0 Cupcakes and Muffins

I was looking through my Flickr photo album and realized that I have a few cupcakes and muffins that I made in the past few months but never posted the pictures. So here’s a quick compilation.

Black bottom cupcakes


My first taste of a black bottom cupcake was over 20 years ago from the Just Desserts bakery in the Marina district. It’s a cocoa based chocolate cupcake with a chocolate chip cheesecake like center. You can’t tell from the photograph, but I baked these in miniature muffin tins so they’re only about 1-inch in diameter. They were a huge hit at my 2-year-old niece’s birthday party. (I didn't include the recipe for black bottom cupcakes here. The recipes on the internet are all pretty similar to mine.)

"Boston cream pie" cupcake*


This is my most recent cupcake experiment, the "Boston cream pie" cupcake. Boston cream pie is not really a pie but a cake - 2 layers of cake filled with a vanilla custard or pudding and then topped with a chocolate glaze. I took the idea of those components and turned them into a cupcake. I used a traditional all-American yellow butter layer cake recipe and made cupcakes instead of layer cakes. I filled the cupcakes with a vanilla bean pastry cream and then topped them with a chocolate frosting. My last experimental cupcake was my mojito cupcake back in May.

Trio of muffins


From left to right, cherry almond oatmeal muffin (I used the batter from my cherry almond oatmeal cake), chocolate chip muffin, and blueberry muffin.


More blueberry muffins. I accidentally over mixed the batter slightly, which explains the peaked muffin tops. Despite my over mixing, the muffin was still moist and tender.

~.~

* Recipe for "Boston Cream Pie" cupcakes...

Vanilla Cupcakes
(makes 18 cupcakes)

6 ounces (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened at room temp.
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups + 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
3/4 cup whole milk

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Butter and flour 18 (4-oz capacity) wells of your muffin pans. Or you can use paper cupcake liners.

Sift flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside dry ingredient.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy about 2-3 minutes.

Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl after each addition. Beat in the vanilla.

On low speed, mix in one-third flour mixture then one-half milk. Repeat, ending with final one-third flour mixture.

Divide batter among the 18 wells. They should be no more than 3/4 full.

Bake at 350F until light golden brown and cake tester is clean, about 20-23 minutes. Allow cupcakes to cool completely before filling or frosting.

Pastry Cream
(there will be cream leftover after filling 18 cupcakes)

2 cups whole milk
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 tbsp cornstarch
1/8 tsp salt
3 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp unsalted butter, softened

Bring the milk and1/4 cup sugar to a simmer in a non-reactive saucepan over medium heat.

Sift together remaining 1/4 cup sugar, the cornstarch and salt. Whisk the eggs in a large bowl. Add the sifted dry ingredients and whisk until fluffy.

Remove the simmering milk from the heat and ladle out about half a cup of the hot milk. Whisk it slowly into the egg/flour mixture. Once the milk is incorporated, pour the mixture back into the hot milk in the saucepan, whisking constantly.

Place saucepan over low heat and begin to whisk the pastry cream. In about 1 minute, it should boil and thicken. Continue whisking for about 3 minutes or until it has the consistency of pudding. To test cream for doneness, coat the back of a spoon. The cream will stay in place when you draw a line with your finger down the middle of the cream.

Strain the pastry cream through a fine-meshed strainer into a bowl. Add the butter and vanilla and stir until it is butter melted and incorporated. Can be refrigerated for up to 3 days.

How to assemble the "Boston Cream Pie" cupcakes:
Using a pastry bag, insert tip into the top of your vanilla cupcake and pipe about 1 teaspoon of cooled pastry cream into the center. Alternatively, you can cut out a hole from the top of the cupcake and spoon in the pastry cream. Make sure to replace the top. Frost your filled cupcakes with your favorite chocolate frosting, ganache, or glaze. Store cupcakes in refrigerator.

~.~

Diane


And here’s a picture of my sweet little muffin of a cat, Diane. This photo was taken last Thanksgiving when she was still a "fat cat". She’s been quite ill lately and, subsequently, she's lost a lot of weight. We’re hoping she’ll get better soon.

EDITED on 9/29 to add recipe for "Boston Cream Pie" Cupcake.

0 Curried Chocolate Brownies (SHF23)

It’s Sugar High Friday, the monthly blogging sweet tooth event. When the lovely hostess and veggie evangelist Alanna revealed the theme "Surprise Inside" I knew I wanted to participate by using an ingredient in a surprising way. I began with an idea for adding ground ancho chili and cayenne pepper to a classic chocolate brownie recipe. The addition of cocoa and cinnamon along with the ground peppers would give it that Mexican twist. But I wanted to take my idea a bit further. So I went eastward and my curried chocolate brownie was born!

Combining curry powder with chocolate is an exotic idea, at least to me. Among some boutique chocolatiers, the trend is to use chocolate with ingredients like kalamata olives, sun dried tomatoes, or wasabi. I haven’t tried any of these chocolates yet, but it would be fun to taste them at least once.

So how did my curried chocolate brownie turn out? Surprisingly good (no pun intended, well, maybe a little). Overall, the brownie was well received. Most tasters didn’t realize it was curry powder until I told them. They just assumed the spiciness came from pumpkin pie spices like cinnamon, cloves, and ginger. They were partially correct. I used Penzeys Spices’ sweet curry powder which, according to label, contains turmeric, coriander, cumin, fenugreek, ginger, nutmeg, fennel, cinnamon, black & white pepper, cardamom, cloves, cayenne. Some people with more "seasoned" palates could detect the coriander and cumin.

I can’t say this brownie is for everyone. Some people didn’t even want to taste it because the idea was just too strange for them. And as adventurous as I am when it comes to food, I hate to admit that I didn’t really like it. It just wasn’t something I’d eat again. I mean, I thought the curry spices complemented the semisweet chocolate very well and the brownie had a nice texture and flavor. The curry powder was definitely unmistakable, but it wasn’t so dominant that it overwhelmed the chocolate. The extra cinnamon and ginger rounded out the heat of the curry powder and the orange zest provided a fruitiness that added some depth. Even though I didn’t like my own brownie creation, many people really enjoyed it. So I guess this recipe is a keeper.



Curried Chocolate Brownies

3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp sweet curry powder
1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp salt
4 ounces (1 stick) unsalted butter
4 ounces semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp orange zest
2 large eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 325°F. Butter an 8 inch square baking pan. Line the bottom with parchment and butter parchment; set pan aside.

Sift together flour, cocoa, curry powder, cinnamon, ginger and salt. Set aside dry ingredients.

In a medium bowl set over a pot of simmering water, melt butter and chocolate together stirring until smooth. Remove from bowl from heat, and mix in sugar and orange zest. Then mix in eggs and vanilla.Add dry ingredients and mix until just incorporated.

Pour the batter into your prepared pan and smooth the batter. Bake until tester comes out with moist crumbs, approximately 30 minutes. Let cool completely before serving.



SHF23

0 Palmiers

Palmiers, named after the palm leaf they resemble, are cookies made with puff pastry layered with sugar. But I had some pastry dough left over from when I made my goat cheese tart last week. And since the dough was nice and flaky, I thought I would attempt to make palmiers with it.

So I rolled out the dough into a 10x10 inch square on a sugared work surface. I sprinkled about 1/4 cup of sugar all over the top and lightly pressed the sugar into the dough with my rolling pin. I flipped the dough over and pressed in another 1/4 cup of sugar. From one edge, I rolled up the dough tightly (jelly roll style) to the center and then rolled up the dough from the other edge to meet in the center. I wrapped the roll in plastic wrap and let it chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

I cut the chilled roll of dough into 1/3 inch thick slices, placed them on a lined cookie sheet and sprinkled them with more sugar. I baked them for 12 minutes at 375F, turned the palmiers over with a small spatula and baked for another 8 minutes.



My palmiers were sweet, buttery and crunchy. They weren’t as delicate as palmiers made with puff pastry, but these were pretty close to the real thing.

~.~

Bonus cookie recipe



I baked a batch of these orange polenta cookies for my friend, OT, a devoted stay at home mother of 3. The polenta adds a nice rustic quality and crunch to the cookies.



Orange Polenta Cookies
(makes 18 cookies)

3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup polenta or cornmeal
1/8 tsp salt
6 tbsp (3 ounces) unsalted butter, softened at room temp.
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp orange zest
1 egg
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
additional sugar for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 350F. Combine flour, polenta and salt. Set aside dry ingredients.

Cream butter, sugar and orange zest until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Mix in egg and vanilla extract. Add dry ingredients and mix until just incorporated.

Form 1-inch balls of dough and place 2 inches apart on parchment lined cookie sheets. Slightly flatten the balls with the bottom of a glass dipped in sugar. Sprinkle with more sugar if desired.

Bake at 350F for 12 to 14 minutes until the edges are light golden brown. Cool cookies on sheet for 2 minutes then transfer to cooling rack.

0 Goat Cheese, Roasted Beet and Walnut Tart (HHDD #5)

I’ve never been good at making pie dough. Well, actually, let me clarify. I can make the dough without any problems. It’s the rolling out the dough where I have trouble. I might start with a nice disk of chilled pie dough, but after some rolling, I end up with a jagged-edged, no-longer-circular piece of uneven pie dough. I have a tendency to work the dough a little too much when rolling. So I try my hardest to compensate for my weakness in the rolling arena by doing all the little "tricks" people do when trying to achieve a flaky crust.

After cutting my butter into cubes, I put the butter cubes in the freezer for about 15 minutes. I also place the mixer bowl containing my already measured flour, sugar and salt in the freezer too. The cold ingredients keep the butter from melting and absorbing into the flour while mixing. I wanted the butter to stay intact in large, flat pieces because it’s these flat pieces of butter that help create the flaky layers in the crust. If the butter melts and absorbs into the flour, the solid mass results in a less flaky crust. I also add some vinegar and sugar to the dough. The acidity of the vinegar inhibits some of the gluten formation and makes the dough less elastic. Less elasticity means easier rolling and less shrinkage. Sugar tenderizes the dough and helps the crust brown.


"shaggy" dough is okay as long as it holds together when squeezed

In addition to letting the dough rest for at least 1 hour in the refrigerator after making the dough, I allow the dough to rest again (for 15 to 30 minutes) after rolling and fitting it into my pan. This second resting period is optional but I like giving the dough a chance to recover from the rolling. The resting period allows the strands of gluten to relax before baking. Too much gluten makes the finished crust tough. Doing all these little things may have taken a bit more time, but I was hoping that it would combat my heavy handed rolling. And I have to say that it was totally worth the effort. The crust was super flaky.



I usually blog about sweet things and sometimes about my cat (who is definitely a sweet thing), but I’m taking a little detour down savory lane for "Hay Hay it’s Donna Day #5 - Savory Tarts" hosted by Tami, winner of HHDD #4. One of the best things I’ve learned from reading food blogs is the existence of Donna Hay, an Australian food stylist, magazine publisher and cookbook author. So in honor of Ms. Hay and her day, I’m making a savory tart with my flaky pie dough.

The recipe for the savory filling is adapted from Ina Garten’s goat cheese tart. I’ve always loved the combination of goat cheese with beets and walnuts in a salad, so I wanted to do the same flavors in the form of a tart. I added some chopped toasted walnuts and sliced roasted beets to the goat cheese custard. Ina’s recipe calls for basil, but the basil in my garden had already flowered and so it had turned quite bitter. I have lots of lemon thyme so I used that instead.



Goat Cheese, Roasted Beet and Walnut Tart

2 small beets
1 tsp olive oil
salt and pepper
1 tbsp butter
2 shallots, thinly sliced
3 large eggs
3/4 cup heavy cream
1 tbsp fresh thyme
8 ounces goat cheese
1/2 cup toasted walnuts, chopped

1/2 recipe Flaky Pie Dough, in a 9-inch tart pan and blind baked (see recipe below)

To roast beets:
Preheat oven to 375F. Wash the beets and place on a large sheet of aluminum foil. Drizzle with 1 tsp olive oil and sprinkle with a little salt and pepper. Wrap beets in foil and place in baking dish. Bake until beets are tender, about 1 hour. Let beets cool then peel and slice. Set beets aside. (Beets can stain so be careful!)

To make tart:
Preheat oven to 375F. Melt butter in a fry pan and sauté shallots over medium heat until tender, about 5 minutes. Season with salt.

In a bowl, whisk together eggs, cream, and thyme. Season with salt and pepper.

Set prebaked tart shell (still in tart pan) on a rimmed baking sheet. Place the sliced beets and shallots in the tart shell. Pour custard carefully over the beets and shallots. Sprinkle with crumbled goat cheese and walnuts. Bake for 35-45 minutes until set. Let tart rest for 5 minutes before serving.


super flaky crust

Flaky Pie Dough
(makes enough dough for 2 9-inch tarts/pies)

8 ounces (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cold
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp sugar (use 2 Tbsp for sweet pies/tarts)
1 tsp salt
1/3 cup ice water (or as needed)
1/2 tsp vinegar (I used apple cider vinegar)

Cut the butter into tiny cubes and place in freezer for 15 minutes. Sift flour, sugar and salt into the bowl of a standing mixer. Place in freezer for 15 minutes.

Remove butter and mixer bowl with flour from freezer. Add the butter to the flour mixture and mix on low for 2-3 minutes until the butter is the size of peas. Combine ice water and vinegar and add to dough. Mix until dough just comes together, about 20 seconds.

Gather dough and divide into 2 disks. Wrap in plastic and chill in refrigerator for 1 hour (and up to 3 days).

Roll out the chilled dough to 1/8 inch thick and 2-3 inches larger than the tart pan. Transfer dough carefully to pan. Let rest in refrigerator for 15-30 minutes before baking.

Blind bake the tart shell by lining with parchment or buttered foil. Fill the parchment/foil lined shell with pie weights.

Bake for 20 minutes at 375F. Remove parchment and pie weights. Continue baking for 10 minutes more until light golden.

~.~

And I guess this wouldn’t be a proper post without something sweet. So I’ll leave you with friands (topped with Black Mission figs) from Donna Hay Modern Classics Book 2. Enjoy!

0 Key Lime Pecan Squares

I’ve always heard that key limes are not widely available because they have thin, delicate skins which make them hard to store and ship. So I was surprised to find key limes at my supermarket. Well, I had to try them and the price was right ($1/pound). Key limes are smaller and have a thinner rind than the typical supermarket Persian lime. They are also higher in acidity.

I thought I would be using them to make key lime pie since that seemed like the thing to do with key limes. But being a big fan of lemon squares, I thought I would make key lime squares instead. When used in baking, key lime juice is often combined with sweetened condensed milk to cut some of the acidity, but I prefer the assertive, bright flavor of a citrus curd type of filling as opposed to a mellow creamy, milk-based one. The Moosewood Restaurant cookbook has a recipe that uses a pecan crust as opposed to the usual shortbread crust found paired with citrus squares or bars. The pecans and brown sugar in the crust seem to go very nicely with the zingy tartness of the key lime curd.



I wanted to dress up my key lime squares and make them seem more special. Martha Stewart adorns her key lime pie with candied key lime slices. Since key limes are small, a slice would fit nicely on top of the square. So I channeled my inner Martha and did some candying. I simmered thin slices of key limes in simple syrup for about 45 minutes until the pith was translucent. Then I set the slices on a rack to air dry overnight. Although they were pretty, I can’t say I liked the taste. I found it a tad too bitter but some friends liked them, especially with the tart key lime filling.



Key Lime Pecan Squares
(16 squares)

Crust:
1/2 cup pecans, finely chopped
4 tbsp (2 ounces) unsalted butter, melted
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup light brown sugar

Filling:
3 extra large eggs
1 1/4 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup freshly squeezed key lime juice
2 tsp key lime zest
1/3 cup all-purpose flour

Preheat oven to 325F. Butter an 8-inch square pan.

Make the crust first.
In a bowl, combine the pecans, melted butter, flour and brown sugar. Blend with fingers or a fork until mixture is well combined and crumbly. Press mixture evenly into the bottom of the prepared pan. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until crust is golden brown.

Make the filling while crust is baking.
In a bowl, whisk together eggs and sugar. Whisk in the key lime juice and zest. Sift the flour over the mixture and whisk until smooth. (Sifting the flour helps decrease the lumps of flour in the mixture.)

Remove crust from the oven when baked. Pour the filling over the still hot crust. Return to oven and bake at same temperature (325F) for 20 minutes or until the filling is set. Cool in pan for 1 hour before cutting into 16 squares (2x2-inch).

Optional: Dust key limes squares with powdered sugar and top with candied key lime slice.

0 Apricot Jam and My Pantry

When the urge to bake strikes, I sometimes know exactly what I’m going to bake. But most of the time I have absolutely no idea. On numerous occasions I just bake with the ingredients I have on hand (since I dislike leaving the house to go to buy groceries once I’m settled in for the evening). Luckily, I keep a fairly well stocked baking pantry. I always have the basics like flour, sugar, eggs and butter and I try to keep a decent supply of "flavorings" like chocolate, nuts, fruits, extracts, spices and citrus. So when I have no clear idea, I just take a look in the kitchen cabinets and see what inspires me.

A recent baking session was inspired by a jar of apricot jam. I remembered a peculiar recipe for shortbread that I saw in one of my many cookbooks. The recipe itself was not the peculiar thing. It was the method that was different. After mixing the shortbread dough, the dough is frozen, and then grated into a baking pan. I was so fascinated by this method that I had made a note on my "mental to do recipe list". Now, you may ask, what does this have to do with apricot jam or my pantry? Well, the recipe was for a jam shortbread bar. And the required ingredients, aside from the jam, are just the baking pantry basics: flour, sugar, eggs and butter.

According to the instructions, grating the dough solves the problem of "sticky hands" typically associated with making shortbread dough and gives the finished shortbread a lighter texture. Generally speaking, I've never found sticky shortbread dough to be a big problem (maybe a tiny problem), but I understand that stickiness can lead to overworking which can lead to toughness.

So the results? The thin layer of apricot jam was just enough to cut some of the buttery richness of the shortbread base. And the crispier shortbread topping added some nice texture. Each layer was distinct in its own way, but the whole was much more than the sum of its parts.



Apricot Jam Shortbread Bars
(from Baking with Julia)

4 cups all-purpose flour
2 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
1 pound (4 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
4 egg yolks
1 cup apricot jam

Sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Set aside dry ingredients.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter and egg yolks until fluffy. Add the dry ingredients and mix until the dry ingredients are just incorporated.

Scrape the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and quickly form two balls (one just slightly larger than the other). Wrap in plastic and freeze for at least 1 hour (or as long as 1 month).

Preheat oven to 350F. Butter and flour a 9 x 13 inch baking pan.

Take the larger ball of frozen dough and coarsely grate (by hand or using grating disk of food processor) into the bottom of prepared pan. Spread out the shreds of dough evenly in the pan.

Spread the apricot jam evenly over the base layer of dough. Take the remaining ball of frozen dough and coarsely grate over the jam layer.

Bake until golden brown, approximately 35-45 minutes. Cool completely before cutting. Sprinkle the tops with powdered sugar if you like.

~.~



Almond Cookies

I found a recipe for almond cookies that called for orange marmalade to be mixed into the cookie batter. Because of the addition of marmalade and my affection for amaretti, I put this recipe on my aforementioned "mental to do list". The inclusion of orange marmalade may seem unusual, but makes sense because the slightly bitter edge of the mostly sweet orange marmalade matches very nicely with the natural bitterness of almonds.

But I decided to use apricot jam instead of marmalade because I had that open jar of jam and since apricots and almonds have a natural affinity. Almonds and other nuts were once considered luxury items and, therefore, quite expensive. Some people would take the pits of stone fruits (such as apricots), crack the hull and pick out the "kernel" inside the pit. These apricot kernels have a flavor similar to almonds. They were more widely available and an alternative to the more expensive almonds. As almonds became more widely available, the use of these kernels diminished. Although, due to tradition, custom, or pure economics, some liquors, jams and other recipes are still made using these kernels.

The apricot jam added a somewhat unidentifiable but pleasant fruitiness to the almond cookie without overwhelming the almond flavor. The addition of the jam made the cookie soft and chewy which most tasters enjoyed.

Almond Cookies
(about 36 cookies)

9 ounces ground unblanched almonds
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp baking powder
2 egg whites
1 tsp almond extract
1/3 cup apricot jam

Mix together ground almonds, sugar and baking powder in a large bowl. Add egg whites, almond extract and apricot jam. Stir until well combined. Chill dough for 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350F.

Form ¾-inch balls of dough and space them 1-inch apart on parchment lined cookie sheets.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until cookies are slightly firm and light golden brown. Cool for 5 minutes before removing cookies to a cooling rack.

~.~

Extra tidbit...



I don’t really have a proper pantry (baking or otherwise) in my small kitchen. What I call my "pantry" is actually various cabinets throughout my kitchen (and the refrigerator too). But luckily, most of my baking ingredients are located in one area of my kitchen. Just to satisfy my own curiosity, I took a quick inventory of the items currently in my baking arsenal. Here are just a few of the highlights:

10 pounds unsalted butter
2 dozen eggs
14 pounds all-purpose flour
11 pounds sugar (granulated, brown, powdered, pearl, demerara)
12.5 pounds chocolate (72%, 60%, 54%, bitter, semi, milk, white)
6 pounds dried fruit (apricots, cherries, plums, cranberries)
9 pounds nuts (almonds, peanuts, walnuts, pecans, cashews, hazelnuts)
4 pounds Crisco vegetable shortening
20 ounces vanilla extract
53 ounces Nutella