Baking Adventures (and Occasional Cooking Too!)

No Slack S'more Bars

cupkatedang@gmail.com (Katie) — Sat, 23 Apr 2011 19:05:00 -0400

One of my brothers is in the Army as a soldier in the 101st Airborne Division. While he was stationed over in Afghanistan, I would send him s'more cookie bars about every other week. He reported back that they were the hit of the battalion! In honor of these brave soldiers, I have renamed these world famous (!) cookie bars the No Slack S'more Bars, after their battalion.

In the words of my brother to his Facebook universe:
"Because the best thing to come in the mail starts with cookie dough, followed by some chocolate and peanut butter, then marshmallows (or marshmallow cream), topped off with more cookie dough. Baked in the oven and sliced into individual treats. Wrapped in foil and love with a funny picture and sent halfway around the world. I freaking love my sister...."

The recipe is adapted from Hershey's. By request, I also created a variation that featured white chocolate and peanut butter, sandwiched between graham cracker cookie dough (obviously, not pictured here).

While I missed my brother dearly when he was overseas, I am so thankful that he is on his way home. However, if you have a soldier that you would like to send these treats to, drop me a comment or fill out the "Contact the Author" form on the left.

Chocolate Covered Cherry Cookies

cupkatedang@gmail.com (Katie) — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 18:28:00 -0500

...say that three times fast.

The occasion was another potluck at work. In addition to making my mom's Sup Mang Cua (crab asparagus soup), I wanted to bake something. I found a recipe for chocolate covered cherry cookies in a holiday baking magazine at the library. If you know me, or go through this blog, you'll know that I am not a cookie baker. I usually outsource that--or have to be closely supervised.

But not one to be defeated by butter, eggs and flour, I gave it another try. On the sign-up list at work, I put myself down for the soup and "Dessert--to be a surprise!" Whether burnt or ambrosial, I suppose my coworkers were in for a surprise either way.

1. Cream 1/2 cup of butter with 1 cup of sugar, 1/4 tsp. of baking powder, 1/4 tsp. of baking soda, and 1/4 tsp. of salt. Beat in 1 egg and 1-1/2 tsp. of vanilla.

2. Add 1/2 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder. Stir in 1-1/2 cups of flour with a wooden spoon.

3. Shape dough into 1-inch balls, placed about 2-inches apart on cookie sheets. Press you thumb into the center of each ball and place a maraschino cherry in the center.

4. Meanwhile, make the frosting by warming 1/2 cup of sweetened condensed milk in a small saucepan and melt 1 cup of semisweet chocolate chips into it. Stir in about 4 tsps. of the juice drained from the cherries. Add more juice if the chocolate frosting is too thick.

5. Spoon a little bit of the frosting over each cherry. Bake about 10 minutes in a 350 degree (F). Let cool on the cookie sheet about a minute before transferring to a wire rack.

6. Eat.

Too cute to eat?!

cupkatedang@gmail.com (Katie) — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 20:20:00 -0400

I was in search of something interesting to make for my upcoming potluck at work. My friend, Liza, mentioned pies on sticks. Somehow this elicits the same reaction from everyone the first time they hear it, and you are probably thinking it now: ????

I made an experimental batch.

Too cute to eat? You tell me.

I ate some anyway.

Blueberry Cobbler = Summer's Official Arrival

cupkatedang@gmail.com (Katie) — Fri, 2 Jul 2010 23:50:00 -0400

Blueberries are in season here in central Pennsylvania--as well as plenty other places too, I'd imagine. In the off season, they go for $6-7 a pint. And because they have to be imported from somewhere warm in the winter time, they are usually picked before they are fully ripe--yielding sour berries with mealy texture.

By contrast, right now I can get two pints for $3 and in peak condition! They are so fresh and plump that every single berry is edible. I don't even have to pick them over and throw out mushy ones because there are none.

I decided to make a blueberry cobbler to bring over to my friend JoAnn's tonight.

Blueberry cobbler is something I was only recently introduced to; that is, a few summers ago, when I moved to New York. In Manhattan, one of the things I really liked were the fruit stands that dotted the city and which I would inevitably run into, on my way to a subway station. The fruit was of pretty good quality, at very reasonable prices. (And here I put the disclaimer of not discussing why the prices at these fruit stands were so cheap, i.e., labor costs, etc.) Anyway, a friend was incredulous that I had never had blueberry cobbler, or even very many fresh blueberries ever for that matter. So I decided to try it one day, using Baking Illustrated's recipe.

So simple; just cobbled together from ingredients you most likely have lying around anyway. All I had to do was run to the corner and get some blueberries from the street vendor. I don't think my friend ever really knew it, but a secret love affair was born.

I rarely like cooked fruit. For that reason, I rarely eat pie (although I love making it). But blueberry cobbler is perhaps the one dish where I like the cooked fruit more than the fresh fruit. And I always forget this.

But what I don't forget is the awe I discovered when I had my first bite of cobbler ever. How could it be that such humble ingredients (flour, buttermilk, cornmeal, baking powder/soda, sugar, pinch of salt) make something so rich? I love the royal color of the blueberry juices bubbling up; the texture of the cornmeal in the dough; the soft scent of cinnamon; and the way it all comes together with the juices soaking up into the dough.

Blueberry Cobbler (America's Test Kitchen)

Filling

1/2 c. granulated sugar
1 T. cornstarch
pinch ground cinnamon
pinch table salt
6 C. fresh blueberries (30 ounces), picked over
1-1/2 t. grated lemon zest
1 T. lemon juice

Biscuit Topping

1 C. unbleached all-purpose flour (5 ounces)
2 T. cornmeal , stone-ground
1/4 C. granulated sugar , plus 2 teaspoons for sprinkling
2 t. baking powder
1/4 t. baking soda
1/4 t. table salt
4 T. unsalted butter (1/2 stick), melted
1/3 C. buttermilk
1/2 t. vanilla extract
1/8 t. ground cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Stir sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, and salt together in large bowl. Add berries and mix gently with rubber spatula until evenly coated; add lemon zest and juice and mix to combine. Transfer berry mixture to 9-inch glass pie pan, place pie pan on rimmed baking sheet, and bake until filling is hot and bubbling around edges, about 25 minutes.

3. While blueberries are baking: Whisk flour, cornmeal, 1/4 cup sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in large bowl to combine. Whisk melted butter, buttermilk, and vanilla in small bowl. Mix remaining 2 teaspoons sugar and cinnamon in second small bowl and set aside. One minute before berries come out of the oven, add wet ingredients to dry ingredients; stir with rubber spatula until just combined and no dry pockets remain.
4. Remove berries from oven; increase oven temperature to 425 degrees.

5. Pinch off 8 equal-sized pieces biscuit dough and place on hot berry filling, spacing them at least 1/2 inch apart (they should not touch). Sprinkle each mound of dough with cinnamon-sugar.

6. Bake until filling is bubbling and biscuits are golden brown on top and cooked through, 15 to 18 minutes. Cool cobbler on wire rack 20 minutes and serve.

Black Forest Cake (and Fireflies)

cupkatedang@gmail.com (Katie) — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 22:06:00 -0400

A co-worker friend invited some girls over for a "Girls Night In" since her fiance was away on his bachelor trip. We rented a chick flick (Leap Year), had wine/champagne, pizza, fruit and cheese. I volunteered to make dessert.

We ended up not watching the movie; I did not drink any wine or champagne (just pink lemonade); and instead played with the 9-month-old baby Drew who quickly turned out to be the de facto guest of honor. We stayed outside until the sun started to set, and the fireflies started dancing.

As a West Coast girl, fireflies were a fantasy to me while I was growing up. They existed in country songs and modern day fairy tales, but not in real life. It wasn't until last summer that I saw my first firefly. It was an experience that was fascinating then, and still enchanting now.

The fact that they buzz about so leisurely and lackadaisical that you can easily catch them enhances their romanticism a zillion times. They are what summer evenings should be all about: taking things slowly, brightening the cool end of a hot day, and bringing childish awe and delight to an otherwise unremarkable setting.

The dessert I opted to bring was Black Forest Cake. Coming off the high of accomplishing croissants, I wanted to again attempt something new. I wanted it to be technically challenging and to present well--and taste good too.

Genoise cake is something I have generally stayed away from. Having attempted it a couple times in the past with unfortunate results, I was a little apprehensive to try it again. So I formulated a backup plan: I would make the genoise the night before and if it sucked, then it would go in the garbage can and *gasp* boxed cake mix would have to do for the Girls Night In.

I used America's Test Kitchen's recipe for Chocolate Genoise, which is in their Baking Illustrated book. Genoise can be tricky because it is a cake that uses no chemical leaveners--no baking soda or baking powder. Any loft it gets comes solely from the air that you beat into the eggs. So how do you preserve that air throughout the mixing and baking process? You have to stabilize the eggs by beating them while slightly cooking them over a bain marie (hot water bath).

But you also have to be careful about not over-cooking the eggs and scrambling them. In this case, I used a thermometer to keep the temperature around 100-110 degrees F. I had to take the bowl off and on the simmering water bath a couple times until the eggs formed the proper texture. You know they are rightly beaten when they become pale yellow and form a thick ribbon as they fall from the beaters.

How did the genoise turn out? Not bad. The texture was much improved, and I would even venture to call the genoise my most successful one yet. The only problem was that I used a springform pan slightly too large for the recipe, so my cake was thinner than I would have liked. This made it more difficult to slice the layers, but it still made for a pretty tasty cake!

1. Macerate the tart cherries in cherry wine (or kirsch liqueur if you can find it). Using sweet cherries will be too sweet.

2. Bake the genoise cake.

3. Beat the heavy cream, and stabilize it with cooked cornstarch.

4. Layer the cake with whipped cream and cherries (that look like crushed tomatoes!)

5. Repeat!

6. Shave bittersweet chocolate. Coat the sides of cake.

7. Finish decorating with maraschino cherries.

Chocolate Croissants

cupkatedang@gmail.com (Katie) — Wed, 9 Jun 2010 21:06:00 -0400

It's been a while, and so much has happened! I got a new day job, moved to a new state, and adopted new extracurriculars :-)

While I've done baking here and there, I haven't tried anything new until a couple weeks ago when I got the urge to try making croissants after watching "It's Complicated"--a cute movie, if you haven't seen it.

I found that the key ingredient to making croissants by hand and from scratch is patience. And the key to preserving patience is to make the time pass by faster. So I started the croissant dough at the beginning of Memorial Day weekend, when I was also planning to have friends visit and go for a hike. We went to Lewis Rocks in central Pennsylvania, and hiked along a creek that led to waterfalls and scrambled up rocks to a summit that afforded gorgeous views of the Cumberland Valley.

Each day went by fast, and at night I would roll out the croissant dough for an additional turn.

The recipe I used is from Cook's Illustrated (subscription required--but so worth it). Cook's Illustrated is my go-to for recipes because when they finalize a recipe, it's been tested about a million times and they tell you what works, what doesn't, and why. Heart them!

The idea of making croissants daunted me because they make such a big deal about how the butter in the dough makes it really delicate and fussy. But if you have the patience to let the dough chill sufficiently between the turns (i.e., each time you roll it out and fold it back in on itself to create the layers of dough and butter which eventually form the telltale flakiness of croissants) then it is really manageable.

As I unabashedly described to an admirer (of the croissants) who saw pictures of them right out of the oven: "The texture right out of the oven was *amazing.* They (yes I had more than one) were flaky on the outer layers, and soft but still a little chewy in the middle layers. When you bite through all the layers together, it is a perfect combination of crinkly/soft/warm/chewy and then*mmmm* the warm chocolate percolates through."

1. Make the dough. Let rise for 2 hours.
2. Prepare the butter square. Then chill for 2 hours.
3. Roll out the dough.
4. Fold in the butter square. Chill 2 hours.
5. Repeat.
6. Roll out the butter-layered dough.
7. Cut out and shape croissants.
8. Prepare for the oven.

9. Eat!

Farewell Marika!

cupkatedang@gmail.com (Katie) — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 21:37:00 -0500

The highlight of my week for over a year and a half now is teaching a small group of kindergartners at KidsQuest, which is the McLean Bible Church version of Sunday school. About six months ago, I was asked to also help out in the large group production--where a group of about 100 kindergarten and first graders come in assembly style to hear a bible story and sing worship songs. Wow! You wouldn't think it, but they are an intimidating group. Their attention span is about 0.5 seconds and definitely let you know if you aren't interesting enough or are just downright boring.

Thankfully, I had an awesome partner on stage who really bolstered my credibility with these youngsters!Marika and I would feed off each other's energy and it really showed when the kids would get fired up for her stories and the songs we'd lead together. Sadly, she recently had to return to her home country of Moldova. To send her a fond farewell (or rather, "see you soon"), we had a party with board games, and a cake that I made.

How often do you let the frosting dictate the cake? Well, I did. I knew that I would be frosting the cake with mousseline buttercream (what else of course!) And when I do, I'll have egg yolks leftover. Is there a cake recipe that only uses egg yolk? YES! It's called Golden Layer Cake, and I found it in The Joy of Cooking.I filled the cake with peaches and cream.Then I decorated it with peachy flowers that are slightly tinged with red at the edges.

"Pink" Velvet Cupcakes

cupkatedang@gmail.com (Katie) — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 21:15:00 -0500

My friend Khanh was visiting during a stop on her tour of North America, and we made sure it was a special visit for her. First, we ordered up fat snow--in the order of 20-something inches worth over less than 24 hours.Then, she remarked that she had heard so much about red velvet cake, but had never had it. Well, I had never made it. So I thought, why not give it a try? Not having much experience with it before, I picked a recipe from Food Network.Somehow, it didn't quite turn out the way I expected.They turned out rather pink, instead of red. Nonetheless, they were yum.I later spread them with cream cheese icing that I had leftover from some strawberry cake that I had previously made. But first I ate a couple naked. I mean, the cakes were naked...as in, not frosted. Oh whatever, you know what I mean:

Holla challah!

cupkatedang@gmail.com (Katie) — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 21:26:00 -0500

Yesterday I decided on a whim to make some challah bread. Baking Illustrated recommends making the dough in a stand mixer or food processor, but what is the fun in that? I broke out the bowls and wooden spoons to mix the dough by hand and greased up the elbows for some old fashioned kneading. What's fun about making challah is that you really get to play around with the dough. Instead of just plopping it into a loaf pan, you get to cut up the dough, roll out the dough, and braid it--twice! The trick to getting braided shape right is actually to make two braids, a smaller braid that is placed on top of a bigger braid. After one last rise, into the oven it goes!

The secret to excellent pie is...

cupkatedang@gmail.com (Katie) — Fri, 4 Dec 2009 18:48:00 -0500

...VODKA!

The day before Thanksgiving, by special request, I made apple pie. One was a regular apple pie (although far from ordinary if I do say so myself!) The second was apple-cranberry pie.

It had been years since I'd made pie. First of all, I'm not a huge fan of it. I don't really like to eat it because of the texture of the filling. Fruit should be chewable, and oftentimes baking the fruit filling breaks it down to baby food consistency. Not feeling that. Nonetheless, many people love pie and I love making it; therefore I have no objections to granting their requests.

Pie crust is one of those things that people obsess over--how to keep it flaky, how to make it the right thickness, et cetera, ad nauseum. Fear not! The first pie I ever made--and to my chagrin got rave reviews--I made in a gallon ziploc bag by shaking up cubed butter with flour and some ice water.

This time, I got a little bit more detailed. Room temperature butter, vegetable shortening and flour--all blended with a pastry cutter (see picture at Green Tea Cupcakes post). A tiny bit of salt and sugar for taste, then the obligatory water. But then--here is the secret--vodka.

This little bit of fire water is absolutely imperative, and here's why: If we add too little water, the pie crust dough is really hard to work with--too dry to hold together and roll out later. If we add too much, then it sticks like crazy and is also a mess to work with. Enter vodka. It adds the liquidity of water during the dough stage, but being 40% alcohol, it bakes off in the oven... leaving a crispy flaky crust as though you'd only used 60% of the water. Tell me that's not genius.

And here's what it looks like:

Turkey Day - 3 Weeks Early!

cupkatedang@gmail.com (Katie) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 18:19:00 -0500

Due to unforeseen circumstances, I flew back to California for the second time in a month to see my family. My brother who is in the Army also was able to fly home. So once again, we were all together and, brilliantly, were able to celebrate Thanksgiving--albeit three weeks early!

Usually, I do some kind of fancy bird (ask my brothers about the apple cider glazed turkey from one year. What? You don't like your gravy slightly sweet and cinnamon-y?) This year, we opted for traditional. Turkey, gravy, smashed potatoes, and a variety of roasted and steamed vegetables served with dinner rolls and cranberry sauce from a can!

People really shouldn't be afraid of making Thanksgiving dinner. There are 3 keys to turning out the perfect turkey--and they are very easy to achieve.

(1) Brine the turkey. I even brined and defrosted in one step: buy the turkey, which is usually frozen. Dissolve 1 cup of salt per 1 gallon of water. For a 14 pound turkey, I used about 2 gallons. Submerge the turkey in the brine for a day, refrigerated. It will be brined and defrosted by then.

(2) Use a meat thermometer. Before roasting, stick the thermometer into the turkey's thigh without touching bone. Roast until the temperature reaches a minimum of 165 degrees. This is the only reliable way of making sure your turkey is cooked to a safe and delicious temperature.

(3) Baste. In this year's case, I made it even simpler by creating a way for the turkey to baste itself. I formed a lattice of bacon over the breast of the turkey that would melt and baste the turkey as it roasted without me having to check on things every 20 minutes or so. I loosely tented foil around the bacon-latticed turkey and stuck it into a 350 degree oven.

About half an hour before the turkey was done, I took the foil and the bacon off. I brushed the turkey with some herbed butter and let the bacon continue to crisp on the side in its own dish while the turkey browned.

Easy peas-ey!

Mayonnaise Cake

cupkatedang@gmail.com (Katie) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 19:02:00 -0400

In honor of Halloween, a freaky little cake that is actually quite yum!

It is not my own recipe, but one I felt was worthy of taking on in a baking adventure.

People either love mayonnaise or they hate it. I am firmly planted in the former camp. I love it. I think its original intrigue for me arose from the fact that I wasn't allowed to have it when I was a kid. But my dad would have it with his steak and I even remember the first time I got to have a little try. O...M...G.

Loved it! Tangy, rich, smooth, and forbidden... like the boy your parents warned you about.

The cake, actually called "Easy Chocolate Cake," has a history as being one you should be able to whip up with ingredients just lying around in your pantry. Flour? Check. Sugar? Check. Baking soda? Check. Salt? Check. Cocoa powder and good chocolate? Check and CHECK (always). Mayonnaise? Oh but yes check. Egg (just one)? Check. And vanilla? Check.

Here it is:

Strawberry CupKates

cupkatedang@gmail.com (Katie) — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 00:59:00 -0400

...from scratch!
I was testing out a new recipe for strawberry cupcakes, using real strawberries--no artificial flavors or strawberry jello please.

The recipe is still being perfected, so stay tuned for it in a future post....

Here's how they turned out this time (with cream cheese frosting):

Green Tea CupKates

cupkatedang@gmail.com (Katie) — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 20:50:00 -0400

My friend Uyen recently asked me to make cupcakes for her friend's bridal shower. She specially requested green tea cupcakes with strawberry mousseline buttercream frosting. I'd never made green tea cake before she asked for them. So a couple weeks ago, I whipped up a couple test batches.

The first batch had just a little too much sugar, which made a big difference: the cakes baked too quickly, were too sweet, and did not rise enough. I decreased the sugar, added an egg yolk for smoother texture, and upped the green tea ("macha") powder, and the second test batch was much improved.

The recipe I ended up using for the delivered batch is a twist off the classic white cake.

To amp up the green tea flavor, I poured a green tea glaze over each cupcake. Half of the cupcakes were complemented by strawberry mousseline buttercream, the other half with vanilla mousseline buttercream and a touch of green tea for color.

Recipe follows; however, this recipe is in weight measurements because I had to produce the recipe. (Weight measurements more accurately preserve the ratios necessary to produce successful cakes.)

Green Tea CupKates
(yields approximately 2 dozen cupcakes and maybe a few leftover to experiment/nibble on)

9 ounces cake flour
11 ounces granulated sugar
4 tsps baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp green tea "macha" powder
12 tbsps (1-1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 whole egg plus 2 egg whites, room temperature
another 3 egg whites, room temperature
1 cup milk, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line muffin tins with 24 cupcake liners.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the cake flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Stir to mix evenly.

Using a pastry blender (see image on the right), cut the butter into the flour mixture one tablespoon at a time. Continue blending until the butter and flour mixture resembles a wet sand texture, with lumps no larger than pea-sized and no dry flour streaks.

Sprinkle the green tea “macha” powder over the mixture.

In a 2-cup measuring cup, combine the milk, 1 whole egg plus 2 egg whites, and vanilla extract. Mix with a fork until just combined.

In a medium bowl, whip the remaining three egg whites to medium peaks.

Pour half the milk mixture into the butter and flour mixture. Stir quickly to combine evenly. Add the remaining milk mixture and stir again to combine evenly.

Add a third of the beaten egg whites to the batter and fold to lightly combine. Add in the rest of the beaten egg whites and lightly fold to combine without deflating the egg white volume.

Fill cupcake liners 2/3 full. Bake approximately 15-18 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the middle of a cupcake comes out dry with just a few crumbs clinging to it and the tops are barely golden.

Green Tea Glaze
(yields more than you'll ever need)

½ cup sifted confectioner's sugar
1 tbsp green tea “macha” powder
3 tbsps milk

Stir the ingredients together with a fork, in a figure-8 motion to avoid bubbles. Pour a teaspoonful over each cooled cupcake.

Strawberry Mousseline Buttercream
(yields about 5 cups, enough to generously frost 24 cupcakes)

5 large egg whites
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup of fresh strawberries, washed and hulled
2 cups unsalted butter, room temperature
1 or 2 tsps vinegar
1 tsp vanilla extract

Place the vinegar on a paper towel and thoroughly wipe out your large mixing bowl. Put the egg whites in the bowl and start beating the egg whites with an electric hand mixer. When they reach soft peaks, gradually add 2 tablespoons of sugar and beat to stiff peaks.

Puree the strawberries in a food processor until fine and almost smooth. Strain the juice twice and set aside. Set aside the strained, crushed strawberries.

In a small heavy saucepan, heat together the rest of the sugar and 1/3 cup of the strawberry juice, stirring, until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is bubbling. Cook until a candy thermometer reaches 248-250 degrees F (the firm ball stage). Immediately remove the syrup from the heat.

If using a handheld mixer, beat the syrup into the whites in a steady stream with the mixer running. Don't pour the syrup on the beaters or they will throw all the syrup on the sides of the bowl. Lower speed to medium and beat until completely cool. Mix in the vanilla extract.

Beat in the butter 1 Tbs at a time. At first the mixture will seem thin and will look curdled, but keep adding butter and mixing well, you may need to increase the speed a bit.

Add 2 tablespoons of the crushed strawberries to the finished buttercream and mix to distribute evenly.

Buttercream becomes spongy on standing, mix again before using. If your buttercream has been chilled, you must allow it to come to room temperature before mixing or it will curdle.

How to (with Video): Pipe CupKate Buttercream Roses

cupkatedang@gmail.com (Katie) — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 23:45:00 -0400

After featuring Tracey's cake here on cupkatedang.blogspot.com, people wanted to know how the mousseline buttercream flowers are done. They aren't traditional buttercream roses; they don't have distinct petals. I think that gives them more of a fun, less formal look. Enjoy the video!

Bon Voyage Tracey!

cupkatedang@gmail.com (Katie) — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 22:42:00 -0400

My friend Tracey had spent the summer in the DC-Metro area doing an intensive orientation before her 9-month secondment to Malaysia for CAMSA. CAMSA stands for the Coalition to Abolish Modern-day Slavery in Asia. Its mission is to rescue and protect trafficking victims, punish traffickers through economic and legal measures, and pressure the governments of the source and destination countries to enact and enforce anti-trafficking laws and policies.

To bid her a fond farewell, her friends threw a barbecue, and I baked her a cake using the dark chocolate cupcake recipe she is such a fan of. To compensate for the longer baking time that would be needed for baking the batter in cake-form rather than cupcakes, I added an extra egg and it really came out well.

The key to the dark richness of the recipe is 2 forms of chocolate: excellent dark chocolate bars, as well as cocoa powder. I used Belgian dark chocolate and a combination of Hershey's Special Dark cocoa and Colombian cocoa powder from a unique source.... It gets slowly melted together with butter over a double boiler:

I often pair my dark chocolate cupcakes with fresh strawberry buttercream, and this time was no exception. It is a variation of the mousseline buttercream recipe that is often mentioned on cupKatedang.blogspot.com. I use fresh strawberries (although frozen can also work well when they go out of season) and puree them in a food processor. I strain the puree through a sieve and use the juice as the liquid base for the sugar syrup that gets incorporated into my italian meringue for the buttercream. When all is said and done, I put a tablespoon or two of the crushed strawberries into the mousseline buttercream to kick up the strawberry flavor and give it an interesting texture. I filled the chocolate cake layers with this strawberry mousseline buttercream and it looked good enough to eat right then and there!

Next came the hard part for me, how to decorate the cake? Earlier this morning, while picking up ingredients for the cake at the local grocery store, I stopped by the bakery section (I can never resist checking out the "competition"!) I saw some cakes decorated with the cutest roses. Not the traditional, Wilton-type, but more...art-deco-y. They were roundish and reminded me of cartoons or clip art. So I knew I wanted to try making those. I whipped up a new batch of vanilla mousseline buttercream, which I dyed a couple different colors to finish trimming the cake.

Italian meringue base for the mousseline buttercream.

A blank canvas!

And now: the finished project....

Best of luck Tracey!

...Occasional Cooking Too

cupkatedang@gmail.com (Katie) — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 13:29:00 -0400

I was raised a California girl. But something I will always associate with East Coast summers are soft shell crabs. Love them!

Yes. Even though they are vulnerable prehistoric, sea-dwelling arthropods with impotent killer pinchers...soft shell crabs are also crunchy yet juicy with a distinctive taste of I-don't-know-what-but-it-reminds-me-of-the-Eastern-Shore. Best of all, they are incredibly easy to cook up. (The hardest part may be finding where you can buy them--I bought mine at the Dupont Circle Farmers Market).

I got mine already cleaned and dressed and on ice. The vendor had live ones too, but I couldn't bear the thought of having to kill them (by cutting off their eyes) and cleaning them (by pulling off unedible appendages, etc.) myself.

First I let them take a soak in milk, seasoned with salt and pepper. About 10 or 15 minutes is long enough.

Then I dredge them in a bit of flour that I seasoned up with Old Bay.

Meanwhile, I heat up about a couple tablespoons of oil in a large skillet. When it gets hot, I flip the crabs in, topside down first. After a few minutes, I flip them over to the other side.

And that's it!

I made a meal of them by serving with some simple fried rice and garlic sauteed "rau muong." A throwback to my childhood and a favorite of my father's, these greens are sometimes called water spinach. But taxonomically, they are related to morning glories and sweet potatoes. Gastronomically, they are in a class of their own. They readily soak up the flavor of whatever seasonings you use. I used garlic, a dash of salt, a splash of sesame oil and a bit of oyster sauce.

It ended up being a perfect night to eat outdoors (al fresco dining!) with a slight breeze and fireflies.

Cupcakes cupcakes everywhere!

cupkatedang@gmail.com (Katie) — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 01:59:00 -0400

Thank you to everyone who came out to see (and buy) the Wonderfully Made Jewelry! It was so much fun to get to try on the different pieces and watch others do the same and really having a great time (all the while knowing what a worthy cause this was). A big round of applause also to our hostess Anne, who opened up her home and muslin-draped patio for the party and had her most successful jewelry show yet! There is Anne setting up one of the display tables.

I was able to get all the baking and icing done in time: three kinds of cupcakes with three different icings.

Dark chocolate cupcakes with fresh strawberry buttercream.

Yellowcake with a lemon-lime glaze and a subtle lavender-infused buttercream.

And also the specially-requested french toast with bacon and maple syrup buttercream.

While it was somewhat of a close call, the bacon was the most popular flavor!

Oops! Slight Misadventure....

cupkatedang@gmail.com (Katie) — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 00:41:00 -0400

It's been a whirlwind week in preparation for the Wonderfully Made Jewelry show (which went incredibly well, but more on that soon!) I've been baking up a storm, as you can see:

I started the baking marathon with a batch of grown-up, dark chocolate cupcakes, which are not too sweet with a very rich chocolate taste due to the melted bittersweet chocolate plus cocoa in the recipe. They actually turned out beautifully and had a picture perfect shape. Then I went to bed... after I cleaned up and stored them in the oven until I could continue icing them the next morning.

The next morning, I preheat the oven to make the french toast with bacon cupcakes. I start thinking to myself, "Wow, it smells so good...and I haven't even put them in the...oh my goodness!" I throw open the oven and there are the chocolate cupcakes. Still as gorgeous as ever:

You can LOL; I won't take it personally. I'm just sad about all the chocolate that went to waste....

CupKates and a Cause: Wonderfully Made Jewelry

cupkatedang@gmail.com (Katie) — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 23:54:00 -0400

I am so excited to announce that I will be getting to combine my love of baking with a really great philanthropic cause. My friend Anne occasionally organizes jewelry parties on behalf of Wonderfully Made Jewelry and recently asked if I would be interested in featuring some of my cupKates there. Would I ever!

A little about Wonderfully Made Jewelry: in conjunction with its foundation, the company provides training and sustainable jobs for rescued victims of human trafficking overseas through artisanal jewelry craftsmanship. The pieces look timeless yet also trendy; I can't wait to check them out in person.

I'm also looking forward to getting to bake up a storm of cakes in fancy flavors as well as one or two of my tried and true. I've had requests for lavender flavored cupcakes; a repeat of the french toast with bacon; and everyone loves a really good red velvet cake.

I just hope we get an awesome turn out for this worthy cause and that people like the jewelry. If my cupKates get a little boost too...well, that's just icing on the cake! (Insert groan here.)

**Picture of Japanese Garden Necklace courtesy of www.wonderfullymadejewelry.com.**

Update: Coconut with Mango Mousse

cupkatedang@gmail.com (Katie) — Sat, 4 Jul 2009 14:53:00 -0400

Finished and delivered the coconut cake with mango mousse. It turned out like a little pastel yellow drum!

Coconut with Mango Mousse

cupkatedang@gmail.com (Katie) — Wed, 1 Jul 2009 22:42:00 -0400

My biggest fan Angela (God bless her!) has commissioned me for a new cake. I originally was going to make a coconut cake with passionfruit filling (sort of like this one). But when I made the filling, it really turned out unappetizing. The problem, I think, was the quality of the ingredients I was able to obtain. Often times, passionfruit juice is sold in cans--unless it is mixed with another kind of juice like Welch's makes. And the can imparts a very strong, very unpleasant metallic taste to the juice, which intensified in the cooking process.

So I dumped the whole thing and had to tell Angela, it was a no-go. I suggested mango instead, and she graciously agreed.

Then I got to scheming. Rather than a curd-type filling thickened with cornstarch, I wanted to make it lighter and less sweet. The cake was going to be made with cream of coconut not coconut milk, which makes it more moist, and with low-gluten cake flour, which gives it a lighter texture than regular flour. Knowing this, I decided to fill the fluffy coconut cake with an equally ethereal mousse made from real mangos.

Gluten-Free Chocolate Cupcakes

cupkatedang@gmail.com (Katie) — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 14:06:00 -0400

My friend Amy saw my French Toast and Bacon CupKates the other week and was so bummed she couldn't have one because she is allergic to wheat. Well, this past weekend, we all had a picnic and I decided to try making gluten-free cupcakes.

Very interesting.

I never realized how complicated a gluten-free life can be! Gluten can show up in some of the unexpected of ingredients: soy sauce, tomato soup, beer, pudding.... Read more about it here. It used to be that in order to create gluten-free baked goods, you had to mix half a dozen types of flours in precise proportions and add some kind of gum to simulate the texture that gluten produces. Luckily, now there are brands of "all-purpose" gluten-free flour mixes that take out the guesswork. But the finished product between a cupcake baked with regular flour and one baked with gluten-free flour is often still detectable. But what an adventure!

Turns out that the chocolate cupcakes tasted pretty good. (I think Amy had two and took one to go!) They were moist, but noticeably more crumbly than regular cupcakes. And they didn't rise with little mounds like regular cupcakes do. They did rise but were pretty flat on top.

When following the recipe below, it's important to not fill the cupcake liners too full because they will rise over the cups and will be impossible to remove without destroying them.

Ingredients:

3/4 cup (1-1/2 sticks) butter
2-1/2 cups sugar
3 eggs, plus 1 egg yolk
2 cups gluten-free flour mix (I used the 365 brand from Whole Foods--$3.99/16 oz.)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup dark cocoa powder
1 tablespoon instant coffee powder
1-1/2 cups milk
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/4 cup Hershey's syrup

Directions:

Beat butter until softened. Add sugar and beat until light and fluffy.
Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition.
Combine the gluten-free flour, baking soda, salt, cocoa, and coffee powder into a medium bowl.
Measure the milk, vanilla, and chocolate syrup into a small bowl.
Starting with the dry ingredients, alternate adding the dry mixture and milk mixture to the butter/sugar while mixing, finishing with the dry.
Fill cupcake molds about 2/3 full.
Bake at 350 degrees for about 30-35 minutes or until tester comes out clean.
Let them cool completely before frosting them.

I frosted mine with vanilla mousseline buttercream and a royal icing dot.

What to Do With Leftover Egg Yolks?

cupkatedang@gmail.com (Katie) — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 13:00:00 -0400

With all the mousseline buttercream that I had been making, I kept ending up with extra egg yolks. What to do with them that would be yummy?

Pastry cream.

I have a really great recipe that virtually guarantees no lumps (thanks Baking Illustrated!) The trick lies in tempering the egg yolk mixture with the hot milk before adding the whole thing back into the saucepan to continue cooking. Because of this technique, I didn't even have to strain my pastry cream and it came out perfectly smooth.

Pastry Cream (Makes about 3 cups)

Ingredients:

2 cups half-and-half
1/2 cup sugar
Pinch salt
5 large egg yolks
3 tablespoons cornstarch
4 tbsp. cold unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:

Heat half-and-half, 6 tablespoons of the sugar and the salt in a saucepan over medium heat until simmering, stirring occasionally to dissolve the sugar.
Meanwhile, whisk egg yolks and remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar in a medium bowl until sugar begins to dissolve. Whisk in the cornstarch until combined and the mixture is pale yellow and thick.
When the half-and-half mixture reaches a full simmer, gradually whisk half of that mixture into the yolk mixture to temper it. Stir to ensure even mixing. Return the mixture back to the saucepan; whisking constantly until a few bubbles burst on the surface and the mixture is thickened.
Remove from heat and whisk in the butter and vanilla. (If needed, strain through a fine-mesh sieve).
Let cool thoroughly, at least 3 hours.

Then what? So I ended up making cream puffs to go with the pastry cream. Here they are puffing in the oven:

Bacon Adventures: Delicious or Disaster?!

cupkatedang@gmail.com (Katie) — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 22:55:00 -0400

Let me say it: Absolutely Delicious!

Throughout the project, which my roommate Meaghan and I collaborated on, I kept convincing myself, "It's gonna be great; it's gonna be fine. Bacon makes everything better!" I have to admit, I had reservations. But as we added ingredient after ingredient, it made less and less sense that the recipe would turn out to be a disaster. Eggs? Flour? Sugar? Cinnamon? Nutmeg? Vanilla? Butter? Bacon fat? Who has any objections to these things? As it turns out, no one should.

The cake was light and moist, with an enveloping aroma of ... Christmas (because of the freshly grated nutmeg and cinnamon)! It was like breakfast french toast, only better. The bits of bacon in the cake were like a tastebud surprise, the saltiness of which contrasted so perfectly with the actual cake.

I'd mentioned in my last post about ambitions to create a mousseline buttercream from maple syrup. It was work. And the whole time, I kept thinking, "This will either be totally awesome or totally disastrous." Totally awesome if the maple syrup can reach a high enough temperature (240 degrees F) without burning. Totally disastrous if it burns into a black mess. It took a long time, but it finally did reach barely 240 degrees. And as always, the mousseline recipe never fails.

French Toast with Bacon CupKates (Yields about 16)

Ingredients:

10 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
2 tbsp bacon drippings (solidified in refrigerator)
1 ½ cups cake flour, sifted
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup milk, at room temperature
2 tbsp maple syrup
1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
3 large eggs, at room temperature, separated
1/4 cup of crumbled bacon pieces

Directions:

Place a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 375 degrees F. Line the muffin pan with paper cupcake liners. Fry 8 slices of bacon to a crisp, reserve 2 tbsp of the drippings. Crumble the bacon and save for later.
Combine the butter, bacon drippings and sugar and mix on low speed with a mixer until just incorporated. Raise the speed to high and mix until light and fluffy, about 10 minutes. (Occasionally turn the mixer off, and scrape the sides of the bowl down with a rubber spatula.)
Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Set aside. In a small bowl, whisk together the milk, maple syrup and vanilla, and also set aside.
Add the egg yolks to the creamed butter one at time, waiting for each one to be fully incorporated before adding the next. Reduce the speed of the mixer to low. Alternately, add the flour mixture in 3 additions and the milk mixture in 2 additions, waiting for each to be fully incorporated before adding the next (scrape the bowl down occasionally). Raise the speed to medium and mix briefly until a smooth batter is formed. Transfer the batter to a large bowl. Sprinkle in the bacon bits and stir to incorporate.
In another clean (oil/grease-free) bowl, whip the egg whites until stiff peaks are formed. Working in 3 batches, using a rubber spatula, fold the egg whites into the batter, until just incorporated. Fill each cupcake liner 3/4 full of batter.
Bake, rotating the pan once, until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center of the cakes comes out clean, about 30 minutes.
Remove the cupcakes from the oven and cool completely. Frost with Maple Syrup Mousseline Buttercream. Garnish with a piece of bacon.

Maple Syrup Mousseline Buttercream

Ingredients:

1 cup unsalted butter, softened but cool (about 65 degrees F)
1/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup of maple syrup, Grade A Dark Amber
3 large egg whites

Directions:

Make sure your mixing bowl is very clean and free of grease or oily residue. To be sure, you can wipe your bowl down with a teaspoon of vinegar. Set the bowl aside.
In another mixing bowl, beat the butter until smooth and creamy, set aside in a cool place.
In a small heavy saucepan, heat the maple syrup over low to medium-low heat. Watch out that it does not boil over. Very important.
Start beating the egg whites, when they reach soft peaks, gradually add the sugar and beat to stiff peaks. If using a stand mixer, leave it running on the slowest speed to keep the egg whites from deflating.
Increase the heat under the syrup and cook until a candy thermometer reaches 240 degrees F (the soft ball stage). Be patient. It takes vigilence to make sure that the syrup heats and thickens without boiling over or burning. It may take up to 30 minutes over low heat.
Once 240 degrees is reached, immediately remove the syrup from the heat. If using a handheld mixer, beat the syrup into the whites in a steady stream with the mixer running. Don't pour the syrup on the beaters or they will throw all the syrup on the sides of the bowl. If using a stand mixer, pour 1/4 of the mixture over the whites with the mixer off. Immediately beat at high speed for 5 seconds. Continue with the remaining syrup. Lower speed to medium and beat until completely cool.
Beat in the butter 1 Tbs at a time. At first the mixture will seem thin and will look curdled, but keep adding butter and mixing well, you may need to increase the speed a bit.

I promise you will love it!