Cupcake Test 9, Strawberry & Cream

The Strawberry & Cream cupcake had been previewed by StO and her crew found it tasty and delish and maybe even their favorite.  It's a bit different in that you use Strawberry Soda to flavor a white cake mix.  I'm not quite sure why you wouldn't just use a strawberry cake mix, but hey, we're testing wedding cupcakes here!

I can't believe that I ordered some piping tips off of the Wilton's site.  I've been checking my local sources and let me just say, they are lacking.  I ordered some of the extra large tips so that I can get quick and full coverage - some rounds, some stars...  I don't remember what all now.

And yesterday, I picked up another cupcake book called Cupcake Heaven, by Susannah Blake.  Apple & Cinnamon, Carrot & Cardamom, Lavender, Rosewater - and those are the "Simple" cupcakes.   My taste buds are tingling just thinking about it.

So back to the regularly scheduled programming:

Process Notes:  Not much to note here.  The cupcakes were well behaved.  I used one batch of the cream cheese frosting recipe in the back of the book to frost the cupcakes.  Instead of topping them with sliced strawberries (since I didn't have any!) I sprinkled some pretty pink sugar on instead.

Tasting Notes:  Me - the cream cheese frosting is near perfect, especially when paired with the strawberry cupcake.  I wish I had thought to stir in some frozen strawberry puree into the cake mix, like my favorite bakery in Dallas - Stein's - but I was too late.  The cupcakes were lightly flavored with strawberry and were a delight to eat.

Mark - had a taste when he got home, and his comment was "I wish I hadn't done that - now I want some more!"  He delivered nearly the full batch to work and when he wandered through the kitchen at lunch time, there were two left.  At least three folks went back for seconds.  I think you can count these as a hit!

Nearly done....

We're very nearly done with the construction on the deck.  Well, in all actuallity, it is complete.  We are having a couple of benches and planters put together so that I can continue to garden up here without fear of the deer.  So before I load it up with the current plant rotation, here's a look from start to finish. 

Some details (click to enlarge)....

Cupcake Test 8, Pina Colada

aka, "if you half have a brain...."  That song has been on an endless loop since I first made these cupcakes.  I need to move on so it will get out of my head!

Without further ado...
Process Notes:  These were simple to make with the addition of crushed pineapple and rum extract to the cake mix.  The frosting was canned, with additional rum & coconut extracts for that island flavor.  I evidently got happy with my scooper again, since I only got 22 cupcakes.  And each can of frosting only covered a dozen.  The crushed pineapple was a bit difficult to clean off of the beaters in my dishwasher.

Tasting Notes:  Me - If I didn't know that the pineapple was in the cake, I wouldn't have noticed it at all.  I thought that the rum extract in the frosting was a bit heavy handed, overpowering the coconut. 

Mark didn't get a taste of these at all.  However, he delivered them to work and they were gone in a flash.  I asked him for specific feedback re: the pineapple and again, not noticed at all.  One gentleman said he got some fruit, but he didn't realize what it was. 

This was probably the last delivery to my deck dudes, and they said they were tasty, but not as good as some of the others they have had.

So there you go.  Next up, Strawberry & Cream.

Flea Market Find!

Last weekend was one of the first in a while where the wet has not been falling from the sky, so I thought I would take the chance and head in for the Santa Cruz Flea Market.  I'm always on the lookout for several of things, including vintage linens, books, broaches and glassware.  Don't ask me why, I don't know.  I know I don't need anymore, but they get used frequently and make me smile.  This particular day had me feeling lucky with the find of this seemingly vintage game by Milton Bradley.  I say seemingly, as the box and the wooden tiles are in near mint condition.  I've seen recent re-release of toys, like Lincoln Logs, so I'm a bit skeptical.  Regardless, I've had my eye out for a scrabble game that I could re purpose the tiles into some creative manner, and this seems to fit the bill.

In addition to my regular run at the produce stands (oranges, tomatoes, cukes, peppers, beets, cilantro....), I managed to find a set of four square purple plates that I think will serve marvelously as on-deck ware and a Klutz book on braiding hair.  You'd think after 40+ years of long hair, I'd know what I am doing, but this has some different looks, so I'm practicing.

The fruit trees have burst into full bloom and the bees are buzzing.  Hope you have a happy!

Cupcake Test 7, White Chocolate with White Chocolate Buttercream

I couldn't handle the seeming failure of last weeks cupcake test, even though they were gone in no time flat.  So this week, I redid my White Chocolate cupcakes with White Chocolate Buttercream Icing.  There's no link, as this was off the top of my head.  The cupcakes were simple - a French Vanilla box mix, with some of the white "chocolate" ground in my food processor mixed in -about 6 ounces.  (This is the block of stuff that I request from Mom each Christmas!)  Then, because I couldn't leave well enough alone, I dolloped a bit of jam in pre-baking.  I wanted to do lemon, but got talked out of that, and I still think it could really work.  Instead I did a half dozen each of cherry, blueberry, and peach and left a half dozen "plain".

Notes the first:  The cupcakes were sticky in the trays and didn't want to let loose when it was time to remove them. They also didn't rise very much.  The jam and any larger chunks of chocolate simply sank to the bottom of the cupcake.  The white chocolate chunklettes actually got a little brown in the bottom of the cups.  If I were to do these, yet again, I would skip adding the chocolate and jam to the cake batter, and instead do a soft white chocolate ganache to pipe in as a filling.  Maybe something like this?

Then came the frosting.  I looked online and there a bazillion ways to make a buttercream frosting.  Some use eggs, some don't.  The ratio of chocolate to butter to sugar varies from recipe to recipe.  After looking and figuring, and knowing what I personally like, this is what I came up with:

White Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

8 oz of white chocolate chips (I used Ghirardelli), melted in top of a double boiler

1 cup of salted butter, softened

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

4 1/2 cups of confectioners sugar, more or less

Heavy whipping cream, as needed.

Melt the chocolate in the top of a double boiler.  Once the chips are smooth and creamy, take them off the heat and let them cool for a bit.  You don't want it to harden, but if it is too hot it will melt your butter.  While you are cooling the chocolate, go ahead and cream the butter in/with your mixer.  You want it to be light and fluffy.  Then, pour the still warm chocolate into the butter and immediately start the mixer on high.  My butter melted just a bit, but once it was whipped up, everything solidified.  Add in the vanilla, and then start adding the confectioners sugar, one cup at a time.  You may use more or less of the confectioners sugar, depending on how stiff you want the frosting to be.  If it gets too stiff, you could whip in some heavy cream, one teaspoon at a time, to loosen it back up again.

Notes the second:  I prefer the double boiler to the microwave as you can see what's happening the whole time and there is less chance of burning the chocolate.  Also, it's easy to "make" a double boiler if you have a metal bowl larger than one of your pots - just don't let the bottoms touch, or let the bottom of the bowl touch the boiling water.  Most recipes use unsalted butter, but I prefer the bit of salt found in salted butter.  It's kind of like adding salt to caramel.  This frosting piped out of the bag just like a dream. Although I tried to make chocolate curls, all I got was shards.  That would need more practice.

Tasting Notes:  Me - I was able to try the cherry and blueberry, and as I said above, I'd skip the jam and chocolate and just do a ganache filling instead.  The chocolate was not noticeable in the cupcake. The frosting was fabulous. Although still recognizable as a buttercream, it had enough chocolate in it to taste like you would expect a white chocolate buttercream to taste.

Mark - This was wrapper licking good.  The white chocolate buttercream made him moan and he has declared it by far his favorite.  But he is a huge fan of white chocolate.

Work - These disappeared even faster than the last batch.  Even though the delivery dates were Monday and Friday. 

An Update:  StO and I looked for the ingredients in the Chai Cupcakes linked to earlier and we could not find any Instant Chai.  BtB, can you send me the recipe you had when I visited?  I still think they sound really tasty.

Whales and Tales

StO came with her family last week for a visit over spring break.  A good time was had by all.  The adults went to Napa one day, we took the boy-o's to San Francisco for a look-see, and spent the sole sunny morning on the water on a whale watching tour. 

The kids spent a couple days playing x-box and had a blast sliding or rolling down the hill.

StO and I made some straight-from-the-box French Vanilla cupcakes and attempted to make the White Truffle Frosting to go with them.  Fail.  Either my white chocolate wasn't melted enough or it cooled too quickly and we ended up with some unforeseen chunkiness in the frosting that clogged up the piping tip several times.  It was tasty though.  Backup plan - frosting in a can.  Since StO has taken the Wilton class at her local Michael's, we spent more time playing with the piping tips than worrying about the flavor profile.  We decided that a large tip and a simple swirl were working the best.   No evidence (they looked bad - mostly!), but Mark said they were long gone from work by lunch time.  He also said that I was getting a reputation for fancy cupcakes.  Yikes.  So a second version is in my plans - a white cupcake with white chocolate shrapnel (a la "S'mores") topped with a White Chocolate Buttercream and if I can get it working right, some chocolate curls. 

The deck is seeing progress, although it seems a bit stalled right now.  We've gotten quite a bit of rain the past week and a half, and it's not supposed to let up until Monday.  But that's okay ~ Ralph is working on the hand rails at his shop, and they even cleaned out the gutters for us yesterday.  I think they were protecting all their hard work, but extra cupcakes for them next time.  Look - I have the frame for a pergola!

This morning, we woke up to a small surprise.  One of the trees up the hillside from the house decided to go on walk-about.  It's a pin oak that was planted in what is, at least now, some very soft ground.  It was  root ball failure, not Sudden Oak, which is an issue around here.  It obviously grazed the house - made it to the front door and torqued some gutters - but I don't think it did any real damage.  Looks like we have firewood for next year and Ralph has some more work!

Cupcake Test 6, Toasted Almond with Caramel Frosting

Toasted Almond Cupcakes with Caramel Frosting were the tested cupcake for the week.  When I read that, I expected a cupcake that reminds me of an Almond Shortbread Cookie - buttery, full of almond and butter flavor and a little sandy in texture.  And Caramel Frosting - sweet, sticky, a bit salty, tasting of browned sugar and butter.  Like the Fleur de Sel Caramels I've been making the past couple of Christmas seasons. 

I'm afraid these cupcakes are not what I expected.  But, let me not get ahead of myself.

Process Notes:  Toasting the slivered almonds is key to the flavor profile of the cupcake and it takes just a blink to go from mildly toasted to burnt.  I had my almonds in the oven for just 5 minutes, not the 6-10 recommended.  I immediately removed the almonds from the hot sheet and allowed them to cool for 15 minutes where they continued to darken before grinding them coarsely in my mini-chopper.  I then began the cake mix, allowing the nuts to cool just a bit longer before folding them into the batter. 

I added a bit more powdered sugar to the brown sugar/butter frosting mixture, hoping for a lighter color and texture.  I even pulled out my second hand mixer to try and whip it into shape.  The frosting crystallized quite quickly, making it very difficult to work with, despite repeated infusions of milk.  I was only able to frost 21 cupcakes with the amount per the recipe. 

Tasting Notes:  Me - The cupcake itself is quite delicate, perfumed with the hint of almonds.  Since you start with a white cake mix, there is not much in the way of a butter flavor.  I believe that if I had ground the almonds finely, I wouldn't have even noticed that they were in there.  The frosting is where this whole thing goes squirrelly.  If I were in charge of naming it, I would have called it a "Brown Sugar Brûlée".  It's gritty and totally overwhelms the fragrant almond cupcake both in taste and aroma.  If I were to redo the cupcakes, I'd try this Salted Caramel recipe, if I had to go with Caramel frosting.  I'd also increase the almond amounts (both ground nut and extract) and start with a yellow butter cake mix.  I might change the frosting to a whipped chocolate ganache (without the cinnamon) as found here.  Although the Toasted Almond with Caramel sounds like a great combination, I'm afraid this recipe is just a jumping off point to something else you'd rather have.

ETA:  When I give up my preconceived ideas, these aren't bad cupcakes.  The almond flavor comes through as the cupcake cools and the frosting is quite tasty.  I still think that the frosting sets up far too fast, however, how can you go wrong with brown sugar and butter?

Mark - Came home last night and dinner wasn't quite ready, but the cupcakes were.  He split one with me and declared it quite yummy.  He liked the lightness of the cupcake and the sweet frosting.  So much so, that he decided he needed another one.  That's a resounding success.

I haven't delivered these out for other folks to taste yet, but I'll update my post as soon as I hear something.
ETA:  The deck dudes both thought the cupcakes were "awesome".  Mark's co-workers were mixed in their opinions - some thought the frosting was too sweet, others liked the gritty texture - made them think of old fashioned ice cream.  "Not my favorite" was a common comment.

Up...Down...Up....

First off, they are still working on the deck.  Although I've been taking progress pictures along and along, it doesn't look like much has changed from day to day.  Lay out wood, secure wood - it's a lot of work, but visually, they look about the same.  Added to that, we lost a couple of days due to illness and supply runs.  I'll put together a comprehensive post sometime in the near future.

Yesterday was a roller coaster kind of day. I loaded up the back of the truck with recycling.  It's been a long while since I hauled any off and it was starting to get intrusive.  So off to the recycle center.  Unload $183 worth of cans and bottles.  Wahoo!  Get back in the truck to get out of there - I've got errands to run - and the engine won't turn over.

Now this is not a surprise, it's an older truck and we keep jumper cables in it just in case.  I pop the hood and get out, cables in hand, and one of the very helpful and friendly workers comes over to assist.  Except he doesn't really know what he's doing.  And he crosses the streams.  Arc welding ensues.  One of the terminal post turns to slag.  The ring connector dissolves.  And fortunately, the main breaker is fried.  I say fortunately, because I can only imagine what would have happened to the electrical system if it hadn't blown.  Horror stories of exploding batteries and acid showers were shared by passerbys.  Friends, let this be a lesson - learn how to jump start your car yourself.  Although I had the basic idea, I allowed the enthusiasm to sway me into letting someone else do it for me.  A phone call to AAA, 2 hours and $148 later, I'm back on the road.  Sigh and hang (or bang) head.

The main reason for the whole trip over the hill in the first place was that I ordered a new grill from Lowes online and needed to pick it up (along with several other things!).  When I finally get there, I present my confirmation and customer service tells me that they don't have any in the box any longer, they've all been assembled. Which, I've got the truck, that's all good.  And because they've been sitting outside assembled, they have a little superficial rust on them.  Okay, not surprising, and just makes the need for a grill cover more obvious.  So, we'll give you 30% off of the price you paid.  You mean, you'll assemble it and give me $75 for doing it?!?  DEAL!

So now all I need to do is put some oil on the cast iron portions to stop it from rusting further - like you would season a skillet. There's some slight rust on a couple of nuts and one of the handles, I need to figure out what, if anything, can be done to stop that. 

And now, I need to go bake cupcakes.  I think Toasted Almond this week.  And Chai Latte next week.

Working on a new deck

So the deck that I fell through earlier this year?  Mark & I are not rebuilding it ourselves. When we redid the floor in the "add-on" room, we worked with a great contractor, Coastline Construction, Inc., and we've asked them to come back and do a deck redeaux.  Mark & Ralph went under the deck to find out just how much work needs to be done and we found out that not only was the surface rotten, but many of the posts and girders were as well.  Yikes. The chuff from the surrounding trees was getting stuck between the planks and basically acting as a sponge holding water to help destroy the underlying support.  The redwood tree is not only girdled (oops ~ sorry tree!), but the base has pushed some of the posts out of plumb.  

So earlier this week and early this morning, I managed to pull all my plants and patio furniture off the deck.  It looks so much larger without all my stuff on it.  Ralph & Sean will be taking the deck down to the concrete footings and rebuilding it from the ground up.  We're widening the deck in front of the dining room and putting a second stairway in from that end. They are also going to square up the corner between the redwood and apple trees.  I have dreams of exterior planter boxes, seating and some large planters with a drip watering system.  Maybe even a trellis near the living room.  And I already have my new grill picked out.  I don't think everything will be coming back on the deck - I rather like the clean look it could have.

The view at noon today

Cupcake Test 5, "Strawberry-Cream Cheese Cupcakes"

The Bride to Be sent off a quick email last week, and let me know her next three choices.  Since I found fresh strawberries at the market, I went with the "Strawberry-Cream Cheese Cupcakes".    Now, from the get-go, these aren't Strawberry Cheesecake cupcakes, these are quite clearly Cream Cheese Cupcakes, even though I think Cheesecake sounds like a mighty fine idea, and if there's another recipe, I'd highly recommend trying it.  (If I pulled the wrong recipe, Miss BtB, please let me know and I will be happy do another batch.  The only other Strawberry Cupcakes I see are the Strawberry & Cream, made with Strawberry Soda.)  These are instead, a lump of cream cheese in the middle of a sour cream cupcake, with some jam on top.  Doesn't sound very appetizing when I put it like that, however, they smell really delish ~ they are cooling as I start to write this.  They will get topped with a swirl of cream cheese frosting and a garnish of fresh fruit, which should make them oh so tasty.

Process Notes:  Since they are topped with some jam, I decided to go with some of my homemade preserves from last summer - I made half the cupcakes with strawberry and half with blueberry.  I have some cherry that I think would be tasty as well.  I didn't realize that they made cream cheese in 3 oz pkgs (why?), so I diced up my 8 oz package into 24 bits for the cupcakes.  And, instead of the chintzy 1/4t of jam, I went with a full teaspoon per cupcake.  Which, hey!, I got 24 cupcakes AGAIN with the use of the magical ice cream scoop!  Although I bought some canned cream cheese frosting, I wanted to make some homemade cream cheese frosting, so I used the recipe in the back of the book. Oh, the canned only frosted 11 cupcakes, but I was generous with it.  The recipe made more than enough for the other dozen cupcakes.  I topped the "stay-home" cupcakes with some fresh fruit, but I don't think that will travel well. Or look good for an extended period of time.  I think a sprinkle of colored sugar would be sparkly.

Ugly Duckling

Tasting Notes:  Me - The cupcake is very moist, tender and quite flavorful with just a bit of crumb.  I prefer the homemade cream cheese frosting to the canned kind, but the canned is not bad.    I think that mixing some sweetened condensed milk with the cream cheese, prior to baking, would make these more of a cheesecake cupcake and actually, taste better.  My lumps, based on the 8 oz block vs. the 3 oz block, were kinda big and well, lumpy.  I liked the flavor, but it was more of a distraction than an enhancement.

Mark - No cupcake this time, just frosting.  You can still taste the confectioners sugar in the homemade frosting, so the canned frosting was a bit smoother.  However, not much real difference between the two.

Ugly duckling

Outsiders - Ralph & Sean (my deck dudes!) ~ Sean says they taste great.  Ralph said his kids loved them, but his wife was wondering about the cream cheese.  Ralph personally, thought they just fell apart in his hands - too tender. All preferred the blueberry to the strawberry.

Things

Thing the first:  Mark & I spent a wonderful weekend in Las Vegas last weekend, celebrating our 24th anniversary.  We had a great dinner, saw a rib tickling comedian, and played some pretty awesome cards.  There's more, but it's a bit TMI, so I'm not sharing... ;-)

Thing the second:  Just before we left, Mark had read that a 1980's icon was going to be playing at the Oracle Arena in Oakland  last week.  Tickets were going on sale on Friday at noon. So, we got up "early" (early for Vegas that is!) and thanks to the marvel that is an i-phone, we got tickets to the show on Wednesday.  Oh my.  Prince.  I don't think I've had that much fun at a concert in a long time.  The show started at 7:30 and we were not out of there until 11:30.  There were two encores and even a tribute to Morris Day by Prince.  The crowd sang themselves hoarse - I can't imagine what it does to the actual stars of the show.  And Shelia E.  Just freakin' beautiful.  The girl can still pound on a drum like nobodies business and look mighty fine doing it.

Thing the third:  On checking the mail when we returned home, we found a Valentine letter from the IRS.   According to them, there were some discrepancies between the income reported by third parties and the income reported by us on our return, resulting in additional taxes, penalties and interest of $213,766.  No, that is not a typo.  Two hundred and thirteen THOUSAND dollars.  A couple of phone calls to some very knowledgeable and helpful IRS agents later, and I believe that we have cleared things up.  No, I did not mess up our return that badly.  Codename Mr. Grey (I know, right?) apologized and said that the letter should never have been sent in the first place.  We should have a "cleared" letter from the IRS in just a few short weeks.  I'm not holding my breath, but my fingers are crossed.

Thing the last:  All this excitement has landed both Mark & I with a cold.  I don't know if it was the petrie dish of Las Vegas, the contact high we got in Oakland, or the stress of dealing with the IRS.  But for now at least, we're snuggled under some blankets, beverage of choice at hand, feeling all miserable and stuff. 

Later gators...

Cupcake Test 4, "Key West"

StO (sadly blogless) picked the Key West cupcakes to try this weekend.  I believe we are all especially fond of Key Lime pie.  The combination of sweet and tart, smooth filling and sandy graham cracker crust, is just heaven on your tongue.   But I must say personally, an overly sweet key lime pie is not very good.

One of my favorite trips was a 4 day excursion to the Florida Keys in which I tried the Key Lime Pie at every restaurant we ate at.  The best was, coincidentally, at Lorelei's, on Key Largo.  I don't know if they are still in existence, but the large plywood mermaid is still a landmark in my mind.

Process Notes:  Wahoo!  I got 24 cupcakes this time.  I was overfilling the cups just a smidge, but now, I've got it down pat.  I added additional lime juice to the "filling" - when I tasted it, it was just too sweet, with not much lime flavor to it.  And OMG, was that not the nastiest looking stuff when you put the lime juice and food coloring in the pudding?  I wanted to do half the cupcakes with the filling on top, as per the directions, and the other half as we did the Just Because.  However, the filling was so runny, I wasn't able to just top the cupcakes.  I also added about a T of lime zest to the cake batter pre-baking and on top of the frosting topper.  Like I said, if it's supposed to be lime, I want it to be LIME!  The pics on line show a small slice of lime, but I think the zest will be just fine.

Tasting Notes:

Me:  Sweet, tart, what's not to like?  Even though I tried to push the filling into the cupcake, I think the filling was too runny, and I probably needed a cupcake corer to make it work.  Instead, it just kind of ran over the top, which was fine.  These definitely needed to be refrigerated - a consideration to keep in mind.

Mark:  He only tried the filling, which he really liked.

The Office:  Specific comments - one guy thought they were the best so far.  His second favorite were the chocolate-peanut butter JB's.  Since these were in the fridge, they took a couple of days to disappear.  Out of sight, out of mind, doncha know?

Bernardus, 1997 Marinus Reserve

Bernardus Winery
1997 Marinus Reserve
Carmel Valley

This weekend we celebrated our 24th anniversary at Morton's in San Jose.  Since we can usually handle a bottle of wlne with a big meal like that, we raided our cellar for something special to take with us.  This is the last bottle of three we purchased some time ago. 

We had taken a nice trip to the Monterey/Carmel Valley area for some time out and wine tasting.  Bernardus was probably the nicest wine we had that trip.  The Marinus Reserve was already tasting quite good, and we ended up purchasing the last three bottles in stock.  I can recall the previous bottle, fruity and ripe, also served with a steak.  This one was, again, clearly past it's prime, but still presenting well.  A bit light when tasted by itself.  Still fruity, but soft, with nearly no tannins left.  A bit of caramel on the side.  Mark's nose said oak still, but aged and vanilla.  When drunk with the steak however, the fats and carmelized fond smoothed it even further, and made the wine taste just fabulous. 

I'm sad to see it gone, as it no longer will be around to bring back memories of a great trip to Carmel, however, it was time to go.

Cupcake Test 3 "Double Coconut"

My pick this week - Double-Coconut Cupcakes. Can I just say, mmmmmm?   These are actually triple coconut, but if you used the pre-mixed frosting, then they would be just double.  There is a dollop of coconut and sweetened condensed milk as a surprise filling in the cupcake.  There is coconut flavor in the homemade frosting, and then you top it all off with some toasted coconut.

Process Notes:  Again, even with the ice cream scoop, I only got 21 cupcakes.  This is obviously user error.  I'll try to do better next time.  I used a small cookie scoop (like an ice cream scoop but just a smidge larger than a melon baller) to put the filling in the cupcake batter - and I had more than enough of the coconut goo to do 24 and more cupcakes.  Tool wise though, I'll bet this was the way to go.  I got a new pan as well - this one has the little wave things on the bottom of the cups so I think it's an air bake pan.  I also used my heavy duty pan.  Regardless, none of the cupcakes burned.  I was nervous that they hadn't baked enough, even though my toothpick test came clean, because as I was pulling them from the pan, they seemed soft on the bottom.  After letting them rest however, they firmed up.  The frosting was quick and easy to make.  I added an extra 1/2 t (making it 1 & 1/2 t) of coconut extract to enhance the flavor.  Watch the toasting process carefully.  It takes just moments to go from yum to burned.  Speaking of the coconut, the bag says that there is 5 1/2 c in it.  I'm assuming that's fluffed, because I didn't have that much extra. 

Tasting Notes:

Me:  Yum and Yum and Yum.  I like the surprise filling that's not really a filling, because once the sweetened condensed milk is cooked, it's absorbed into the batter of the cupcake making it really moist and delicious.  The frosting is addictive.  And the toasted coconut on top gives it a bit of color and crunch.

Mark:  Delicious.  Loved the frosting so much, he upped his shot so that he could eat more of it.  He usually doesn't do that. 

Work:  All but one was gone by the time Mark headed home.  I'm sure that's a function of the now regular appearance of cupcakes at his office.  And, coconut is one of those flavors that folks either really like, or really don't like.  The last one was gone before he got to the office this morning.  All comments were positive.  (He's not really good about direct quotes!)

David Bruce, 2000 Carneros, Pinot Noir, Truchard Vineyard

David Bruce
2000 Carneros
Pinot Noir
Truchard Vineyard

I recently cleaned out under the stairs, our otherwise known as wine cellar.  Wine Club boxes were racked, a few (or more) from the last trip into Napa/Sonoma were slid into place, and all of a sudden, I have no room left.  A quick count revealed that if I open a bottle a week, I've got enough to drink for three years, assuming it's not all turned to vinegar.  And that's not counting the champagne, odd lots, and other adult beverages in my bar.  In order to give some purpose to my "buying problem", I need to make some headway into this backlog of vino.  I'm planning on doing an inventory list this week, so I can find the ones that need to get drunk sooner than later.  And, know where those special anniversary bottles are located.

Tonight I opened up the David Bruce wine linked above.  The wine is spicy and warm, but a bit light on the body.  The tannins have all but disappeared.  Although clearly past it's prime, it will go well with our dinner tonight, and even tomorrow too.

Cupcake Test 2 "S'more"

This week, we've had a request from the groom to make the S'Mores Cupcakes.  

Process Notes:  Even though I went from a 1/3c scoop to a 1/4c scoop for my cupcakes, I only managed to get 21 cupcakes.  I'm still looking for an ice cream scoop with a sweep to see if that will help.  Also, the book called for baking them at 375, while the box called for 350.  I baked at 375, but just for 18 minutes.  And, due to the higher temperature, the ones in the cheaper (lighter) muffin tin, were extra brown.  I'd recommend doing them at the lower temperature.  The frosting is oh-so-sticky, but what do you expect with marshmallow fluff?  Also, I was only able to frost 18 cupcakes with the one batch of frosting.  That's a half-dozen short which will add up in quantity, quickly.  I used my mini-chopper on the candy bar shrapnel, but if I were making these in bulk, I would definitely use the food processor.

Tasting Notes:  Me - I'm not a big fan of the S'mores.  I like them in theory, but in practice, not so much.  I liked the chocolate mixed into the batter - that was tasty.  I didn't really get any graham taste from the crumbs that were added.  Instead, I felt like they made the cupcake a little rubbery.  The frosting didn't have much of a marshmallow taste to it - maybe if it got toasted with a flame thrower?  The teddy graham couples were cute for decoration.  I think StY probably had a good idea to dip the cupcakes in the graham crumbs as decor & for more flavor.

Mark -  Likes these very much and would put them on the list to make.  His suggestion for improvement is to put a puddle of chocolate syrup in the top of the cupcake before frosting them to add a bit more chocolate flavor.  He thought that the teddy couples were appropriate for a wedding - & fun too. 

Mark's Office - I'll add these notes some time this weekend.  Mark did say he had received positive feedback.

They all equal "Ouch!"

So, we've had some pretty nice weather around these parts for the past week or two, and it looks like it will be staying that way for the next week or two.  I decided that I'd get out and sweep the deck off so I could "get my glow on".  It's showing the dead fall from the earlier storms and it's a pain to walk on.  The deck is much older than we've been living in the house, and we've known for some time that we need to get it fixed - just as soon as we both have a perm position.  I think you can see where this story is going. 

I'm just getting started when my foot, no leg, goes straight down through one of the boards.  I'm home alone.  And my leg is stuck between the boards.  Yikes.  And the only neighbor I know is home won't hear me - as he's riding his super loud Harley too and from the house.  Okay, pull it together.  Pull my leg out of the hole - is it broken? No, I can still walk on it.  Well, that's good.  I get back in the house and IM Mark - but he's idle (working in the lab on some super big issue).  I'm feeling woozy, so I decide that laying down and elevating my leg might be a good idea.  Then my ears start to buzz.  I call Mark - but he's in the lab and he doesn't have his phone.  The buzzing goes away.  Now, what did I learn in my days as Princess-Schlepp-alot when Mark's leg was broken?   Oh yeah, put some ice on the bruises to contract the blood vessels and maybe it won't bleed as much.  Up again to get some frozen veggies to put on the leg.  Keep it elevated.  Take some ibuprofin.  Eventually (20 min or so) Mark does call me back, but everything is under control by then!

I have three, count them three, beautiful purple places on my leg today.  One on the inside crease of my knee, and two on either side of the thigh where it was girdled by the sturdier boards.  Basically, I have a "frog" on both sides of my leg.  Ugh.   So, call it a bruise, a hematoma, or a contusion, they all equal "Ouch!"

Final result:  We're going to get some lumber this week, and start repairing the deck.  One board at a time.

Cupcake Test 1a & 1b "Just Because"

My youngest sister is getting married this year!  She's asked my other sister to work her magic in producing some sort of (cup)cake for the reception.  Sister the older has sent both of us the book Better Crocker Just Cupcakes so that we can all test recipes and take notes. 

Our first test is of the "Just Because" cupcakes.  In the book, they look like a version of ho-ho's or ding dongs, rich chocolate cupcake with a cream filling.  I used a chocolate cake mix for the cupcake and then made two filling/frosting options.  The first is the "Creamy White Frosting" - I tinted mine pink because I don't have any clear vanilla (yet!) in my pantry.  The second is the "Creamy Peanut Butter Frosting".

Process Notes:  I only got 21 cupcakes (vs. the 24 advertised) - I need to get a scoop that will let me put the same amount of batter in each liner.  I baked them at 350 (preheated and everything!) on the convection bake setting in the gas oven.  Chocolate cake doesn't look good in fancy liners.  You might as well use the foil ones or plain-jane and a wrapper.  It took 3/4 of a recipe of the Creamy White Frosting to do 10 cupcakes.  1/2 a recipe of the Creamy PB Frosting was more than enough to do 11 cupcakes.  I think I put a smidge too much milk in the PB frosting - I've got a cupcake in the fridge to see if it sets up better. 

The Ugly Ducklings

Tasting Notes:  Me - The cupcakes were moist, but not exceptionally so.  I liked the PB better with the cupcake than alone.  The Creamy White was also quite tasty.  I can see this with a chocolate ganache or some jelly inside.  It does not however, taste like a ding dong or ho-ho - that would need a bit more cream I do believe.

Hubster -  The Creamy White is his favorite.  It tastes like the frosting they used to make at the Harvey's in Valdosta.

His Office - we'll see if we can get an update tomorrow.   eta:  The un-official verdict is this:  The pink frosting looks more appetizing than the peanut butter - all 8 cupcakes devoured vs. a couple of the peanut butter remaining at the end of the day.  The peanut butter frosting looks a little like poo if you don't put sprinkles on it.

You can see StY notes here.

A tasty mess

I haven't made one of these in a while - like years.  But evidently it's made an impression because when Mark had a pot-luck to attend, this is what he asked me to make.  I couldn't find my original recipe, so I did a search and this one sounds like 95% of the one I had previously. The only change I made was to swap the graham cracker crust for one made of Oreo Cookie crumbs.  Skip the sugar, and it is good to go.  Made for a decent breakfast this morning with a cup of joe. 

A walk in Santa Cruz....

 I went for a walk today during the break in the rain.  I had headed down to Santa Cruz for the last minute grocery shopping, and decided to drag my camera along with me.  The light on this solstice day was decidedly odd....  almost metallic on the water.  The moody clouds gave me quite a stir.  I walked from the most southern lot to the Surfing Museum.  On the way north, my focus was towards the water.

On the way back to the car, I was more interested in the homes and gardens along the water.



I love the tromp lei(?) columns on the balcony of this home.



And this wondrous garden not only had a pond and a bridge, but a Mexican pottery gecko hiding in the water....

Mirror Twin Homes...  They were repaving the shared driveway with wonderful bricks.

Whales make me happy

Purple Balustrades

A historical Victorian with fabulous landscape and paint job