Southern Decadence Cupcakes

Tonight is the reading for the social action essay class that I took this semester. We are all bringing food for the reception, so I opted to make cupcakes.
I should explain something first: My room is always messy and living in a tiny dorm room this semester didn't help matters. This is due in large part to the fact that I decided to start the baking club and have therefore been the keeper of every supply, gadget, ingredient and implement that we have used for our meetings. Every week, I would take bags and bags of these items back and forth between home, the kitchen, and my quickly filling room. Needless to say, although I will miss the meetings, I am glad that the semester is almost over and I will have a few months off!
That said, since the baking club was drawing to a close, I haven't been bothering to replenish my supplies of interesting ingredients, so I was left with a dwindling pile of basic necessities (which doesn't take up as much room, thank goodness). After agreeing to make the cupcakes, I thought "I need to use up the last few ingredients I have, what do I have left?"The most obvious hanger-on was a large bag of brown sugar.
Brown sugar never seems to get the love it deserves. It is often overlooked for the cloyingly sweet caramel, the flavorful, albeit bitter molasses or the standard, pale, granulated sugar. As for me, I love brown sugar and determined to send this bag of lonely sweetener out with a bang.
A while back, I experimented with a brown sugar frosting recipe and fell in love with it. But this icing recipe didn't include the grittiness of the brown sugar (and I think I may have undersalted it a little). I also really like See's butterscotch squares, so I thought that I would pair my latest attempt at brown sugar frosting with chocolate cake to emulate those delicious confections. The result was absolutely phenomenal if I do say so myself. For such a quick and easy recipe, the result was sophisticated and dangerously addictive. If you do get a chance to try this recipe, please let me know how it goes in the comment space below. Enjoy!

yum!

Southern Decadence Cupcakes
2 cups sugar
1 3/4 cups flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups water
2 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat your oven to 350F. Prep two muffin tins by filling the cups with cupcake papers and spraying the surface lightly so that any spills or "muffin tops" won't stick.  Whisk together the dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Add the eggs, oil, water and vanilla and mix until just combined. Fill your cupcake papers 2/3 of the way and bake the cupcakes for 10-15 minutes or until the tops bounce back up when pushed lightly.
Allow to cool completely and then frost.

Brown Sugar Buttercream
1 cup softened, unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
In a medium bowl, use a hand mixer to whip the butter until light and fluffy. Add the powdered sugar in increments. It will start to look clumpy, like cottage cheese. At this point, add the brown sugar. Be sure to break up any clumps so that your frosting will be smooth. Add the salt and vanilla while you can still see dry patches of brown sugar in the mix. Whip until light and creamy. I used a spatula to frost the cupcakes, to give them a homey look, but it could also be piped onto your cooled cupcakes.

Chocolate Orange Crisps

I made these cookies for a jazz concert reception tomorrow. I have experimented with using orange, cinnamon and chocolate together before and had great results (check out this recipe). I hope you enjoy these crisp, flavorful treats.

Chocolate Orange Crisps
1 cup softened, unsalted butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 Tbs roughly grated orange peel (a cheese grater would work better than a fine grater for this)
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 1/3 cups flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
for the glaze:
the juice of one orange
powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350F. Combine the butter and sugar with the zest in a mixing bowl until creamed. Add the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly, until all ingredients are incorporated.
Roll the dough into ping-pong sized balls and press them onto a prepared pan with at least 3/4" of space inbetween each one. They will spread slightly. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until crispy. Let cool on a drying rack and then glaze.
To prepare the glaze, fill a measuring cup most of the way with powdered sugar. Squeeze the orange into the powdered sugar. stirring until you have reached the desired consistency. A ratio with more powdered sugar will be thicker and will look more opaque on the cookie. A thin glaze will just leave the cookie looking glossy. Once the glaze looks right, I like to set my drying rack over a cookie sheet with parchment on it (the one I just baked with usually) and pour the glaze over the cookies. That way, the glaze will drip onto the parchment, which makes cleanup much more manageable.
Allow the glaze to set and enjoy.

Rustic Rosemary Twist

Last night was our last baking club meeting for the semester. We had a lot of fun, I will miss baking with everybody this summer. I arrived early to prepare several batches of cornmeal pizza dough, which everyone then decorated and baked. Our pizzas turned out really delicious and I also ended up with extra dough!
Building off the dough recipe from Martha Stewart, I decided to make a cheesy, rosemary braid as an afternoon snack to share with my hall. The dough is rolled out into ropes which are in turn stuffed with cheese. The rolls are then braided together and sprinkled with crunchy salt. Although the dough recipe is not my own, I have provided it here for your convenience in making the rosemary twist.

Rustic Rosemary Twist

2 teaspoons active dry yeast

Pinch of sugar

2/3 cups warm water

1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface

1/4 cup cornmeal, plus more for pizza peel or baking sheet

1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for bowl

1 cup shredded cheese of your choice

2 tbs dried rosemary

1 tsp coarse salt

Oil for the pan

In a small bowl, sprinkle the yeast and sugar over the warm water. Let stand until yeast is dissolved and mixture is foamy, about 10 minutes.Combine flour, cornmeal, and salt in a large bowl. Make a well in the center, and add the yeast mixture and oil. Mix the ingredients just until the dough starts to come together. Turn out the dough on a lightly floured work surface, and knead until smooth and elastic, 7 to 10 minutes. Place the dough in a shallow oiled bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise 1 hour at room temperature or overnight in the refrigerator.

Preheat the oven to 400F. Knead the rosemary into your dough until incorporated. Cut the dough into three balls and roll each into a rope. Spread each rope flat onto the work surface and make a line of cheese down the center. Carefully pinch the sides up around the cheese filling and roll the rope out a little longer. 

Once all three ropes are prepared, braid them on your prepared pan, pinching the ends together. Sprinkle your twist with coarse salt and bake for 15-20 minutes, until lightly golden.

The twist turned out amazingly soft, with a crunchy exterior and cheesy center; I'm so glad I decided to try experimenting with it. Enjoy!

Some Cool Sites to Check Out! Sharing Inspiration.

The last few days, I have been pondering the importance of reading in writing. My major is creative writing and I have been taking notes on speeches given by successful authors and also thinking about books that I loved reading and what about them was so enjoyable. I know that these practices improve writing ability and awareness of your own voice. This inspired me to look around and find what I enjoy about other people's work with food, what inspires me and what I can share with others that might inspire them! So here are some links to photos, blogs, recipes and menus that I find interesting.

Canelle et Vanille is always gorgeous and full of incredible recipes. Her work is what inspired me to try blogging about food and to improve my photography skills:
http://www.cannellevanille.com/

The description of this dessert menu is phenomenal. The restaurant Trace in Austin is reviewed here on "epicuriosities".  Here is a picture of their coffee panna cotta:
http://epicuriosities.com/tag/dessert/

I am so in awe of chefs who put this much detail into their presentation. To me, the most engaging presentation is not always something that is set before you looking beautiful, but can be something that undergoes transformation before your very eyes. Or even better, if you get to make that transformation happen on your own! (Fondue, anyone?) Check out this Hong Kong Restaurant and the blog, "bon vivant". The strawberry dessert in this post also looks incredible.
http://www.jasonbonvivant.com/2011/09/mandarin-grill-bar-hong-kong.html

Cakespy is one of the most awesome things in existence. This woman posts the most amazing recipes and is honestly who inspired me to share with you some of my favorite blogs and menus, because she is constantly supporting other bloggers and chefs by showing their work on her site, as well as artists and authors. An incredibly cute recipe she recently shared is for these Cinco de Mayo pinata cookies:
http://www.sheknows.com/food-and-recipes/articles/958083/cinco-de-mayo-pinata-cookies

But be sure to check out her website too!! Here's a link of hers that I really like for sushi cake truffles:
http://www.cakespy.com/blog/2012/1/12/sushi-cake-truffles-recipe-from-crazy-for-cake-pops.html

Alinea Restaurant in Chicago is a temple of molecular gastronomy and modern cuisine. (I emailed them a few months ago asking if they could accommodate a vegetarian menu and they said they could.) The head chef at this restaurant actually lost his sense of taste due to cancer and created this menu as his sense of taste slowly returned. Check out their gallery and you might find yourself booking a flight to Chicago! I can't wait to go there someday:
http://www.alinea-restaurant.com/pages/gallery/gallery_cuis.html

Oranges in Blossom Syrup

I have a presentation in French class tomorrow morning. My group is doing a 35 minute presentation about Morocco in French. Since I'll be talking about music, fashion and food, I offered to do a Moroccan recipe. Another girl in my group will be making an orangey cake, so I opted to make these oranges in blossom syrup to add to our sweet Moroccan breakfast.
I got the recipe from this gorgeous book that I bought a while back. It's called "Made in Morocco" by Julie Le Clerc, who I have since realized is a prolific food writer. The book not only has great recipes, but facts about different towns and regions and the foods and spices that each region is famous for. I increased the recipe slightly for my presentation and for future use since I have a large family!
I got the cute spoon in the picture a month ago at a cute shop in Berkeley, called Maison d'Etre.
Orange flower water often tastes very strong and perfume-y, but this delicate syrup only heightens the floral notes in the oranges.

Oranges in Blossom Syrup
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup honey
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 Tbs orange flower water
1 1/2 cups cold water
6 oranges, peeled and sliced

Place the sugar, honey, water, cinnamon and blossom water in a saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Simmer gently until reduced by half.
Place the orange slices in a bowl and pour over the hot syrup. Set aside to cool and infuse the oranges with flavor.

First Tiramipursuit bake sale!

This week, I had my first ever Tiramipursuit bake sale! I prepared a bunch of chocolates and caramels and some pan dulce (from this great recipe). I worked so hard all weekend and was so excited to go set up for the sale on the college green. I found the perfect table and set all of the chocolates and labels out proudly. After just a few moments, dozens of the chocolates collapsed. I leaned closer  and to my horror realized that the delicate, carefully tempered chocolates were melting!! I relocated to a table in the shade and all was well,luckily! I was disappointed to be off the main path, but at least the chocolates were safe.
I experimented with transfer paper, which was really exciting and also invented a new flavor of truffle that I called "English Summer": a melange of bittersweet chocolate, cream, rose, vanilla bean and earl grey tea.

English Summer Truffles
I love the combination of flavors in this elegant, rich truffle.
You will need a 3 to 1 ratio of  bittersweet chocolate to cream. My favorite dark chocolate is Green and Black's organic.
For each cup of cream:
1 tsp rose water
1 tbs earl grey tea leaves
1/2 vanilla bean
Put the cream in a heavy-bottomed saucepan and add the earl grey tea. Scrape the vanilla seeds into the cream also and bring to a scald. Add the finely chopped chocolate and rose water and stir until glossy and all chocolate is dissolved. Strain through a fine mesh strainer into a bowl or shallow baking dish.Set in the fridge to cool and set. The chocolate will be slightly hardened when it is ready to pipe. Let thaw slightly if the ganache is hard, then spoon into a piping bag. Pipe small drops onto a pan lined with wax paper and let set. Use clean hands to roll the drops into balls. The truffles can then be dipped in chocolate and decorated with sprinkles as I did for the sale or simply rolled in cocoa powder.
Enjoy!

Giant Birthday Cookie!

Today was my boyfriend Max's 20th birthday and I made this awesome giant chocolate chip cookie! Find the recipe on this page for the leopard giant cookie I made for my little sister's birthday last year!

Strawberry-Rose Tart

My parents and I were very busy cooking for Easter this weekend. We're not Christian,but I guess it has become an American tradition. My siblings did an Easter egg hunt and the whole family came by for lunch. I prepared two delicious frittatas, a carrot cake from an amazing recipe and created a new recipe that I can't wait to share with you!
This tart uses a combination of Italian flavors and a few techniques that I learned at the bakery last year! I started daydreaming about it in class last week and couldn't help but sketch it in my notebook. The buttery tart shell is the foundation for a layer of rose cream, which is in turn topped with glazed strawberries. The whole thing is sprinkled with tiny diced bits of candied orange peel and pistachios which gives the tart a kind of sparkle.
I hope you enjoy this delicious new recipe, and let me know how it turned out in the comment space below!
Strawberry-Rose Tart (Tarte aux fraises et roses)
Filling:
a bowl of washed and dried strawberries, about 12 berries for a 9" tart
a pint of whipping cream
1 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup powdered sugar
3/4 Tbs rose water
1 Tbs strawberry or other fruit jam
1 tsp hot water
3 tbs pistachios, shelled and chopped
1 Tbs chopped, candied orange peel

Whip the cream with the sugar, rose and vanilla extract until light and fluffy. Spread into your cooled tart shell. Chop your strawberries and arrange them seed-side up on the whipped cream. In a small bowl, mix together the jam and water (preferably hot water, but cold will work fine). Brush this liquid onto the strawberries to give them a shiny, glazed look. Scatter the chopped pistachios and orange peel artfully over your tart and serve cold or at room temperature.

I got the tart crust recipe from Williams Sonoma:
1 egg yolk
2 Tbs very cold water
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
8 Tbs cold, unsalted butter cut into 1/4 inch cubes
In a small bowl, stir together the egg yolk, water and vanilla. Set this aside. In a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar and salt. Using two knives, cut the butter into the flour mixture until the texture resembles coarse cornmeal, with butter pieces no larger than small peas. Add the egg mixture and mix with a fork until the dough just pulls together. Flatten the dough into a disk. Chill for 30 minutes or use immediately.
Roll out the dough to your tart tin size and use a rolling pin to roll up your dough. Unroll the dough over your tin and carefully set the dough into the tin. Press your finger along the bottom of the tin and cut the excess edges of the dough around the rim by pressing the dough against the tin edge. Use your fingers to slightly push up the tart edges so that they extend above the tin (the tart edges will shrink down during baking) Poke some holes in the shell with a skewer to prevent the dough from puffing up. Bake at 350F until lightly golden brown on the edges. If the dough does begin to puff up in any places, lance the bubble with your skewer. Let the tart shell cool completely before filling it. Remove carefully from the tin to serve.

A day in San Francisco and a magical Chocolate Factory tour!

 We had a magical day in San Francisco. We left the school at 11, taking the steamy shuttle to the Bart station under a blanket of ominous clouds and sheets of falling rain. The wind was bitterly cold and we were so glad to finally arrive and duck into the ferry building, which was bustling with people and warmed by boiling pots and sizzling pans. I got so excited when my club members exclaimed that they had never been there before and went immediately to Miette to get everyone a French macaroon, a first-time experience that is impossible to forget (this is where I tasted my first macaron as well!). Even though I have been to the ferry building at Pier 1 many times, it is still enchanting. The open hall is packed with shops, bakeries and cafes and we sampled many delicious treats. We were also lucky to be present for their wonderful farmer's market, where the delicious sampling continued outdoors!

Candy cap mushroom marshmallow. When I was little, my friends Megan, Melody and I used to search for these elusive, maple-syrup flavored mushrooms to make cookies with. When I tasted this marshmallow, a long-awaited dream came true!

The chocolate factory is a few short blocks from the ferry building, at Pier 17. The weather turned bright and windy along the wharf, which was a welcome change from the rain and clouds of the morning.

TCHO welcomes the visitors in with a street sign that reads "chocolate" with a helpful arrow pointing towards their modern-looking warehouse. Their shop is sleek and stacked with elegant bars of chocolates with eye-catching descriptions. One that caught my attention read "dark chocolate with caramel notes".

The tour was wonderful. After a brief history and description of chocolate-making, we learned about the company's fair trade and cooperative work with cacao growers around the world. TCHO (pronounced 'cho') is dedicated to having communication between growers and to helping farmers produce a better product sustainably so that they can, in turn, sell their chocolate for higher prices. Until TCHO came around, no farmer had ever tasted the chocolate made from their own cacao plants!

In addition to great work with people, TCHO uses flavor labs to create amazing, unadulterated chocolate. They work to find plants that carry specific taste characteristics for their chocolate. In other words, when you try their 'fruity' dark chocolate, no flavors have been added to make that bar fruity: it is just the natural character of the chocolate plant grown in a specific region. The same is true of their other flavors, 'citrus', 'nutty' and 'chocolate'. They are still searching the globe for the ideal 'floral' and 'earthy' cacao, (which thrilled me with images of chocolatiers marching through remote and forgotten rainforests with the sole purpose of eating chocolate).
After the tour of their facility, we experienced a tasting where I was blown away by the subtle differences in flavor of each rich, crisp bar. Akasha and I made many 'Willy Wonka' jokes and references, which the tour guide was very gracious about, considering he probably hears them every day.
The whole experience was as surreal and wonderful as a dream come true, which as cheesy as it sounds, it was!
TCHO offers free tours at 10am and 2pm on Saturdays! If you are ever in SanFrancisco take the opportunity to experience this new American chocolate company that is not only ethical and sustainable, but also satisfies the tastebuds. Make your reservation here.

Daisies, Spring and...cookie butter?

Hi all!
Tonight, my baking club is making crêpes with some other resident students. It is going to be a big party and after we make the crêpes, we are going to watch a French-themed movie. I am very excited! For tips on how to throw a crêpe party, check out this link!

I went to Trader Joe's yesterday to get ingredients and found this amazing and mysterious item: cookie butter. It is exactly what it sounds like; it is a spreadable cookie! wait a second....!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I haven't opened it yet because I am saving it for tonight, but I can't wait to see how it tastes. I hope it is one of those things that tastes as good as it sounds. The label describes it as "A deliciously unusual spread remniscent of gingerbread and made with crushed [speculoos] biscuits" and promises, "All you have to do is taste it to understand", so I have high hopes.

I also went on a fun walk/improv jam session with a woman from my improv class through the beautiful Mills campus. I had never realized that the trail existed and was full of wonder at the stands of towering eucalyptus and clouds of wildflowers along it. I had forgotten how many native plants I knew since I have been in a city setting for a while. I immediately started sampling native wild mustard seedpods, "sourgrass", honeysuckle and fennel. It was very therapeutic. At one point we sat down and started chaining daisies. I found one special daisy that was more petalled and therefore fluffier than the rest, that I think is so beautiful. The chain became part of my hairstyle for the day!

Tomorrow, my baking club is taking our first fieldtrip to San Francisco, to the bakery Miette, the ferry building and to a tour at TCHO chocolate factory! I'll be posting about it tomorrow, so stay tuned!