Back from Ohio

Leaving Las Vegas

It's been a while.  I just got back from visiting the folks in Ohio.  Mom has had some health issues recently and I am (as of this moment) unemployed, so it was time to make the trip out to visit them.  I left a week ago Wednesday and the flight to Ohio was uneventful, except for the departure at OMG:thirty AM.  I sat next to the window on the Las Vegas-Columbus leg thinking I would see desert followed by mountains followed by corn fields, the Mississippi, more corn fields and finally the skyline of Columbus.  But oh no, it was clouds and more clouds all the way.

Serging on the deck

Thursday had us out on the deck, sergers humming, making napkins for the BtB's reception.  The ladies were quite a hoot and the fabric was flowing.  It's gonna be a fun reception I do believe.

Friday was a pot luck party - a couple of Mom & Dad's friends were celebrating a 50th wedding anniversary and another was celebrating a birthday.  I re-made the Ding Dong Cupcakes for the party and they were quite the hit.  (Note to self - use the larger tip for filling the cupcakes.)  There was lasagna (courtesy of Mom) a couple of salads (fruit & green), bread, delicious cheesecake, mimosas and coffee with liquor. 

Flea Market Finds (and Yarn)

A round of Mexican Train and Saturday found us bright and early heading for the Springfield Antique Extravaganza.  Acres and acres of vendors with antiques and vintage goodies of every shape and size.  I do believe that I could furnish a girly retreat cottage, just by shopping at this flea market.  I did manage to find a few things that I thought would survive the TSA and baggage handlers - a quilt, some table cloths, a pressed glass cake plate, a dancing lady in purple and an empty crate of Santa Clara Prunes.  (The yarn is additional purchases from Fiberworks in Beavercreek.)  In case I ever do get my dream cottage, here are some things that might grace it.

To be continued.....

Cupcake Test 12, "Lemon Strawberry Cupcakes"

Mini Cupcakes

Bonus Cupcake this week!!!!  Mark called me from work yesterday and one of their vendors had brought in a bunch of strawberries that were this > < close to being too far gone - and did I need any of them for cupcakes?  Bring it!  Between that and the lemon trees on my deck still drooping with fruit from last fall I was set for a Strawberry-Lemon cupcake.  Or Lemon-Strawberry.  Because they share billing pretty much equally.

I made the Strawberry Lemonade cupcake from Annie's Eats, scooped out a hollow with a melon baller which was then filled with either lemon curd or strawberry jam, and then topped with a fresh strawberry buttercream or lemon buttercream frosting, respectively.

Process Notes the curd:  Since I have all those lemons, just waiting for me to make something, I chose to make a lemon curd from scratch.  I took a look at the recipes from Nigella in How to Eat, and the recipe on Epicurious and decided that a combination of the two was probably the way to go.  I think you could use curd from a jar, but the homemade version does taste much fresher. So:

• 1/2 c fresh lemon juice
• 2 t lemon zest
• 1/2 c superfine sugar*
• 3 large eggs (whole)
• 1 large egg yolk
• 6 T butter, diced (added later)

Curd Filled Cupcake

Whisk together everything but the butter until the sugar dissolves in a heavy bottomed pot.  It should look like a clear pale yellow syrup.  Then, over a medium-low heat , whisk constantly until the curd thickens and turns a more solid lemon yellow.  It goes from not to done in the barest of a blink of an eye.  You'll be whisking and whisking and thinking this is never going to get there, turn your back for a mere second and then you are done.  Once the curd has thickened, take it off the heat and whisk in the butter for a silky texture.  Pour the curd through a strainer (to remove the zest and any eggy bits) and into a bowl to cool.  This needs to cool for several hours to thicken up so make sure you do it first.  (YUMMMMMMMM!)

Process Notes the Cupcake:  I followed the recipe for the cupcake pretty much straight as written.  I do wish I actually had put in more than the two cups of strawberry pieces and/or that I had cut them smaller.  The batter was thicker than the normal box mix, so I splashed in a bit more milk than the recipe called for to ease the folding of the strawberries.  I ended up with 24 regular sized cupcakes and 8 mini-me's.

Process Notes the Frostings:  I used the buttercream frosting recipe from Betty Crocker as a starting point.  I eliminated the milk and vanilla and went with straight up lemon juice in the lemon frosting.  For the strawberry frosting, again, no milk or vanilla, but with a cup of processed strawberries and a t of strawberry extract.   The strawberry frosting was a bit of a slump and required extra sugar (no surprise).  The lemon frosting was super stiff when I went to pipe, so I put it in the microwave for 15 seconds to soften it up. 

A bit slumpy, but YUMMM!

Tasting Notes:  Me - So so so so good.  The cupcake is full of lemon and strawberry flavor.  It's a bit more dense than the regular cupcake from a box.  I didn't try the one with the strawberry jam as I really love the lemon curd.  And the fresh strawberry buttercream.  Serious drool worthiness.  Dare I say it - better than Stein's.  No questions asked, this is going to be one of my favorites of all time.  There are cake balls, curd, and frosting leftover.  But not for long :-)  I probably wouldn't do the strawberry filling for the wedding, just the lemon curd.

Mark - Didn't want to try the curd.  I think it's the word - curd.  curd = crud in some minds.  But once he dipped a cake ball into the curd, he just didn't want to stop. Loved the strawberry frosting, not so much on the lemon. 

Others - do I really care what they think?   But I'll add commentary once it is gathered.

 *Superfine sugar dissolves faster and more thoroughly than granulated sugar. You could use the granulated sugar and either process it in a food processor for a few pulses, or stir longer until it dissolves. Superfine sugar is usually sold in what looks like a milk carton in the baking aisle.

Cupcake Test 11, "Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Swirl"

This week's test cupcake is the Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Swirl.  Unlike most of the other recipes in the book, this one is a made from scratch cupcake and not just a modified cake from a box.  Not that there's anything wrong with cake from a box, as the reviews will tell you.  I actually looked online for errata and hints though, as the chocolate cake part has no eggs in it, and vinegar?  Seems the book was right though and this turned into one of the most appreciated cupcakes of the near dozen so far.

Process Notes:  I used Nestle baking coco for the chocolate, and my unfrosted cupcakes came out of the oven looking, well, a bit on the anemic side.  They were light brown and the sugar in the recipe gave the crust a nice crunch.  The vinegar acts with the baking soda to help the cupcakes rise and disappears in baking.  I used regular sized semi-sweet baking chips in the cheesecake portion of the "swirl".  I had more than enough of the cheesecake mixture to put in the cupcakes, but ran a bit light on the chocolate.  Also, I wish I had swirled the cupcakes with a knife pre-baking.  Since "without frosting, it's a muffin and not a cupcake" in the words of my hubster, I made a batch of the cream cheese frosting to swirl on top.  Even with the hugs & kisses, I wasn't able to frost 4 of the cupcakes.

Tasting Notes:  Me - I think the texture of these was more brownie than cake, more cake than brownie.  The flavor was actually quite chocolate, in spite of the anemic looking cupcakes and the cheese cake was a nice hit.  The cream cheese frosting enhanced the cheesecake swirl and made it really pop. 

Mark - loved these.  But I'm not getting real commentary from him besides "Yummy" these days.  His work place devoured them and a couple of them thought they were at least in the top two of those they remember.

Cupcake Test 10, Cinnamon Chocolate with Caramel Buttercream

Boy howdy, did I ever make a mess Monday afternoon.  This particular combination of flavors is not one that was requested by the Bride/Groom, however, I just couldn't get it out of my head.  I've long had a love of Mexican Hot Chocolate, with the brown sugar and cinnamon notes.  Add to that some caramel sauce, and I will be in a sugar coma for days.  As well, the BtB had difficulties working a caramel frosting earlier and I wanted to see if I could figure out what had gone wrong for her and make it work. 

Process Notes:  Specifically, I used the Betty Crocker Triple Fudge cake mix, and added two teaspoons of Ground Cinnamon to it. Mix and bake as usual.

Then, I made this caramel sauce from Ina Gartner.  Here's the trick, BtB, yes, it re-crystallized when I poured in the cream, however, I turned the heat back on and kept stirring and stirring.  Eventually, it smoothed back out into a rather thin sauce.  I put that in a bowl and into the fridge to cool and thicken.

Next, I went looking for a caramel buttercream and found one via Southern Living.  I reserved a cup of my caramel sauce for the frosting (just in case I needed to do more than one batch), and then I attempted to fill my cupcakes with the caramel sauce.

I think maybe I needed to wait until it had either thickened some more, or I should have used a smidge less cream to start with - hence the mess.  If I had a tray under the rack when I was "filling" them, I wouldn't have had caramel sauce all over the counter, the bread wrapper, the floor and anything else that might be standing still. Well, maybe not anyway.

Piped the caramel buttercream using one of my new big round piping tips and then drizzled more caramel on top of that.  Topped with a piped "flower" of Rich Chocolate Buttercream (half recipe only) from the Betty Crocker book, to which I added a teaspoon of cinnamon for that Mexican chocolate hint.  Wish I had some gold dust to put on the chocolate flower for a bit of bling.

Tasting Notes:  Me - The cinnamon smelled great when the cupcakes were baking, but I don't think it shines through after the cupcakes have cooled and are frosted and drowning in caramel.  Not that I would change the caramel though, because that is just sin in a spoon.  The caramel flavored buttercream is delish (lightly caramel) and I couldn't stop licking my fingers as I piped the chocolate flowers on top.  Together, it's yummy, but the cinnamon notes are subtle at best.  Either skip the cinnamon, or add another teaspoon to the batter I think.  I've seen where folks have added a pinch of cayenne to their Mexican hot chocolate cupcakes, if you are feeling frisky.

Mark - Low blood sugar upon arriving home, and he devoured one and half cupcakes.  Later in the week, the leftover chocolate buttercream was requested along with the caramel sauce.  Poured on some store bought cookies, and even those tasted better.  Loved it.  Though he could taste the cinnamon, it wasn't the first thing he noticed.

Other Folks - The deck dudes thought they were the best of all - rich and sticky and in need of a good glass of milk.  Mark's work place went back for seconds before they even finished the firsts.  Only one person surveyed even tasted the cinnamon.