Red Velvet Celebration Cupcakes

In honor of my friend Kelly's birthday, i decided to make her something really special. inspired by Martha's Birthday Cake in the Martha Stewart Baking book

A special shout out also goes to my friend Kat, who surprise mailed me an adorable little cupcake stamp with pink and black ink a while back! She knows me so well! Kat and her boyfriend Harris are known for their thoughtful natures- always sending notes, cards and small presents in the mail to their friends. They make me want to be a better friend!

I used the stamp and one other coffee cup stamp i had laying around to decorate the boxes and make them special. (coffee and cupcakes- my friends know how serious i am about those things!) I got these delightful magenta boxes from Sur La Table, and at 1.50 per box, its an inexpensive, and a great way to gussy up a cupcake and make the birthday girl feel extra special. each box fit 9 or 10 normal sized cupcakes.

I think these may be the best cupcakes i have ever made, in style and in taste.

Red Velvet Celebration Cupcakes
I'll be honest. I'm not a huge fan of red velvet. When I think of red velvet- my mind immediately goes to sitting on the zebra couch with my grandma and watching Steel Magnolias. While the color is festive, the cake itself is usually dry and the resemblance to blood kind of grosses me out. for this cake, i added some extra cocoa to make the red velvet cake darker and more sophisticated, and topped it with an adapted version of Swiss meringue-- one of my favorite fancy icings. You make it sort of the way you make marshmallows- but without the gelatin, and there is something so appealing, special and exciting to me about using science to make something so delicious and fancy. The Swiss meringue is decadent and sweet. Mimicking a regular pie style meringue, but without the foamy jiggle. (Kelly's special cupcake had extra) You can use this icing without bruleeing the tops-- and it makes an excellent super white and fluffy icing for any cake. I've just bought some A&W Root beer syrup-- so my next cupcake will be root beer float cupcakes-- and I'll probably use this icing again.

A friend at the birthday party summed up everyone's collective feelings on the cupcakes in a pretty funny and naughty way,

"mmmmmmm..... I want to cover my bed in it and roll around in this icing with a lady."

wow... you don't say? ;)

Red Velvet Cupcakes

I adapted the Joy of cooking's Buttermilk Layer cake for this.

2 1/3 cups cake flour
4 tablespoons buttermilk powder (why always buttermilk powder? well i hate drinking buttermilk- and i don't use it enough to justify buying it and then throwing it away. so i use this for added richness and flavor, and just keep buying the skim milk i know I'll use)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons dark chocolate cocoa powder
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 small bottle of red food coloring (about 2.5 tablespoons)
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter at room temp--- if your butter isn't at room temp-- just mix it with the paddle in the mixer for a couple extra minutes- starting on low- and moving to high for a couple minutes.
1 1/3 cups sugar
1 cup skim milk

Preheat oven to 350

On top of some parchment paper (for easy mixing) Sift together the cake flour, cocoa powder, buttermilk powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt; set aside. In a 2 cup measuring cup, whisk together the eggs, skim milk, red food coloring, and vanilla extract.Using a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and on medium/high speed , beat the butter until creamy- adding a 1/3 cup of sugar at a time until the mixture is light yellow and really fluffy. once its all fluffy, alternate 1/3 of the liquid with 1/3 dry scraping the sides of the bowls between incorporations until the mixture is smooth, but don't over mix!

Using a 3 ounce disher (that's a fancy ice cream scoop, y'all!), or a ladle, or a measuring cup with a spout (the possibilities are endless) portion the batter into festive paper cupcake cups (i used red stripes) filling about 3/4 full. this recipe should make 20-24 cupcakes.

Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, or about 14-16 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes, then take the cupcakes out of the metal cupcake tin, and set on a cooling rack. You'll want the cupcakes to be completely cool before frosting.

Swiss Meringue

Adapted from Martha Stewart Baking

8 large egg whites (or 1/2 cup of liquid egg whites)
2 cups sugar
2 drops almond extract
2 tablespoons room temp unsalted butter (very important that it be smooth and room temp)

Directions
In the heatproof bowl of an electric mixer, combine egg whites, sugar, and almond extract. Set the bowl over a pan of simmering water. Whisk constantly until the sugar has dissolved and whites are hot to the touch, 3 to 5 minutes. You'll want the sugar to be completely dissolved- so the icing isn't "crunchy"- unless yo ulike that sort of thing.

Transfer the bowl to the electric mixer. Using the whisk attachment, mix on low speed, gradually increasing to high speed, until stiff, glossy peaks form, about 8 minutes. add in room temp unsalted butter, and mix on high again for about 3 minutes Fill a pastry bag with the meringue. Using a star tip on your pastry bag, pipe the frosting on each cupcake in little dots-covering the surface of the cupcake top- pulling upward as you go. Putting a little bit of pressure on the bag on the upturn creates little spikes all over the cupcake. Using a torch, brulee the tops until you have a good amount of caramelization on the tops-- do this to your liking. If you don't have a torch, preheat your broiler (must be a top broiler) to high for about 5-10 minutes, with the oven rack in the upper middle, lightly brown the tops of the cupcakes carefully-- it can go from looking like a perfectly toasted marshmallow to incinerated pile of ash in a matter of seconds- so like a good ninja, don't turn your back. these cupcakes will keep at room temp for 6-8 hours. after that- they just don't look as awesome.

Super Cute food

You may not know me, but know this. I LOVE cute things. Nothing improves my day or my mood more quickly than looking at, making or petting cute things. My love of cute is almost as strong as my love of food, and it just turns this sarcastic sourpuss into a baby talking fool.


Mupcakes


Don't adjust your monitor-- yes, that is meatloaf made to look like a cupcake. I almost wish i had gotten a picture of them lookin all pretty- but seriously we ravaged these little "mupcakes" as i call them- so a picture of the mupcake carnage was apropos. I served my mupcakes with a side of corn and herb biscuits from the Martha Stewart baking book (excellent), and to finish, old fashioned marble cake.


Mupcakes
1 pound organic extra lean ground beef
1 stalk celery, cleaned and diced finely
2 med carrots, cleaned and diced finely
1 yellow onion, cleaned and diced finely
2 cloves garlic, minced finely
1/4 cup dry sherry
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1 egg
1/4 cup skim milk
3/4 cup bread crumbs
2 tsp dried Italian seasoning
2 tsp salt salt and 1/2 tsp ground pepper (1/2 for veggies, 1/2 for meat)
olive oil
1/4 cup ketchup (or catsup-- what is the difference?)


preheat oven to 400


spray a cupcake pan with vegetable spray lightly and set aside. (don't bother using paper or those foil cups-- they get all greasy and gross from the fat in the meat anyway)


in a medium pan on medium high heat, heat enough oil to coat the bottom of the pan. when oil is hot, saute the carrots, celery and onion together for 4-5 minutes. add salt, pepper, minced garlic, and saute until golden brown. deglaze the pan with the sherry, and set aside to cool.


in a medium sized bowl, whisk together egg, milk, Worcestershire sauce, bread crumbs, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper, add cooled veggies (hot veggies will scramble the egg-- not yummy) and stir. Add meat and mix quickly with your hands. don't over mix- which will make the mupcakes really tough, and not in the Roseanne Barr tuff on the outside, soft on the inside kind of way.


Using your fingers- fill the cupcake tins with the meat and veggie mixture and press down in the center of each with your thumb. the mixture should make exactly 12 little meat cakes. Paint some ketchup over the top of each little meat cake (just like mom would do), and bake for 20-25 minutes or until done through. (a meat thermometer should read 165 and no more)

While the meat cakes are cooking- work on your potatoes


Mashed potato "frosting"
6-8 large red potatoes, peeled, and cut into 6 pieces per half a potato
3 tablespoons prepared horseradish
4 ounces reduced fat cream cheese
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup skim milk
salt and pepper


starting with cold water and a generous amount of salt, boil the potatoes until they are fork tender. while the potatoes are cooking, add together rest of ingredients (except for salt and pepper) and microwave until hot and mixture is lump free. drain the potatoes, and mash the potatoes in a ricer (much smoother/less gummy), and add milk mixture. mix and season with salt and pepper. scoop the potatoes into a pastry bag- fitted with a large plain or star tip. (make sure there are no lumps- because seriously- i busted my bag wide open because i tried to make those potatoes submit to my will) pipe the potato onto the top of the little meat loafs as you would frosting. at this point you can stick them under the broiler for a minute or 2 for a little fancy, or just sprinkle on a little chopped chives, or a little fancy colored salt like i did- looked just like sprinkles! i used some fancy pink salt my older sister got me a while back.


serve and smile

Marble Cake with Cheater icing
I adapted the Joy of cooking's Buttermilk Layer cake for this.


a little extra butter and flour is needed for greasing pans
2 1/3 cups cake flour
4 tablespoons buttermilk powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter at room temp--- if your butter isn't at room temp-- just mix it with the paddle in the mixer for a couple extra minutes- starting on low- and moving to high for a couple minutes.
1 1/3 cups sugar
1 cup semi sweet morsels
1 cup skim milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two 9-inch cake pans and set aside. On top of some parchment paper (for easy mixing) Sift together the cake flour, buttermilk powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt; set aside. In a 2 cup measuring cup, whisk together the eggs, skim milk, vanilla and almond extract.

Using a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and on medium/high speed , beat the butter until creamy- adding a 1/3 cup of sugar at a time until the mixture is light yellow and really fluffy. once its all fluffy, alternate 1/3 of the liquid with 1/3 dry until well incorporated, but don't over mix!


Remove about 1/3 of the batter, and put in a medium bowl. in a microwave safe bowl, microwave the chocolate chips 10 seconds at a time and stirring in between until smooth. whisk in the chocolate into one of the bowls, and mix well.


Add vanilla batter to the pans 1/2 in each, an smooth over the batter in the pans. add chocolate in dollops over the top of the batter. using a butter knife, swirl in the chocolate batter with the vanilla batter, but don't over mix. you just want a marbled pattern.


Bake until light golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes, then unmold onto a rack and stick in the fridge to cool completely before frosting.

Cheater frosting
1 stick room temp butter (see above if cold)
1/3 cup unflavored Crisco (your guests will never know- and don't need to either)

1/4 tsp salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 drop almond extract
1-2 tablespoon/s milk

3/4 pound confectioners sugar

beat the butter and crisco together with a paddle attachment until smooth. replace paddle with the whisk attachment, and beat until fluffy. Add salt, vanilla and almond and mix well. turn the mixer to low, and add in confectioners sugar. add in milk until the mixture is smooth and pliable. turn the mixer to high, and beat for 2-4 minutes, or until the mixture is really fluffy. ice cake immediately.

v day icing overload

In honor of valentine's day, me and a couple friends went over to play Wii and experience the loving feelings of competition (wii boxing) and embarrassment over the game Boogie. Not unlike real, bonified, cupid -inspired love, the beginning parts were nervous and polite but ended up resulting in various members of the party pairing up and trash talking others.

Since it was a friend's birthday as well, i made some snacks to keep up our energy. Because i'm really weird- i didn't like the way the first icing turned out. the butter was slightly too cold- and it was grainy textured.... so i started over and ate some of the reject icing- which felt really great later when i was drinking off the v-day haze with friends and new friends. Note to self- do not mix sparks and reject icing. Let your roommates lick the beater.

Chocolate Cupcake Surprise with milk chocolate butter cream (2.0)
i used the joy of cooking recipe- with some changes in green. I think the caramel truffle addition really added something special to the cupcake. Even though it was valentines day, i only received 1 marriage proposal because of the cupcakes. significantly lower than my usual number, but I'll chalk it up to their nervousness from my extreme wii skills.

Cocoa Devil's Food Cake, from Joy of Cooking, 75th Anniversary edition © 2006
2 c sifted cake flour
1 tsp baking soda ( i used an extra 1/2 a teaspoon-- because I've had that box for a while. i don't really know if that's what you're supposed to do-- but i figured what harm could it do)
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 c sugar
1 c buttermilk or yogurt (I used buttermilk powder- and instead of 2 tbl to 1 c water- i used 3 tbl to 1 c water for an extra creaminess)
1/2 c non alkalized cocoa powder ( I used dutch process cocoa)
1 tsp vanilla ( i used 2 tsp vanilla)
1/2 c unsalted butter
2 large eggs ( i used organic eggs)
28 frozen caramel truffles or your favorite candy

Preheat oven to 350°F.
Whisk together in small bowl: cake flour, baking soda, and salt.
Whisk together in a separate bowl: 1 cup of sugar, buttermilk or yogurt, cocoa powder, and vanilla.
Beat butter in large bowl until creamy, about 30 seconds.Gradually add the other cup of sugar and beat on high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 to 5 minutes.
Beat in eggs, one at a time.
On low speed, add the flour mixture in 3 parts, alternating with the buttermilk mixture in 2 parts, beating until smooth and scraping the sides of the bowl with a spatula as necessary. Spoon into baking cups. Insert 1 frozen truffle into each cupcake and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Makes about 28 cupcakes.

Milk Chocolate Frosting
3 ounces melted good quality milk chocolate chips at room temp
2 sticks room temp butter
2 tsp vanilla- but i bet a nice liquor would be tasty too.
2 tbl whole milk
about 3/4 of a pound of powdered sugar
pinch salt

in a mixing bowl, whip the butter until its creamy and smooth. add melted chocolate, milk, salt and whip. With the beater on low, slowly add the powdered sugar. taste the icing frequently. depending on the kind of chocolate you use- it could go from yummy to cloying in an instant.




Easy white bean and garlic dip for a crowd
2 cans white cannelloni beans, drained and rinsed
1 lemon- zest ed and juiced
3 cloves garlic
1/4 cup good olive oil
2 tbl dried mint or 1/4 cup fresh mint, chopped finely chopped
salt and pepper
bag of your favorite corn chips or unseasoned pita chips-- i like the lightly salted variety.

put everything in a blender or food processor (except the chips) and blend. taste- adjust flavor if needed and serve. if it gets too thick- add a little water. This dip is equally nice with the addition of goat cheese, avocado, hot sauce, artichoke, peas or even roasted red peppers.

happy cooking. don't forget the bread.