White and Brown Spring Cupcakes

We’re not even going to talk about how long it’s been since I posted anything, because it’s spring and time for new beginnings and better time management!

I recently read an article on cupcakes, saying that this “trend” is fading fast and being replaced by things like rustic [read: ugly] pies and macarons. If that’s the way things are swinging, so be it. But NOTHING will ever tear me away from bite-size cake…okay, maybe cheeseburgers.

The recipe for these fancy ladies is nothing I haven’t posted already, and you can find the chocolate cake recipe here and the vanilla frosting recipe here (I just sub the peppermint extract for clear vanilla extract). I also thought I’d throw in some tidbits of real life [excuses for being blog lazy].

Miss Maman came to visit for a few weeks-we were having fun as usual

I tried some amazing dim sum after boycotting it for almost a decade.

A lot of eating happens in my life. A LOT.

Sometimes outdoor markets happen too…for outdoor eating. (With Salwa and Amy)

Drinking happens, too. (With Shana, Salwa, Ebonee, Debbie, and Jess)

It’s more fun to drink when you’re in a crazy hat.

Really, I just wanted to let everyone know I’m alive, that I will be posting more regularly, and to stop my lovingly annoying friends from saying “Soooooo the blog? That still happening? Maybe you can, like, not go out tonight and post something.”

You know you need to re-invest in sweatpants/fug over-sized t-shit time when your early 20-something friends tell you to take it down a notch, or at least get your hungover booty back in the kitchen

Coming together in harmony. All decorations were made using gum paste.

Profile.

All in a row.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Buttercream Cupcakes

I wish I could say that I’m a huge chocolate peanut butter combo fan, but I’m actually more of a vanilla and rainbow sprinkles kind of girl. That being said, when you haven’t eaten something for a long time, I think your mind/palate start to crave what it considers exotic.

A girl can only eat so much yogurt.

And if I’m going to make something only once every few years, it better be worth it…and these cupcakes don’t disappoint. Stuffed inside the moist chocolate cake are bits of gooey semisweet chocolate chunks, and the peanut butter buttercream is light and creamy-not at all that cloying stickiness peanut butter icing sometimes has.

Even better? The cupcakes can be made in just one bowl and it doesn’t even need beaters. The buttercream you ask? Well, okay, it’s a tad more involved, but still much easier than classic buttercreams. It’s worth the smidge of effort.

And in the words of my dad who helped me eat one immediately: “I love the aftertaste of this cupcake…almost like a fine wine.” Ah yes, if anyone can turn cupcakes into a refined ordeal, it’s my family

[Recipe adapted from Bon Appétit; makes approx. 12 cupcakes]

Equipment:

• An electric mixer
• A metal bowl that fits over a pot of water or a double boiler
• Whisk

Ingredients:

For the cake:

• 1 1/4 cups flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 4 oz. finely chopped semisweet chocolate

For the buttercream: [note: this is NOT a pipe-able frosting. Think of this more like a meringue than a stiff buttercream]

• 1/2 cup sugar
• Egg whites of 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
• 6 Tbl. chilled, unsalted butter cut into 1/4-inch cubes
• Pinch of salt
• 1/4 cup chopped semisweet chocolate
• 1/4 cup chopped dry roasted peanuts

For the cupcakes: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a cupcake pan with liners. Whisk flour, sugar, cocoa powder, salt, and baking soda in a large bowl. Add oil, vanilla, and 1 1/4 cups water and whisk until smooth. Fold in chopped chocolate. Evenly fill liners and bake 20-25 min.

Nice cracked top

For the buttercream: Combine sugar and egg whites in a medium metal bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Whisk constantly until sugar dissolves and mixture is hot to the touch, 3-4 min. Remove from heat.

Using an electric mixer, beat on high speed until cooler and thick, 5 min. Beat in vanilla, then peanut butter. With mixer running, add butter pieces a little at a time, beating THOROUGHLY to blend between additions. Season with salt.

Frost cupcakes and sprinkle with chopped chocolate and peanuts. Keep a few days in an airtight container at room temp., then refrigerate up to a few more days.

Mmmm. You can see the gooey bits.

White Cake with White Chocolate and Peppermint Buttercream

Happy New Year! I always seem to forget that just because the holidays are over it doesn’t mean I can go back to wearing skirts and tanks. So, even though it isn’t technically Christmas anymore, the snow on the ground, my short-circuiting space heater, and my super sexy thermal underwear all revealed to me that it’s still okay to make a white cake for winter.

Let it snow.

Early morning wilderness treks with Beau. Clearly, I’m still 5 years old and throwing snow balls at my poor dog.

This cake was inspired by Southern Living‘s “A Very Southern Christmas” issue, which highlights cake contest winners. This year’s winner was a white cake with white frosting that had little fondant snowflakes as decorations.

And while the cake was beautiful, sometimes Southern Living‘s recipes are wonky, so I decided not to put my family through a potentially disastrous culinary experiment and made a tried-and-true white cake with my white chocolate ganache buttercream frosting. What makes this cake a smidge more wintery is the layers of white chocolate peppermint frosting between the 8″ rounds [done with a dash of peppermint extract].

It only took about 4 hours total to make this cake…so, between the short time needed, having the oven on for warmth, and the extra insulating layers this cake is sure to add to your body, how could you go wrong?

*Sidenote: Best part of the season? Winterizing your body. Happy 2013 non-dieting, everyone

[White cake recipe can be found here from Wedding Cakes for You. Makes the three 8" x 2" deep shown in the photos]

White chocolate ganache/peppermint buttercream frosting [*Note: This makes enough for the filling and frosting of the cake. It's an extremely light and not-too-sweet frosting].

Equipment:

• Electric mixer
• Double boiler or microwave
• Sifter

Ingredients:

• 16 oz. white chocolate
• 2/3 cup heavy cream
• 4 sticks unsalted butter, rm. temp.
• 4 cups sifted powdered sugar
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 1 1/2 tsp. peppermint extract
• Wilton’s white icing coloring [optional]

Chop the chocolate and melt with the heavy cream in a double boiler or carefully in the microwave. Let cool to rm. temp., about 30 min., stirring occasionally.

Beat the butter and 1 cup of sifted powdered sugar in a large bowl at low speed for 30 seconds. Increase speed and beat until light and fluffy.

Add 4 cups of sifted powdered sugar, alternating with the milk and beating at low speed after each addition. Add MOST of the white chocolate ganache [I always find I need only about 3/4 of it] and beat on med-high speed until it reaches a spreading consistency.

This is where I add Wilton’s white icing coloring, just because most buttercreams tend to be a bit beige in color and I wanted this cake to be extremely white. Just add however much you want and STIR in to make sure all of the coloring is incorporated.

Scoop out about a cup of frosting and place in a small bowl. Stir in the peppermint extract. Use this frosting to go between the layers of the cake.

Use the rest of the frosting to coat the outside of the cake.

*Note: Sometimes getting a very smooth-looking surface on buttercream cakes can be tough. An easy trick is to put the frosted cake in the fridge for a few hours until the buttercream hardens, then take it out and smooth the ridges in the frosting with a heated spatula. To heat the spatula, dip it in very hot water, shake off the excess water, then use to smooth the cake. Dab up any excess water with a paper towel. I like to move vertically over the ridges, as this make the smoothing easier.

The decorations were made using gum paste and edible white flakes and sprinkles

I used aspic cutters to make the shapes

Frosty

Cranberry Eggnog Tart

Well hello, again. After being off the blogging radar for a few weeks, thanks to a move and now a long trip, I’m back to my barefoot and baking existence. Thank you for your patience!

Kicking off the pre-holidays, I’m here in Ohio visiting the fam for a healthy dose of Addam’s Family living.

Nothing says “hello” to the wee baby Jesus like Spock and T-Rex

I’m also here to keep the Frenchie nugget company while she recovers from the inedible orange jello at the hospital.

Ladies of leisure, darling

But it’s my dad who sparked my natural inclination towards butter and sugar concoctions by requesting I make Gourmet‘s cranberry eggnog tart from their annual Holiday magazine.

I must admit that the thought of anything cranberry around this season seems fitting, but it’s the smoothness of the gelée, the bourbon in the cream filling, and the buttery cookie-like crust that make this tart, as Gourmet so snootily phrased it, “a choice centerpiece for any table.”

Now before you tell me you’ve never liked eggnog or other such nonsense, think of this more like a layered cheesecake than a milky filling: there’s nothing but cream cheese, crème fraîche and a healthy dose of bourbon…eat a few slices and you’ll be telling your uncle how you can barely notice his hair piece in no time.

Happy almost-holidays, everyone. Stay tuned for the onslaught of baking that can only happen when there’s the perfect storm of holidays, enthusiastic family, and Midwest boredom!

[Serves 8-10. *Warning: I found Gourmet's recipe to be off in terms of quantity. There wasn't enough crust to hold the amount of filling made. I'm printing this recipe as is, but if you make it and don't want to throw away half the filling, either double the crust or halve the eggnog filling recipe. The cranberry gelée is just fine, though.]

Equipment:

• 10-inch fluted metal quiche pan [2 inches deep] with a removable bottom
• About 3 cups pie weights or rice/beans.
• Small offset spatula [optional]
• Food processor or blender
• Disposable gloves [optional]
• Fine-mesh sieve

Ingredients:

Crust:

• 1 1/4 cups flour
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 7 Tbl. unsalted butter, softened
• 1 large egg

Filling:

• 12 oz. cream cheese, softened
• 2 Tbl. crème fraîche [I found one at Whole Foods that was Madagascar Vanilla Bean so I used that] or heavy cream
• 1/2 cup + 2 Tbl. sugar
• 2 whole large eggs
• 2 large egg yolks
• 3 Tbl. bourbon
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• Scant 1/2 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
• Scant 1/4 tsp. salt

Cranberry gelée:

• 1 [12 oz] bag fresh or frozen cranberries [NOT thawed]
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup fresh orange juice [from about 1 large orange]
• 1 cup water

Make the crust: Either using a food processor on pulse, or using your hands with disposable gloves, mix all of the crust ingredients together just until a dough forms. Press dough evenly onto the bottom of the pan and 2/3 the way up the sides. Chill until firm, about 30 min.

This is what 2/3 looks like

Meanwhile, make the gelée: Bring all gelée ingredients to a boil in a medium heavy saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened, about 20 min. [jam will thicken as it cools].

Force jam through a VERY fine-mesh sieve into a bowl, discarding skins and seeds [this might take a while, but it's worth it for the smooth presentation of the tart]. Cool, stirring occasionally.

Finish your crust: Preheat oven to 350 degrees with rack in the middle. Line the shell with foil and fill with weights. Bake until the edge is PALE golden, 20-25 min. Carefully remove the foil and weights and bake shell until edge is golden and bottom is PALE golden, 15-20 min. more. Cool completely in pan on rack. Reduce oven temp. to 300 degrees.

Make the filling: Blend the cream cheese, crème fraîche, and sugar in a food processor or blender until creamy, about 1 min. Add whole eggs, yolks, bourbon, vanilla, nutmeg, and salt and process until smooth.

Melt gelée with 1/4 cup of water in a small heavy saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring until smooth. Spread half evenly over the bottom of the tart crust [reserving remaining gelée in the saucepan]. Let layer of gelée stand until set, about 10 min. [this is IMPORTANT. If you don't, the gelée will blend with the filling and you won't get layers]. Gently pour filling over the gelée.

Bake the tart: Cover the edge of the shell with a pie shield or foil and bake until filling is set but still trembles slightly in the center, about 35-40 min. Cool tart completely in the pan on a rack. Reheat remaining gelée over low heat, stirring until pourable, then SPOON over filling and spread evenly with an offset spatula. Chill tart, uncovered, until cold, at least 2 hours.

Just before serving, remove side of pan. Tart can be chilled up to 2 days [cover after 2 hours].

Halloween Baby Carrot Cake

The best way to describe this cake is by relating the conversation I had with my cab driver:

Cabbie: “Is that…is that a baby Halloween?”

Me: “I’m sorry?”

Cabbie: “Like, is it, um…is it both a baby and a Halloween cake?”

Me: “Why yes. Yes it is.”

It all started when my coworker, Denny, decided that he was going to devote his life to the love, and celebration of, Halloween. Then he decided he wanted to be a dad and combine his love of both with a ghost- and goblin-themed nursery. And then he chose to quit his job as my official office bestie to move to more non-profit pastures. Or, you know, something like that.

An editorial sketch for the editorial dream team

So what better way to say goodbye then with a combo daddy shower cake/Halloween cake? And sure, it’s creepy as hell, but after 4 1/2 years of finding fake spiders dangling in front of my face and rubber rats under my chair, I thought it was only fair to return the favor by mildly implying that his spooky baby is soon-to-be devoured by flesh-eating spiders.

Who’s laughing now?! [Mumbles to herself while crying in utter isolation in the large editorial office]

Everyone came out for Denny’s going-away, even our fab former summer slave, Raishay

The cake was going to be red velvet, until I actually bothered to find out what Denny’s favorite kind of cake was, which turned out to be carrot. What’s different about this carrot cake is that the carrots are cooked and puréed instead of shredded. The frosting is maple cream cheese [recipes below].

So good luck out there, #2. When I meet your little one I promise not to let him watch The Shining until he’s at least potty trained

[Makes (2) 8" or (2) 9" cakes. Adapted from Lorelie Carvey.]

Equipment:

• Blender or food processor
• Stand or electric mixer

Ingredients:

• 3 cups sifted all-purpose flour
• 3 cups granulated sugar
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 Tbl. baking soda
• 1 Tbl. cinnamon
• 1 1/2 cups corn oil [*Note: You can go veggie, but corn goes better with the flavoring for this cake]
• 4 eggs
• 1 Tbl. vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups finely diced/minced walnuts
• 1 1/2 cups shredded coconut
• 2 lbs. carrots [I used baby carrots]
• 1/2 cup butter
• 2/3 cup brown sugar
• 3/4 cups crushed and drained pineapple

[*Note: You can do this first step the night before] Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the carrots and cover, cooking approximately 20 min. until carrots are tender. Drain carrots and turn off heat, leaving enough water in the bottom of the pot to cover the surface. Add the 1/2 cup butter and 2/3 cup brown sugar, putting the heat back on low if the butter doesn’t melt all the way. Stir. Place carrots back in the pot and let soak, covered and stirring a couple of times, about 20 min. Put carrots in a large blender or food processor and purée [you might need to do this in 2 batches, and if the carrots need more liquid to purée effectively, add a bit of the butter/sugar mix from the pot]. Ideally, you’ll want to have about 2 2/3 cups of purée.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease, flour, and parchment-line the bottom of your pans.

Mix together all of the dry ingredients: flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and sugar. Add oil, eggs and vanilla, and beat well, scraping the sides of the bowl a couple of times. [*Note: The "batter" will be extremely thick at this point. This is normal and will moisten when the other ingredients are added]

Fold in the carrots, pineapple, coconut, and walnuts. Divide the batter evenly between the pans. Smooth the batter level. Bake in the preheated oven for 30-35 minutes, or just until the tops are springy or a cake tester comes out clean. Cool the cakes in their pans on a rack for 10 minutes. Then invert onto racks.

You can find the cream cheese frosting in this post. To make it maple-flavored, I used this maple extract from KAF.

The centerpiece was this baby, made out of gum paste. There’s a mold you can find online by First Impressions called Small Baby 1. You can find it here. You can also watch videos on how to make this baby with your mold here [part 1] and here [part 2]. I put a little diaper on him because, well, it’s the office.

Also in focus was the black baby pram, which you can learn how to make here.

Lots of angles

I made many of the decorations using silicone molds that you can find on Etsy. The pumpkins were modeling chocolate tinted orange.

All set for the office

Destroyed

Gingersnap Mocha Cappuccino Nutella Pumpkin Pie (Whew!)

Mmm fall sleepiness. Whether it’s because of the cooler temps, the fact that I just cleaned my down comforter, or I’m getting older, fall makes me feel snuggly–over-sized sweater wearing, hot mug of cider holding, going to bed at 9:30 p.m. like my grandmother kind of cozy.

Part of this lifestyle changeover involves going to Starbucks on a weekly basis and drinking overpriced, over-sugared, but damn good seasonal drinks, such as “Better-Than-You-Know-What Salted Caramel Mocha,” “I-Just-Cried-From-Happiness Pumpkin Spice Latte,” and “Diabetic-Coma-But-It-Was-Worth-It Double Chocolate Hot Cocoa.” And I suppose it’s this obsession with seasonal rarities that also urged me to buy Jif’s new Mocha Cappuccino Hazelnut Spread [There's no peanut butter in it. It's basically just Nutella flavored like chocolate coffee].

But besides slathering my pretzels in it while wrapped in my blanket watching Revolution and yawning because it’s already 8 p.m., I couldn’t really think of how I’d incorporate my find into my baking until I read an amazing post by Sally’s Baking Addiction, a blog from a talented lady who bakes 24/7 and loves fall just as much as I do.

This pie is smooth, creamy, and combines a lot of flavors–like ginger, nutmeg, espresso, hazelnut, chocolate, and pumpkin–together seamlessly, yet the pumpkin taste is still the star of this luscious dessert.

Sally’s recipe has Nutella swirled into the pumpkin pie, but I thought it might be even better to kick that up a bit with some mocha cappuccino…and some quick homemade chocolate whipped cream…with a side of salted caramel hot chocolate from [who else] Starbucks.

Eyes starting to close in bliss in 5…4…3…2…mmmmm

Don’t be afraid to eat pie for breakfast. My dad always said that there has to be some sort of nutrient hiding in there somewhere.

To find Sally’s recipe for Nutella Pumpkin Pie, click here. There are all kinds of new hazelnut spreads on the market, so go crazy and experiment with your favorite.

The lineup

One of my fall favorites is my Emile Henry pie dish. Snooty? Yes. Worth every penny? Yes.

One of Sally’s tips is to make sure you don’t make the crust too high around the rim. This is the height you should aim for, otherwise the cookie crust might burn.

I like to let my pie cool to almost rm. temp., then place in the fridge overnight to let the flavors meld and the pie settle.

Homemade Chocolate Whipped Cream [Makes about 2 cups]

Equipment:

• Electric Mixer
• Sifter

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar, sifted
• 1/4 cup dutch process cocoa [I use KAF's Double-Dutch Dark Cocoa] or regular cocoa powder, sifted

Combine powdered sugar and cocoa in a bowl.

In a large bowl, beat cold heavy cream about 1 1/2 min. on medium-high speed until thickened. On low speed, beat in the sugar/cocoa mix 2 Tbl. at a time. *Note: Don’t beat too much, otherwise the cream will be too stiff! If it starts to get stiff while beating with the electric beaters, just mix in the rest of the sugar/cocoa with a spatula.

Keep whipped cream refrigerated and tightly covered. Keeps about 7 days.

My “Book lovers never go to bed alone” mug has been with me since college

Twitter Cupcakes

In my Clark Kent life I’m an editor and reporter for a small education news publication–a publication that just hit over 20K+ followers on Twitter and our CEO decided we should celebrate.

We have a lot of foodies [and by that I mean people who just love to eat good food] in the office, so instead of celebrating with happy hour like normal companies do, we decided to throw a Twitter-themed potluck…basically the color blue exploded all over the conference room.

Now, it’s also understood that whenever potluck is mentioned, Meris will be the one bringing the desserts. And not wanting to sully my reputation as a sugar addict, I made these Twitter cupcakes.

At first, I tried to be lazy and just order a Twitter logo cookie cutter. Yeah…they don’t exist. But my laziness couldn’t be conquered so easily, so I ended up trying to order one from a start-up in Silicone Valley, only to have a rousing email exchange about the legal implications of designing, selling, and purchasing a brand logo. Over a cookie cutter. My life is exciting.

Finally realizing I would have to whip out some old-school Girl Scouts camp arts & crafts talents that had been lying dormant for decades, I managed to create a Twitter bird for my cupcakes. I’ll explain how to do this below. These blue cupcakes are vanilla bean with vanilla frosting [recipes provided below].

I also thought: Okay, if you’re not going to be lazy, then go big or go home, so I also made some cupcakes based on our company’s Twitter logo. These are red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting [recipes provides below].

Was I up until 2 a.m. mid-week? Yes. Do I now know that a cookie cutter could influence legal history? Yes. Did I cover my entire apartment in blue dust? Yes. Are these cupcakes cute? Yes! And that’s all that matters

Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

To see the recipe for the red velvet cupcakes, click here.

Cream Cheese Frosting [from Bon Appétit Desserts; makes about 3 cups of frosting]

Equipment:

• Electric Mixer
• Sifter

Ingredients:

• 12 oz. cream cheese, rm. temp.
• 1/2 cup [1 stick] unsalted butter, rm. temp.
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 3-4 cups powdered sugar, sifted

Using an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla in a large bowl until smooth. Beat in sugar 1 cup at a time, scraping down sides of the bowl occasionally.

*Note: To get perfectly round puffs of icing onto your cupcakes, use a piping bag fitted with Ateco’s 806 round tip or any other large round tip. Hold the piping bag completely vertical and squeeze while not moving the bag up or down–just squeeze and hold steady.

Vanilla Bean Cupcakes with Vanilla Frosting

The vanilla frosting is from Momofuku Milk Bar and can be found here in this post under the heading “Birthday Cake/ Homemade Store-Bought White Frosting.”

Vanilla Bean Cupcakes [makes (2) 8”, (1) 9” or 24 cupcakes. I tinted the cupcakes blue by adding Americolor's Sky Blue gel coloring before the egg whites were added]

Equipment:

• Electric mixer

Ingredients:

• 3 cups sifted flour
• 1 Tbl. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 sticks unsalted butter, rm. temp.
• 2 cups sugar
• 4 eggs, separated
• 1 cup whole milk
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 3 tsp. vanilla bean paste or 1 vanilla bean, split and scraped

Preheat oven to 350. Line cupcake pan with liners.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

In a stand mixer or in a large bowl with an electric mixer, beat butter until soft and smooth. Add sugar and beat until light and smooth. Add egg yolks, one at a time, beating after each addition and scraping down sides. On low, alternate adding flour and milk, beginning and ending with the flour. Stir in vanilla extract and vanilla beans.

In another bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff but not dry. Stir in 1/2 cup whites into the batter, then fold in the rest in several additions.

Divide batter between cups and smooth. Bake 20-25 min.

* Decorations were made using gum paste [tinted black for the black squares] cut with square biscuit cutters and left to dry for 2 days. The eSN logo was piped on using royal icing and the bird logo was made by printing and then cutting out the Twitter logo. Using edible blue petal dust, place the cut out onto the gum paste square and, using outward strokes, dust around the image.

All done!

My coworkers at potluck [Denny, Vince, Carol, Rob, Nancy, Lee, Carla, Shana, Victoria, and Laura]

Someone dared Vince to eat an entire cupcake in one bite. Mission accomplished.