon’s 19th birthday, we were sitting at the kitchen table discussing her past year away at a Bible college and all the exciting and new experiences in her life. At one point she started talking about how her favorite food, poutine, seemed to be present in so many fun events in her life, dates with her boyfriend and other outings.
She had been unable to come home for her 18th birthday, so we couldn’t celebrate it with her. So in a flash, I decided to design a cake for her 19th that looked like poutine!
If you haven’t experienced this dish that originated in the Canadian province of Quebec, poutine consists of french fries and cheese curds topped with brown gravy.
But when I went to Pinterest for some ideas, I realized I might be in over my head. I phoned a few local cake-makers to see if they could make the cake instead, but all were too busy. Eventually I found a bakery willing to make the “french fries” out of cookie dough while I made my mom’s go-to cake recipe for the base.
In the end the cake actually came together surprisingly
Something inspired me to give cake-making another try.
easily—and on the first try.
The sugar cookie strips really did look like french fries; melted white chocolate doubled as cheese curds. For the finishing touch, Rhiannon drizzled “brown gravy,” which was really butterscotch ice cream topping, over her “poutine.”
Rhiannon was thrilled with the result, and I loved being able to create such a special, fun memory for her.