I can has cupcake?

Sugar Cookies!

2011-02-24T20:37:00.000-08:00

With all this dreary rain San Francisco's been having, I've had time to make some beautiful little sugar cookies with royal icing into different shapes and colors. My favorite is the ducky, not only for it's uber-cuteness but also because I'm so proud of myself for thinking of a mini chocolate chip for the eye - rather than putting myself through the pain of melting chocolate, making a cornet out of parchment paper, and perfectly dotting dozens of cookies [ugh]. It makes my head spin to imagine how some "pastry artists" spend the time to create edible art masterpieces.... on sugar cookies. I.E. Sweet and Saucy Shop (see what I mean?)

Enjoy some photos from today, these cookies were another special order for a friend of the Angelina's Family!

find the recipe here.

Ready to go!

Lovely Photos by Dan Bennett

2011-02-12T19:48:00.000-08:00

All credit for these photos goes to my wonderful boyfriend, Dan :-)
I'm so happy with how they came out, my cookies and Valentine's display are so beautiful!

Let's shake off the dust!

2011-02-08T17:37:00.000-08:00

So what, if it's almost been a year since I last posted?

I know you'll forgive me...

....while you lay your eyes upon my awesome Valentine's goodies!

Raspberry-Vanilla cupcakes, the pink frosting is also Raspberry-Vanilla and the other is classic Chocolate Fudge Buttercream. And seriously - teeny tiny heart sprinkles are the epitome of cute.

Hugs & Kisses for your Valentine!

Sugar Cookies in shapes of X + O and mini hearts sprinkled in red sugar

It's been a great year so far. I stopped blogging to begin with because I was actually busy (!) with work. Last summer, I slowly transitioned to the Head Baker role at Angelina's Cafe and Catering. The cafe has been a neighborhood favorite of mine for 3 years before I landed a job there, so I'm pretty stoked... literally a 2 minute stroll down the block from my apartment. Can't beat that commute.

Also, I have had the opportunity to really polish my craft by working in smaller batches, with finer ingredients, and ultimately left up to my own devices to create truly lovely baked goods. I built the department from the ground up, an invaluable experience if I must say. A reawakening to baking the old fashioned way, far from my not-so-stellar days on bakery production in a chain supermarket, or the sweatshop franchise on Market.

There was no binder of recipes already there for me, I had to make that binder, with most of the basic recipes derived from joyofbaking.com multiplied as much as 6x to 8x. I must have tried at least a dozen different vanilla cupcake recipes before I found one that I'm (kinda) ok with. I know I tested Black-Bottom cupcakes four times. See what I mean? It really pays off to constantly try to improve my craft, and I think I'd forgotten that somehow along the way.

Lemon Curd filled Vanilla Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Icing

2010-03-25T10:42:00.000-07:00

These were made for a co-worker who is having a baby shower today! These were a lot of fun to make, I know they will love them. (Pardon the poor quality of the photos taken by my phone, I can't find my digicam's battery charger ANYWHERE o_O)

Lately my vanilla cake has been coming out quite dry, especially when making mini's, so I decided to tune-up my recipe. Instead of vegetable oil, I now use cream cheese to make it more moist. The results were heavenly. Remember, the key to a smooth cake batter is to have all ingredients at room temperature, and to mix as little as possible after eggs or flour has been added to the mixture.

First, make the Lemon Curd so that it has time to chill.

Makes about 2 cups of lemon curd, enough to fill 24 standard-sized cupcakes.

Lemon Curd
6 egg Yolks
1/3 C. (about 2 lemons worth) fresh-squeezed Lemon Juice, strained of seeds & pulp
1 Tbs. Cornstarch
1 C. Sugar
Zest of 2 Lemons
1 stick cold Unsalted Butter, diced

Set a small sauce pot with about an inch of water in it on the stove and bring to a simmer. Meanwhile, mix together the lemon juice, sugar, cornstarch and zest in a steel bowl. Mix in yolks. Set the bowl over the pot of simmering water, being sure that the bottom of the bowl does not touch the surface of the water below it. whisk the mixture every 5-10 minutes until well-thickened. Remove from heat and whisk in the pieces of cold butter about 4 at a time, allowing those to melt before adding more. Pour mixture in a shallow casserole dish and place plastic wrap directly on top of the curd to prevent a skin from forming on top. Refrigerate at least 45 minutes before using.
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Makes 24 (2 dozen) standard-sized cupcakes.

Vanilla Cake
3 3/4C. All-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. Baking Powder
3/4 tsp. Baking Soda
1/4 tsp. Salt
6 ounces Cream Cheese, softened
1 1/2 stick Unsalted Butter, softened
2 1/4 C. Sugar
4 whole Eggs + 1 yolk, room temperature
3/4 C. Milk, room temperature
1 tsp. Vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 and make sure racks are positioned in the middle. Place paper liners in cupcake pan and spray all over with nonstick spray. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a medium bowl. In a stand mixer (or medium bowl w/ hand held electric mixer) on medium speed, beat the cream cheese, butter, and sugar until light & fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix vanilla with the milk in a measuring cup. Reduce the speed to low and add the flour mixture alternately with the vanilla-milk in batches, beginning and ending with the flour mixture and mixing JUST until incorporated. Scrape all sides & bottom of the mixing bowl with a rubber spatula, and mix once more. You can use a spoon to fill cupcake pans, but I like to use a pastry bag to pipe each cup with the same amount of batter, so they all bake to be the same size. Fill about 3/4 of the way to the top of the paper liners. Bake in pre-heated oven until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 7 minutes, turn the pans around and bake another 8-12 minutes (depending on your pans/oven type). Remove the cupcakes from the baking pan, place on a wire rack, and allow to cool completely.
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Makes about 3 1/4 cups.

Cream Cheese Frosting
1 package (8oz) Cream Cheese, softened
1 stick Unsalted Butter, softened
1 box (16oz) Powdered Sugar, sifted
1 tsp. Vanilla extract

Combine cream cheese and butter in a stand mixer (or medium bowl w/ hand held electric mixer) on medium speed, beat the cream cheese and butter until light & fluffy, about 3 minutes. Gradually add the powdered sugar and beat until smooth. Add the vanilla extract, and a few tablespoons of milk if the mixture is too thick.

*Don't use this frosting for projects involving a lot of piping because it's too soft for that.

Happy Belated St. Patrick's Day!

2010-03-25T09:44:00.000-07:00

Just a little dessert platter from Angelina's Catering, mini vanilla cupcakes with peppermint buttercream and chocolate fudge frostings by Shannon :-)

Nutella-filled Banana Cupcakes w/ Chocolate Chip Cream Cheese Frosting

2010-02-10T15:13:00.000-08:00

I pull this recipe out whenever I need a Show Stopper. These little cupcakes are what I'm known for. I make these in mini cupcake tins and have found they look especially classy with a golden foil cupcake liner. The creamy Nutella and super-moist banana buttermilk cake is decadent and goes well with the silky, sweet tanginess of the cream cheese frosting. I have not tried to make these into standard-sized cupcakes, but I imagine it would be overkill, too heavy.

Makes: 18-24 mini cupcakes

Banana Buttermilk Cake
3/4 C. white sugar, divided
1/2 C. ripe banana
1/4 C. soft butter
1 t. vanilla extract
2 eggs, room temp.
1 C. flour
1/2 t. baking soda
1/4 t. salt
1/4 t. ground nutmeg
1/4 C. buttermilk, room temp.

Chocolate Chip Cream Cheese Frosting
1 3/4 C. powdered sugar
1/2 C. (4oz.) soft cream cheese
1/2 t. vanilla extract
1/4 C. chopped Ghirardelli semi-sweet chocolate bar

Preheat oven to 350 and position rack in middle. Place paper liners in cupcake pan and spray all over with nonstick spray. Mash banana with 1/4 C. sugar in a small bowl, set aside. In stand mixer, cream together 1/2 C. sugar, butter, and vanilla with paddle attachment on medium speed until just incorporated. Scrape bowl with spatula all the way to the bottom to be sure everything is mixed evenly between adding new ingredients. Next, on the lowest speed, add the eggs one at a time, then add the banana and mix until just incorporated. Whisk together the remaining dry ingredients in a large bowl, and add to the mixer on a low speed, alternately with the buttermilk. Scrape entire bowl once more and mix only until just combined. Spoon batter into cupcake liners until each one is about 3/4 of the way full. Bake for about 6 minutes, rotate pans, and bake another 6 minutes. Test cake with a tooth pick, only very little crumb is perfect doneness. It should still be light in color and slightly moist, yet firm to the touch. Cool on a wire rack and store in an airtight container until ready to fill & frost.

To fill cupcakes, you will need to get a pastry bag or heavy duty ziploc bag to pipe the nutella into the cupcakes. Punch a hole into the center of the cupcakes using a chopstick, and have a small bowl of white sugar to dip the chopstick in between cupcakes as not to ruin the crown of the cupcake pulling the chopstick out (one after the other, the chopstick gets a little sticky and the sugar helps prevent that). Spoon about 1/2 C. of Nutella hazelnut spread in a small dish and microwave 15-30 seconds. Spoon into pastry bag and place the tip into the bottom of each cupcake, pulling up as you squeeze.

Finally, the frosting is very simple. Make sure to sift your powdered sugar, and that your cream cheese is at room temp. First mix cream cheese, then add sugar, then vanilla with the paddle attachment in a stand mixer. fold in chocolate with a rubber spatula. Use a pastry bag or heavy duty ziploc bag to pipe frosting onto cupcakes in a rosette. Garnish with a chunk of chocolate on top.