-- Post From My iPad
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Post necromancy! It has been salvaged from the dead! 
First we have some buttermilk cupcakes with a chocolate cream cheese
icing. My daughter loved the cupcake base (she cannot have much cow
based products - cooked butter and cooked milk seems to be ok.in small doses)
Third, we have some mini cookies and-cream-cheesecakes. These were
incredibly cute and tasty, The perfect size for cheesecake. I made a
batch of these for the wives of the neighborhood. Then I made a second
batch to bring in to work. They are wonderful little cheesecakes with a
cookie as the base, instead of the typical pulverized crust
Lastly, we have chocolate cupcakes with a raspberry buttercream. I used fresh raspberries and freeze dried raspberry powder to strengthen the flavor of the icing. this was my first attempt as piping two colors at the same time, and I have much better ideas for it next time. I got cupcakes that were right/left colored, instead of a nice swirl through the icing. The chocolate was rich and moist, and the icing was nice to look at and silky smooth.
The Little Chef helped
me make these cookies, first he wanted to roll them in some smoked
paprika, but I managed to steer him to the colored sanding sugar. After
a little discussion about how much of the confetti sugar he could eat,
we got to business rolling the logs in the sugar.
Today we have a light,
fluffy, and child fearing peppermint cookie. I
loved the cookies, all the parents liked the cookies, the kids, they all
hated them. No rhyme or reason, they just took
one little bight and then put them back. they taste like peppermint candy canes - all the kids eat them, but apparently not in cookie form... As for
the cookies, some were sandwiched in chocolate, and others were plain.
The plain ones were bight size and best taken in one bight. They disintegrated when you bit them, an explosion of
sweet and peppermint on the tongue, and not much else was left in the
mouth. The chocolate ones were even better. The ganache was a rich dark chocolate and complimented
the peppermint very well. IT added a depth of
flavor that was completely missing from the ones without the chocolate. A hint of bitterness and saltiness toned down the
peppermint and created a wonderful morsel of goodness.
I got the color in the
cookies by painting a few streaks down the side of the piping bag. The
only issue I had was getting the chocolate ganache to cooperate with me. I was a little impatient with the cooling process,
then forgot about it. So it took some massaging
to get it to leave the piping bag without taking the tip with it.
Next up on the cupcake train: delectable devils food
cupcakes. With these, you start with a
great cupcake base, and then you just start adding stuff to them without
telling anyone. These cupcakes are ripe
for filling; something deserves to go inside so they can be happy. Some might think custard, or some weird store
bought icing substitute, but marshmallow fits the bill the best.
What kind of marshmallow should go inside? Obviously, homemade marshmallows, what other
kind are there? Well, in a pinch, marshmallow fluff might be acceptable, but
not in my house :)
Flavors:
Plain is just too plain, you need something to jump out and surprise
your cupcake patrons. First, think about
your icing. If you use the recipe here,
it will have a strong cocoa flavor, so you need something to compete with and
compliment that flavor at the same time.
Some favorites with chocolate are orange, lavender, mint, raspberry, and
cherry.
I chose a vanilla orange filling for these cupcakes. First, you have to let the cupcakes come to
room temperature, or you will have a huge mess on your hands. I have a few recipes for marshmallows; I
chose to use the one that I adapted from the elBulli recipe for passionfruit
marshmallows. This is a moister
marshmallow, this helps keep the cupcake from drying out.
I should have already mentioned this - if you don't have a stand
mixer, you will either lose an arm making this recipe, or have to compromise
some of the parts and use store bought replacements.
The marshmallows will make your stand mixer work a little
overtime, but it will make enough to fill 36 cupcakes AND probably another
60. So you will end up with homemade
marshmallows afterward. Friends and
family will gladly take them. If you
cannot find anyone to take them, start drinking list of hot chocolate, or go
camping....
Where were we? Ok, you have
the cupcakes made and the marshmallows in the stand mixer, the next step is to
pipe the filling into the cupcakes. This
should be easier, but it's just a mess.
The marshmallows are beyond sticky; i suggest using gloves when you load
the mess into the piping bag. Use a
plain round tip, and test the amount to pipe inside the cupcake. The goal is to get a decent amount of
marshmallow in the cupcake; it is easy to underestimate how much you piped in.
Once they are all piped, you need to take the remaining
marshmallows and spread them in a pan, or pipe out strings for mini mallows.
Follow this link to learn about the recipe.
Icing: Chocolate Swiss Buttercream. This produces a wonderful
icing every time that is delicate and flavorful. Using cocoa instead of chocolate alters the
flavor and makes it a little more ...
chocolaty. Get a good Dutch processed
cocoa and give it a try. Making this can
be a little different. You whisk the egg
whites and sugar over a double boiler before whisking in the stand mixer, then
you add in the butter two tablespoons at a time (along with the cocoa) until
you have a stable buttercream. Many
people have issues making Swiss and Italian buttercreams. If you follow the directions and use a candy
thermometer when needed (depending on the icing you are making). I've
never had a batch that I could not recover if it tried to break. If you try this and it breaks, I can probably
help.
For piping, I use an Ateco 825 tip with most of my icings. I love the shape and size of the output, many
people have asked me about this, so I thought I would share that here.
Pipe the buttercream and eat some cupcakes :D Recipes after the break.
In the past few months, I've gotten into baking
cupcakes. Lots and lots of cupcakes. So far, I think my favorite recipe would be Red Velvet. They are light and fluffy, and the ermine icing is to die for. I chose to skip the expected cream cheese icing, and went with the traditional ermine icing (boiled milk). This icing is different from the heavy cream cheese icing that most people are used to.Ermine butter-cream icing is similar to it's French, Swiss, and Italian counterparts, but instead of using egg yolks or egg whites to create the emulsion, it uses boiled milk and flour to create a suspension. It's similar to a roux, but the lack of a fatty medium, prevents it from technically being called a roux.
How is it different? Well, French and Italian butter-creams are smooth, very very smooth. The ermine icing is a little more dense, but the suspension of the milk and flour makes it unexpectedly smooth, while having a bit of texture at the same time. The recipe is a classic that has fallen out of use in the last 20 to 30 years. I personally think the ermine icing is superior to the heavy and dense cream cheese icing you typically see on red velvet cake. I feel the cupcakes should have an icing that compliments the airiness of the cake. not one that overpowers the cake and brings so much strong flavor to a delicate cupcake.
The Neighbors LOVED these cupcakes and have even asked for them to be made into a birthday cake. I brought them to work up in DC and I think I was almost mugged on the metro getting to my building.
The Icing can be made ahead and stored in the refrigerator or icebox, just make sure to bring it to room temperature and beat it in the mixer before you pipe the icing out. The consistency of the icing is made to be piped. It held up quite nicely with the two tips I used.
The Red Velvet recipe comes from the cookbook: Martha Stewart's Cupcakes The cupcakes are light and fluffy, there is a nice chocolate flavor in them, and, with the addition of food coloring, they come out nice and red. I tried making the cupcakes without the food coloring first, but the cocoa powder and vinegar gave it a weak, almost sickly, brownish red color. There was no taste difference with the addition of the food coloring, so I say go for it. Side Note - This cookbook is amazing. I don't care if you hate Martha - the recipes in here are gold
Recipe after the break]]>
Red Velvet Cupcakes
Ingredients
Cooking Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees, Line muffin tins
Beat sugar and oil together, add eggs, one at a time, then vanilla. Scrape down and
beat in food coloring. Mixing until combined between each ingredient addition.
On low speed, mix in dry and wet ingredients in 3 batches (dry-wet-dry-wet-dry)
Mix the baking soda and vinegar (will fizz up), add to batter and mix for 10 seconds
Fill each cupcake 3/4 full, bake for 20 minutes, let cool in pan for 10 minutes, remove
to wire rack for cooling.
Let cool fully before icing.
Ermine Icing
Ingredients
Cooking Instructions
Cream the butter and sugar together.
In a small saucepan, whisk the milk and flour together over heat until it has thickened.
You will need to continually whisk the milk, or it will burn. Once thickened, remover
from heat and let cool.
Add the vanilla and salt to the sugar and continue mixing.
Once the milk has cooled to around room temperature, add the milk mixture to the
icing one tablespoon at a time. Beat the icing until it is soft and fluffy. Check to see if
the sugar is fully dissolved before applying to cupcakes. Continue beating icing if you
can feel sugar granules in your teeth.
This icing will pipe quite well, it can also be applied with a spoon or spatula.
Since this is a milk based icing, you will need to refrigerate it after applying. Let come
to room temperature before eating.
This icing can be frozen.
Everyone likes chocolate chip cookies, I'm a fan of the thin and crispy ones, my wife likes the chewy ones, and our son likes anything you give him. I've seen Alton Brown make thin and crispy ones, I've made toll house cookies, and every variation across the board. A few months ago i set out to make the perfect chocolate cookies for us. I estimate 20 to 25 batches of cookies were baked to come up with the one the family like the most.
Brown sugar makes a chewy cookie, white sugar makes a thin, crispy cookie. With this recipe, i have opted for more white sugar for a thin edge, and some brown sugar to keep part of the cookie thick and chewy. I chose to use baking powder and baking soda to keep the cookie from spreading too much, and the addition of the baking powder adds a subtle salty taste to the final product, which everyone has enjoyed.
The liquor adds a nice hint of flavor to the cookie that can be hard to identify, but it also serves another purpose. The additional liquid helps the spread, and ensures crispy edges with their high sugar content. Rum is a great flavor, but amaretto works nicely, as well as grand mariner. Ricard was noticable by me, but the taste testers didn't mind the additional bitter hint. I think I will try sambuca next time. Mint liquors would also be interesting to play with.
Why parchment paper? Well, there is nothing better for cookies. I have tried non stick pans, i have tried silpat. Use parchment paper! The cookies never stick to it, and you can use it over and over. I have two scoops to dish out the cookies. If you do not have a scooper, you can use a tablespoon to drop the cookies on the parchment paper lined pans. The scoop I use to make chocolate truffles is perfect for small, children size, cookies. And the larger scoop makes nine sized adult cookies.
Let the cookies rest for 5 minutes on the cookie sheet, then transfer them to a cooking rack. The edges are crispy, and the centers are nice and chewy
If you decide to use this recipe, go ahead and tell me how they came out, and what you used in them. Perhaps I will try adding some bacon next time I make them ...
Preheat oven to 375 degrees
Cream the room temperature butter until creamy, add the two sugars and mix until incorporated and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, and scrape down once mixed in. Add vanilla and liquor, mix to combine.
Whisk the dry ingredients together, add to the wet ingredients and mix until combined. Scrape down the dough, mix, then add the chocolate chips. Mix until distributed, then spoon out onto parchment covered cookie sheets.
2 tbs for adults, 1 tbsp for kids.
Bake for 11 to 14 minutes, remove from oven, let sit on cookie sheet for a few minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack
- page 230.I feel this is a good introduction to Molecular Cuisine. Just a little work and you can make this, the techniques are not very hard and only require a few tools.
Onto the recipe:
Powders - prepare ahead of time
Cilantro/parsley powder
Caper powder
Brown Butter powder
Again, I apologize for missing the reveal date - they took down my website >.<
We wash and dry the vegetables, then wrap in paper towels and store in zip top bags. All of the produce comes from local sustainable farms within 100 miles of Richmond. They've been in business a few weeks, and are doing a very good job. We get a crate of vegetables once a week for under forty dollars ($37). It gives us fresh produce without having to leave the house. Each box has 10 to 12 different types of produce. We've gotten a wide selection, and each week we could get different things - whatever's in season.
My wife has discovered she loves Swiss chard if prepared correctly. We're eating a lot of greens now - having to come up with creative ways to cook it, and the stems to keep things interesting. We've typically lived off the 'staple' vegetables - carrots, onions, squash, potatoes, etc. Now we are eating a lot of spinach, chard, radishes, peas, greens, etc. We have a much larger variety of options when cooking. And it's all super healthy for pregnant women, so the wife is happy.
Even with the fruit quality, I would still highly recommend the service. If enough people in your neighborhood sign up, they will start delivering to you. We have the option for every week or every other week. And they have a deluxe package with additional items, eggs, cheese, etc at a higher price.
