I like to keep it pretty light and fluffy here on the blog but when I stumble across things like this I feel the need to speak up. Thank you www.feministing.com for bringing it to the public eye.
And if you live in Nevada, please don't vote for this moron:
Sharron Angle: You Can't Have An Abortion Because It's God's Plan You Were Raped
(link to article from www.feministing.com)
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Old-Fashioned Chocolate Cupcake with Coconut Buttercream Frosting
Hello cupcake lovers! I know that the deliciousness has been MIA the last week, but I do have an excuse, I got a wicked cold on top of my normal seasonal allergies that had me laying on the couch for a couple of days. I would have made cupcakes but I was afraid of:
a- passing out from standing for longer than 5 minutes
b- sneezing all over the cupcakes
Anywho, I got right back to it this weekend when I found the following tasty recipe from a cupcake blogger http://cupcakeblog.com the cupcake link here
I made a few adjustments. I used half the instant espresso powder and used unsweetened shredded coconut instead of flaked sweetened coconut. And, as *almost* always, I came out ahead by 3 cupcakes.
These cupcakes took approximately 2.5 hours from start to finish, cooling time included- not bad!
They were a big hit at work, everyone thought they tasted like a Mounds bar. Yum! The following is how I made them, use the link to see the original recipe.
350F oven, makes *27 cupcakes, or 24 that are slightly big
Old-Fashioned Chocolate Cupcakes
Add eggs, one at a time, beating 30 seconds after each addition.
Measure the flour, baking soda, salt, cocoa powder, and espresso powder into a medium sized bowl and whisk to combine.
Measure the milk and vanilla into a measuring cup (or anything else that will make it easy to pour in together.) Add about a third of the dry ingredients to the butter/sugar and beat to combine. Add about a half of the milk/vanilla and beat to combine. Continue adding, alternating between dry and wet and finishing with the dry.
Scoop batter into cupcake cups about 3/4’s full. Bake at 350 degrees for about 25-30 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.
Coconut Buttercream Frosting
1-1/2 sticks butter, room temperature
1/4 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups powdered sugar
1-1/2 cups coconut, shredded and unsweetened
Beat butter briefly, scrape bowl. Add the sifted powdered sugar and milk. Beat until smooth. Add coconut and mix until combined.
Top cooled cupcakes with coconut-buttercream frosting. Top with more cocoa powder (or forget to if you're like me...)
Once finished, go cuddle with darling puppy and make a mental note to sketch her silhouette some day to hang over your future mantle.
Did I mention that I recommend milk with the cupcakes?
Well I do.
Thanks to this weeks tester, you'll see her review below. I'll let her introduce herself.
a- passing out from standing for longer than 5 minutes
b- sneezing all over the cupcakes
Anywho, I got right back to it this weekend when I found the following tasty recipe from a cupcake blogger http://cupcakeblog.com the cupcake link here
I made a few adjustments. I used half the instant espresso powder and used unsweetened shredded coconut instead of flaked sweetened coconut. And, as *almost* always, I came out ahead by 3 cupcakes.
These cupcakes took approximately 2.5 hours from start to finish, cooling time included- not bad!
They were a big hit at work, everyone thought they tasted like a Mounds bar. Yum! The following is how I made them, use the link to see the original recipe.
350F oven, makes *27 cupcakes, or 24 that are slightly big
Old-Fashioned Chocolate Cupcakes
3/4 cup (1-1/2 sticks) unsalted butterBeat butter until softened. Add sugar and beat until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
2 cups unbleached flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup cocoa powdered
1 tablespoon instant espresso powder
1-1/2 cups milk
2 teaspoons vanilla
Add eggs, one at a time, beating 30 seconds after each addition.
Measure the flour, baking soda, salt, cocoa powder, and espresso powder into a medium sized bowl and whisk to combine.
Measure the milk and vanilla into a measuring cup (or anything else that will make it easy to pour in together.) Add about a third of the dry ingredients to the butter/sugar and beat to combine. Add about a half of the milk/vanilla and beat to combine. Continue adding, alternating between dry and wet and finishing with the dry.
Scoop batter into cupcake cups about 3/4’s full. Bake at 350 degrees for about 25-30 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.
Coconut Buttercream Frosting
1-1/2 sticks butter, room temperature
1/4 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups powdered sugar
1-1/2 cups coconut, shredded and unsweetened
Beat butter briefly, scrape bowl. Add the sifted powdered sugar and milk. Beat until smooth. Add coconut and mix until combined.
Top cooled cupcakes with coconut-buttercream frosting. Top with more cocoa powder (or forget to if you're like me...)
Once finished, go cuddle with darling puppy and make a mental note to sketch her silhouette some day to hang over your future mantle.
Did I mention that I recommend milk with the cupcakes?
Well I do.
Thanks to this weeks tester, you'll see her review below. I'll let her introduce herself.
Home, home on the range
My Grandmother has informed me that I am not supposed to call home "home" anymore since I am now married. She says it's an insult to my husband.
But what if my husband likes it *almost* as much as I do?
Yesterday we went home. For a day. For my Dad and older, temporarily crippled brother David (seen above, I'll let you guess which one) to look at my car and tell me that I need a new alternator. And for Mr. T to fix Mom's computer.
You may think that is a very illogical way of getting things taken care of but hundreds of dollars were saved by Mr. T and I and my Mom, by us driving home for the day. Even if it did mean that Mr. T and I slept until 11 today after getting home at 3ish this morning. It also meant swimming in my Dad's pool (not in that gorgeous lake you see above) and eating the best broccoli I have ever tasted in my life. And I love broccoli.
It also meant Bretta got to spend the day with her BFF Jasper, you remember him from my last one day trip home. I didn't take any pictures, but here's one of B meeting her long lost twin for the first time. She seemed a little confused.
Don't you see the resemblance?
Sunday, June 6, 2010
50/50 Cupcakes: AKA Orange Cupcakes with Vanilla Frosting
As it started heating up here in Sonoma I was reminded of the 50/50 bars my Mom used to buy in a gigantic bag that seemed to take up half of our freezer. They are a perfect summer treat, orange sherbert on the outside and sweet vanilla ice cream on the inside. Now obviously a cupcake isn't going to be as refreshing as a popsicle (or is it?) but once I settle on a flavor combination there's no turning back. So I scoured the internet and was surprised to find quite a few listings for the very combination I was looking for. Sidenote- a ton of listings for Orange Vanilla but barely any for the Lemon Raspberry cupcakes I made a few months back. Strange, no?
After reading through a few posts, and their comments I settled on this delicious sounding recipe from www.chow.com. It sounded like just the recipe to bring my 50/50 cupcake to life.
Orange Vanilla Cupcakes
Yield: 24 Cupcakes (really!)
Ingredients for both the cupcakes and the frosting:
To make the cupcakes:
In a small bowl, combine the flours and set aside. In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter until smooth. Add the sugar and zest gradually and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the dry ingredients in three parts, alternating with the orange juice and vanilla. With each addition, beat until the ingredients are incorporated but do not overbeat. Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the batter in the bowl to make sure the ingredients are well blended.
Carefully spoon the batter into the cupcake liners, filling them about three-quarters full. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the center of the cupcake comes out clean. Cool the cupcakes in the tins for 15 minutes. Remove from the tins and cool completely on a wire rack before icing.
After reading through a few posts, and their comments I settled on this delicious sounding recipe from www.chow.com. It sounded like just the recipe to bring my 50/50 cupcake to life.
Yield: 24 Cupcakes (really!)
Ingredients for both the cupcakes and the frosting:
- 1½ cups self-rising flour
- 1¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 tablespoon freshly grated orange zest
- 4 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 cup orange juice (use a variety without pulp)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
To make the cupcakes:
In a small bowl, combine the flours and set aside. In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter until smooth. Add the sugar and zest gradually and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the dry ingredients in three parts, alternating with the orange juice and vanilla. With each addition, beat until the ingredients are incorporated but do not overbeat. Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the batter in the bowl to make sure the ingredients are well blended.
Carefully spoon the batter into the cupcake liners, filling them about three-quarters full. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the center of the cupcake comes out clean. Cool the cupcakes in the tins for 15 minutes. Remove from the tins and cool completely on a wire rack before icing.
To make the icing:
In a medium-size saucepan, whisk the flour into the milk until smooth. Place over medium heat and cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture becomes very thick and begins to bubble, 8 to 10 minutes. Make sure that you stir constantly, otherwise you'll get a weird milky film in your pan. Yuck
Cover with waxed paper placed directly on the surface, and cool to room temperature, about 30 minutes.
At this point, this is the most high-maintenance frosting I've made yet and I'm hoping that it's going to be the best tasting.....
In a large bowl, on the medium-high speed of an electric mixer, beat the butter for 3 minutes, until smooth and creamy. Gradually add the sugar, beating continuously, and mix until fluffy, for 3 minutes. Add the vanilla and beat well. Add the cooled milk mixture, and beat for 5 minutes, until very smooth and noticeably whiter in color. Cover and refrigerate for 15 minutes (no less and no longer—set a timer!). Use immediately to frost the cupcakes. The original recipe calls for shredded coconut as garnish at this point which I chose not to add.
The frosting did not mix together well, as you may be able to tell from the picture of the frosted cupcake above. After all the effort put into the frosting I was pretty disappointed with the results. The cupcake itself was fabulous but I will definitely be using a different frosting recipe if I make these in the future. All in all the usual taste testers (people at my day job) thought they tasted fine.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
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