Kathleen's Confections

Holiday Treat Tins Now Available

2011-11-25T07:42:00.000-08:00

It's that time of year again! This year we're doing things a little differently, too, as I've collaborated with my friend Rebecca Fouquette who is starting her own baking business, From Pie to Infinity. She makes some amazing treats, and has opened up the ordering to allow for shipping, so we're hoping to be very busy in the next 3 weeks.

Without further ado, check out our fancy order website to view these options:

Holiday Cookie Combo Tin
- Pignola Cookies
- Caramel Filled Chocolate Cookies
- Peppermint Pinwheels
- Molasses Chews
- Vanilla Bean Shortbread
- Butterscotch Biscotti

Fruity Cookie Combo Tin

- Raspberry Linzers

- Fig Swirls

- Angel Whispers

Brittle & Toffee Tin
- Almond Roca Toffee
- Pumpkin Seed and Cocoa Nib Brittle
- Butter Pecan Bark
- Thai Cashew Brittle

Holiday Candy Combo Tin

- Butterscotch Chews

- Coconut Rum Marshmallows

- Chocolate Cherry Fudge

- Eggnog Fudge

Caramel Popcorn Tin
- made with fleur de sel

Spiced Nuts Tin

- Chili Lime Cashews

- Honey Chipotle Almonds

A lot of these items are also available a la carte.
To order, you can email me at kathleen@kathleensconfections.com or go to the From Pie to Infinity website to place an online order (this is where you should go if you want to have the items shipped).
Please place orders by Dec 7, and choose to have them available on either December 12 or December 19 (both Rebecca and I work full time jobs still, so can only do our mass baking on the weekends).

We hope you have a wonderful holiday season, and maybe decide to share some of these tasty treats with your loved ones, too!

Salted Caramel Macarons

2011-10-17T22:04:00.000-07:00

So my friend Carol and I have had 2 macaron bake dates in the last month or so. We both have been experimenting with them on our own, and were getting pretty confident that we had them mastered. So we decided to put our baking caps on and work together on a couple flavors.

Well nothing did work out quite right that first evening. Every batch we made was gooey, and stuck to the bottom of our pans. Even our fillings were failing that night. We were both really sad after that, thinking we might have to revert back to the unscientific macaron wives' tales to have success. After a few days, Carol figured out that it was actually her oven that was off by about 50˚. What a relief! Maybe we weren't failures after all!

But we had to be sure, so we set up another bake date to try again. We definitely did better that time, after Carol got a thermometer for in her oven to make sure it was at the right setting. We made chocolate macarons sprinkled with smoked sea salt and filled with salted caramel buttercream. Those came out great. We also made chai spiced ones, but apparently the addition of the chai powder to the macaron shells was a bad combo, as they did not rise or bake well (we suspect the non dairy creamer in the powder might have been the culprit, as just adding the spices of chai would have probably been fine).

What's even better is that Carol posted the recipe online already, so all I need to do is link to it! Wee. She took an awesome photo too. As well, we tried to simply whip the caramel so it had more body and could stand alone as the macaron filling, but it was still too thin, so decided to do buttercream instead. Can't go wrong with macarons with buttercream, really. Looked pretty when we were whipping the caramel though.

As well, she found a site that actually detailed more scientific reasoning for all of the wacky wives' tale rumors we'd been reading up on, so were relieved that some of the tricks actually had good reasons behind them. If you're into macaron baking, I recommend checking it out just so you know the why's of how to do things.

Scharffen Berger Bakery Crawl

2011-10-10T19:26:00.000-07:00

Last Friday, I had the fun privilege of being invited on a Scharffen Berger Bakery Crawl in San Francisco. A very fun event where 30+ unsuspecting members of the media (hey that's me!) hitched a ride on a trolly bus and drove to 4 lovely bake shops to sample wares that featured Scharffen Berger chocolates within them. The company is launching another, newer adaptation of their chocolate adventure contest; this year the idea is to elevate a classic recipe.

Meeting point was at the Scharffen Berger Ferry Building shop where we were picked up by the trolly bus. It was a gorgeous October afternoon, and none other than the beginning of Fleet week, so the Blue Angels were doing a couple practice fly overs when we started. *awesome*

Our first stop was Anthony's Cookies where we sampled a double chocolate chunk cookie with walnuts. It was pretty much a perfect cookie: gooey inside and chewy/crispy outside. The nuts were a great add in with the chocolate and the flavors were well balanced. It was at this moment though that I had my first experience of being a member of the foodie paparazzi. I think everyone around me was more interested in taking a picture of the product than tasting it (not to say that they didn't get devoured in the end). Also of note: the cookie was still fabulous 2 days later when I got around to eating the rest of the "take home" sample. Delicious.

After spending a little time chatting with Anthony himself and interrogating him about what his Twitter handle was, we packed back into the trolly and headed for Citizen Cake.

I had been there myself a couple years back, but it has since moved, expanded, and transformed into what feels like an old fashioned ice cream parlor. Very cute interior, and the desserts in the cases looked impeccable. But we were there to try a sundae, hand made especially by Elizabeth Falkner, owner and celebrity chef/baker herself. Running with the idea of elevating a classic, she created an egg free chocolate gelato that she froze on the spot with liquid nitrogen (that she keeps a tank of right by the cash register!) and was an epic crowd pleaser to watch her make (more food paparazzi on that one).

Apparently, liquid nitrogen was a Victorian era method for making ice cream, so while it sounds all spacey, scientific, and futuristic, she's actually harking back to ye old days when making this dessert. The final sundae was a dollop of gelato, a dollop of home made marshmallow cream (using xantham gum instead of gelatin - gotta remember that one), and fudge, nibs, and chocolate curls. It was very tasty. I enjoyed the marshmallow cream a lot, and while the chocolate gelato was good, I felt it could have been richer (it melted into a very low viscosity pool as I was eating my sample), which made me think it was unnecessarily low in fat. But the chocolate flavor was very good, and since this tour is all about chocolate, that is what I will take away from it.

Jumping back in the trolly we swung over into Ghirardelli Square to sample a special Kara's cupcake flavor. She designed a "candy bar" cupcake featuring a chocolate cupcake, a dollop of caramel in the center, peanut butter ganache frosting and a sprinkling of sea salt. Yeah, it was pretty good. Very rich, as peanut butter often does for dessert. Sadly, I don't think I ended up getting a good sample of the caramel in the half a cupcake I tasted, which was disappointing, as I was looking forward to it.

By this time, we were running a bit late, so we headed back to the Ferry building for another quick stop at Miette to try a triple chocolate cream cake, but had to get it to go to make it to our final engagement, a baking demo by Yigit Pura. I did sample the Miette cake the next day when my stomach was mostly recovered from the sugar overload of Friday night, and it was quite delectable. Very moist, rich, creamy and chocolatey, with a lovely ganache topping. No complaints.

Moving on quickly to the baking demo though, our host Yigit was very charming and filled in his baking tips with funny anecdotes such as making chocolate and cream get along (2 unlikely couples: fat and water) by adding a little invert sugar, kind of like giving you and your in-laws a few gin martinis to get everyone relaxed. Silly and memorable. He also said not to whisk ganache, which I am definitely guilty of doing, so glad I took home a few good pieces of advice in addition to all the chocolate desserts.

He created a dessert using his go-to chocolate cake with chai tea spices added in, filled with a dulce de leche filling, and topped with ganache and a little pretty gold leafing. Initially I thought the cake was dry, but after further inspection (yeah, I ate the whole thing), I feel like it was just really dense, and I was already really parched from eating so much chocolate already. The spices were pretty good, but it's not my favorite combo for a chocolate dessert. It was well done though, so if that's up your alley, you would enjoy it.

To culminate the evening, we did get more swag, like an apron (chocolate stains won't show on that!), a lovely (huge) whisk (you can never have too many whisks, right?), and of course, chocolate. This is on top of the take home samples, and tasting squares they fed us in between bakery stops, of course.

I may have made myself a little sick on chocolate desserts for dinner, but the whole experience was completely worth it. It was also very fun to meet with other foodies, bloggers, journalists, and chocoholics.

If their intention was to get me pumped about the contest, they definitely succeeded. I am looking forward to "elevating" a classic of my own, and left feeling inspired by what the other bakers had created.

Zucchini Bread with Cream Cheese Filling

2011-10-07T07:20:00.000-07:00

This is a bit more like an end of summer post, since we're phasing out the summer squash in favor of warm winter squash, but the flavors are very similar once you throw in the cinnamon, so I don't mind letting this one summer recipe sneak into my fall repertoire. Besides, the fall is the time of year I feel most nostalgic about being a kid, and zucchini bread was one of those things my mom knew how to make fairly well. No offense to my dear mother, but there aren't too many things she cooked or baked that I have fond memories of.

Also of note, I threw in a few ingredient substitutes when I made this batch, and while I don't think they're necessary, I figured it'd be good to share what "worked" if you were out of an ingredient, for example.

Zucchini Bread

1-1/2 C Sugar
1/3 C Brown Sugar
3/4 C oil (I used sour cream, or you could use yogurt)
2 eggs
2 C flour (I did half whole wheat)
3/4 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2-1/2 tsp cinnamon
1-1/2 C grated zucchini (I actually had about 2 cups of zucchini, which may have been too much, as the loaves sank a lot after baking, so maybe were "too" moist)

Preheat oven to 350˚. Grease pans (2 loaf or muffin tins).
Mix all dry ingredients in large bowl and whisk.
Mix all wet ingredients in a medium bowl, minus the zucchini.
Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour in wet, and mix until moist (don't over mix). Fold in zucchini.
Pour into pans.

Cream Cheese filling

8 oz cream cheese
1/2 C sugar
2 tbs vanilla
1 egg
1 tbs cornstarch

Beat with electric mixer cream cheese and sugar until incorporated. Add in vanilla and egg until incorporated. Then add in cornstarch and mix until combined.
Scoop spoonfuls onto the bread batter and swirl with your spoon until a little dispersed.

Bake the loaves for 55 minutes, and check with a toothpick if they're done. Add 5 minutes to baking time until cooked through. For muffins, should take about 20-30 minutes depending on how full you fill the cups.

Raspberry Buttercream

2011-10-03T19:15:00.000-07:00

This post is just a quick frosting suggestion that can dress up a variety of cupcakes: Raspberry. I put this on top of a chocolate cupcake the other day, and I think they were a delightful match.

Raspberry Buttercream:

1/2 cup butter
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup frozen raspberries, thawed (or fresh!)

Beat butter until fluffed. Add powdered sugar and beat together until crumbly. Scrape sides of the bowl and add vanilla. Mix until incorporated and fluffy. Toss in the raspberries and mix until incorporated (scrape the bowl again). Initially, the moisture in the raspberries will make it look like the butter is separating, but once you've blended it all together it should come together nicely.

Delightfully tart and tasty!

Probably would have made a better Valentine's Day Post, huh?

What not to do

2011-09-09T22:44:00.000-07:00

Do not mix butter and mascarpone cheese!

The result is a disgusting, curdled, separated mess. What was I thinking??
This post is serving as a warning beacon to all, and a reminder to myself if I ever get that hair brained idea ever again.

Mascarpone + cream cheese = Delicious!
Cream cheese + butter = Amazing!
Mascarpone + butter = RUN AWAY!

Spumoni Cupcakes

2011-08-30T00:52:00.000-07:00

I love spumoni. I remember the first time I had it was when I was probably 7 and visiting family in Portland, Oregon. I mostly remember only odd tid-bits about that trip such as my cousin ordering a salad with honey mustard dressing which was also foreign and fascinating to this young girl who only knew about ranch. But I digress. It wasn't actually spumoni like the way it's supposed to be a slice from a terrine mold with the 3 flavors of ice cream and whip cream in between the layers - it was just a scoop with all 3 delectable flavors: chocolate, pistachio and cherry pineapple. It's like the ultimate reincarnation of Neapolitan.

But, it was years again before I ever saw Spumoni as an option, and it happened to be Dreyers (East Coast translation: Edy's) ice cream that brought it back to me years later. I'm sure that die-hard spumoni lovers out there would be remised to know that I actually adore the terribly fake, Americanized knock-off version of this Italian delight that Dreyers produces. I think they must somehow enhance or overly sweeten the pistachio flavor, because I've had some really REAL pistachio flavored gelatos in my day that were not as endearing to my palette. Knowing that I really love the flavor of the enhanced (chemically produced?) version of pistachio ice cream, I was a little worried about trying to make my own homemade variation of that flavor. I probably could have just bought pistachio extract, but that's just not readily available, and since I tend to bake on a whim, I didn't have time to wait around for an online order. The world we live in, I swear; such inconveniences.

So, I did some reading up on how to make pistachio flavor really stand out, and found Browneyedbaker to have a useful suggestion to steep the pistachios in hot milk, a trick she used to infuse her pistachio ice cream. I think it worked out pretty well, as the pistachio flavor in both my cupcake and frosting hit the spot.

Alas, I went through the process of making these cupcakes in my typical willy-nilly fashion of kind of making it up as I went, so in some cases only have approximate quantities. I'm sure it'll be fine...

Pistachio Cupackes
- 1 cup milk
- 1 cup pistachios (roasted, unsalted), divided
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 cup butter, room temperature
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 egg
- a few drops of green food coloring (optional)
Heat the milk up to almost boiling and soak 1/2 cup pistachios in it until the milk returns to room temperature. Strain out pistachios (reserve) and use only 3/4 cup for cupcakes. (Remaining 1/4 cup and nuts will be used for frosting). Add food coloring to milk if using (don't over do the green, just looks good with a little extra color).

Line cupcake tins (will make about 24-30 cupcakes).

Whisk together pistachios, flour, salt and baking powder and set aside.
Beat butter and sugar together until smooth. Add egg and scrape sides of the bowl, mixing until incorporated and fluffy. Alternating with the flour and milk mixture, slowly mix together, scraping bowl as needed, until incorporated. Batter will be pretty thick. (If desired, you can toss in a handful of the pre-soaked pistachios into the batter if you like the extra texture). Spoon a heaping table spoon of batter into the bottom of each cupcake liner. Make next batter:

Cherry Pineapple Cupcakes
These would probably be delicious all on their own (actually, so would the pistachio).
- 1 cup flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 cup butter, room temperature
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/2 cup Maraschino cherries and crushed pineapple, well drained
- dash of red food coloring (optional)
Whisk together dry ingredients and set aside.
Beat butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add egg, and scraping down sides of the bowl as needed, mix until light and fluffy again. Alternating with flour mixture and milk, gradually add each until incorporated. Toss in the cherry/pineapple mix and stir until incorporated. The cherries will probably do a little bit of coloring to the batter on their own, but I helped it along a little with a dash of red food color. This batter will also be pretty thick. Spoon 1 heaping table spoon of it on top of each pistachio layer. Make chocolate:

Chocolate Cupcakes:
Preheat oven to 350˚
- 1 cup flour
- 1/3 cup cocoa powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/4 cup milk

Whisk together dry ingredients and set aside.
Beat together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add cocoa powder and whip until incorporated. Add vanilla and egg, and beat until fluffy and creamy looking. Heat water and milk together until almost boiling (I just head in the microwave for 45 - 60 seconds until it steams a bit). Alternating with flour mixture, gradually add milk and flour until mix is incorporated. This batter will be a bit runnier, so if using a stand mixer and the liquid is getting out of control, whisk together by hand. Try not to over mix. Spoon batter over the tops of the other batters in the cupcake tins until 3/4 full.
Bake cupcakes for 20 minutes and then cool completely. For the record, the chocolate layer didn't rise as perfectly as it should have. I believe I had 2 tbs too much butter, but since this was exactly what I did, I felt it was best to give it to you as I made it. It was tasty, and you cover the top with plenty of frosting, so the less than perfect dome tops weren't a big bother to me. If you want perfection, I say try with just 6 tbs of butter instead of a whole stick and see if that does the trick.

Now it's time to make the frosting.

Pistachio Buttercream
- 1/2 cup butter, room temperature
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- reserved pistachio flavored milk and soaked nuts

Beat butter until smooth. Add powdered sugar and beat until incorporated with butter, and creamy, scraping bowl. With beaters running, slowly add milk until frosting gets light and fluffy. Probably only need a couple teaspoons to do the trick. Add in a few nuts and continue to beat until incorporated. Frost 1/3 of each cupcake with the pistachio frosting.

Cherry Pineapple Buttercream
Same idea here
- 1/2 cup butter, room temperature
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1/4 cup maraschino cherry and pineapple, well drained (even patted dry with paper towel if you're up for it)
Beat butter until creamy, adding powdered sugar until fluffy, scraping sides of the bowl as needed. Add in the cherry pineapple mix and beat until well incorporated. Could toss in a bit of food coloring here too, but I think the cherries do a pretty good job of coloring on their own. Frost the middle 1/3 of each cupcake.

Chocolate Buttercream
- 1/2 cup butter, room temperature
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 tbs cocoa powder
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2-3 tsp milk

Beat butter until creamy, adding powdered sugar until fluffy, scraping sides of the bowl as needed. Add in the cocoa powder until incorporated. Add vanilla, and then milk and beat until light and fluffy. You can add more cocoa powder if you like a darker brown color. Frost the last 1/3 of each cupcake.

Whew! Quite an operation for just "one" cupcake, but totally worth it. I loved them.

Now do the dishes @_@

Watermelon Cupcakes

2011-08-27T08:54:00.000-07:00

Summer is sort of coming to a close, so I'm a little tardy in posting this recipe. But if you really like watermelon, you might want to bookmark it for when watermelon is back at its peek in season. I personally am not head over heels for watermelon myself, but the idea of a watermelon cupcake seemed like a fun challenge. I used fresh fruit that I pureed and made into a pastry cream filling, and topped the cupcake with a light meringue frostings, one that wouldn't over power the flavor of the filling.

Watermelon Cream

Patience was the death of me on this recipe. You have to let the gelatin mixture set up for a couple hours, but can't leave it all night because you need to whip in the cream at the point where the mixture is just turning gelatinous. I thought I had screwed it up the first time, so made 2 batches of watermelon gel, one of which over set, making watermelon jello. I'm sure it was delicious, but as I mentioned before, I'm not THAT crazy about watermelon, so it didn't appeal to me so much.

- 2 1/4 cups, divided, seeded, watermelon, pureed

- 1 envelope unflavored gelatin

- 1 cup sugar

- 1 tablespoon lemon juice

- 1/2 cup whipping cream, whipped

Combine gelatin and 1/4 cup watermelon puree; set aside.

Bring remaining 2 cups puree to a boil in a small saucepan. Remove from heat; add gelatin mixture, and stir until gelatin dissolves. Stir in sugar and lemon juice, and chill mixture until consistency of unbeaten egg white (2 hours or so, check on it though).

Fold whipped cream into chilled watermelon mixture. Keep chilled until ready to use.

White Cupcake

- 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

- 1 1/2 cups sugar

- 2 cups all purpose flour

- 2 teaspoons baking powder

- 1/4 teaspoon salt

- 3 large eggs

- 3/4 cup milk

Preheat to 350 degrees. Line cupcake tins (makes 18-24).

In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

With mixer or in stand mixer, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time until incorporated, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed. Gradually add the flour mixture to the butter mixture alternating with the milk mixture until all mixed together.

Pour the batter into prepared tins. Bake 20 minutes, then cool completely. Hollow out each cupcake making room for filling, and then pipe filling into each.

Italian Meringue Frosting

- 3/4 cup sugar

- 1/4 cup light corn syrup

- 1/4 cup water

- 4 egg whites

- 1/8 teaspoon salt

- green food coloring

Beat egg whites at high speed with an electric mixer until foamy; add salt, and beat until stiff peaks form. Let sit while you cook syrup:

Cook first sugar, corn syrup and water in a heavy saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly, until sugar dissolves. Bring to a boil, and boil until a candy thermometer registers 248° (about 5 minutes).

With mixer running, gradually whisk hot syrup into egg whites, whisking until stiff peaks form and frosting is of spreading consistency.

I added a couple drops of green food coloring to the whole batch and put half the frosting in a pastry bag, then added a few drops more to the remaining frosting and filled another bag with the remaining frosting.

Once cupcakes are filled, pipe a stripe of the darker green frosting across the tops of the cupcakes, then go back with the lighter frosting to make the alternating stripes, similar to how a watermelon has stripes. I felt like the look of the cupcakes was only so-so, as the frosting was a little aerated, so had a really bubbly texture, versus a watermelon that is rather firm. But, everyone who tried them liked them! I usually don't refrigerate cupcakes, but since these had the gelatin filling, I didn't want to change them melting. Apparently the side effect was that the filling had a delightful chill, perfectly capturing the summer refreshment of watermelon.

Homemade Vanilla Extract

2011-07-24T22:37:00.000-07:00

I think it's safe to say I go through a LOT of vanilla extract with all the baking I do. About a year ago I decided to look into making my own extract. After perusing a few sites, I found that it was actually ridiculously easy to do, and could be mildly cost effective, too; just takes time.

Someone actually went through the bother of calculating the cost difference, but basically I was spending $5 for each bottle of Bourbon Extract at Trader Joe's which only took me 1-2 months to polish off. Making it yourself doesn't save you a ton of money in the long run, but at least I have 1 liter batches to work with at any given time.* And you can say you make your own extract. I think it's worth the 6 months wait time just to say that.

So, basically, get a bottle of vodka (I've tried 3 different brands so far, not sure if the price/quality of the vodka has a huge effect on the flavor, but I try not to get the cheapest stuff, just in case) and remove about 1/4 of liquid from the bottle first. What you do with that, I won't question. Next, take about 10-12 vanilla beans, split lengthwise, and plop them into the vodka jar. Seal the jar, then give it a good shake, label the bottle with the date, and let it set somewhere safe for about 6 months. Be sure to give it a good shake every couple of weeks. Sediment will collect at the bottom, which you can strain out when you get to it, or just leave it.

The other fun part about making your own extract is that you can play with the different varieties of vanilla. I've bought and blended Tajitian, Madagascar, Bourbon, & Mexican varieties so far. I am fairly clueless about what makes them different though. I've been baking with a blend of Tajitian, Mexican and Madagacar beans and think it tastes as lovely as anything, but would fail a deciphering taste-test for sure. Might be worthwhile to make separate batches of each some time just to taste test.

The other beauty of this plan is that you can make however much you want. A recipe from Simply Recipes gives you a 1 cup option. As much as it is technically science, I don't think you could really screw it up however you decided to mix it up. Just don't add simple syrup. You just don't need it, and I think it detracts from the extract if you do add it.

* If you're curious about my calculations, I spend approximately $20 on a bottle of vodka, plus about $10 on the vanilla beans (including the cost of shipping). So, $30 that is then split into approximately (8) 4 oz. batches makes them about $3.75.)

Also, I bought the beans at beanilla.com

French Macarons

2011-07-21T01:02:00.000-07:00

I don't really know enough about French or language to know who is right and who is wrong about how to spell macarons, I just know that these don't have coconut in them, so think it's safer to drop the second "o" and not call them "macaroons." I follow David Lebovitz's lead on this one, anyhow.

What I do know is that these are delicious, and I am still figuring out how to make them. This is the first time I've posted my efforts, as nothing before has seemed either good enough or reproducible enough to post about. But this is the 2nd time I've made this and they've worked out, so I think I'm getting the hang of it.

See, I don't have a kitchen scale, and so many of these French macaron recipes only give you weight measurements (well, cuz they're more accurate, can't blame them for that), but I don't have a scale. So, after many a failed attempt, I finally found a measuring cup based recipe that I had decent results with, minding that I didn't use the pre-ground almond flour they sell at Trader Joe's, and instead, grind the almonds up myself with my food processor, then sift out the largest chunks. While adding another step, and another round of dishes, this seems to have done the trick.

Now, I have to say, they are still not perfect. I expect a certain amount of airy nothingness in the middle of my macaron, and a perfect foot (the sort of crumbly looking side of the cookie), which still isn't consistent across all cookies in even the same batch. I think these ones came out just a little too gooey/sticky in the middle, even though I think the tops domed quite perfectly. So many variables!

I will muse for a second on how ridiculous some of the wives tales that surround making macarons have become. Yes, these are some tricky pastries, but I feel like some bakers swear by witch craft and superstitions to get their macarons just right. "Fold in almond flour no more than 20 strokes!" or "leave out on parchment paper 2 hours before baking" and "dance around the smallest one in a counter-clockwise direction 6 times for best results." Ok, I exaggerate. But for any bakers out there who have also tried to master these beauties, and try and get them perfect, mind you, there has got to be some science to it that could make them universally approachable. Then again, maybe they're just meant to be fickle.

If you like macarons, and have a kitchen scale, I highly recommend checking out my friend Risa's blog, Baked Perfection, as she is always coming up with some special new macaron flavor combo. They all look very delicious!

Creamy Grapefruit Bars

2011-07-08T18:06:00.000-07:00

I guess I'm on a citrus kick. I happen to love grapefruit, but hardly ever eat it or see anyone baking with it. Totally under represented. I love lemon bars, and have a great Martha Stewart recipe I have followed with impeccable success, so decided to experiment. I wasn't sure if the 1:1 replacement of fresh squeezed grapefruit juice for lemon juice would be the right flavor balance, but in the end, it worked perfectly. Reviews here at the office, where I often subject my office mates to my creations, has been very positive. I even had someone say they're the best thing they've ever tried of the things I've made. Woot.

My opinion is that they are quite tasty, and do actually taste grapefruity, which is awesome. They aren't nearly as tart as lemon bars though, so seem to be a bit sweeter.

Creamy Grapefruit Squares

adapted from Everyday Food Creamy Lemon Squares recipe

1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup flour
4 large egg yolks
1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk
3/4 cup fresh grapefruit juice (1-2 grapefruit)
1-2 tsp grapefruit zest

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8 or 9-inch square baking pan with parchment paper, leaving an overhang on two sides.

Make crust: Using an electric mixer, beat butter, sugar, and salt until light and fluffy. Add flour, and mix on low just until combined. Press dough into the bottom and up sides of pan; prick all over with a fork. Bake until lightly golden, 15 to 20 minutes.

Make filling: In a large bowl, whisk together yolks, condensed milk, grapefruit juice, and zest until smooth. Pour over hot crust in pan; return to oven, and bake until filling is set, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool completely in pan.

Refrigerate until filling is firm, about 2 hours or up to 3 days. Using overhang, lift cake onto a work surface and cut into squares.

Orange 'n' Cream Cupcakes

2011-07-04T12:16:00.000-07:00

With summer officially here, I am definitely feeling nostalgic for the summer flavors I enjoyed as a kid. I'm sure most American kids can recall the wonderous taste of an orange creamsicle pop or Orange Julius drink. There's something delightfully tart, creamy, and sweet about it that embodies the taste of lazy summers.

Making that flavor into a cupcakes was a no brainer. This flavor has been one of my top sellers since I started offering it back in 2009. I was surprised to find that I had never blogged about it before, so figured it was about time I did. And speaking of blogging, I was very delighted to receive an email last week regarding my blog. Apparently, people are reading, and someone decided I qualified for the "Top 50 Cutest Cupcake Blogs." Thanks! You can find the complete list here. While I am very honored to make anyone's "top" list, I will say, if there is a top 50 list... exactly how many cupcake blogs are out there? Yikes. In any case, I definitely enjoy making new and different flavors, and am glad you enjoy reading the recipes I've come up with, so thanks for checking it out.

PastrySchools.net

Orange 'n' Cream Cupcakes
I use a yogurt cake base for this cupcake as it is extremely moist and delicious and has served me well for this recipe. Easily replace orange with lemon, grapefruit, ugli fruit, or any other citrus you want. Sadly, I found the base for this recipe so long ago, I don't even remember its source. Blogger fail.

1-1/2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 cup plain yogurt
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
2 teaspoons grated orange zest
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 350˚.
Line cupcake tins. Makes approximately 18.

In small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, & salt.
In medium bowl, whisk together yogurt, sugar, eggs, zest, vanilla, and oil.
Gently blend the wet into the dry mix, until incorporated. Do not over mix.
Fill cupcake lines 3/4 way full and bake for 20 minutes. Cool.

Orange 'n' Cream Frosting

8 oz. cream cheese
1/4 butter, room temperature
1-1/2 c powdered sugar
1 tsp orange zest
1/2 tsp vanilla

In stand mixer, beat butter and cream cheese until incorporated. Gradually add in powdered sugar, scraping down sides of bowl to fully incorporate. Add zest and vanilla and beat until fluffy. Pipe half the frosting onto the cooled cupcakes. I make a swirled pattern on top, leaving space for another round of "orange" swirl. Add a little bit of food coloring to the remaining frosting, making it orange. Pipe the remaining frosting onto the cupcakes, completing the swirls.

Banana Caramel Cake in Phyllo Cups

2011-06-16T00:07:00.000-07:00

In January this year, I was challenged to make a cupcake combining the 3 flavors of banana, caramel and phyllo dough. Certainly not a bad combo of flavors to be coerced into working with. The reason for the delay being the challenger of this flavor combo is not someone I see often, so am only now getting the opportunity to accept the request.

On another side note of importance, I have succumbed to the pressures of the many food bloggers out there, all with their pretty food pictures, and finally invested in a DSLR. And if the absolute joy in I felt in taking this evening's pictures is evidence, I think it may have been a good decision. If you're keeping tabs, it is a Canon Rebel T2i. I'd take a picture of it, but that would not only be tricky, requiring mirrors or something, but also a little "chicken or the egg" for me.

Anyway, back to cupcakes. Aside from them looking rather dashing, I wasn't wrong about the flavor combo being delectable. I tried a new banana cupcake batter this time (which, oh by the way has rum in it - yum), and whipped up some homemade caramel sauce for the occasion. Which if I haven't mentioned before, is pretty freaking easy and completely delicious, so why would you ever bother buying it?

Caramel Sauce
I've tried many variations of this before, and think I've landed on my favorite. Taken mostly from Simply Recipes (frankly, you might as well check out her instructions because she goes into way more detail and includes safety tips - I just leave you to your own devices!):

1 cup sugar
6 tbs butter, but into pieces
1/2 cream
1/2 tsp vanilla

First off, do have all your ingredients ready to go before you start. In a heavy 2-3 quart pot, melt sugar over low to medium heat, stirring frequently to prevent burning. Once sugar has melted, it will be begin to darken into an amber color. This is where you get to choose how rich you want your sauce. Be careful to not let it burn though. Once it reaches the optimal caramel color, removed from heat and add in butter. It will foam up a bit. Whisk until smoother, then add in cream. This will really bubble up, and seize. Just work through it and keep whisking until it comes together. Let cool for a bit, then transfer to a glass jar or container to continue cooling.

Phyllo Cups
Melt 1/2 cup of butter in a small dish. Unroll one log of phyllo dough, placing one sheet upon a work surface (cutting board or cookie sheet will do), and brushing it all over with some of the melted butter. Add another sheet on top, and repeat the process so that you have about 5-6 layers of phyllo. Cut dough into squares that are roughly 2-3 inches wider than the cavities of a muffin tin. Or bigger, or smaller, or wider, or longer - whatever you think will look good. mold each square patch of phyllo into the cavities of every other hole of the muffin tin. Mine was overlapping a bit, so I didn't want to have issues with the phyllo getting stuck in cake batter or something like that, so just kept the spacing between them to be safe. I did have to repeat with another batch of 6 sheets of phyllo, but didn't end up using the entire log of dough.

Once the tins are prepped (I made 3 tins based on the amount of batter and layout mentioned above), make cupcake batter.

Banana Cupcakes
Stolen almost completely from Baking Obsession
2 cups flour

¾ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1 ½ cups banana puree (about 3 large bananas)
½ cup sour cream (I forgot to buy some, so used milk with a 1/2 tsp of white vinegar mixed in)
2 tbsp dark rum
1 ½ tsp pure vanilla extract
½ cup butter, room temperature
½ cup sugar
½ cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs

Preheat oven to 350˚

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, soda, powder and salt and set aside.

In a small bowl, whisk together sour cream (or milk), rum and vanilla and set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat butter until smooth. Add in both sugars and beat until creamy, scraping down sides of the bowl at least once. Add eggs one at a time until incorporated.

In batches, mix in 1/3 flour mixture, then 1/2 liquid, flour, then liquid then flour until incorporated. Fold in banana puree.

Using a 1/4 cup measure, fill phyllo cups with dough and bake for 20 minutes. Phyllo should get nice a crispy in that time. Rotate pans halfway through if one side is getting browner than the other.

Let cupcakes cool while you make the frosting.

Caramel Cream Cheese Frosting
Can't have Banana cupcakes without some kind of cream cheese frosting.

1/2 cup butter, room temperature
8 oz. cream cheese
2-1/2 cups powdered sugar
2-3 tbs caramel sauce

Beat butter until creamy, then add in cream cheese and beat together, scraping down sides of the bowl at least once. Gradually add powdered sugar until mix gets thick and creamy, scraping down sides of the bowl still. Beat in caramel until smooth. Texture will probably be on the softer side, but isn't exactly runny. If you want a firmer frosting, reduce cream cheese quantity and bump up the butter a bit.

Top cupcakes with frosting, then swirl in caramel sauce on top. I attempted to fill a cupcake with caramel too, but it seemed like a bit too much. Maybe I was wrong and it would be insanely delicious. Give it a shot. Surely you could garnish these cupcakes with slices of ripe banana as well. I was too in love with the swirly pattern to let it be obstructed by anything.

I hope I win the challenge!

Arnold Palmer Cupcakes

2011-06-07T23:34:00.000-07:00

While sipping on some ice tea this weekend, it occurred to me I hadn't ever tried making a tea cupcake before. I've thought extensively about making an Earl Grey flavor, cuz it's just the best tea ever ("Tea, Early Grey, Hot" of course), but still haven't gotten around to it.

But it is pretty much summer now, and that means iced tea is in order. While I enjoy my iced tea simply and unadorned, an Arnold Palmer is quite a refreshing twist, and a great excuse to use up some lemons I've been neglecting.

I didn't stray far from a traditional vanilla cupcake recipe, and probably could have used a higher concentration of tea to balance out the lemon (maybe seep 2 or 3 if you want the tea flavor to pop), but I think otherwise they came out quite tasty.

Black Tea Cupcake with Lemon Zest
1/3 c + 1 tsb milk
1 bag black tea
6 tbs butter, room temperature
1/2 c sugar
1/4 brown sugar
2 eggs
1 c flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp lemon zest

Preheat oven to 350˚.

Line cupcake tin with 10-12 liners.

In small saucepan or microwave safe dish, heat milk to just boiling and seep tea bag until cooled.
Whisk together dry ingredients & zest in a small bowl.

With electric mixer, beat butter and sugars together until creamy. Scrape down sides of bowl and then add eggs, one at a time until incorporated.

Beginning and ending with flour mixture, alternate gradually incorporating milk and flour. Do not over mix.

Fill cupcake liners, then bake for 20 minutes. Cool completely.

Lemon Frosting
1 stick butter, room temperature
1-1/2 c powdered sugar
1 tbs lemon zest
1-2 tbs lemon juice

Beat butter until creamy. Gradually add in powdered sugar until crumbly. Add in zest and juice until frosting is light and fluffy.

Pipe frosting onto cooled cupcakes. I garnished a few with lemon slices, but candied lemon would probably stay better. Or none at all. I just thought they were pretty.

Rootbeer Float Cupcakes

2011-05-30T23:02:00.000-07:00

I do adore anything that qualifies as "retro," from neon signage, to clothes, to cupcake flavors. When I saw BrownEyedBaker's Rootbeer Float Bundt cake, it reminded me that I still had to try my own cupcake version of this flavor combo. It has been on the (ridiculously long) list of things to try baking ever since I made Dr. Pepper cupcakes, but hadn't got around to it yet.

So, I really did follow the bundt cake recipe verbatim, but only made half the amount of batter. (Quick tip for approximating quantities: each 1 cup of flour per cupcake recipe will typically turn out approximately 12 cupcakes). (though in this case I managed 14). (Hey, I said approximately!) Instead of making the fudgey rootbeer frosting, I made a malted vanilla buttercream, hoping to mimic the somewhat malty flavor that happens when you pour rootbeer onto vanilla ice cream, without the need for ice cream (sorry, nothing agains ice cream, but when it comes to cupcakes, I prefer to keep my options open by not requiring a fridge/freezer).

I brought these to a friend's Memorial Day get together, and am pretty sure they went over well considering the call for "who wants another cupcake?" was met with a chorus of takers (and none leftover). Overall, the flavor was rich and chocolatey, texture was spongy and moist, and the frosting was reviewed as having "something" about it that was delectable (yay malt powder!). I do have to say though, it wasn't very rootbeer-y, which I think I could counter with a nice rootbeer flavored filling of some kind. But for now, I still recommend it as an almost perfect chocolate cupcake worthy of baking again.

Bundt cake recipe here, cut in half to accommodate a dozen +/- cupcakes.

Malty rootbeer frosting:

3/4 c butter, room temperature
2-1/2 c powdered sugar
1/2 c malt powder (at first, I thought this was too much and panicked, but it turned out to be just fine)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1-2 tbs rootbeer syrup, cooled (from the 1 bottle of Virgil's I had, after using 1 cup for the cupcakes, what was left I let boil down slightly until it was de-carbonated and a thicker viscosity)

Whip butter until creamy. Add in malt powder and powdered sugar until crumbly. Add in vanilla extract and continue to whip (scraping down sides of bowl as needed) and then add in rootbeer syrup until frosting has smoothed out.

I though it would be cute to dollop a "scoop" of frosting on top of each cupcake so it would look like ice cream. I think it worked out all right, but if you didn't know that was what I was going for, I think they kind of just looked sloppy. If I ever think to do a "scoop" of frosting again, I will chill it completely before scooping. I didn't have enough time before heading out the door to let it fully set, which is why I think it had some issues.

Enough of my rattling on about it - go bake some cupcakes already!

Happy Memorial Day!

Ugli Cookies

2011-04-28T22:30:00.000-07:00

You read that correctly, but I do mean these cookies were made with Ugli fruit.

Ramune trying the Red Velvet cupcakes

Backstory: I went on a lovely vacation a couple weeks ago (yeah, I'm just catching up on life now) to visit my ol' college buddies who still live on the East Coast. Good times, ate too much, tried lots of desserts (lots of cupcakes), which I thought I would blog about, but am not sure I'll get around to it now. I'll just do a quick shout-out now to the one cupcake that really stuck in my mind that was from a place in DC called Red Velvet. Not too crazy about their actual red velvet flavor, but their special that week was a cherry ginger with yuzu buttercream, and it was pretty amazing. I'm a sucker for anything yuzu though, so that could be why I fell in love.

But I digress. Another highlight of my trip was the chance to bake something with my friend and fellow blogger, Kristy, which is a rare occasion considering the 3000 miles that are generally between us. We thought it would be fun to bake with something neither of us had tried before. We settled on rhubarb, and were certain that the posh grocery store Dean & Deluca was sure to have some. Our dreams were dashed when we discovered we were wrong, so struggled to come up with a plan b on the spot. I was tempted by the fresh passion fruit which honestly, I've never even seen before in person (yet no rhubarb? Com'mon D&D, get with the program). But Kristy pointed out this "special" looking citrus that was begging to be made into something sweet. Tempted by its description as being somewhere between a tangerine and a grapefruit, we snapped a couple up and headed home to experiment.

Kristy recalled a grapefruit cookie recipe that she'd been meaning to try, so we went to it. It is a delightful, rolled butter cookie with a smack of grapefruit buttercream sandwiched between to cookies. I took on the task of zesting and juicing the fruit while she made the cookie dough. I also took an opportunity to document the process, as this fruit was pretty stellar to photograph. It had a very asymmetrical, lumpy shape about it, with a sort of greenish yellow hue to its rind. It was a little larger than a grapefruit, and not nearly as firm. When it came to cutting it in half, to our surprise it was brilliantly orange inside. As well, it seemed like the fruit was naturally separating itself from the pith, which I don't think I've ever seen happen before.

Kristy showcasing the finished product

After making the cookies (which we made verbatim to Martha's recipe, minding the change in fruit), we discovered that the Ugli fruit is way more subtle than grapefruit, so in my opinion, would add a bit more zest and, as well, add zest to the buttercream. I also think I would cut down on the amount of juice that goes into the buttercream as it seemed a bit too runny for a filling and we had to keep the cookies refrigerated so they wouldn't get too sloppy.

But an overall success, and fun attempt to try something completely new.

Easter Baskets

2011-04-19T07:55:00.000-07:00

For a special Easter treat, I will be making cupcake Easter baskets, available to order. A baker’s dozen of 3 mini cupcake varieties: Carrot cupcakes with cream cheese frosting decorated as Easter eggs, Zesty lemon cupcakes with homemade marshmallow chicks, and Chocolate malt cupcakes with ganache chocolate bunnies, all arranged in a decorative basket.

$45, plus tax.

Please order by this Friday, April 22. No early orders can be filled. Pick up Saturday afternoon (local orders only).

Chocolate Marshmallow Cream-filled Cupcakes

2011-04-05T00:02:00.000-07:00

I was about to call this a "Fauxstess" cupcake, but realized that the name is reserved for the more vegan alternative to our dear "Hostess" cupcakes. These are not vegan, not even kind of close, so I guess I'll have to relegate them to simply "Hostess knock-offs." A rich chocolate cupcake filled with a homemade marshmallow filling and topped with semi-sweet ganache and the classic white swirl. Growing up, these were some of my favorite "bribes" my dad would offer in order to get us to go with him to walk the dog each night. I mean, I don't think I really disliked taking the dog for a walk, but the extra incentive was always appreciated.

So, these are definitely a little more "real" tasting. I haven't had an actual Hostess Cupcakes in a many years, mostly because I am afraid to know what's in them. Not to suggest that these homemade versions are "good" for you, but at least I know the ingredients that go into them are not chock full of preservatives.

A quick note about the filling. Today a couple friends and I got together to work on prepping for some Easter goodies. We decided to make homemade Peeps (a later post), which are basically molded marshmallows. Having made what I thought was French Meringue once, I noted that it was super similar in flavor and texture to marshmallows, so thought it would work very well as a marshmallow frosting which could be piped into little chick shapes. What I didn't know, was that I was actually making Italian Meringue. I found a very helpful article about the difference in Meringues here, via Martha Stewart. I think this is also called boiled frosting, and any number of other code names. In any case, the texture is lighter and stickier than marshmallows, but it worked for its purpose.

Make Ganache First:
Semi-sweet Ganache

1 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup corn syrup (this can be optional, see below)
8 oz. semisweet chocolate, chopped into small pieces (or chips)

Heat cream and corn syrup until they reach a boil. Pour over chocolate and let set approximately 2 minutes. Whisk together until fully incorporated. Set aside to cool (do not refrigerate as it will get too hard).
So, you don't really need to add corn syrup to ganache, but it really does smooth out the texture and add a really nice sheen to the chocolate which is very appealing. If you have dietary restrictions or just don't like to use corn syrup more than you have to, you can skip it. Maybe just up the cream by a couple tablespoons or so, and add a tablespoon or so of butter to help the texture. You can also add vanilla, if you're so inclined.

Chocolate Cupcakes
Whisk together:
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

In large heat proof bowl, melt:
6 tbs butter
Whisk in
1/3 cup cocoa powder
then
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla

In small heat proof bowl or saucepan, heat until almost boiling:
1/4 cup milk
1/2 -3/4 cup water

Alternating between flour mix and water mix, beginning and ending with flour, mix together with sugar/cocoa mixture until incorporated. The batter will be a bit on the runny side, which you can control with how much water you put in. I think somewhere between 1/2-3/4 cups water in addition to the milk make an excellently moist, but still stable cupcake.

Bake for 20 minutes. Cool.

Italian Meringue

3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
1 1/2 tablespoons light corn syrup
3 large egg whites, room temperature
Pinch of salt and cream of tartar
Directions

Bring sugar, water, and corn syrup to a boil in a small saucepan, stirring until sugar dissolves. Cook, undisturbed, until syrup registers 248 degrees on a candy thermometer.

Meanwhile, whisk whites with a mixer on low speed until foamy. Add salt and cream of tartar. Increase speed to medium, and whisk until soft peaks form, about 8 minutes.

Reduce speed to low, and pour hot syrup down side of bowl in a slow, steady stream. Increase speed to high, and beat until mixture stops steaming, about 3 minutes. Fill piping bag with frosting - fit it with any large circular tip you have on hand.

Once cupcakes have cooled, cut out the centers either with a melon baller or apple corer (you probably want a larger hole to cram as much fluff into the cupcake as possible). Fill each cavity with the marshmallow cream filling. Dip each cupcake in the ganache and swirl slightly to coat the top completely. If your ganache got a bit too hard to do this with, defrost in microwave for no more than 10 seconds and stir until smooth.

Let the ganache set for a bit. So, I happened to have a bit of leftover buttercream so I could easily pipe on the little swirls. It would kill me if I had to make a whole batch of it just for decorating the tops of these, but if you must do it, here's the recipe for a small batch of frosting:

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
Beat at medium speed until creamy
1/4 cup butter, room temperature
Add in
1/2-3/4 cup powdered sugar
until mixture is crumbly. Scrape down the sides, then add
1/4 tsp vanilla
Beat until mixture comes together. Beat in
a few drops of milk
to smooth it out.

Fill a small pastry bag fitted with a small circular tip with the frosting and gently pipe out the swirls on top of each cupcake. They are a little tricky to make look consistent. Good luck!

π Day = Apple Pie Cupcakes

2011-03-13T23:10:00.000-07:00

Happy π Day!

In celebration of March 14, I made a pie inspired Apple Pie Cupcake. I thought this was a cute idea, but it didn't turn out to be the most photogenic one. Beige frosting on beige cupcake with white wrapper on white background. If I thought ahead, I could have at least saved one of those deliciously green Granny Smith's to pop in the background for a boost of color. You will simply have to take my word for the fact they're quite tasty even though they look rather dull.

Make Approx. 16.

Apple Juice reduction:

Boil down 1 cup of apple juice until thick and syrupy - approximately 2 tablespoons worth. Cool.

Basic Vanilla Cupcake:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup plain yogurt (or sour cream, or buttermilk)

1 cup sugar

3 eggs

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup oil

Preheat oven to 350˚. Line cupcake tins.

In medium bowl, whisk together dry ingredients. In larger bowl, beginning with gently whisking eggs, mix together the rest of the wet ingredients. Mix dry into wet until blended.

Filling:

1 tbs butter

2 granny smith apples, peeled, cored and sliced.

3 tbs brown sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt butter and add apples. Once the apples start to sizzle, add a dash of water and cover with lid for about 5 minutes, or until apples are semi-translucent. Break apples up with a wooden spoon until only smaller chunks remain. Add brown sugar and stir until apples are coated and syrupy. Remove from heat.

Frosting:

3/4 cups butter, room temperature

2-1/2 cups powdered sugar

2 tbs apple juice reduction

Whip butter until smoothly. Slowly add in powdered sugar until combined. Scrape sides of bowl before adding the apple juice reduction. Whip until smooth and creamy. I added a little dab of red and yellow food coloring to try and get the color a little more "baked pie crust" color, but should have done a little bit more.

Once the cupcakes are cooled, remove centers of cupcakes using a melon baller (or any other tool you prefer). Fill cavity with apple sauce filling. Pipe a large dollop of frosting onto each cupcake. Using an offset spatula, smooth each dollop into a uniform mound, tapering at the sides. Using a small frosting tip, pipe curly cues around the edges of the cupcake, to make it look like a pie crust. I tried putting little divots in the tops of each cupcake, similar to the venting holes you cut into pie crusts, but they didn't look very good, so I did without. I highly recommend using a different colored cupcake wrapper too. Gotta liven these up a bit.

In any case, Happy Pi Day. I want to leave you with a little Pi story that I just learned about recently. Back in 1897, the Indiana legislature almost passed a bill to legally define pi as a rounded off 3.2. Their only saving grace was the presence of a Mathematics professor from Purdue who gave the Congress an impromptu math lesson on why that was impossible. Nice try!

Guinness Cupcakes with Whiskey Mascarpone Frosting

2011-03-06T18:58:00.000-08:00

Yeah, it's that time of year again. Guinness cupcakes are all over the place. And for good reason: they're tasty. The subtly bitter beer flavor pairs well with chocolate. But unlike the standard Irish Cream or plain cream cheese frosting, I thought I'd go over board this time.
Taking a tip from the Tiramisu cupcakes I make, (which I realize now I haven't actually posted), I opted for a whiskey "curd" that is then mixed with cream cheese and mascarpone to make a soft, rich and flavorful frosting that kicks buttercream's butt any day. Not that there's anything wrong with buttercream, but did you hear me say mascarpone? Can you ever beat that, really? Besides, you can pack in a lot more alcohol flavor in this way. ;-)

So here goes:

Whiskey Curd
Best to make this first as it needs time to cool.

2 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup Whiskey of choice

In a heat proof bowl, whisk together egg and sugar until creamy. Heat over a saucepan of boiling water (don't let the bottom of the bowl touch the boiling water), whisking constantly for about 15-20 minutes (should get a little thick). Pour in whiskey and whisk until mixture is thick like pudding). Remove from heat (be careful of the steam) and pour into a cool dish. I just let mine sit out until I was ready to make the frosting, but you could cover closely with saran wrap and let cool in the fridge. It keeps for a couple days too, if you want to make it ahead.

Guinness Cupcakes
(I stole this recipe a while ago so am not even sure where from any more. Sorry blogosphere!)
Makes Approx. 12-15 cupcakes

1/2 cup Guinness
1/4 cup butter, sliced
1/4 cup cocoa
1 cups superfine sugar
1/3 cup sour cream
1 eggs
1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 cups all-purpose flour
1 + teaspoons baking soda

Preheat over to 350˚. Line cupcake tins.
Heat Guinness and butter in a saucepan until butter has melted. Whisk in cocoa and then sugar. In a separate bowl, mix sour cream, egg, and vanilla. In a bigger bowl whisk together flour and baking soda. Gradually pour the Guinness mixture into flour bowl until just incorporated, then add sour cream mixture. (This is totally backwards from how the instructions were written, but it seemed to work fine).
Fill cupcake liners 3/4 way full (exactly 1/4 cup measure will do, btw, which is my preferred method for filling tins).
Bake for 20 minutes. Cool.

Whiskey Mascarpone Frosting
Once curd and cupcakes have cooled, make frosting. This will make more frosting than you have cupcakes for, but not quite twice as much (if you were to double the cupcake recipe).

4 oz. cream cheese
4 oz. mascarpone
Whiskey curd
1/2 cup sifted powdered sugar

Whip cream cheese and mascarpone together until smooth. Scrape sides of bowl, then add in curd gradually, making sure to scrape the sides of the bowl as you go. Once incorporated and fluffy, add in the powdered sugar, and whip until the mixture has firmed up slightly. It's going to be a pretty soft frosting, so don't try anything too fancy as far as decorating or piping. A dollop on top of the cupcake works nicely for me. You can add a more firm buttercream frosting on top if you want to get fancy with the St. Patty's Day pride.

Don't eat cupcakes and drive!
Just kidding, they're not that strong. But do enjoy!

Chocolate Malted Cupcakes

2011-03-04T19:12:00.000-08:00

I wish I could have gotten around to this idea earlier. I thought I was coming up with something SO unique when I thought about making a malt ball cupcake. No such luck. The blogosphere has been exploding with malty recipes, so I'm just jumping on the band wagon with this one.

Taken almost verbatim from Pennies on the Platter, indirectly linked via a post by BrownEyedBaker, I whipped these up last night. Critique: Tasty, kind of light (in other words you could eat a bunch of them without noticing; be that a good or bad thing), but I'm not sure how "malty" they are. Subtle at best, but this could have just been a side effect from eating half the box of malt balls while baking, making the flavor of the cupcakes pale in comparison. Regardless, they were very tasty. The cupcake was moist, which fulfills basically 50% of my cupcake critique.

Chocolate Malted Cupcakes

2 1/4 cups flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
1 1/2 cups malted milk powder (original flavor)
1 cup vegetable oil
3 large eggsre
1 cup sour crea
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Frosting

2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup malted milk powder (original flavor)
3 tsp cocoa powder
5 cups confectioner sugar
Chocolate Covered Malt Balls (such as Whoppers) to garnish (optional)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Line cupcake pans with liners.

In a large bowl, whisk attachment to blend the milk and malted milk powder. Mix until the powder is dissolved. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, sugars, baking soda and salt. Slowly add the flour mixture and the oil to the milk mixture until incorporated. Add eggs one at a time until incorporated. Stir in the sour cream and vanilla until just combined.
Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full. Bake for 20 minutes.
Cool completely before frosting.

Make Frosting:
Whip the butter in bowl of an electric mixer on high speed for several minutes until very light and fluffy. Stir in the malted milk powder and cocoa. Whip on medium-high speed for 1 minute. Slowly add the powdered sugar about 1/2 cup at a time. Mix until the frosting becomes thick enough for piping.

Pipe frosting on top of cupcakes and top with a chocolate covered malt ball.

Banana Nutella Cupcakes

2011-02-15T21:42:00.000-08:00

So, I missed the National Nutella Day this year (for shame), February 5th. So, in an effort to make it up to everyone, I did make a Nutella recipe, in the spirit of participation.

I have had this one one on my mind for a while. Now, I'm not super crazy about banana flavored things, but I do have exceptions for things like banana Nutella crepes, banana bread/cake, and fresh banana sliced over bran flakes. But, if I had to choose, anything smothered in Nutella would "take the cake," so to speak. I had originally thought that a Nutella/ganache topping would have been a nice elaboration on the theme, but honestly, the cream I recalled having in my fridge when I went to the store for other groceries was apparently a week past deadline. In the end though, I think topping these with straight Nutella was the way to go anyway. The caramelized banana on top is also deglazed with a dab of Frangelico, to keep the theme across the board.

Banana Cupcake with chopped Hazelnuts
Adapted from Eat My Cupcake
Makes approximately 12

Ingredients:

1/2 cup ripe mashed bananas (1 banana)
1 cup flour
1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup butter, softened at room temperature
1/3 cup sugar
1 large eggs
1 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup finely chopped, roasted hazelnuts

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°.
Line cupcake tin with paper liners.
In a medium sized bowl, mix flour, baking soda and salt.
Mix nuts into flour mixture and then set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream butter and sugar.
Beat in egg until incorporated, then stir in vanilla.
Stir in banana mixture.
Beat in the flour mixture alternately with the milk.
Pour batter into prepared tin in oven for 20 minutes.
Remove from oven and place directly into the freezer for 45 minutes. This will make the cake very moist. (I missed this step this time (my freezer is PACKED), but I felt as though it worked in previous attempts).

Once cupcakes are cool, smother a generous dollop of Nutella on top of each. Next, make caramelized bananas (these instructions are pretty rough - your own judgement will be required for measurements):

Slice 1 banana into 12 thick slices. In a small frying pan, melt a tablespoon or so of butter. Fry banana slices for 1-2 minutes each side, then sprinkle with a tablespoon or so of brown sugar. Swish it around a bit and let the banana brown a bit, then drizzle a tablespoon or so of Frangelico over them. Flip them until nicely browned on both sides and swimming in syrup. Place one banana slice carefully on top of each cupcake. Be careful when transplanting, as the bananas will fall apart after being cooked.

Happy belated Nutella day!

Samoa™ Cupcakes

2011-01-29T15:46:00.000-08:00

I wish I could say that this cupcake flavor was inspired by the recent news of the Girl Scout cookie cut-backs. But alas, even though I think I'm a bit early for Girl Scout cookie season (at least I haven't seen any troops outside the grocery stores yet), but I had those delicious Samoa cookies on my mind. I don't really know why the Samoa's (or "Caramel De-lights") ended up at the top of my favorite GS cookie list considering I don't generally go for coconut goodies, but maybe the marriage with caramel and chocolate is just too much to resist.

I tried the traditional cookie recipe for this last year and absolutely loved it, and figured it could use the cupcake make-over routine. Not that the cookie needs improvement, it's just always fun to play with the flavors in a different form. The cupcake rendition does have an added frosting layer which you won't find in the cookie, but the cupcake doesn't have a crunchy cookie either. In any case, I think it's quite tasty. I chose a chocolate cupcake base to keep the flavors rich (but it might be good with a vanilla cupcake too), topped with a carmel buttercream, toasted coconut flakes, caramel swirl, and then a bittersweet ganache. So far, everyone who tried this one was very enthusiastic about it.

Makes approximately 18 cupcakes.

Preheat oven to 350˚. Line cupcake tins.

Toast 1 cup of sweetened coconut on a sheet pan for approximately 15 minutes, making sure to mix around the coconut every 5 minutes so to get the most even toasting. Set aside to cool.

Make Caramel Sauce (taken from Ina Garten):

This makes about 1-3/4 cups. You really only need about 1/4 cup for the cupcakes, but you can keep the rest refrigerated for a couple months (but I'm sure you could find reasons to use it up before then).

1 1/2 cups sugar
1/3 cup water
1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla

Mix the water and sugar in a large heavy-bottomed saucepan. Cover and cook over low heat until the sugar dissolves. Increase the heat and boil uncovered until the sugar turns a medium brown, about 5 to 7 minutes, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon. Watch it carefully at the end, as it will go from caramel to burnt very quickly. Stand back to avoid splattering, and gradually add the cream and the seeds scraped from the vanilla extract. Simmer until the caramel dissolves and the sauce is smooth and thick, about 2 minutes. Serve warm, or add another 1/4 cup of heavy cream and serve room temperature.

Make Chocolate cupcake:

1 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
6 tbs butter
1/3 c cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
3/4 cup water
1/4 cup milk

Mix flour, baking soda, powder and salt together in a medium sized bowl. In separate, heat proof bowl, melt butter in microwave (45-60 seconds). Mix in cocoa powder until mixture is paste-like and add in vanilla until smooth. Whisk in sugar, then eggs, one at a time until incorporated.
Alternating between flour and water mixtures, add each to the chocolate mixture, beginning and ending with flour. Mix until just incorporated. Fill cupcake tins and bake for 20 minutes. Let cool.

Make Caramel buttercream:

1-1/2 sticks butter, room temperature
2-1/2 cups powdered sugar
2 tsp milk
3 tbs caramel sauce

Whip butter until smooth. Slowly add in powdered sugar 1 cup at a time. Once incorporated, add in milk and caramel sauce until mixture is light and fluffy. Scrape down sides of bowl as necessary.

Make Chocolate Ganache:

3 oz heavy cream
6 oz bittersweet chocolate (or milk, if that's your preference), chopped uniformly
1 tbs butter

In a microwave safe bowl, heat chocolate for approx. 20 seconds and set aside. In another microwave safe bowl, put butter in cream and heat in microwave for 45 seconds, or until it just reaches a boil. Pour hot cream mixture over chocolate and let set for a minute, then whisk together until all the chocolate has melted and is smooth.

Assemble cupcakes. Using a piping gun or bag, frost the cupcakes. No need for making it pretty, since the next step is rolling the frosted cupcakes in the toasted coconut. Then drizzle caramel sauce over the coconut followed by a drizzling of ganache.

Enjoy.

Cupcake Bouquets

2011-01-24T22:28:00.001-08:00

Traditionally, I'm not a very traditional Valentine's Day celebrator. So it's probably ironic, or just Ferengi, that I am offering a fun alternative to the usual Valentine's Day gift.

I cannot take credit for the idea, but kudos to my buddy Carol for seeing the idea posted and sending it my way. Per a quick google search, it has been done many times before, and in a few different ways, but the one I finally settled upon was an 18 mini cupcake bouquet, neatly nestled into a flower pot.

I'm offering these treats up for $30 each. If you're local (read: I don't deliver), let me know if you want to order a batch for your sweetie this Valentine's day. Shoot, they might even share with you, but I make no promises.

New Year, New Recipes, New Contests

2011-01-02T18:42:00.001-08:00

Hey there! Apologies, as the holidays engulfed me. I was happily baking away this whole time, and you had no idea!

Well, a quick recap, if possible, the holiday tins were a hit and easier to manage this year thanks to a little more organizing, pre-planning, and my fabulous Sous-Chef, Blair. There were also a bunch of parties to attend and host, which required goodies, not to mention the holidays themselves. A heavenly array of treats to devour.

But all mixed in with that was the ever-present recipe contest hosted by Scharffenberger and TuttiFoodie. Having been given notice about this contest a good 3 months ago, I can't say it was poorly warned, but with all the other stuff I just mentioned, this contest fell to the bottom of the pile... until last week, that is. To be fair, I had been thinking about it since October, if that counts.

So the deal: Big prize for the winning recipe which will be judged by some cupcake experts as such: "creativity and whether the recipe represents a spirit of adventure (35%), taste of finished recipe (35%), ease of preparation (20%) and appearance (10%)." Creativity does pertain somewhat to their list of "adventure ingredients: "stout beer (oatmeal, chocolate, imperial or any other stout); ricotta; buttermilk; coconut butter, coconut milk or coconut cream; saffron; molasses (light, dark or blackstrap); adzuki bean; fresh beet; sweetened condensed milk; fresh or whole dried chili pepper; bee pollen; meyer lemon; almond flour; and Sumatra coffee bean." In the end (the end being today at midnight), I submitted 5 recipes, some more adventurous than others, of which I will gladly post... if I win, that is. No point in giving you guys failure recipes!

But so you're in the know, and maybe have some feedback on what you think sounds like a winning recipe, the submissions were:

Beet Velvet Cupcakes with Mascarpone Cream Cheese Frosting - using beet & buttermilk (first photo)

Raspberry Truffle Cupcakes with Sweetened Ricotta Frosting - using Beet & Ricotta (I only took a couple bad photos of this one, so... maybe just use your imagination)

Black & Tan Cupcakes with Stout Ricotta Frosting - using Stout, Molasses & Ricotta (2nd photo)

Chocolate Tiramisu Cupcakes with Marsala Mascarpone Frosting - using Almond flour & Sumatra coffee (photos on main website)

Chocolate & Almond Mochi Cupcakes with Adzuki Ganache - using Almond flour, sweetened condensed milk & adzuki beans (3rd photo)

I actually taste-tested all of these before submitting (well, minus the Chocolate Tiramisu, because it's the same recipe I use all the time...er... well, with one small exception, but I'm sure it's fine...) so I can at least stand by them. I think the Beet Velvet is the most delicious, but like most red velvet cupcakes, they are more of a vehicle for the cream cheese frosting, so am not sure it should count. Otherwise, I enjoyed the flavors and textures of the Black & Tan (I used Harp lager for the "tan" portion of the batter), and the Mochi cupcake probably qualifies as the most adventurous, but it is different - the rice flour lends itself to a more chewy texture and the adzuki beans are somewhat granular, so yeah, the texture: it's a bit different.

Winners won't be notified 'til almost March, so hang in there for news. If you hear nothing, assume the worst ;-)

Holiday Treat Tins Available for Order

2010-11-17T22:18:00.000-08:00

I know, it's a little scary: it's already mid-November.

It hurts every fiber in my being to talk about December holidays before it's their turn, but sometimes you just need a couple extra weeks to plan ahead. Specifically, I mean to entice you with some of my holiday offerings, now available to order. You can check out my Holiday Treat tins at www.kathleensconfections.com/tins.html. This year's line up:

Holiday Cookie Collection

A balanced variety of flavors including spiced, chocolatey, fruity, and nutty; great for pleasing a crowd. Flavors include:

Molasses Chews - Warm spices with a hefty ginger zing are the striking flavors of these chewy cookies.
Black Forest Biscotti - Rich dark chocolate biscotti studded with chocolate chunks & sweet dried cherries.
Spritz - A simple, buttery flavor is the hallmark of this classic cookie.
Buttered Rum Meltaways - Delicate, shortbread cookies flavored with rum that gently melt in your mouth.
Pignola - A classic Italian cookie made with almond paste and covered in the warm flavor of toasted pine nuts.
Fig Swirls - A figfilling flavored with orange, honey and spice is elegantly enrobed by a warm butter cookie.
Chocolate Hazelnut Crinkles - Rich, chewy cookies made with hazelnuts and chocolate, and coated in powdered sugar.
Raspberry Linzer - A nutty, spicy, crispy cookie sandwiching a tart raspberry jam filling, then sprinkled with powdered sugar.

Toffee & Brittle Tin

Crunchy, sugary bits of brittle, packed with tasty nuts and/or seeds. The toffee is not my own doing, but the mother/daughter team who makes this English Toffee holds their family recipe close, and there really is nothing like it.

English Toffee (by Mütti's Munchies) - buttery toffee filled with almonds, and topped with milk chocolate and chopped almonds
Maple, Chipotle, Pecan Brittle
Pumpkin Seed & Cocoa Nib Brittle
Vanilla Cashew Brittle

Caramel Popcorn
Enlisting the assistance of Mütti's Munchies once again, I have included this family's special recipe for homemade caramel popcorn into the gift tin options for this year. Sweet and salty, with a buttery crunch, this caramel popcorn is difficult to put down once you've started.

Spiced Nuts

2 unique varieties of nuts fill this tin.

Spanish Spiced Almonds - very savory, roasted, almost smokey in flavor, these crunchy almonds are a perfect pre-feast snack.
Chili Lime Cashews - an amazing combo of zesty lime, sweet brown sugar and sea salt completed with a little finishing kick.

And of course, you can order each tin individually, or go all out and get the 3 tier "Treat Tower" which includes the cookies, toffee/brittle, and your choice of the caramel popcorn or the spiced nuts.

Photography for these is by my friend Carol @ www.clickedbycarol.com

Thanks!

Halloween Partay Treats

2010-11-02T22:52:00.001-07:00

Ok, this wasn't any official thing, but I made some fun treats for the Halloween get together Jonathan and I hosted last weekend, and wanted to share. No recipes are posted, but I could dig them up if you send me a message to that effect.

So, the non-baking prize of my spread was the cheese graveyard. The week I was coming up with the poached pear cupcakes with brie frosting I was looking at the little triangle of brie and had a revelation that with a few importantly placed cuts, you could transform that lovely brick into the perfect coffin shape. So wahlah: the brie graveyard was born... or..er... well... came to be ...

Anyway, I found a bunch of other fun recipes that were somewhat Halloween themed including cheddar "spiderweb" crisps, "devils on horseback" (prosciutto wrapped dates), deviled eggs (I gave mine little cyclops faces), devil's food cupcakes with little tuilie wafer flames, pumpkin woopie pies (omg), and caramel/pretzel/caramel bars (more like gobs than bars though).

A very tasty evening.

Poached Pear Cupcakes

2010-11-02T22:33:00.000-07:00

Last week, I attended Iron Cupcake SF for the second time. So far, both times have been fun, sugar-loaded experiences, and again I took home a prize winner (well, actually I left them all there, in the bellies of the judges). I managed to pull off 3rd place, amongst some steep competition, as well as a duplicate poached pear cupcake entry.

My camera battery died, so my evidence of the event is minimal. There is this one picture Jonathan captured of me holding the tray of contestants.

In any case, there were some very notable entries. Winner was the pumpkin curry cupcake, which was very deserving of the prize. Second came the Chinese 5 Spice chocolate cupcake; a very unique flavor experience. One that didn't win, but I will remember forever was the chocolate raspberry pink peppercorn.

My recipe though, was a combination of a spiced almond cake filled with pureed poached pear and topped with brie frosting. I'm pretty sure this recipe made more than enough pears to fill 12-16 regular cupcakes. (Ok, I don't remember exactly how many it made)

Pears

4-6 pears, peeled & cored
1 bottle of red, fruity wine
1 cup sugar
1 cinnamon stick
1 tsp lemon peel
1 clove

- Combine ingredients and simmer in large pot for 25-40 minutes, until tender.

- Remove pears and cool.

- Reduce wine mixture until syrupy.

- Puree pears with some of the reserved syrup.

Almond Spice Cupcakes

3/4 cup flour
1/4 cup almond flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp clove
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter, room temp.
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
3/4 tsp almond extract
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup buttermilk

- Whisk dry ingredients together in small bowl.

- In separate bowl or stand mixer beat butter & sugar together until smooth.

- Add eggs one at a time until incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl.

- Add extracts.

- On low speed, alternate adding dry ingredients and milk to butter mixture, beginning and ending with dry ingredients, until batter is smooth. Do not overmix.

- Pour into prepared cupcake tin.

- Bake for 20 minutes.

- Remove from pan and Cool.

Frosting

1/2 cup butter, room temp.
6 oz. brie, rind removed
2-3 oz. mascarpone cheese
1/2-1 cup powdered sugar

- Beat butter and brie until smooth.

- Add powdered sugar slowly, beginning with half a cup and adding more per your preference.

- Add in mascarpone until just incorporated.

Assemble

- Cut holes in tops of cupcakes and add puree.

- Pipe frosting onto each.

- Garnish with slice of poached pear if desired.

About Brittle

2010-10-23T18:02:00.000-07:00

I'm not an avid candy maker by any means, but I like to dabble. Last year for the holidays, I went crazy making all sorts of gift basket goodies, including a couple varieties of candies. Luckily most of them went well (thanks to the wonderful candy thermometer by boyfriend's family gave me- thanks!), but I preferred some over others. I was most intrigued by brittle. Last year I had found a recipe for pumpkin seed brittle that had a cinnamon in it, and it was pretty amazing, and also relatively consistent (unlike my taffy which on one attempt to make was as hard as a candy cane).

I'm just starting to plan out what I'm going to make for gift baskets this year, and brittle is definitely on the list. I searched online for a variety of recipes and inspirations, but ended up making 3 variations on one recipe. I'm calling it my "brittle base".

In medium saucepan, over medium heat, stir together:

1/2 cup corn syrup
1/4 cup water
1 cup sugar

until the sugar has dissolved. When it starts to boil, add:

1/2 cup butter

Let it keep boiling until your candy thermometer reaches 230˚ F, then start to stir it constantly until it reaches 280˚ (somewhere around 10 minutes).

At this point, you can add in your key ingredient, usually nuts + (get creative) (ideas below).

Stir constantly until it reaches 300˚. Move quickly and have your ingredients ready because this sugar mixture can burn in the blink of an eye.

Remove from heat and stir in:

1/2 tsp baking soda (and whatever spice or flavoring you want)

Pour onto a greased or parchmented baking sheet or jelly roll pan and spread until fairly even. I learned a neat trick where you can put a layer of parchment over the brittle and use a rolling pin to lay it flat. The thickness of whatever nut mix you used will help keep it from getting too thin.

Let it cool, then break into pieces and store in an air tight container for a couple days. Be careful of how much moisture is in your home, too. The brittle can get a layer of stickiness on it if you don't have dry enough conditions. Weather can have a big effect on this, so if you can do it, try and make you candies on a non-rainy day.

Ok, so, here are the 3 variations I made today:

1-1/2 cups chopped cashews (simple)
1-1/2 cups pecans, 1 tbs maple extract (not the real stuff I'm afraid), 1 tsp vanilla, 1 tsp chipotle powder (a great flavor combo with a subtle kick)
1 cup pumpkin seeds, 1/2 cup cocoa nibs (I used Askinoosie), dash of cayenne pepper

I usually use pre-roasted and salted nuts, but you can always roast your own.

Yay for brittle!

Pumpkin Cupcakes

2010-10-19T23:35:00.000-07:00

My favorite time of year: Pumpkin season! Mostly because it means I can bust out this recipe again, but also because everywhere I go I can order some pumpkin flavored something or other. Thai pumpkin curry is high on my list of tasty treats I look forward to.

But I digress. We're here for cupcakes, and I intend to fulfill my baker's duty by sharing this beloved recipe with you. I confess, I've already sort of posted this once before, in one of its many versatile forms.

Pumpkin Cupcakes

Preheat oven to 350˚

Line 2 cupcakes tins (approx. 24 cupcakes)

Whisk together dry ingredients in large bowl and make a well in the center:
3-1/2 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1tsp cinnamon
1tsp nutmeg
¼ tsp ginger
1/8 tsp cloves

Mix together liquid ingredients in a medium sized bowl:
3 cups sugar
¾ cup oil
4 eggs
2/3 cup water
2 cups pumpkin puree

Add liquid ingredients to dry and whisk together until combined. Scoop out 1/4 cups at a time into prepared baking tins. Bake 20 minutes.

Once cooled, top with cream cheese frosting:

1 8 oz bar cream cheese

1/2 cup butter (1 stick)

Whip together until smooth. Add:

~3 cups powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

Whip on hight until fluffy. Pipe on to cupcakes.

This is always a crowd pleaser, and one of the easier cupcake recipes around (probably because it's a muffin recipe in a cream cheese frosting disguise). It always helps to have fresh spices on hand though; it can make such a difference in flavor.

New Website & Branding

2010-09-11T13:28:00.001-07:00

Hey all!

No baking this time! Just wanted to invite you to check out my new website and branding.

www.kathleensconfections.com

Thank you to everyone who piped up and gave me their two cents; it is always appreciated! I have been contemplating the rebranding for quite sometime, and have been ridiculously inspired to go with a more nostalgic feel since some of my favorite flavors pay homage to an earlier era (see Orange Creamsicle & Soda Pop). And I've been over-watching some really classic TV shows lately, so I guess it's just on the brain (examples: Star Trek TOS, Bewitched & Get Smart). I love the funky designs and cool color schemes they played with back then, as well as space inspired imagery. It was an exciting time for "progress", and I ironically am looking back to it for the my own future. I guess for what's its worth, I also find that I am compelled to bake things that could be considered glorified bake sale items (have you tried my brownies???), so hailing back to the days of domestication seems appropriate.

As far as design, I wanted to keep things simple and straightforward. If you follow this blog, you know that I bake way more than what appears on the menu, and I'm always ready for a baking challenge if you throw one my way, but sometimes decisions are easier made when you aren't confronted with 1000 options (hello In-and-Out. Yes, I just compared my blog to the secret menu. I guess I'd better dream up an "animal style" cupcake now).

Also, I liked the idea that everything could be on one page, which is why I (with help) figured out how to get the thumbnail images, when hovered over, to pop up with their corresponding flavor. I am inspired to see what else javascript can do for me. Ideas include an order "form" page, instead of the mailto option that comes up when you click "place an order."

So, stay tuned for what's coming. I am excited to roll out the packaging and printed matter that accompanies this new branding - the holidays are already on my mind!

S'more Cupcakes

2010-08-19T21:30:00.000-07:00

As the summer season begins to wane, I begin to feel nostalgic about those last few days we used to have before school would start; trying desperately to hold on to the freedom and adventure we so foolishly took for granted in early July.

As an adult, the sense of panic doesn't get much better. I question whether or not I really appreciated all that the summer had to offer: did I enjoy the warm weather enough, the late daylight saving's evenings, or the fresh ingredients of the season, etc. And as much as I adore and eagerly look forward to what Autumn has to offer, I find I'm still scrambling to hold on to all the good things about summer before it's all washed away in the sea of Halloween Costume stores.

So, to keep it alive with just one more recipe, I fall back on family tradition: camping. And what makes camping really camping? Roasting s'mores over an open fire, of course.

I have over the past couple years been on a fairly epic quest to perfect a s'more cupcake recipe. Sadly, I don't think I'm 100% there, but this latest version does have a very appealing look about it. AND I got to use my little kitchen torch, which is always fun.

To start, I attempted to combine a vanilla cupcake recipe with a graham cracker twist:

Graham Cupcakes:

Preheat oven to 350˚

Line approximately 20 cupcake tins.

2 C Flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 C butter
1 C brown sugar
2 tbs honey
2 eggs
1 C buttermilk

Whisk together flour, baking soda and salt and set aside. In electric mixer, blend butter, sugar and honey until creamy, scraping down sides occasionally. Add honey and one egg at at time until incorporated. Beginning and ending with flour mixture, add flour and buttermilk alternately. Fill cupcake tins. Bake for 20 minutes. Cool.

Then dip each cup

cake top into

Chocolate ganache:

8 oz chopped chocolate (I used semi-sweet) or chocolate chips
4 oz heated cream (warm but not boiling)

Pour warmed cream over chocolate and let sit 1-2 minutes, then whisk together until smooth. I occasionally have to stick the mixture in the microwave for 10 second intervals until all the chocolate is melted. Be careful not to overheat, as it will begin separate. Bad.

Once your cupcakes have a healthy topping of chocolate, then comes the marshmallow! With a stand mixer, making marshmallows from scratch is a cinch, albeit messy. Luckily, I was able to get the freshly made marshmallow cream to my piping bag without much hassle, and it piped onto the tops of the cupcakes perfectly.

Marshmallow "Frosting":

3 envelopes (1/4 oz) unflavored gelatin
1/2 cup cold water
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup corn syrup
1/2 cup water
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large egg whites
1 tablespoon vanilla

In bowl of a stand mixer sprinkle gelatin over 1/2 cup cold cold water, and let stand to soften (about 5 minutes are needed).

In a heavy sauce pan cook sugar, corn syrup, 1/2 cup water, and salt over low heat, stirring until sugar is dissolved. When it begins to boil, stop stirring. Boil until candy thermometer reaches 240°F. Pour sugar mixture over gelatin mixture, stirring until gelatin is dissolved.

Beat mixture on high speed until white, thick, and nearly tripled in volume, approximately 6-8 minutes.

In a separate bowl beat egg whites until they hold stiff peaks. Beat whites and vanilla into sugar mixture until just combined.

Gently spoon this mixture into a large piping bag and start topping the cupcakes.

(To be honest, I think I only made half the recipe for this many cupcakes, but there's never any problem with too much marshmallow mix. See my marshmallow recipe for instructions on how to deal with the "leftover" if necessary. )

After cupcakes are topped, let them refrigerate for an hour or so until the marshmallow is set. It'll still be pretty sticky no matter how long you leave them for, so in the interest of not drying out your cupcakes, I recommend not leaving them in there too long.

Now it's time for the torch. Be careful, have supervision, all those disclaimers, etc, etc, and try not to overly scorch the cupcakes. Or, I guess it really just depends on how you like your marshmallow. I was going for looks, so didn't let it get too burnt or mushy.

As I was saying earlier, I don't think I'm quite there yet. The graham cracker cupcake wasn't bad, but it didn't quite fulfill the role of graham cracker, likely because there was no crunch, but was also a little dry. As well, many people thought it needed a higher chocolate to cupcake/marshmallow ratio. No complaints on the marshmallow, as far as flavor, but I did find that in some instances, the marshmallow was not completely adhered to it's ganache partner, which was noticed mainly when you took a bite of the cupcake, and the marshmallow stuck to your lip, popping right off the cupcake.

So, there is more work to be done, but all in all, I'm moving in the right direction.

With that, I will say adieu to the summer of 2010, and with a clear conscience, I can eagerly move forward into the brimming and wondrous season of Autumn.

Zucchini Cupcakes

2010-08-01T23:43:00.000-07:00

For me, summer is incomplete without home grown zucchini. Growing up, it was the dinner-time staple. Sadly, my mother wasn't aware of the many delicious ways that zucchini could be prepared, so too many of those summer dinners had a side helping of boiled and wilted zucchini. Luckily, zucchini had one saving grace, and that was in her amazing zucchini bread.

I have adapted the recipe I got from her slightly by adding some vanilla, omitting nuts, and turning it into a cupcake.

Preheat oven to 350˚. Line cupcake tins with wrappers. Makes approximately 24.

Mix wet ingredients:

1 1/2 cups sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup oil
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups grated zucchini

Whisk together dry ingredients:

1 cups flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Mix dry ingredients into wet and fill cupcake tins. Bake for approximately 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Let cool completely and frost with cream cheese frosting.

Beat together until smooth:

8 oz cream cheese
1/2 cup butter

Gradually add:

3 cups powdered sugar

and then:

1 tsp vanilla

Iron Cupcake SF Contest

2010-07-26T23:55:00.000-07:00

So it was a huge success. My friend, and fellow baker, Carol has been forwarding me Iron Cupcake emails for a couple months now and we just haven't quite made it. But when she sent me the email saying this month's ingredient was "alcohol," I decided to clear the calendar, and made a batch of my Margarita cupcakes.

And lo and behold, everyone loved them - I won first place! Rumor was, these events don't usually go over 30 people, but this time there was an influx of contestants and taste-testers, which caused the hosts of the event Leland Tea Company to rent a space nearby to accommodate the 24 bakers and over 100 testers. And it was steep competition too! There were some very creative and tasty creations to choose between.

Some highlights were the Absinthe, "the Hangover" a Bloody Mary cupcake with maple bacon mimosa buttercream, coffee candy, and chardonay toasted sea salt (!), "The Dude" which was a White Russian a la Big Lebowski, Violet Beauregarde which was a port and chocolate cupcake with ganache and a Zinfandel soaked blueberry, and of course "Sex on the Beach", which was a very clever decorating experience. Needless to say, I was proud to be in such good company.

Thanks to everyone for being so friendly and welcoming, it was a wonderful experience and am totally jazzed about future competitions! Special thanks to the hosts, the donators of prizes, and my friend Tom who came out to help sway the vote in my favor by at least one more opinion!

Margarita Cupcakes

2010-05-01T11:49:00.000-07:00

So, I know Cinco de Mayo is a Mexican holiday that has been blown way out of proportion here in America, but as always, I embrace any holiday that brings with it tasty treats and special foods just for the occasion. Not that you need much of an excuse to enjoy a good margarita.

My cupcake of the month is inspired by the quintessential Mexican beverage. Using a recipe that is a spin off of what I've done with my lemon meringue cupcakes, but I adjusted the filling and toppings a bit to bring out the best of a good margarita. Sadly, it is not best when served on the rocks.

First I made a lime yogurt cupcake, then filled it with a special lime curd that was made with a lot of fresh squeezed lime juice and good Don Julio tequila (thanks Heather for grabbing me a bottle while you were in Mexico!). I was missing the triple sec, but I don't think the flavor failed for it. I then piped the curd into the cupcakes and topped with a buttercream that was flavored only with lime juice. I then rolled the edges of the cupcakes in a special mix of lime zest, coarsely ground sea salt and a little bit of sugar.

I have had the pleasure of showcasing this cupcake at 2 large events and have had nothing but awesome reviews. It is a little more time consuming that your usual cupcake, but the pay off is so sweet. A great balance of zesty, tangy, sweet, and saltiness all in a moist cupcake that pretty much melts in your mouth.

Recipe:

I recommend making the filling a little bit ahead since it will take a couple hours for it to chill completely. You can make it a day ahead. I believe the curd lasts in the fridge for about 2 weeks, but let's not take my word for it. Maybe 1 week max to be safe.

Margarita Curd:
2 egg yolks + 1 whole egg
1/3 cup lime juice and tequila (you can choose what ratio, but I did 1 part tequila: 3 parts lime)
1 tbs lime zest (2-3 limes)
3/4 cup sugar

Whisk eggs and sugar together until creamy. Place over a double boiler and whisk constantly for about 20-25 minutes (tedious, yes, but don't quit too soon or else it will all be runny). The mix should be kind of thick. Add the liquid and zest and mix until pudding consistency, probably another 10-15 minutes. Cool completely with a layer of saran wrap touching the top of the curd so a crust doesn't form.

Lime Yogurt Cupcakes:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup plain yogurt
1 cup sugar
3 extra-large eggs
2 teaspoons grated lime zest (2-3 limes)
1/2 cup vegetable oil

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Prep 12-18 cupcake liners in tins.
Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt into 1 bowl. In another bowl, whisk together the yogurt, sugar, eggs, and zest. Slowly whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. With a rubber spatula, fold the vegetable oil into the batter, making sure it's all incorporated. Pour the batter into the prepared tins and bake for about 20 minutes. Cool, and cut out dime sized holes in the tops of each cupcake. An apple corer works pretty well for that; otherwise a melon baller.

While cupcakes cool, make the buttercream frosting:

3/4 cups butter, room temperature
3 cups powdered sugar

Whip on high until either crumbly or they start incorporating into a paste. Add a couple teaspons of lime juice at a time until the consistency gets fluffier.

You can also prep the zest rim by taking about 1/2 - 1 tbs of lime zest and mixing it with coarse sea salt (I dunno, maybe 2 teaspoons worth) and a tablespoon or so of regular sugar.

Then fill the cupcakes with the lime curd. I use a pastry bag, but if you just have a ziplock, go ahead and fill that and cut a small hole in the bottom corner and pipe it that way. You will probably have leftover curd. You can cut the recipe down by 1/3 and probably have enough for this recipe. Or just make more cupcakes. :)

Once the cupcakes are filled, frost with buttercream. This can be a smidgen tricky because any pressure on the filling will make it ooze out in directions you don't want it to. I used my pastry bag for this as well, and just made unpretty swirls on the top, then took my spatula and flattened the frosting. Then I rolled the edges of the cupcakes in the salt rim.

Buen Provecho and happy Cinco de Mayo!

Tropical Carrot Cupcakes

2010-04-05T21:54:00.001-07:00

Easter came a bit early this month, but I figured it was ok to accommodate the flavor of the month to it anyway. And who doesn't love carrot cupcakes? Ok, I know one person. She discriminates against vegetables in her desserts, and as much as I love carrot cupcakes and cannot be swayed against them, in a way I can see her point.

But she's missing out on these ones! A nice little variation on the original, this one boasts a variety of tropical flavors. It has pineapple, coconut, macadamia nuts, and ginger, as well as the usual carrot and cinnamon. Topped with a lightly vanilla flavored cream cheese frosting that is loaded up with toasted coconut flakes.

I was inspired by the recipe posted on epicurious but cut out the candied ginger and put a dash of powdered ginger instead. I also did my own cream cheese frosting and just added the toasted coconut on top.

Preheat oven to 350˚. Line cupcake tins with wrappers. Will make approximately 36 cupcakes.
Mix dry ingredients together in large bowl:

2 1/3 cups all purpose flour
1 cup sweetened flaked coconut
1 cup dry-roasted macadamia nuts, chopped
1 tsp ginger
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Mix wet ingredients together in medium bowl

2 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
4 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups finely grated, peeled carrots
16 oz canned crushed pineapple in its own juice (I actually used 20 oz.)

Gently stir wet ingredients into dry until incorporated. Spoon into cupcake tins and bake 20 minutes.

Frosting:
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
8 oz cream cheese
2-1/2 - 3 C powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla

Cream butter and cream cheese until smooth. Trying not to make a mess, gently add in powdered sugar. After about 2 cups of sugar, add the vanilla and continue to add more sugar. I find that cream cheese frosting usually holds its own without any other liquid, but if it really seems too stiff, go ahead and add a smidgen of milk to smooth it out. But be careful, as it can get runny all too quickly.

To toast coconut, spread about 1-1/2-2 cups of flaked coconut evenly on a baking sheet. Toast in 5 minute increments on the higher rack of a 300˚ oven. I think 15 minutes total does just the trick, and 20 minutes is pushing too far, so keep an eye on it. At each 5 minutes, mix the coconut around to get the best distribution of browning.

Once the cupcakes have cooled, frost them. I had the pleasure of making mine look like little birdie baskets with robin's eggs (um, I really just was looking for an excuse to finally buy the robin's eggs, which I'd been eying all season but couldn't bring myself to indulge in). So, if you don't need to make them look seasonal, just sprinkle the coconut generously on top of the frosting.

Enjoy!

Guinness Cupcake

2010-03-02T07:16:00.000-08:00

Happy March!

I'm ringing it in on time, with a lovely festive cupcake. Being that I'm about 50% Irish, I do take pride in the heritage, minus the incessant freckles, so am very happy to have found a way to celebrate it in cupcake form.

I did have the pleasure of visiting the lovely Emerald Isle, and on that trip, went on a tour of the famous Guinness Brewing Factory - a worthwhile venture, if you happen to be visiting the area. We got a special lunch of delightful Guinness beef stew and pints of a type of beer they don't export to the states. Not that it was appreciated by everyone.

When I was sent a Guinness cupcake recipe from a friend, I was intrigued. Knowing that the stout has a rather strong, roasted flavor, and seeing the combo of Guinness and chocolate before, I had a feeling the two would compliment each other well. And so they do! This cupcake is rich, very moist, and does have a lingering stout flavor - a truly unique cupcake experience.

I did see quite a few variations on the stout cupcake posted online, but seriously have no qualms with the recipe I used, so recommend it and would use it again in a heart beat.

Ingredients

1 cup Guinness

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup cocoa

2 cups sugar

3/4 cup sour cream

2 eggs

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

Preheat oven to 350° and line 2 cupcake tins.

Pour the Guinness into a large saucepan and add the sliced butter. Heat until the butter is melted and remove from the heat. Whisk in the cocoa and sugar. In a separate bowl, beat the sour cream with the eggs and vanilla. Add the sour cream mixture to the Guinness mixture in the saucepan. Finally, beat in the flour and baking soda.

Pour the batter into the tins and bake for 20 minutes. Cool completely in the pan on a wire rack.

Frost with vanilla cream cheese frosting (1 stick of room temperature butter whipped with 1 bar (8 oz.) cream cheese, along with 3 cups of powdered sugar and 1-1/2 tsp vanilla).

If you are too skeptical to try the beer-in-cupcake method, but still need a St. Patty's Day option, there's always Irish Cream Cupcakes.

Happy Nutella Day - CupCrepe™

2010-02-05T10:13:00.000-08:00

Nothing better than a holiday celebrating Hazelnut Chocolate Spread. And to top it off, it's apparently Crepe month in France. Is there anything better than Crepes smothered in Nutella? And is there anything better still than a cupcake built with crepes and nutella? I think not, which is why I've been conniving a way to make that happen for quite some time. So with the news of this world wide holiday approaching, I decided to take action. I am proud to introduce: the CupCrepe™.

Many discussions of how to put the project together took place. Do I make a cup out of crepe, or cut rounds and stack the crepe? Do I cut the circles, put on the spread, then stack? Do I use fresh strawberries, puree, or jam? How will they stay together without falling apart? How will the crepes stay tender, and not dry out. What crepe recipe do I use? I don't think I answered all my questions this first time, but I do think the concept is genuinely tasty, so no harm in having a couple more rounds of experimentation to work out the answers.

To start, the crepe recipe. A lady in my office exclaimed to me about a week ago that a client of hers, who is officially 100% French (thick accent and poor English to boot), gave her the "official" French Crepe recipe, and she so generously passed it on to me. I feel the need to reiterate it verbatim, simply because it was that authentic:

Begin quote:
French Crepes

Make a dozen Crepes

2 Cup flour
2 cups of Milk ( 2% is good if you want light crepe)
3 eggs
1/4 cup of butter
2T sugar
2tsp vanilla
2 T Rum or other alcohol like orange liqueur. [I used Brandy]

Firstly, put all the flour in a bowl, add one cup of cold milk and mix slowly with a wisk until it's smooth.
Add all 3 eggs, already beaten in an other bowl, you have to mix again very carrefully.
Put the butter in a microwave for a few seconds after it's melted and add it in a mix.
Combine the rest of the cold milk with sugar and vanilla.
mix again until it's smooth.

it's almost ready.

If desired, you can add a hint of rum or orange liqueur to taste.

wait for an hour before baking or no if you have hungry............

To fry the French crepes, you need a pan with just a little bit butter for the first crepes.
French crepes are very thin so you could put only a small amount of mix in a pan just enough to coat the bottom.
When the crepe is golden (it should take only a few minutes), you should turn it over and cook the other side just another minute or two.
You can eat them with powder sugar or butter or fresh lemon juice or chocolate of course!
end quote

Shamefully she did not mention Nutella as a topping, but I allowed myself the option to deviate from the recipe slightly.

So I went ahead and whipped up about 10-11 crepes with that recipe. (I did let it sit for about half an hour... even though I did have some hungry). While they were still warm, I began to layer nutella on each layer. I tried to keep it pretty thin since there were so many layers. Truth be told, I still went through half a jar of nutella to put this project together, so yeah, there's a lot of nutella per bite. But then I also snuck in 2 layers of fresh strawberries. My hope hope was that the nutella would work as the glue to hold those strawberries in place, but I think the juiciness of the strawberries was too strong and ended up liquefying the nutella instead. Still tasty, but messy. That's where I thought maybe a jam would work better, but there really is no replacement for the taste of fresh strawberries.

After building the stack up, I wanted to stick the whole pile in the fridge to let it cool enough that the nutella glue would set, but it was getting late, so I just went in for the cut. I used the shell of a Linzer cookie cutter I have since it's about the same size as the bottom of a cupcake wrapper. Punched it down through the multiple layers and lifted the whole stack up to transfer to a new plate. I'd say for the most part it worked. The top layers got stretched a bit on the initial cut, but they seemed to recover (having a nice a spongy crepe helped). Some of the strawberry layers got eschewed and were popping out in places, but the column was mostly intact. I also would prefer a taller cutter to get through so many layers. In the end, I think this method saved me some time, but will have to try it again where I cut each crepe round individually, THEN layer them altogether. It will give me more control and less worry about squeezing the toppings out through the layers. It will definitely take more time though.

So, once I had cut through as many full circles as the crepe would allow, I had quite the mess of leftover crepe and nutella. Not that it's a bad thing, but It could be put to "prettier" use. I donated this pile to my dear friend and co-worker, and she didn't mind the presentation one bit.

For the final touch, I topped each round with a dab of nutella "glue", some strawberry slices and powdered sugar. After letting them refrigerate over night, I was able to easily scoop them up and put them into cupcake liners for final presentation.

Final thoughts: The strawberries look sad and dry the next day, so this is best served fresh. I think it would be good to do with banana and maybe make a puree for every other layer of nutella. If layered individually, I think it will stay together pretty well. The other thing I would do is make the whole thing single-bite sized. Call them mini-cupcrepes, but they will be much easier to just pop in one serving. Maybe the, you could just do nutella layers with the topping only on the top, too. Let the experiments continue!

So, happy nutella day, world. I hope you enjoy my offering!

Homemade Marshmallows

2010-01-18T20:37:00.000-08:00

So it's apparent that I'm not a good blogger. I've gone over a month without a word, but certainly not without turning on my oven!
Alas, I'm back, and my first treat this year is homemade marshmallows. I have been eying the idea for some time, but after a few candy making snafus, I almost lost my nerve. Luckily I have been saved by the good fortune of this recipe. My dear friend Kristy sent me this beauty earlier in the weekend, Hot Chocolate Layer Cake with Homemade Marshmallows, but I was a little scared off by the intensity of the cake (I just had chocolate molten lava cakes for dessert 3 days ago and am still recovering), but was interested in the marshmallows. After cross-examining a few online recipes, I dutifully followed one of my favorite food bloggers, Smitten Kitchen, and found her recipe for marshmallows, which, unlike most others, included egg whites (as well as a couple key tips on how not to get your fingers involved in the sticky mess!)
I tried not to pull from her site verbatim, but I didn't change much in her instructions.

Ingredients:

About 1 cup powdered sugar
3 envelopes (1/4 oz) unflavored gelatin
1/2 cup cold water
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup corn syrup
1/2 cup water
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large egg whites
1 tablespoon vanilla

Directions:

Oil bottom and sides of 2 9x9x2 inch metal baking pans and dust bottom and sides with powedered sugar.

In bowl of a stand mixer or in a large bowl sprinkle gelatin over 1/2 cup cold cold water, and let stand to soften (about 5 minutes are needed).

In a heavy saucepan cook sugar, corn syrup, 1/2 cup water, and salt over low heat, stirring until sugar is dissolved. When it begins to boil, stop stirring. Boil until candy thermometer reaches 240°F. Pour sugar mixture over gelatin mixture, stirring until gelatin is dissolved.

Beat mixture on high speed until white, thick, and nearly tripled in volume, approximately six minutes.

In a separate bowl beat egg whites until they hold stiff peaks. Beat whites and vanilla into sugar mixture until just combined. Pour mixture into baking pan (it was suggested to not worry about scraping the bowl down - I was satisfied with how much of the solution I got out, so second the recommendation). Sift powdered sugar evenly over top. Chill marshmallow, uncovered, until firm, at least three hours, and up to one day.

Run a knife around edges of pan and invert pan onto a large cutting board. Gently loosen marshmallow and ease onto cutting board. With a large knife cut marshmallow into roughly one or two-inch cubes. Sift remaining powdered sugar over marshmallows, and roll the marshmallows through it, making sure to get the sugar on all six sides. Shake off excess.

Ok, so then you eat them. But I didn't have to tell you that.

I'm thinking of trying this again but with a different flavoring. I think the vanilla was a bit overpowering too, which I would consider cutting down on the amount. I saw a recipe for strawberry flavored ones, which sounded inspiring.

Homemade s'mores, anyone?

Poached Pear Tart

2009-11-16T12:09:00.000-08:00

Wow did my apartment smell good while I was making this! They should make a candle that embodies the smell of pears poaching in a pot of wine, sugar and spices. Or I could just make this all the time...

So I offered this tart up as one of the many pies I'm selling for Thanksgiving this year, but hadn't really decided on a recipe for it yet, just knew it could be done, and that I would do it. So I experimented and came up with this pretty keen combination. I followed a recipe posted on Epicurious fairly closely, but with some modifications. First and fore most, I had created a poached pear crepe last year that had a honey mascarpone filling, so figured I'd work with that some how in the tart. I also love almond and almond flavors, so swapped out the called for pistachios and used almond meal in it's place.

This is what I came up with:

Pastry cream

2/3 cup almond meal
6 tablespoons sugar, divided
1 tbs honey
1/3 cup milk
1 8oz pkg mascarpone cheese
4 egg yolks
3 tablespoons cornstarch
5 tablespoons whipping cream

In medium sized saucepan, place 3 tbsp sugar, almond meal, honey mascarpone and milk and bring to boil. At first, I was concerned about whether or not the cheese would boil or melt, but it worked out just fine. In separate bowl, whisk remaining 3 tbs sugar, yolks, and cornstarch and blend. Gradually whisk 1/2 cup hot milk mixture into yolk mixture. Return to milk mixture and whisk constantly over medium-high heat until mixture boils and thickens, about 1 minute. Remove from heat. Transfer mixture to a bowl; press plastic wrap directly onto surface. Cover and chill. Stir in cream. (Can be made 2 days ahead. Keep chilled.)

Poached pears

1/2 bottle fruity red wine (such as Zinfandel)
1 cup sugar
1 tsp lemon zest
1 cinnamon stick
1 sage leaf (remove after 10 minutes of boiling, or so)
4 medium-size firm but ripe pears peeled, with core and stem removed

Add all ingredients to a large pot and bring to simmer. Depending on the ripeness of the pears, simmer for 30 minutes up to 1 hour. Transfer pears to a separate dish and reserve poaching liquid to boil down to a syrup for serving, to reboil more pears later, or to discard. Cool pears to room temperature. (Pears can be prepared 2 days ahead. Cover and refrigerate.)

Crust
• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 9 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 1 large egg yolk

Preheat oven to 375°F. Blend flour, sugar, and salt in food processor. Add butter and pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add egg yolk and pulse until moist clumps form. Press dough onto bottom and up sides of prepared pan tart pan. Freeze crust 15 minutes.

Bake crust until golden brown, about 20 minutes. Cool completely in pan on rack. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Let stand at room temperature.)

Once all ingredients are ready, smooth a layer of pastry cream into the pie shell, and top with slices of poached pears in a decorative manner. It is best to pat the pears dry before arranging on the tart. I had the better part of a pear leftover when I was done arranging my tart, but it worked out since I was able to choose only the prettiest pieces of pear to lay on my tart, and will gladly gobble up the rest of the pears, or maybe use them in a recipe in the next day or so. They really are super tasty.

It was shown in the previous recipe that they arranged their pears in a rosette-like formation, which looked very pretty, but I couldn't quite get myself to do it. I just love the fan-like look of the fruit tarts.

Anyhow, now that I've come up with a recipe, I feel better about offering to make them for people's thanksgiving dinners!

Maple Pecan Pie

2009-11-06T14:48:00.000-08:00

It's high time for pie time!

Pies are amazing. I especially love a good pumpkin pie, but honestly, just use the Libby's recipe, so there's not much to blog about. But I do have a very special Pecan Pie recipe that I have every intention of sharing.

Inspired originally by my dear friend, Liz, who is always so willing to accommodate those with special dietary restrictions. She made a pecan pie that used no processed sugars. Knowing that most of the recipes out there for Pecan Pie are 80% corn syrup does make them high on the processed sugars list. Our friend who had this restriction did say that Maple syrup was natural, therefore he would eat it. Bingo. With a little experimentation, she whipped up a batch of pecan pie tarts using only maple syrup in place of the corn syrup. I was skeptical at first, thinking they would taste like a gallon of maple syrup with some pecans thrown in, but I was sure wrong. Delicately sweet, chewy, and super nutty, they fulfilled everything you'd ever want from a pecan pie, and were actually not as painfully sweet as their corn syrup counterparts. Nor was the flavor overwhelmingly mapley. I mean, I like maple syrup, but I do have my limits on how much of it I can take in.

It did take me a couple years to make my own version, but well worth the wait. Adapted from a recipe on Simply Recipes.

Ingredients

2 eggs, slightly beaten 
1 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup brown sugar
 1 tbsp molasses 
2 tbsp melted butter 
2 tbsp flour 
1/4 teaspoon salt 
1 tsp bourbon or brandy
1 1/4 cups pecans (enough to cover bottom of pie tin)
1 Removable bottom tart pan lined with pastry crust

Preheat oven to 375°F. Spread pecans along the bottom of the pie shell. I tend to be meticulous about it and fan them out from the center, but then am disappointed when I pour the mix over the nuts and they proceed to be displaced chaotically. Just a warning, if you happen to be a perfectionist.
Mix the remaining ingredients and pour over pecans. The pecans will rise to the surface.
Bake at 375°F for 45-50 minutes until the filling has set.
Cool completely.
Cutting can be messy, because I keep the pecans whole, so you have to chop through the whole nut AND crust. You can of course chop them before you put them on the pie crust.

I use a trusted pie crust recipe that is basically 1/2 cup of butter to each cup of flour, with a tsp of salt and sugar tossed in. I keep some of the butter chunks pretty big too, which makes the crust super flaky (but reliable - how ironic!).

I hope you enjoy this treat as much as I do. It definitely competes with pumpkin pie in the ranks of my favorites. But apple is so good too.... ooh, Dutch Apple. mmm. I guess I have more posts to work on.

Caramel Spiderweb Chocolate Cupcakes

2009-10-30T09:38:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween!

This week I did a festive chocolate cupcake with caramel buttercream and caramel swirl topping, with a little spiderweb style.

The caramel sauce turned out quite tasty. I followed a food network recipe from the Barefoot Contessa, Ina Garten. It was nice because it didn't require candy thermometers.

Carmel Sauce

• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1/3 cup water
• 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Mix the water and sugar in a large heavy-bottomed saucepan. Cook over low heat until the sugar dissolves. Increase the heat and boil uncovered until the sugar turns a medium brown, about 5 to 7 minutes, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon. Watch it carefully at the end, as it will go from caramel to burnt very quickly. Stand back to avoid splattering, and gradually add the cream and vanilla extract. Simmer until the caramel dissolves and the sauce is smooth and thick, about 2 minutes. Serve warm, or add another 1/4 cup of heavy cream and serve room temperature.

Just a note, don't try and make a smaller batch. I did the other week, and it became an overheated mess of stringy caramel and chunks. Not very appealing. Other than that, the 1/4 cup of cream after it's been removed from the heat is also important for keeping it from crystalizing too much.

Ok, so I took my Devil's food cake recipe and experimented with a couple of the cupcakes by putting a dollop of the caramel sauce in the middle of them before baking. Results varied. Most of the cupcakes reacted by getting a gaping hole in the center/bottom of the cupcake and leaving a crispy sugar crust on the wrapper where it decided to go when baked. From what I heard, it did make those cupcakes extra moist, but am not sure it was worth it due to the fact it left some parts hard to eat or... empty.

So, I just kept the rest of it straight-forward and made an easy caramel buttercream with the sauce.

Caramel Buttercream
1 cup butter, room temperature
approximately 4 cups of powdered sugar
1/4 C + caramel sauce
milk

Beat butter until smooth and add powdered sugar 1 cup at a time until frosting is thick and almost crumbly. Add caramel sauce a little bit at time until you reach the desired consistency. I did add a little cream (you could use milk) to help smooth it out a bit too.

Warning, it's very sweet. I'm sure this would go well as a cream cheese frosting too, to cut down on the sugar content a bit.

After I piped the buttercream on the cupcakes, I took a pastry bag with a small round attachment and filled it with the remaining caramel sauce, swirling it on top of the cupcakes. Then with a toothpick, I pulled the frosting and caramel down in little spiderweb like trails from the center of each cupcake, achieving the desired effect.

Yay Halloween!

Apple Cider Cupcakes

2009-10-23T15:31:00.000-07:00

Ah. Fall. How I love thee.

This time it's tasty Apple Cider Cupcakes with a delectable spicy cream cheese glaze and apple cutout. My friend Kristy sent me this recipe a year ago and I made it then, before I really jumped on the cupcake bandwagon. They were SO delicious and I remembered them a year later just as I saw the apple cider hitting the supermarket aisles.

I did do a little research on some other apple cider cupcake recipes posted online, and I modified the original slightly and was very please with the results. There's really nothing better, in my opinion, than having a spicy cupcake loaded with chunks of juicy apples. I also liked having the apple cider reduction ready to go for the cupcakes as well as the frosting. It really intensified the flavor. I actually used Trader Joe's "spicy cider" which already has a lot of flavor in it.

2 eggs, at room temperature*
1 2/3 cup flour
1 cup apple cider**
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 -1 granny smith apple, cored, peeled and cut into 1/4-1/2 inch chunks

Preheat oven to 350˚. Grease or line 12-16 cupcake wells. In large bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Add eggs, beat well. Combine the baking powder, cinnamon and salt to the flour and add to the butter mixture alternately with the apple cider until thoroughly combined. Mix in apple chunks. Pour into prepared cupcake pan, filling each cup 3/4 way full. Bake 20 minutes or until the tops spring back when lightly touched.

Cider Cream Cheese Frosting

1 cup apple cider 
4 oz. cream cheese, softened but still cool 
1 - 2 cups powdered sugar 
a pinch of salt

Put the apple cider in a small pan and bring to a boil over high heat. Continue to boil until the cider is reduced to about 2 tablespoons (it will be slightly syrupy). Set aside to cool completely.

With an electric mixer, beat together cooled reduced cider, cream cheese, pinch of salt, and 1 cup of the powdered sugar. Add enough additional powdered sugar for desired frosting texture.

* I learned a neato trick with room temperature eggs. If I don't have enough time ahead to get them to room temperature, you can place your refrigerated eggs into a small glass of warm water for about 30 seconds-minute to bring them to room temperature. The science of eggs is that cold eggs separate more easily, and room temperature eggs will fluff and incorporate air more easily than cold ones which is good for a lighter cupcake.

** I read a recipe online that suggested using 2-3 cups of cider and boiling it down to the approximately 1 cup you'd need for the the cupcakes. If you have enough time ahead, I recommend it because it really packs in a whole lot more flavor. And you can just make enough for the frosting at the same time while you're at it.

My little added touch was the apple cutout on top. I took a granny smith and used a handy little apple shaped cookie cutter that happened to be the right size, and was able to pop out the shapes from the apple slices. I actually just used the remnants of that apple as the chunks in the cake, which worked out to be about half an apple's worth. I recommend peeling the apple before hand though, something I didn't do.

While I made the cupcakes, I let the apple shapes rest in a bowl of water with a splash of lemon in it to keep them from browning. When the cupcakes were done and cooling, I pan fried the slices with a touch of butter and cinnamon and let them go until they were slightly browned, but not mushy. I did lose a couple in the process, so it's best to have a couple more than you think you'll need.

When the cupcakes were cooled, I made the frosting. It was pretty runny because I was trying to pack in a lot of flavor with the cider syrup, but it was good. I frosted and then placed a nicely browned apple slice on the tops of each of them. Make sure your apple slices have had a chance to cool though, because they will slide around on the cream cheese frosting and melt it if they're not.

A delightfully rich, tangy treat. Enjoy!

Wedding Cupcakes

2009-10-12T00:21:00.000-07:00

So, I'm a little delayed in getting these posts complete, but I've been pretty busy in the kitchen and really want to share some of the adventures!

Mainly, I had the pleasure of baking cupcakes for my friends' wedding this September. It was a beautiful wedding down in Pasadena at the CalTech campus where they both went to school.

As Pasadena is nearly a whole state away from me, I had to migrate my kitchen for the weekend in order to accomplish the cupcakes. Transplanting all my tools into the Avery dorm kitchen for a couple days was not as incredible of an undertaking as I imagined, but still quite a hefty chore. I was really grateful that the few kids who were roaming the dormitory halls were very courteous and respectful of me in their space, especially as my cupcakes overwhelmed their common areas, and that the ominous emails the bride-to-be sent to them before my arrival (relating to missing cupcakes) were dutifully noted. I'm not sure how many dorms you could get away with leaving 250 cupcakes lying around overnight without there being some kind of cupcake massacre.

In any case, the task was 125 Banana cupcakes with cream cheese frosting, and 125 Chocolate cupcakes with semi-sweet ganache frosting. I was able to prep a few things beforehand, and did some last minute supply shopping, but mainly just dove right in hoping I'd calculated the quantity of my ingredients correctly. And there were some issues. For example, I had figured I'd need 16 pounds of butter when it was all said and done, but really ended up only using about 10 or 12 pounds. I had to buy 2 more bananas because I had not calculated in the mini-cake I was making (so they'd have a little something to cut into). But overall I was quite pleased with how close I came to my guesses... er... calculations.

So the baking went very smoothly and all the cupcakes were cooled and frosted by 10 or 11 the night before the wedding. The kicker was the little decorations I made on them. Having finished a class in cake decorating, I was feeling pretty good about my buttercream roses, so decided to put a mini one on top of each cupcake. The wedding colors were burnt orange and eggplant purple. So, I thought the orange would look lovely on top of the cream cheese frosting and the purple would go well with the rich chocolatey brown of the ganache. And yeah, I think they did come out looking rather cute. But oh my god did my hand cramp like nothing else! That is a muscle I have yet to develop. So after 3 hours of gently piping one little rose onto my fancy little rose-making spinny-pin, then gently transferring each one to the top of a cupcake and repeating that process until I had a full tray or so of them, then piping on a little stem and leaves to each one of those little rose buds... then, after 250 of those I was able to call it quits. It was that moment I realized using a mouse at work was not going to be the reason why I get carpel tunnel!

But was it worth it? Yeah, I think so. Everyone seemed to really enjoy the cupcakes, and the little girls in their cute little pink dresses at the wedding were in so much awe about them, they had to have been good!

Pumpkin Bread

2009-10-07T23:16:00.001-07:00

It's that time of year! I love the fall and all the wonderful flavors it has to offer. I especially adore pumpkins and all the delightful treats you can make with them - sweet and savory. I just love the fall spices and the way they make your home smell when you have something tasty baking in the oven.

To bring in the season properly, I have to bake this notoriously good pumpkin bread recipe that I got, no joke, from my high school cooking class. Luckily, my teacher didn't say it was patented or copyright, so I'm happy to pass it along.

I've tried this with freshly made pumpkin puree, canned, organic, non-organic, you name it, and it's always good. I unfortunately didn't find the quality between fresh and canned pumpkin to be worth the effort of steaming/roasting it myself, so have to go against my desire to make everything from scratch and say it's canned pumpkin all the way for this recipe.

Pumpkin Bread:

Preheat to 350˚
1. Prep baking pans:

3 greased loaf pans (bake for 30-40 minutes)
Large loaf pan for (bake for 1 hour)
muffin tins (12-24 muffins depending on how full you fill them and bake for 20-30 minutes).

2. Whisk together dry ingredients in large bowl and make a well in the center:

3-1/2 C Flour
2 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Salt
1tsp Cinnamon
1tsp Nutmeg
¼ tsp Ginger
1/8 tsp Cloves

3. Mix together liquid ingredients in a medium sized bowl:
3 C Sugar
¾ C Oil
4 Eggs
2/3 C Water
15oz. Can Pumpkin (~2 cups)

4. Add liquid ingredients to the well mix and stir/whisk together until combined.
5. Pour into preferred baking tin(s).
6. Bake recommended times based on pan size. Check doneness with a toothpick. Done when pick comes out clean and the tops are lightly browned.

Optional toppings:

Cinnamon Sugar:
Before baking, sprinkle a mix of 2 tbs sugar and 1 tsp cinnamon over the top of the bread for a crispy baked topping.

Orange Glaze:
After baking (either while warm or when cooled), drizzle a mix of ½ cup powdered sugar and 1-½ tbs orange juice over the bread and allow it to cool.

I definitely recommend and prefer the orange glaze. I really like the cinnamon sugar topping on other breads, such as zucchini, but you really can't go wrong with something like that.

I find this recipe to be stupendously reliable, moist, flavorful, incredibly easy and fast to make, and versatile - you can make it into cupcakes by simply adding cream cheese frosting! Which, on that note, is October's cupcake of the month.

Wine Cupcakes with Brie-Cream Cheese Frosting

2009-09-10T23:14:00.000-07:00

A commissioned cupcake: Red Wine. We brainstormed out how to make this flavor cupcake, and this is what we came up with:

Chocolate cupcake with Zinfandel cream filling, topped with Brie-cream cheese frosting and a drizzle of Zinfandel reduction glaze. It was quite an amazing combination, and definitely a multi-step process.

First, I reduced a couple cups of the Zinfandel so it was more concentrated in flavor. I'd say, turn 2 cups into 1 and you'll have a good amount to work with. You'll need this for the drizzle on top, but also for dipping the cupcake into before you add the filling.

Second, I made the zinfandel cream filling. Using a basic Bavarian cream recipe, I replaced the water with wine and reduced the amount of whip cream needed by about half. Unfortunately, this was REALLY good - so good, I kept having to taste it... you know, to make SURE it was good. Luckily I still had enough (more than enough) left to fill 15 or so cupcakes.

Zinfandel Cream:
In a small bowl, set 1 tbs gelatin in 1/4 c wine (supposed to be cold, but mine was room temp). Let set for at least 10 minutes. In a separate bowl, cream 2 egg yolks, 1/4 C sugar and a pinch of salt. In a saucepan, bring to a boil 1 cup milk and 1 tsp vanilla. Once it has reached a boil, remove from heat. Temper egg solution by scooping about 1/4 C of the milk and whisking it quickly into the egg. Once tempered, slowly pour all egg mixture into the milk and whisk until combined. Whisk in gelatin mixture. Strain, then let cool. Whip in 1/2 C whipped cream once it is set.

Next phase of prep was the brie cream cheese frosting. So, I didn't take the most precise measurements when doing this, but I think I used about 1 cup of brie, 1 8 oz bar of cream cheese and 1/4 C of butter. Whipped those up with about 1 - 1 1/2 cups of powdered sugar, a tablespoon or so of honey, and was happy with the consistency. You can add more sugar, but I felt like it would be better a little more savory. I did trim most of the rind off the brie before mixing it up, but might actually let more of it slip in if I did it next time because it does add that distinctly brie flavor. Just make sure to crumble it finely because chunks of rind will look funny in your frosting.

Last prep, make the reduction glaze by setting aside about 1/4 cup of the reduction and whisking powdered sugar into it until desired consistency.

Ok, now you're ready to make cupcakes. I used my basic Devil's food cake recipe as the base of this flavor combo. Once cooled, I scooped out the centers with a melon baller (and tried not to gobble all the discarded cupcake holes up in one bite!). Then dipped all the cupcakes in the remaining reduction and used a pastry brush to get some in on the inside of the cupcake orifices. Then I used my fancy schmancy pastry gun to fill the cupcakes with the Zinfandel cream. Try not to overfill.

Then I piped little swirls of the brie-cream cheese frosting on top of each cupcake, followed by a swirled drizzle of the reduction glaze.

The overall flavor was not too sweet, creamy, and with a kick of wine flavoring that was super satisfying. And it made a pretty cross section too!

Words of improvement might include using a reduction to set the gelatin, that way the cream has an even more potent wine flavor. Once you add all the other cream ingredients, it gets a little over-powered.
Also, the reduction drizzle didn't stay pretty the whole time. It never quite hardened, so the top half and the bottom half of each line got misshapen. I am not 100% sure what my solution is, but it would probably be a cooked glaze. Only experimentation will tell though.

Also, unlike most cupcakes I make, I felt these ones need to be refrigerated due to the high dairy content and the gelatin.

And please, don't eat these cupcakes and drive ;)

Rum Raisin Cupcakes

2009-08-30T18:15:00.000-07:00

September's cupcake of the month flavor was inspired by the ever popular (well, at least cult-like popular) "Talk Like a Pirate Day," which is coming up the 19th of this month. If you aren't familiar with this festive holiday, it's really quite a simple celebration of grammar: you just have to drop your "arrr"s all day.

In the piratical spirit, I felt like rum was the only neccessARRRy ingredient. Unsure of what kind of pairing would go with Rum that would compliment but not overwhelm it, I decided rum raisin. Inspired by an ice cream flavor that my friend Becca used to order back in my Brooklyn days. Now personally, I'm not a fan of raisins, so I had to resort to the opinions of my taste testers to see if the recipe was a winner. Luckily, it has passed the test.

My recipe was fairly straight-forward, but a little time consuming. I made a pretty standard "off-white" cupcake, but used all brown sugar and added a couple tablespoons of rum in place of some of the milk (and actually forgot vanilla.... I will probably use vanilla though if I make them again).

While those were baking, I soaked some small dark raisins in rum and brown sugar and put them over a double boiler until the raisins seemed plump and the liquid had turned syrupy. Not a very technical explanation, so if I had to guess, I'd say I used 1 cup of raisins, 2-3 tablespoons of Rum and 1/4 cup of brown sugar. Once that was ready, I put it into my food processor, added about 1/4 cup of roasted pecans and pureed it into a sticky paste. I actually added more rum to thin the solution out a bit so it was more spreadable.

Then I made some butter rum glaze. Over medium heat, melt 6 tablespoons of butter, 3 tablespoons rum, 3 tablespoons water, and 3/4 cup of sugar. I let the solution boil a little and then took it off the heat and let it cool. It does form a skin, so you can either cover it or mix it once in a while to keep it fluid.

Finally, I made rum buttercream which was just a regular buttercream recipe that used rum instaed of milk. 1 C butter, room temperature beaten until fluffy. Gradually add 4+ cups of powdered sugar and approximately 4 tablespoons of rum and whip until creamy and fluffy.

To assemble, spread raisin puree/compote evenly over the top of the cupcake. Using a pastry brush, cover compote with glaze. Top with buttercream and of course, a little raisin so everyone knows what to expect.

4 Flavors

2009-08-30T17:19:00.000-07:00

A simple way to add variety to your life, I made a batch of devil's food cupcakes and topped them with 4 different flavors of frosting. Only a little extra time for each frosting, but totally worth it to spice things up.

Flavors, clockwise, starting from front.

Flavor 1: Strawberry
Regular buttercream frosting, but with fresh strawberry puree instead of milk. I topped the cupcake with the frosting, then spotted it with a couple sesame seeds and mint leaves to make it look like a strawberry top. No food coloring was used, but it could be cute to make it a little richer in red color.

Flavor 2: Kahlua
Buttercream made with Kahlua instead of milk and topped with a sprinkling of cocoa powder.

Flavor 3: Grand Marnier
Buttercream made with Grand Marnier instead of milk. Should have added orange juice or rind to the frosting mix, because the Grand Marnier by itself wasn't quite cutting it. I did top it with candied orange rind pieces, but it didn't add enough flavor.

Flavor 4: Hazelnut
First I spread a little Nutella on the cupcake, then I put on a layer of Frangelico buttercream. Topped with a hazelnut.

Pignoli Cookies

2009-08-12T21:43:00.000-07:00

These cookies are one of my favorites. Definitely a treat, these moist, chewy and flavorful cookies are made almost entirely of almond paste. In fact, they could be gluten free if you chose not to use the moderate amount of flour that's suggested in the batter.

These cookies are apparently Sicilian in origin. They are often made around the holidays, but I see no reason to not enjoy them year round.

The recipe is very easy. I used a food processor to make the dough, which made it very easy and quick. Most recipes called for almond paste in a can because it's softer, but I only have access to the tube kind, so my quantities were off by an ounce, but nothing seemed to be ruined because of it.

1 (8 oz) Can Almond Paste
1/2 C Granulated Sugar
1/2 C Powdered Sugar
1/4 C Flour*
2 Egg Whites (this amount can vary depending on how moist the dough gets. Start with 1 white and only add more if necessary)
8 Ounces Pine Nuts
Extra Powdered Sugar To Finish (I forgot to do that part - woops)

Preheat to 300 F.

In a food processor, pulse the almond paste into small pieces, and add the two sugars and the flour (* recommended, but could make it without). Once those are mixed thoroughly, begin to add the egg whites a little at a time, just until the dough comes together.

I used a small cookie scoop to divvy up the batter. At each spoonful, I tossed it with the pine nuts and placed on a parchment lined cookie sheet. No need to flatten - a sphere of cookie dough will bake into a nicely rounded mound that is super moist and chewy on the inside while crisp outside.

Bake for about 25 minutes until lightly browned. The pine nuts will add such a nice warm and nutty flavor to the already super almondy dough - amazing.

Once they cool, I suppose that's where you're supposed to sprinkle them with powdered sugar. Go for it. I'm sure it's lovely.

I was only able to get about 10 cookies from this recipe, but they are totally worth it.

Black and White Cookie

2009-08-08T13:39:00.000-07:00

A true New York specialty, I definitely miss having a good black and white cookie after grabbing a sandwich at the deli. There is a lot of history and culture surrounding the black and white. It is by definition a cookie that is actually cake. Supposedly created when bakers had leftover batter, they just added a little extra flour to thicken it up so it wouldn't spread too far on the pan. Proof that some of the most amazing things are based on very simple ideas.

There is also quite a ritual that goes into eating the cookie. Which side do you like better? Do you eat the black or white first? Do you take a little bit of each? I was reminded of a Seinfeld episode that touched on the process of eating the cookie and it's ability to defy racial barriers. Regardless of which side you like or eat first, the cookie is overall quite delightful. Spongy like cake, with a high cake to frosting ratio, it is the perfect sweet end to any meal.

After an experiment and advice described by smittenkitchen's entry (thanks), I ended up making my cookie dough by varying my basic off-white cake recipe. Yielding only about a dozen large cookies, this recipe can be doubled, halved, made into a bunch of small cookies, made into bigger cookies (not recommended, as the cookies are actually quite fragile and will easily break in half if made too big). They are also best served fresh. Deli's tend to wrap them in plastic wrap to ward off the elements, but I doubt if you brought these cookies to a party there would be any concern for what to do with leftovers. They also don't do so well with stacking because the glaze is tacky and although "hardened" - still pretty moist. putting layers of wax paper in between the cookies seemed to work well enough to keep them separate for transport though.

Ok, so recipe goes:

6 tbs butter, room temperature
1 C sugar
3/4 C flour*
3/4 C cake flour*
1 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
2 eggs
3/8 C milk
1/2 tsp lemon extract
1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 375˚. Line baking sheets with parchment.

Sift together dry ingredients. I usually don't sift, but this time I thought it would be important to keep the cookies light and incorporate both flours evenly. Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time. Mix milk and extracts together. Beginning with dry ingredients, gently mix into butter, alternating with milk, ending with dry, being careful not to over-mix.

Drop by spoonfuls onto cookie sheet about 2 inches apart. *I found that they were hard to make into perfect circles, and might have been easier to work with if I added a little more flour, probably up to 1/2 cup more at most. Depending on the size you make the cookies, bake for 10-15 minutes, but check to make sure you just lightly brown the edges.

As they're cooling, start the glazes.
My proportions are not generous, but the recipe can be easily added to even as you're working, so if you need more you can make it as you go.

White Glaze:

2 C powdered sugar
1/4 C boiling water

Slowly mix water into sugar, making sure not to put too much water in. You might not need all of it. I like the consistency to be easy to spread and not very drippy.
So, these cookies are actually frosted on their bottom side, covering up the baking brown. Using a frosting or butter knife, spread the white glaze on one half of each cookie. The glaze develops a skin quickly, so make sure to move quickly so your unused frosting doesn't get too crystallized.
You will have about half the frosting left. Place that over a pot of boiling water to make a double boiler and then, add to glaze base:

Chocolate Glaze:

1.5 oz dark or unsweetened chocolate
1/2 tsp corn syrup
1 tbs cocoa (optional, but I think it makes the "black" side look richer and darker than without)

Whisk together over the heat until chocolate has melted. This glaze is even more sensitive to thickening and crystallizing while you're working with it, so be sure to have more boiling water handy to thin it out as you work. Spread chocolate along other half of cookie.

Let them set up for a while before diving in, but then enjoy! I was told by a kind lady in my office that these were better than some she's had at Deli's in both New York and LA. My only defense was that I knew mine were very fresh, and that the deli's might not have been as much. Of course I'd love to believe that mine were actually better, but in the interest of keeping the peace, I will "look to the cookie."

Rocky Road Cupcakes

2009-07-28T19:58:00.000-07:00

Further inspired by a delicious flavor of ice cream, I have been dreaming up the perfect Rocky Road Cupcake recipe for days. After many debates about how to construct it, I decided to do a simple but delicious chocolate cupcake therefore allowing the frosting to fulfill the role of "Rocky Road."

Marshmallows are pretty amazing and are incorporated into some really awesome desserts out there, but I'm not the kind of person you'll find eating Peeps. I have limits. Rocky Road ice cream might be my favorite way to enjoy marshmallows, but I am always game to snack on a rice crispy treat, gobble down a fireside s'more, or scatter mini marshmallows on top of my sweet potato casserole. So it's with this recipe that I'm trying to find a way to put the marshmallows to good use, without them being an overwhelming flavor.

I used my standard chocolate buttercream frosting as a base. For each half a cup of butter, I use 2 1/2 cups of powdered sugar and about 1/4 cup cocoa powder. After creaming the frosting with a little bit of vanilla and milk, I added in mini marshmallows and toasted almonds, both chopped up a little. I let it chill in the fridge, unlike when I usually pipe frosting in which case I let it sit out to soften enough to manipulate. After the cupcakes had cooled, I was able to scoop the chilled frosting with a cookie dough scoop which made the perfect sized ice cream-looking toppings.

My only changes would be to not toast the almonds as it changed the flavor a bit, and I think the raw almond taste is more appropriate. As well, the frosting to cupcake ratio was a bit more than I like. Overall though, the flavor did capture the classic combo.

Honeycomb Candy

2009-06-28T11:16:00.000-07:00

I first tried this candy while on a trip to Ireland. I had never even heard of it before, which is a shame, because it's quite the addicting little treat.

Knowing that I had never heard of it before, I assumed many of my American compatriots were in the same boat, so wanted to expand their horizons as mine had been. So I whipped up a batch of this relatively easy confection and brought it in to work. I was amazed at the response I got (mind you, my coworkers have all come to expect that there will be sweets of some kind adorning the front desk, unfortunately making my treats somewhat unspecial). But in this case, many people were coming back for 3rds and 4ths, and a number of people even knew what it was (!). One lady said she used to make it every day as a kid in Korea; it was her childhood favorite. So I don't know why American's were denied this experience, but hopefully we can work through that fault and embrace the crunchy, crispy deliciousness that is honeycomb for ever after.

One note of caution: While on the stove, don't let the sugar mix go beyond 300 degrees. Luckily, the recipe is simple, easy, and fast, so failing in my first attempt was not terribly discouraging and continued to try it again. But the first batch was definitely burned and carmelized, which is not the correct texture or taste. Made for an awesome photo though.

So, the recipe is

1/4 C water
1/4 C corn syrup
1 1/2 C sugar
1 tbs baking soda

Prep a cookie sheet or jelly roll pan with some parchment paper and set aside. In a medium sauce pan, bring the water, syrup and sugar to a simmer over medium heat and don't stir. Let it bubble its way up to 300 degrees fahrenheit (until the liquid is the color of light straw) and then immediately dump the baking soda into the pot. Whisk rapidly incorporating the soda into the sugar mixture as thoroughly as possible. The mixture will start bubbling up quite violently and turning the mix into a honey color. Pour the mix onto the parchment paper and let it rest for 20 minutes. Any fussing with it and the air bubbles will deflate and you will lose the quintessential "honeycomb" look that is caused by the soda forcing air throughout the toffee-like sugar mixture. The ideal outcome, is a very porous, crispy, sticks to your teeth texture that tastes something like butterfinger/caramel and melts in your mouth. There is a distinct baking soda taste to it too, but not in a disagreeable way. It's quite a delightful way to get your sugar fix.

Once it is set, just chop it roughly with a sharp knife. I like to get sizeable pieces and then the little bites just happen because the candy is too brittle to cut into perfect shaped or sized pieces. You can also cover the pieces with chocolate, which is amazing. In fact, Cadbury has a chocolate covered Honeycomb bar that is commercially sold over there (why not here?!!!).

So from Great Britain (or wherever it originated) to you: enjoy!

Gooey Butter Cake

2009-06-13T15:50:00.000-07:00

It is what it sounds like!

The idea was brought to me directly from St. Louis via my boyfriend's parents who were visiting over Memorial Day weekend. Having never heard of it, the name was a quick selling point. Apparently a very St. Louis kind of thing, I figured the west coast needed to be introduced (including myself) so ventured to try it.

Not sure if she was the founder of said Gooey Butter Cake or simply the one who made it popular, but it appears we have Paula Dean to thank for it. So saying, I believe the confection holds up to the Southerner stereotype that if it's going to be good, it's going to be clogging your arteries. Yum. Luckily it's pretty rich, so unlike some of those scorpion-style confections that you find you can eat tons of, but are extremely bad for you, this treat should and really can only be consumed in small portions.*

So the original recipe calls for a box of cake mix. Once we look past that minor indiscretion, we can get excited about the recipe that is the "gooey". I find it's a close relative to that cream cheese filling you can optionally put into brownies, which is also a close relative to cream cheese frosting. Yeah, I said cream cheese frosting. But it's BAKED in. Genius.

For experiment's sake, I made what you would consider half a batch. Please double at your own discretion.

So I started with a variation on yellow cake. My variation went something like this:

sift together and set aside:

1 C flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 C sugar

mix together:

1/2 C butter, melted
3/4 cup milk, curdled with a tsp of vinegar (aka buttermilk - I didn't happen to have any, hence the substitute)
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg

Add dry ingredients to wet.
Yeah, that's it.

Pour this mix into the bottom of a 9x13 pan (I line mine with parchment to keep things easier to clean/cut). You could also do a 9x9 with the final product being a bit taller (could be good).

Next, make the gooey:

1/2 package cream cheese (4 oz.)
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 box powdered sugar (approx. 8 oz.) (if I had to guess, which I did have to, I'd say that's somewhere between 2-3 cups)
1/4 C melted butter

Blend cream cheese until smooth. Add eggs and vanilla. Then add the sugar (I dare you not to make a mess of it) and make sure it's smooth. Then pour in the melted butter.

Pour that mixture over the cake batter evenly. I smoothed mine out and made pretty swirly designs which ended up being visible after baking, so I recommend it (if you care).

Bake for 30-40 minutes (and add more time if you double the recipe). But I guess this is where you just do what you think is best because if you insert a toothpick in the center, well... it's going to be gooey. So I just make sure the cake looked pretty well browned on top (where it was popping through the filling) and made sure it cooled completely before digging in.

Cut, and enjoy!

I also tried one variation with chocolate cake and peanut butter gooey, but we ate it before it cooled so the photos would have been discouraging. They were adored by the consumers, nonetheless.

*That is totally an opinion. I'm sure there are those who would challenge my position. At their own risk, of course.

Mochi Cupcakes

2009-05-25T12:21:00.000-07:00

Inspired by a recipe my dear friend kristy linked me to, I could NOT not try making some Mochi cupcakes of my own. Being a pretty die-hard fan of the real Japanese confection, I thought it would be a perfect specimen to indulge my desire to turn everything into a flavor of cupcake.

Now, Americans have already had their way with mochi by filling it with ice cream instead of the traditional sweetened bean pastes and such - a convention I whole heartedly approve of, by the way. *two-thumbs up* So me taking it a step further doesn't seem too outlandish. The difference between an American cupcake and a mochi cupcake lies simply in the choice of flour. Made with a gluten free "sweet rice flour" instead of wheat, the pastry's texture comes out much chewier. It has a distinct rice flavor that even the copious amounts of sugar and eggs can't hide. Traditional mochi is made with just rice flour and water, heated until it becomes a pliable paste which is then wrapped around the choice filling. So as a cupcake, it travels outside it's main purpose as a wrapper and becomes the foundation of the dessert.

For my mochi cupcakes, I made a "plain" cupcake and topped it with red bean paste and red bean buttercream. Inspired by a two-layer frosting technique my boyfriend documented on his month-long vacation *jealous* to Japan *also jealous*, I thought this cupcake flavor was all to appropriate to try it out on. The paste was very easy to make, thankfully, and I even got away with cheating a little bit. Following the instructions pretty much verbatim, I boiled the red beans (acquired at 99 Ranch Market - or is it Ranch 99???) for about an hour and half, drained, mixed with sugar, pureed, then reheated to evaporate the excess moisture and wow - it worked! For those of you not familiar with Red beans... I'm not really either. They're smaller than generic pinto beans, but I couldn't tell you what is distinct about their flavor. And I also can't tell you why the Japanese thought they would be good as a dessert food (beans? for dessert??), it just works. They also use lima beans in the same way, and let me tell you, they simply prove that sugar makes ANYthing taste good.

Anyway, so after the cupcakes were cooled, I made little balls of red bean paste and plopped them on top of the cupcakes and then made a buttercream frosting with the remaining paste (1/ c butter, 2 c powdered sugar + paste and a little water to thin it as necessary). I admit, I wasn't sure if buttercream would be the best with this kind of cupcake. The cake is not "light" but it's not rich either, so I was afraid that the frosting might be too sweet or creamy for the texture of the cake, but all who tasted seemed to be in favor of the combo.

With the remaining cupcakes, I made a green tea buttercream (with macha (Green Tea) powder, acquired for me on previously mentioned month-long vacation - thanks!) which was tasty, but was not nearly as cool and delicious as the double layered red bean mochi flavor. Note: no food coloring was added - all color is from the green tea powder!

But I will be continuing this line of desserts for sure. It is a unique and delicious treat that I want to share with all who either love mochi in it's true form, or have no clue what it is and need to be made aware!

Cinco de Mayo Churros

2009-05-05T23:05:00.001-07:00

I know that this holiday is a highly fabricated, American excuse to drink Margaritas and eat chips, but I do embrace most holidays that are food-focused, so I went all out this time. I made desserts for a fund raising event that was being held today in honor of the dubious holiday. And what better excuse to make churros! I love these little treats. I made mine especially bite size - better known in the diminutive as "churritos." It's amazing how many of these little tasty treats you can pack away!

Churros:
• 3/4 C sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 C milk
• 6 tbs butter
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp sugar
• 1 C flour
• 3 eggs, lightly beaten
• frying oil (i used Canola)

Make cinnamon sugar for the final coating. Set aside in bowl or plate.

Begin heating frying oil over medium heat (looking for a temperature of 325˚).

Bring milk, sugar, butter, salt and 2 tsp sugar to boil over medium heat.
Add flour all at once, cooking and stirring (wooden spoon worked best) until it forms a ball; about 30 seconds. Removed from heat and let cool; 3 minutes is fine. Beat in eggs one at a time making sure to fully incorporate.

Fill pastry bag (or in my case, awesome pastry gun) with the filling. Using the star tip, slowly squeeze out desired length of churro. I did mine no more than 2 inches each, and just scraped the tip to release the batter for each churro. I'm sure there are many ways of doing it like cutting the dough with scissors or bribing someone else to help you, but this worked well for me. I only was able to squeeze 6-8 churros per batch since I was having to rotate them in the oil for even cooking. The recipe says to cook them for 5 minutes, but just use your judgment. I like them golden brown, and a little squishy, not crunchy. But they are incredibly resilient and taste great no matter what you do (aside from burning of course).
Pull each batch out and degrease on paper towels. When they're cooler, toss around in the cinnamon sugar mix until well coated.

Since I had to make mine a day ahead, I waited to put the sugar on and simply reheated the pre-fried tasty morsels on a cookie sheet in the oven for no more than 2 minutes at 425˚; then I gave them a good toss in the sugar.
They really are best warm, but who's picky?

Just a side note, taking photos with one hand while deep frying things in the other is probably a bad idea. I survived this round, but am going to exercise more caution if I ever get the brainy idea again.

Another note. Churros are really good, so they're worth any trouble they might cause in order to make them. My major complaint this time is how much I hate the smell of oil frying filling every crevice of my apartment. It gets stuck in on my clothes and in my hair for days after.

On a related note, I have a shameful admission: If the labor of making Churros sound daunting or time consuming, I can't help but recommend the quick, cheap and amazingly delicious alternative of a Costco Churro. I don't know how they manage it, but I actually have a hard time even driving by Costco without having to fight the urge to go in and get one.

Anyhow, feliz Cinco de Mayo!

Flan, Chocolate Tiramisu, Strawberry Shortcake & Almond Cupcakes

2009-04-21T17:34:00.000-07:00

For a combination of reasons, a friend came over to have a bake date last Saturday and we made 4 varieties of cupcakes. It was amazing how much quicker it went with the extra help! And the input and feedback was great. We had a couple genius breakthroughs that wouldn't have happened if I were working through it on my own.

I think the highlight of the day was the Flan cupcake. I had been experimenting with custard frosting before, with less than enthusiastic success, so was determined to get it really good this time. I had a recipe I swiped off the interwebs that went something like:

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 heaping tbs of flour
• 1 egg
• 1 cup milk
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup butter
• 2 tbs p. sugar

It sounded believable. The first time I ever made it, I was trying for a mocha frosting and thought that custard would be a really nice way to richen it up. I should have taken better notes on how thin and runny the result was the first time, but I hadn't figured out the science of why, so blazed on.

The instructions for this custard frosting:
mix sugar and flour, then add egg and milk and mix together with vanilla. Heat until thickened, then cool completely. Then, whip together the butter and powdered sugar, gradually adding this custard to the butter.

STOP.

Don't do it. I don't know why. I almost don't care how. Just DON'T do it.

Separation. If you want your custard look like grits, yes, use butter. If you want your custard to be a runny mess, then yes, powdered sugar is the answer.

Is it because the milk in the custard is JUST too liquidy? Too much for the powdered sugar to compete with that it turns your delightfully firm and gelatinous custard and whips it down into a confectioner's icing instead? Does the liquidy milk fight with the fatty butter?

So after 2 batches of custard were basically wasted, we figured out that just piping cooled custard straight on to our caramel cupcakes was good enough, that's just what we did. And quite a delightful texture it was. In our excitement, we piped up a bunch of cupcakes, mini and regular alike, and set little pools of highly viscous caramel into the custard cup. Merrily we worked until I realized: wait. The custard is breaking! Literally cracking apart under the weight of the caramel. Slowly, all our efforts began to look like remnants of some ancient cupcake culture as they crumbled to their decripit fate.

So now what? Is this project supposed to fail miserably? I want so badly for it to work because the potential is so high. One batch of custard more and we realized that patience was the only ingredient we were missing. Custard, like most milk-based products, once heated develops a sort of protective skin. We simply hadn't waited long enough for that skin to form in order to load the heavy caramel onto it. Once the custard had set, this experiment finally received the seal of deliciousness.

Bridal Shower Bake-off

2009-04-19T21:33:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago I had the privilege of hosting my best friend's Bridal Shower. Back story is that I'm terribly anxious about the whole wedding scenario and all the responsibilities I have with the maid-of-honor role. I've hardly been to any weddings, much less participated in them, so I feel a bit overwhelmed with it all. On top of the fact I'm torn between enjoying the big family/friend get-togethers that weddings provide, and disliking the kitsch that usually goes into putting them on. All the traditions, taboos and conventions seem very contrived in this day and age, and have my head in a whirl.

So, initially I was pessimistic. Despite my best efforts, I don't think I hid it well, and felt bad that my best friend was lacking the proper "squeal" reaction most other girls might have provided upon seeing her ring, or hearing the proposal story, and all those other cutesy things girls go ga-ga over. I AM happy for her, and I think she's found a great match. She told me she appreciated me for the way I was, which was comforting, but I feel sorry for her that someone else hasn't fulfilled the role of "squealer," to help satisfy that inherentaly girly attribute. (Or maybe someone has and I don't know about it).

The other funny thing worth mentioning is how adament my dear friend has been about not being a Bride-zilla. She goes out of her way to make sure that she's kind and considerate of those around her involved in the planning process, and while she knows what she wants, she's not stepping all over people to get it. I appreciate that, but am also amused at how concerned she is, second guessing herself occassionally: "That wasn't too bridezilla was it??"

Well, apparently I'm a bridesmaid-zilla. Yeah. Out of this meek and mild-mannered girl grew this beast of anal-retentive perfectism I did not know existed. I'd like to think I was at least nice about it, but I sure did have an opinion about how I wanted her bridal shower to look, taste, flow and almost fit it to a budget (thanks mama, for helping with the rest!). What's funny is how I had no idea how picky I could be. So, lesson learned is that if I ever get married and do the big ol' fancy wedding: watch out world!

Anyhow, the funnest part was making the food, of course. The idea was high tea (er... well, it was really afternoon tea, and by tea, I mean beer and mimosas. I'm pretty sure only 1, maybe 2 cups of tea were actually poured the entire afternoon). But it did include tea sandwiches (egg salad with watercress, chicken salad with almonds and celery, and cucumber with cream/goat cheeses), spanakopita, pigs in blankets, proscutto wrapped dates, brownies, mini carrot cupcakes, and the prize of the event: Angel food skewers.

I had made some angel food cupcakes which tasted quite fine, but were seriously lacking presentation awe. It had been the one request my dear bride-to-be had made, so I felt compelled to fulfill it with extra umph. So I cut up the angel food into squares (just before the party started, as they did dry out the longer they were out), then popped them onto bamboo skewers, alternating with fresh strawberries and then providing a whip cream dip along side them. For presentation, I sliced some fresh pineapple and laid it on a plate, skin-side up, tied it down, then poked the skeweres into the pineapple so they stood straight up. It looked fantastically dangerous, which is a good way to describe my friend, so felt extra clever for coming up with it.*

*I totally stole the idea from a caterer whom I'd witnessed doing the exact same technique with fruit salad skewers not a week earlier. I didn't have to tell you that. I could have taken all the credit and no one would have known.

300 Desserts

2009-03-31T23:13:00.000-07:00

I had my biggest order yet. 300 desserts for my company's party. 8 dozen cookies, 4 dozen brownies, 2 dozen regular cupcakes, 8 dozen mini-cupcakes and 4 dozen truffles. It was a long wednesday evening. With the help of Barb and the generous offer to use her dad's dual oven kitchen, we made it through. I felt the need to document the copius amounts of butter needed to accomplish such a task. They're like my little minions, eager to do my bidding!

The event was definitely a success, but there were some lumps in the batter, if you get what I mean. I have never made mini cupcakes, mostly due to the fact I have a friend who has a monopoly on the mini-cupcake market and I didn't feel like I should compete. But the interest and demand for them was too great for me to ignore it any longer. So, first off, I could not find the proper mini-cupcake baking pans that I was vying for. I searched in many stores, but only was able to find the crazy-weird, floppy, silicon type pans that I find very unappealing. But due to a time crunch, I was forced to purchase them. Granted, once using them to bake, I suppose there wasn't anything "wrong" with them - I just don't like 'em. Anyhow, the other issue worth mentioning is that I like my cupcakes the same way I like my meat: medium-rare. Loosely translated into bake-speak I mean: I like them moist. This means keeping a close eye on the goodies in the oven, and sometimes pulling them out before they're "technically" ready. Works wonders for chewy cookies and ooey-gooey brownies, but as it happens with confections like cupcakes, there is a delicate balance between "al dente" and flop. I found flop. When I first removed the batch from the oven, they looked alright, but it was not to be. Luckily, it was fun to watch them slowly deflate. Alas, they did not make it to the party.

One more technical note: Oven temperature matters. My buddy and I did a couple dozen mini-snickerdoodles at too low a temperature, and they tasted fine, but were pale and flat in comparison to their properly-baked brethren.

The night wore on. Barb and I had resorted to mostly grunting and nodding our heads to show signs of direction. We were conserving energy since we had no real idea as to how long we would need to persist (I'm learning how to gauge the timing as I go). I made a fine batch of brownies at 2 am, followed immediately by a batch of indiscernible what-the-hell-happened-to-these brownies that I am still not certain what went wrong.

I was too busy to take any good photos - we worked from 8pm - 3am and had to wake up straight away at 7 am in order to get back to real work on time. This is the price I (we) pa(id) to see so many people enjoying our creations. I would do it again, but I'll have to find a way to not drag my friends down with me into the wee hours of the morning.

Frangelico Truffles

2009-03-18T23:02:00.000-07:00

Dipped in chopped hazelnuts, these surprisingly easy to make semi-sweeet chocolate truffles came out looking marvelous! I also made some "plain" chocolate ones with a powdered sugar/cocoa dusting, but they weren't nearly as photo worthy.

My recipe:
1 12 oz bag chocolate chips
3/4 c heavy cream
2 tbs butter
2 tbs Frangelico (or any flavor liqueur)

Bring cream just to a boil then pour over chocolate chips. Let it sit a couple minutes, then stir to combine. If that doesn't work for you for some reason, say there are still obvious chip size pieces in your mix, just put it over a pot of boiling water and stirr it constantly until all the chocolate has melted. I prefer not to do it that way, only because it's an extra step that is easily avoided. Ideally you let the chocolate sit out at room temperature until it's firm enough to mold by hand (a messy job!), but in the interest of time, you can pop it in the fridge and mix it every 10-20 minutes until it has firmed up. You aren't technically supposed to refrigerate those kinds of things because of issues with condensation and certainly many other factors I don't even know, but com'mon - you have to be realistic sometimes. One other thing to mention is that you really should use good chocolate. I personally can't afford to make my truffles out of 100% Scharffen Berger Bittersweet (though it would be dreamy to do so), but unlike cakes and brownies where there are many ingredients interferring with the flavor and quality of your chocolate, truffles are pretty straight-forward with their chocolatiness. I recommend a mix of chocolate that is economical, but also flavorful (I'll let you be the judge as to what those two variations are).

Moving on, once the chocolate has firmed up, use a small melon baller or ice cream scoop to spoon heaping tablespoonfuls of chocolate into little balls. You can mold them in the palm of your hands (the chocolate WILL melt a little in your hands) or use two spoons to shape the little mix into little balls. Perfection should not be an issue when shaping either, since the truffle concept is supposedly inspired by the little fancy mushrooms found in the depths of forests and are intended to be naturally shaped like their name-sakes.

Then roll the little ball around in the topping. It can be useful to press the topping a little bit into the truffle to make sure it sticks well.

Once you find the right method, the assembly line of preparing truffles can be quite efficient and painless. Oh, and delicious!

Peanut Butter Cupcakes

2009-03-17T10:10:00.000-07:00

Knowing that it is about time to put the peanut butter and chocolate combination to work for me, I created these Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Buttercream frosting.

Without causing a small riot, I will admit that my love for peanut butter is not on the charts like it is with most people. I am picky. I do enjoy a good peanut butter cup, and am dedicated to peanut butter and jelly sandwiches like any American raised kid should be, but for whatever reason I don't favor the ingredient in most other forms. This is not to be confused with disliking peanut butter, but simply not being drawn to it. But I do know that the general public fancies it, so am compelled to appease them. And the reviews on this cupcake came back very positive: good balance between chocolate and peanut butter.

The frosting was simply:
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup peanut butter
• 3 tbs milk
• 2 cups powdered sugar

Do the blending of the first two until they're nice and creamy then add the sugar in batches until it gets too thick, so you pour a little milk in to loosen it up, then more sugar, then more milk, etc, until you have a super fluffy and creamy frosting. I noticed when piping it on that there were a lot of little air bubbles that sort of disrupted the otherwise pristine smooth texture a more denser frosting would have.

I feel the need to explain one more thing about this cupcake and my process making it. I am generally very interested in using and eating ingredients that are minimally processed and not full of weird additives. For example, I try not to consume things with high fructose syrup (though sometimes too cumbersome to avoid), and only use real butter, etc. But I have a small list of exceptions that I can't seem to give up: Dreyer's ice cream (mainly Spumoni), the occasional soda, and peanut butter. I can't stand "real" peanut butter. I don't know what it is about hydrogenated vegetable oil that not only gives peanut butter the shelf-life of a twinkie, but also a distinctive flavor. The real stuff has this natural, earthy tastes way too much like ground-up peanuts. And kudos to those who enjoy spreading hard, refridgerated peanut butter on their soon to be mutilated piece of defenseless bread - because I can't. Anyway, that's my admission for the day. I'm not proud of it, but please don't make me use real peanut butter.

I also changed one constant in my "make chocolate cake taste good but also rise to a nice rounded top" experiment, but it didn't work. The recipe I had been using called for you to mix hot water to your batter (effecting the cocoa powder to get max flavor points). I thought that maybe the adding of the hot water was causing the butter to turn into more of a liquidous oil instead of the solid it started as, and thought it might contribute to the flat-top of my cupcakes. But it didn't seem to have an effect when I let the cocoa and hot water mixture cool before adding to the rest of the batter. All it really did was make my batter look strangely bespeckled (should have taken a photo!).

And just for fun, here's a little bit of info I discovered while perusing the web earlier: "... the name 'cup cake' was first used, not to describe its size, but to how the cake's ingredients were measured. ... Before the 1880's, ingredients for baking cakes were 'weighed' so when recipes started to be written with 'cup' measurements, they were named 'cup' cakes to reflect this difference."

St Patty's Day Irish Cream Cupcakes

2009-03-17T09:09:00.001-07:00

Happy St. Patty's!!

I made up a batch of chocolate cupcakes with true Irish Buttercream frosting. Yes, I mean that it was made with Bailey's. Though I doubt it would be enough to cause problems, I am legally obliged to disclaim that you should be over 21 to consume these treats.

I used the devil's food cake recipe I stole from the Food Network to make the cupcake. Honest truth: It is delectably chocolatey, moist, and very light, but they don't rise to a picturesque rounded top, which is bothersome. Would it be worth sacrificing flavor or texture simply to rectify the flat-tops? I actually would prefer my cupcake to be a little more substantial (they are just TOO lightweight), so I will continue to experiment anyway. I think it's kind of funny that I'm running a business, yet I still haven't committed to base recipes. hehe. I just love trying new things too much!

Anyway, I do enjoy the taste of Irish Cream, so was greatly anticipating the excuse to finally make these cupcakes. I made a standard buttercream base (proportions: 1/2 cup soft butter: 2 cups powdered sugar) and added about 3 tablespoons of Irish Cream instead of milk. And it had just the right amount of kick and is perfectly creamy. Single complaint: Too sweet. I guess I'm getting used to my cream cheese frostings which have about half as much sugar as the regular buttercream (at least when I do it). So this frosting kind of hurts the teeth. Regardless, all who have tried them think they're quite tasty.

My other little experiment was piping a little shamrock on the top of each of them. eh. I guess I'm not so good with the decorating. It took about a dozen cupcakes to even decide what the right technique could be. It was only after experimenting on about 2 dozen (out of about 30 cupcakes altogether) that I found my shamrock groove. I probably just needed to use a less wieldy tool than my massive frosting gun (that I LOVE).

To those of you who don't have smell-o-vision installed, my apologies. For anyone else who got to share in the sweet treat for this fun holiday: cheers! *cupcake toast*

Lemon Meringue Cupcakes

2009-03-14T23:52:00.001-07:00

Before it's not appropriate, I must proclaim: Happy π day!!!

Lemon Meringue Cupcakes, for the occassion. This will be the quickest post so that I don't miss the date (3.14) for the posting.

I will simply say, they are quite good, but the homemade lemon curd was quite runny. I will keep working on it!

Tiramisu Cupcakes

2009-03-04T23:50:00.000-08:00

This last weekend I spent some time welcoming my friend Heather back to the state of California after a long couple of years living in Ohio. In the shuffle of trying to avoid helping her unpack and organize her stuff, I made a quick dinner and some fun Tiramisu cupcakes as my offer to "help" around the house.

They were well received by all who partook in their consumption, but for opposite reasons. Heather was a little sad that they didn't have a stronger coffee flavor, while my brother thought they were great as is. Keep in mind, he hates coffee, so his review is telling of how un-coffee like these were. I am somewhere on the fence about coffee flavoring myself, so have to admit I was ok with it being not too strong. Now what I think it needed was a little more Amaretto!

So my biggest concern with these cupcakes was the "soaking." I like to make my cupcakes pretty moist, so felt like getting them too wet with a coffee mix would make them too fragile and soggy. One recipe I saw recommended dabbing the outside of the entire cupcake and it's layers with the coffee. Mind you, the recipe also called for each cupcake to be sliced into about 4 or 5 layers. I didn't feel like doing that, and covered up my laziness with the excuse of it being a utensil dependent dessert at that point, rather than an easy-going cupcake. So I only cut the cupcakes in half and dabbed the cut side of each half with the coffee/amaretto mix. I then spread the layer with a marscapone and whipped cream mix. It was a very delicious flavor, but I think it was too fragile. I'm generally opposed to refrigerating cupcakes because it dries them out, but the frosting was too soft and perishable to manage being at room temperature indefinitely. As well, because it was so soft, it had the effect of a slip and slide with the top halves that were supposed to be resting gently on top.

In any case, they did taste pretty good for an experiment. I think they are a great concept for a cupcake, they just need some refining. Ideas for the next round include making a coffee flavored custard as a filling and doing a purer marscapone buttercream frosting (without whip cream).

As always, sprinkle with cocoa powder for a proper finish.

Boston Cream Pie Cupcakes

2009-02-28T22:49:00.000-08:00

This post is a few days over due, and sadly, all the evidence of the project has been consumed. But it was great while it lasted.

The idea for these cupcakes was inspired/completely ripped-off of the genius that is Michelle Yu. Knowing that our mutual friend, Barbara, had an insatiable love for the once "Mile High Boston Cream Pie" from Marie Calendars, Michelle made Barbara Boston Cream Cupcakes for her birthday last year, and they were amazing. I'm not positive what her recipe consisted of (whether she used cake box or homemade and whether she filled them with custard or pudding), but I opted to make my own rendition of them using the from-scratch method. I poked around for some recipes online and pieced together the things I liked about a few of them. The end result was a sturdy yellow cake filled with a creamy vanilla custard and topped with a thin, semi-sweet, chocolate ganache. A winning combo, but with room for improvement.

So I don't have much experience with Boston Cream Pies, so I don't actually know what to expect. Maybe that makes me a well-qualified creator of the confection, because my standards are not based on comparisson, but rather compelled by a general expectation for all the flavors and textures to work well together and simply taste good. I did a little research about the original concept, and apparently it is supposed to be a sponge cake, which is not what I used. Maybe that would make the cake a little more delicate, which might better compliment the creaminess of the custard that goes inside it, unlike the denser yellow cake that I used in my recipe where the custard was sort of lost in the texture of the cake. I also think there could have been a stronger presense of the chocolate (but really, when is that not true?), so would opt to make a thicker ganache next time.

But the real fun part was figuring how we'd get the custard inside the cupcake. Method #1, in retrospect, was a crude attempt to beat the laws of physics dealing with volume and mass displacement. Apparently forcing the custard into the bowels of the cupcake by way of injection results in a minimal custard to cake ratio, as well as a gradual un-jection of custard as the so called pressure of the cake form slowly returns back to its unbloated shape and rejects it's forced filling.

So the best method I came up with was actually taking this fancy little apple-corer contraption I had and drilling a 3/4" diameter hole into the top of the still warm cupcake. For some miracle of science, this process actually worked, and worked very well. I would dig down a little over an inch and the perfect cylinder of cupcake would neatly be extracted. After filling the hole in with custard, I then covered up the operation by putting the tip top of the cake cylinder back on the custard-filled hole in order to "protect" the custard filling and give it a barrier from the ganache I was about to dip it in. The only side effect that came about from that process was the evidence of a little, what Barbara referred to as, belly button. Once the cupcake was dipped and the ganache had settled, there was a distinct trace of where the hole had been cut, and a slight elevation of the cylinder top through the ganache. What does this mean? Well. I guess more experiments will just have to be made to perfect a more seamless method.

Neopolitan Cupcakes

2009-02-22T21:15:00.000-08:00

Can't decide what flavor you want? Why not have them all-in-one!?

I made cupcakes for a birthday at the office tomorrow and was given liberty to choose the flavor.
*drunk with power*

I saw an image for a Neopolitan Cupcake recipe in one of the many cupcake cookbooks out there, and was disappointed in how the cupcake itself was merely a marble cake that completely disregarded the strawberry flavor altogether. Feeling like it was an issue I should fix, I created the complete Neopolitan Cupcake, from batter to frosting - through and through.

I decided to use my standard "off-white" cake recipe (not quite white, not quite yellow) and double it. I creamed the butter and sugar all together, then separated it into 3 bowls. I then specialized each batch by adding cocoa powder to one and a couple tablespoons of strawberry jam to another and finished mixing the batters. (Admission of guilt: I wanted to leave my cupcakes all natural, and as nature intended and all that, but couldn't help the marketing person inside me who was not convinced that the strawberry looked very flavorful, so did add a dab of good ol' red concentrate to liven the batter up).

To prepare them, I actually ended up cupping each liner in my hand and quickly dropped a spoonful of each flavor into the liner, while carefully using gravity to keep the strawberry batter on the far edge of the liner while I hurried to fill the rest with chocolate and then vanilla. The vanilla in many instances ended up more or less resting on top of the chocolate scoop, but once I put the liner into the pan, it seemed to smooth out and look more even.

I baked them for just under 20 minutes, and made a cream cheese based frosting for them. I did similar to the batters by simply adding cocoa powder and jam to make the second and third flavors. The only thing I would do differently next time is create each batch of frosting completely separate (instead of creaming the butter, cream cheese, and powdered sugar altogether and then separating them into 3 bowls at that point). I think the differences will be that the cocoa powder will be sifted in with the powdered sugar from the start, making it smoother, and the jam to frosting ratio will be better proportioned, as this time, I felt like the strawberry frosting was a bit runnier than the others.

But all that considered, I think it worked out well. It was a bit more labor intensive than most cupcakes simply because I decided to frost them all by spatula in 3 separate batches as opposed to using 3 separate pastry bags. But I thought it would have a nice effect to look more like ice cream than to have some fancy decorative tip.

I'm ready for another taste-test right now :)

Mexican Chocolate Brownies

2009-02-20T20:37:00.000-08:00

My first official sale! I made brownies last night for a lady who is having a Mexican themed cocktail party. Now, brownies are good just about any time, just the way they are, but I thought it would be fun to follow the theme and made a Mexican-inspired variation by adding a cinnamon flavored cream cheese swirl.

I followed my favorite brownie recipe from the wonderful publication "Every Day Food" (yeah, a Martha Stewart owned magazine). Loaded with butter and semi-sweet chocolate, this recipe (when put in for half the recommended baking time) yields the most fudgy, gooey, and delicious brownies ever had. If you're one of those "edge" brownie lovers, this might not be the brownie for you (although my favorite piece is from the side of the pan where you get a little bit of the crunchy crust but also a sizable portion of the moist and super chocolatey insides).

So I made one pan of each. As always, the classic brownie is still a win, but there was something delightful about the cinnamon version that was a nice homage to Mexican Hot Chocolate. I would definitely make them again.

Brownie

1 cup butter
8 oz semi- or bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 cup flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/4 cup sugar
3 large eggs

Cream Cheese Swirl

4 oz cream cheese, room temperature
2 tbs butter, room temperature
1/4 cup sugar
2 tbs flour
1 tsp cinnamon

Directions
Preheat oven to 350˚

Line 9x9 pan with parchment paper and butter sides and bottom.

In medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt.

In a large bowl, melt butter and chocolate over a pot of boiling water. Remove from heat and stir in sugar. Add eggs one at a time until combined. Incrementally add flour mix to chocolate. Do not over-mix.

In a separate bowl, beat cream cheese and butter together, then add other ingredients until smooth.

Pour half the brownie mixture into pan. Pour cream cheese over brownie mix. Top with remaining brownie mix. With spatula, swirl brownie and cream cheese mix. Be careful not to over mix. You can make some very lovely patterns in the batter by gently criss-crossing the batter in opposite directions with the spatula.

Bake in oven for approximately 30 minutes. The original recipe calls for 55-60 minutes, but that produces a very cake-like brownie (at least in my oven). I like mine baked to the point a toothpick inserted in the middle has lots of crumbs sticking to it, but not undercooked where it is still a liquidy batter sticking to the toothpick.

Enjoy!

Let it begin!

2009-02-17T22:31:00.000-08:00

Hello! Welcome to my new venture: Kathleen's Confections.

I am starting a side business that will hopefully help me fulfill the ever-present desire I have to bake all day long. I am now offering Special Order Baked Goods so that I can continue to provide delectable sweet treats to all those in need of a fix. I am focusing on Cupcakes to start out, so please let me know if you are in need of a dozen or so!

For this blog, my plan is to post recent projects, upcoming events, links to updates on my own site, as well as links to friends' sites to keep every one in the loop about what I might be up to. I apologize if I stray from Baking to other topics of interest, but hopefully you will find them interesting as well!

I am always eager for inspiration, so if you have any Cupcake flavor ideas (or anything else you think sounds good), don't hesitate to pass the ideas along.