Cupcake Test 014, S'More S'mores....

Last one for me....  Since the bride and groom both work at the Grand Canyon, it only seems appropriate that we finish with a S'mores cupcake.  This one is essentially from Annie's Eats.  It starts out with a base of graham cracker crumbs, then some chocolate cake (and some added ganache) and topped with marshmallow fluff frosting. 

Process Notes:  I used the dark chocolate cake mix by Betty Crocker and added in some mini-mallows to the cake batter before baking.  Don't bother, they just dissolve and add not a whit of texture or flavor to the cupcake.  Once they were baked, I scooped out a hollow with my melon baller and added a bit of chocolate ganache.  I tried to caramelize the frosting with my new torch (Whee!), but it just slid off the cupcake.  Instead, I toasted some marshmallows to add that extra something.

Tasting Notes:  These were much better than the first round of S'mores.  There was a distinct crumby graham cracker crust, the milk chocolate ganache echoed the Hershey bar, and the toasted marshmallows finished it off.  I think these are a winner!

Something to remember

How to bake 300 cupcakes  (includes link to cupcake boxes)

Cars are sexy too....

Earlier this week, Mark & I were on an errand heading home and came across this serendipitous car show.  I suspect that they gather once a month, maybe once a quarter, in the parking lot.  Dad, if you can, let me know what kind/year these sexy beasts are:

We can't decide if this is a Chrysler or an Alfa Romeo...

Purple & Flames = AWESOME!

I think this is close to the color you want your car painted....

There were a slew of trucks, along with some newer cars as well.  All were sparkling and their owners were sparkling too, and rightfully so.  The rumble of big V-8's were heard easily a couple blocks away.

The next day, I was headed to work, and there on 880N in San Jose was this car (blocking traffic!):

For those of you, like me, who recognize EXPENSIVE when you see it - this is a Buggati Veyron.  Only 300 were pre-ordered, and they aren't finished building those yet.  Volkswagen is building them, and according to Top Gear, it costs $5M  to build.  Volkswagen is selling them for $2M - talk about a loss leader.  They have about 1000 horsepower, and top speed is estimated to be 400 Kph (about 250ish mph).  This poor soul was stuck at 50 mph in traffic. 

Le Sigh.

Flea Market Fancies

I found these goodies at the Santa Cruz Flea Market.  I think some of them may turn into some fancy-pants necklaces.  I was a good buyer and checked all of the pieces for missing stones (nothing worse!).  The only one missing anything is the enameled flower on the bottom, but it was too precious to leave behind.

Cupcake Test 14, "Cherry Almond Cupcakes"

Cherries and almonds just seem to go together.  If you take a google across the web, there are cupcakes, biscotti, scones, cakes, tarts, slumps, clafouties, pies, cookies, and just about any other type of baked goodie you can think of made with a combination of cherries and almonds.  And that just scratches the surface. 

These particular cupcakes are from Better Homes & Gardens, a link provided by the BtB.  It's a buttermilk cupcake with maraschino cherries and almond goodness.

Dark, Okay, Slumpy

Process notes:  I made the cupcake recipe (almost) straight up.  The only change I made was instead of putting a half cherry in the top of each cupcake, I roughly chopped 2 dozen cherries and stirred them into the batter before baking.  This is the first time I have had troubles with my oven baking unevenly.  One side of the trays of cupcakes were darker brown, and the other end of the tray slumped terribly due to raw batter when it was removed from the oven.  I'll be sure to turn my trays half-way through baking from now on.

I made both the almond frosting and the cherry frosting, straight from the recipe.  I put both frostings into one piping bag, hoping for a random striping when I frosted the cupcakes.  Evidently, I didn't do too well at that either, however, I do like the delicate shading when both frostings are present.

I had the extra large Costco sized jar of maraschino cherries, and it was less than half full by the time I had decorated the cupcakes.

Tasting Notes:  Me - Almond = Yum.  Cherry = Yum.  Almond + Cherry = Yummy!  I liked the cherries folded into the batter.  I think the cupcakes were delicately flavored with almond, and if it weren't for the bits of cherry in them, you wouldn't taste the cherry at all.  The cherry juice made for a lovely colored cupcake, but I don't know that it added much flavor to either the cupcake or the frosting.  The almond frosting was mmmmm wonderful.  If there is such a thing as cherry extract, it might be a good thing to add a smidge of that to both the frosting and the cupcake batter to boost the cherry flavor. No more than 1/2 a teaspoon in each though.  All in all, lovely, festive, and tasty too.

Mark - Although maraschino cherries are not his favorite, they were a nice counterpoint to the almond flavor found in the cupcakes and in the frosting.  Again with the "Yum!"

How I spent my weekend

In pictures....

As much time as possible...

From our very own trees

Making Cupcakes (not from our trees)

And maybe a few words...

We have never picked as many cherries from our two trees as we did this year.  We ended up making 23 jars of jam, as well as having enough to eat in our lunch and freeze some for future tasties. 

You may know I have a critter problem.  Comes with living in the woods.  Most of the time, I can live with it, however, when the ding dang squirrels start eating rose buds, tomatoes, and anything else I plant on the deck, I start trapping.  We've also got a resident 'coon family who wanders around the neighborhood tipping trash cans and generally being a nuisance.  Mark actually played tag with a raccoon who was adamant about being on the deck Friday night.

This weekend, before we managed to get out and pick the cherries, I noticed a fat squirrel hanging out in the tops of the trees enjoying the fruit.  I have no problem with the animals getting the high hanging fruit, but I get upset when they strip a tree in a little under 24 hours.  So I set up the squirrel trap and headed up to the roof line (their highway) to put it in place.  I noticed the branches of the cherry tree were wobbling pretty good and there was a patch of grey fur.  Come here, little squirrel...You know you want some tasty peanut butter... And then I see the mask of a raccoon!  I know raccoons can climb trees (knock him out john!), but this is a delicate cherry tree and the branches will break under his weight.  Now, there's a 'coon sized trap waiting...

Cupcake Test 13, "Cookie Dough Cupcakes"

Alternatively titled, "That's the way the Cookie (Dough) Crumbles".   Is there anyone (over the age of 20 anyway) who doesn't remember licking the beater after making a batch of chocolate chip cookies?  There's just something about the taste and texture of raw cookie dough that brings a smile to our hearts.  But, with the scares of "bad things" that raw eggs have brought in the years, seldom do we actually enjoy that childhood experience any longer.  Fear not, the cookie dough portion of the cupcakes (and the truffles too) are free of raw eggs.

The BtB pulled together a couple of links for cookie dough cupcakes.  The first from Love & Olive Oil, and another from Annies-Eats.  Love & Olive Oil is a non-dairy version, however, the egg-free cookie dough is the important part here.  I used the cupcake recipe from Annies-Eats, the cookie dough from Love & Olive Oil, and the frosting from both of them.

Process Notes:  I made enough of the cookie dough to make the truffles (also from Love & Olive Oil), and reserved 24 of them for the cupcakes, along with 3/4 cup of cookie dough for the frosting.  The cupcake batter made 29 regular size cupcakes, as well as 24 mini cupcakes.  The cookie dough made enough additional to roll about 4 dozen more small sized truffles.  Since I had only reserved 24 of the truffles, I did 2 dozen cupcakes with the cookie dough baked in them (L&O).  The remaining cupcakes were scooped with a melon baller after baking, and then a truffle was placed in the indentation (AE).  The cupcakes came out sunken in the centers where the cold cookie dough was.  These cupcakes also overflowed the baking cups quite a bit.  After sitting a while, the "ring" that was above the cupcake liner, well, it kinda fell down. 

No cupcakes were touched during this disaster.

I made the cookie dough frosting from L&O first, and it was just enough to cover about 15 cupcakes, as well as the 24 minis.  Then the brown sugar frosting from AE, which finished the rest of the cupcakes, with not much left over. 

The truffles were coated with melted milk-chocolate chips and placed on a rack to harden.  Note - don't do this.  When I pulled them off the rack, they cracked and left part of the chocolate behind, so they all looked like they had a bite taken out of them.  Use a silpat, wax or parchment paper instead.

Tasting Notes:  Me - The cupcakes were moist and tasty in spite of their tendency to fall apart.  They had the memory of chocolate chip cookies baked into them, most notably in the brown sugar and chocolate that were the main flavor ingredients.  I liked the taste of both the cookie dough and brown sugar frostings, however, I think there should be more cookie dough in the frosting than what the recipe calls for.  Either one would be appropriate with the cupcakes.  The truffles, well, they are the epitome of cookie-dough-ness.  A bit grainy, a bit raw, with chocolate chips inside.

Love the truffles and will definitely make them again.  The cupcakes, although they tasted fine, probably won't be making a repeat appearance.  I did like the scooped cupcake better than the baked cupcake.  The baked cupcake lost the "raw" flavor/texture, which only makes sense.  I can't quite put my finger on what it is that I didn't like.  Maybe the cupcake batter was too raw around the cookie dough center. 

Mark - Thought the cupcakes were "yummy" and he preferred the brown sugar frosting to the cookie dough frosting.  The truffles, were OMG! good and he refused to share them with his co-workers.

Up next, Cherry Almond Cupcakes...

Ohio, Part Two

Let's see, where was I?  Ah, yes, Sunday.

Sunday we had a quiet breakfast under the honeysuckle vines and then headed to the Wegerzyn Gardens MetroPark to view an recent installation.  It's a nest of sorts, of woven willow branches, called "A Wiggle in Its Walk".  It's big enough to walk through, filled with windows and doors that frame the views.  The Wegerzyn Gardens is free to the public (sweet!) and not only has a formal garden, but there is also a wetlands, a children's garden, and a vegetable garden.  If this garden were in Dallas or in the Bay Area, I'm sure that it would be mobbed on a Sunday afternoon.  As it was, I think we encountered three or four family groups?  At least, until the Playhouse let out - they were putting on The Producers.

 
 

The Irises and Peonies were just starting to show bloom, but the hostas were out in full force.  There are more pictures at my Photo Blog.  After dinner and a thunderstorm (I miss those - occasionally!) at my Brother's house, we headed back to the folks' place for the night.

Monday found us shopping for most of the mid-day.  Gotta find some wedding finery for Mom too, doncha know?  I believe, fingers crossed, that we found a couple of outfits that Mom will be happy to wear to the event.  That night I met up with one of my nephews and his wife for dinner at a local steak joint.  We managed to stay and close the place down.  About mid-meal, we noticed the lights flickering, but didn't think much of it.  Found out later, there was a tornado in the area and most of the locality was without power. 


Tuesday was crafty day - Mom finished her sock, and we spent some time making jewelry.  I got to use memory wire for the first time and made some bangles, as well as some earrings and some stitch markers for yarn play.

I flew home on Wednesday, again through Las Vegas.  There were huge thunderstorms in the Chicago area, so the airport in Las Vegas was full of stranded travelers.  Normally, the flight from Ohio to Las Vegas wouldn't necessarily fly over the Grand Canyon (shout out!), but to avoid the thunderheads, we headed directly south and then across the panhandle of Texas and south of the Grand Canyon.  Of course, I was sitting on the wrong side of the plane to get a picture of that, but I did get a good view of the Hoover Dam and the new bridge they've built to go beside it.

Pending....

I just started a new gig last Tuesday - Yippee!!!

But, that means that posting is going to be sporadic at best, at least until I settle in.  I've got to finish my review of the Ohio trip, and then there's the chocolate chip cookie dough cupcakes to review.

Be back soon!

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. 

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.