I’ve had a fairly long & happy relationship with this book. My friend Xenia first told me about it almost two years ago, and I bought it mainly for the Dr. Pepper cake she mentioned. But there were so many other recipes that jumped out at me that I never even made that cake. Also, the book is filled with some of the most charming family stories/anecdotes I’ve ever read. I’ve made a few things out of the book (two types of cookies, maple syrup pie, lemon ice cream) and all were wildly successful, but my one attempt at a pecan pie was a major fail. However, as usual, I remain undaunted. And why not? Pineapple pie is not pecan pie and one failure does not mean I can never make a good pie ever again. Plus, like I said, I have made quite a few successful desserts from recipes out of this book. I can’t judge all the pies in it on just one failure that was probably my fault somehow anyway. So on that note, I decided I’d make my mom the pineapple pie for Mother’s Day and hope for the best. I crossed my fingers and toes with this one- first off, I was still a bit scared since my last pie attempt, and two, I never ever bake with pineapple or even eat it, so I was a bit unsure of the results. As you can see below, I didn’t need to be.

It’s a real shame I don’t like pineapple, because this pie looked and smelled amazing. I’m including a Martha pie crust recipe, but you can use any one you like. For this pie, you only need one crust though, so be sure to halve it unless you want to use the extra crust for cutting out shapes, etc. Which would be super cute, actually.

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PIE CRUST (from Martha Stewart)

Makes 2 9-inch pie crusts

Ingredients:

PINEAPPLE PIE (from Sweets: Soul Food Desserts & Memories by Patty Pinner)

Ingredients:

• 1 9″ pie crust, ready to go
• 1 20-oz. can crushed pineapple, drained
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 3 eggs, lightly beaten
• 3 tablespoons sour cream
• ½ cup evaporated milk
• ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350˚ F. Prepare the pastry for a 9″-inch single-crust pie. Set it aside.
2. In a bowl, cream together the sugar and butter. Add the eggs and mix well. In another bowl, combine the flour, salt and nutmeg. Add to the sugar mixture and mix well.
3. Stir in the drained pineapple, milk, sour cream and vanilla extract. Pour the filling into the prepared pie crust. Bake for 45 minutes, or until the pie is lightly browned.
4. Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack. Serve warm or cold.

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Ignore the messed up edges, there. Please. For the love of all things pastry. Just focus on the filling, or the all-around effect of the pie. Hah.

…

Pineapple is actually an anti-inflammatory food, too. Of course I don’t know if the sugar & everything else in the pie helps with that, so you might wanna just eat pineapple alone if that’s something of interest to you. The rest of you can just eat the pie. Oh- and see? I got my clear Pyrex pie dish. Now I’ve got the classic pie plate to go with my fancy shmancy ones. Don’t think this is the end, though. There are more in my future. I have tons of pie plates and cake stands on various wishlists all over the interwebs.

On that note, this Mother’s Day was a little hard for me; it’s the first without my Nana. I still miss her everyday, and I know my mom does too. I also know, or rather I don’t know but I can imagine, that the first Mother’s Day without your mom must be a straight up shit day, even if you are a mom to the coolest person alive (me- hello?). So I hope she got a lot of enjoyment out of having that entire pie to herself. No sharing. Just her, a pineapple pie, a fork & some whipped cream. Yes, a pie is just a pie. A pie can’t change the world, or bring back a dead loved one. But a pie can bring happiness, even if only briefly, and so I hope that that’s what my pineapple pie did. I always hope that’s what my baked goods do. If I can make someone smile with a cookie, or a cupcake, or a jar of homemade jam… then I’ll take it. It’s better than making someone cry. Although I can do that really well, too, it’s not something I’m always proud of. I’d much rather make someone happy. But it does depend on the person/situation *wink*

And before I go, let me just wish a happy mama’s day to all those amazing mamas I know; you’re all phenomenal & I hope you have a beautiful day. And most important, I want to say a big thank you to my mom, and all the strong/independent/crazy women who came before me, who were the mom’s of the family long before my mom came along, all of whom contributed to my DNA and therefore made me who I am today. Which is a pretty awesome person, if I do say so myself. Happy Mother’s Day.

…

I don’t know if you remember, but I made another version of this pie back in December. That was the “winter” version; cranberries & cinnamon. This, however, is the summer version. Inspired by this.

Yes, sometimes I keep my lemons in a mortar & pestle…

…

And also inspired by MCA’s lyric in one of my favorite Beastie Boys’ songs, “No Sleep ‘Till Brooklyn“; “Like a lemon to a lime, a lime to a lemon, I sip the def ale with all the fine women.” As you probably know, MCA a.k.a. Adam Yauch passed away on May 4th. The Beastie Boys were always a favorite of mine, and they play a big role for me in the soundtrack of my life. I’ve got some awesome memories that match up with songs off more than just one of their albums, and some of the songs are just sentimental favorites. I think that’s the one thing that is comforting about “famous” people passing, whether it’s John Lennon or Johnny Cash or Kurt Cobain or Mozart or Adam Yauch- the fact that they never really die. The music lives on in our memories and on records and CD’s and iTunes forever. As far as my computer is concerned, The Beatles are all alive & kicking, just like it’s 1965. But it made me really sad to hear MCA died for a lot of reasons, not the least of which is that he was only 47 years old, and that he left a 14-year-old daughter. Fucking cancer. The older I get, the more I realize how young 47 is, and just how much cancer really bites the big one.

Anyway, I was listening to some Beastie Boys songs, I knew I was going to bake something up, then I heard that lyric & saw the bowl of lemons, and I got an idea. Plus, add the fact that I was going to make something for my dad, and he loves blueberries… I came up with this idea of altering the infamous crustless cranberry pie into a more summery dish. Whereas last time this pie was made with cranberries & cinnamon, blueberries & lemon zest are the two main players this time, along with the sliced almonds. You can add a bit of lemon extract just to boost the flavor, but it’s not 100% necessary (I didn’t). You could also add lime zest too, if you really like that particular lyric. Another option would to be to dollop some lemon curd on top of it over the streusel before baking. It’ll brown and bubble up and get all creamy warm, like a lemon custard. Or, you can swirl some lemon curd in it before baking, or just serve it with some lemon curd & cream. It’s not really a pie. It’s not just a cake. It’s more like a coffee cake, or cobbler. And so, a new version was born. It doesn’t really have anything to do with the Beastie Boys, but it’s just inspired by a lyric. It’s not like I wanted to create a literal interpretation of B-Boy Bouillabaisse. Although, shit. That would’ve been a great idea.

Like a lemon to a blueberry, a blueberry to a lemon, I eat the def pie with all the fine women.

Listen, I’m not a lyricist. I bake.

…

As you can see, streusel hates me. It always melts down into nothing. Oh well.

And just in case you’re wondering, I got that pie plate for a whopping $2.50 after Thanksgiving at Michael’s. I love the color (goes especially great with blueberries) & the large ruffle around the edge. I think collecting pie plates might be my new “thing.” I’ve only got three so far (this one, a pink one and one that was my mom’s that has a recipe for apple pie on it), but next on my list is a regular old Pyrex clear glass one. I’ve heard they’re the best for baking pies with a crust. Emile Henry makes some really nice decorative ones. Do you have a favorite pie plate?

Sorry, I got off-track there for a bit. Let’s get back to the goods.

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MCA’S “LIKE A LEMON TO A BLUEBERRY” CRUSTLESS PIE (altered from the original cranberry-based recipe which was from All Recipes, also with alterations)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour plus 2 tablespoons set aside for topping
• 1 cup white sugar
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup whole fresh blueberries (or whole frozen)
• ½ cup sliced almonds, divided, half set aside for topping
• ⅓ cup light brown sugar
• zest of one whole lemon
• ½ cup butter, melted, plus 2 tablespoons butter just softened, set aside for topping
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• ¾ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• drop of lemon extract (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350° degrees F. Grease one 9″-inch pie pan (or 8″ x 8″ glass baking dish).
2. Combine the 1 cup flour, white sugar, lemon zest and salt. Stir in the blueberries and half the almonds, and toss to coat. Stir in the ½ cup melted butter, beaten eggs, vanilla and lemon extracts. If you are using frozen berries, the mixture will be very thick. Spread the batter into the prepared pan.
3. In a small bowl, mix the 2 tablespoons flour, 2 tablespoons softened butter & light brown sugar together to make a streusel-like topping. Sprinkle mixture on top of pie. Sprinkle remaining ¼ cup almonds on top of that, or arrange neatly if that’s your bag.
4. Bake at 350° degrees F for 40 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted near the center comes out clean.

…

The coolest thing about this ‘pie’ is exactly the fact that it’s not really a pie. It’s called a ‘crustless pie’ but you can call it anything you want. It’s like a zombie-pie-cobbler-coffee-cake. It doesn’t even require a pie crust! But even cooler than that- you can eat it any time of day. Because of the fruit-y aspect & the nuts, you can eat a slice for breakfast just as easily as for dessert (with some whipped cream or ice cream). And depending on how you make it, you might make it more breakfast-y or more dessert-y. Use whole wheat flour or add some oats for a totally different spin. And another amazing thing? You can use any fruit or berries in it, any kind of nuts, any kind of extract and zest.

Some other ideas include:

• Blackberries & raspberries with almonds
• Chopped strawberries with lemon zest & sliced strawberries & almonds arranged on top before baking
  
• Peach slices with vanilla beans & chopped pecans
• Chopped pineapple with Macadamia nuts & orange zest
  
• Cranberries with cinnamon, walnuts & steel cut oats
• Mango with flaked coconut, coconut extract, lime zest & pine nuts
• Dried cherries with dark & white chocolate chips & walnuts
• Banana slices with chocolate chips
• Raisins & golden raisins with cinnamon, nutmeg, chopped walnuts & steel cut oats- “Oatmeal cookie pie”
• Chocolate chunks with chopped hazelnuts & marshmallows (minus the streusel)- “Rocky Road pie”
  

Of course, some of those aren’t 100% seasonally appropriate right now, but that’s up to you. You could even mix some marmalade in with the batter, then top it with some chopped or sliced nuts, then brush it with more marmalade right out of the oven (so it gets all melty like a glaze) and make a sort of marmalade-pie-cobbler-whatever. Honestly, it’s so easy, and it’s so easy to change it up that you can totally do anything with it. You can tinker with it ’till your hearts content. Plus, it’s basically the perfect last-minute picnic or barbecue dessert. It takes no time to make,  doesn’t even require a mixer, travels well & a trained monkey could do it. Or someone who’s been drinking some Brass Monkey. Whatever. It’s easy, trust me. Blast some Ill Communication and get on that shit!

Rest in peace, Adam.

“He who sees the end from the beginning of time
Looking forward through all the ages:
Is, was, and always shall be.”

“B-Boy Bouillabaisse (A Year And A Day),” Paul’s Boutique

No, not actual potatoes. They’re candy! Little candies made from coconut & cream cheese & rolled in cinnamon. Nope, they are not cupcakes. But you know what? Screw it! I always make cupcakes! This year I’m makin’ me some pertaters! Ireland & potatoes go together like peanut butter & jelly.

The potato was introduced to Ireland as a garden crop of the gentry. By the late 17th century, it had become widespread as a supplementary rather than a principal food, as the main diet still revolved around butter, milk, and grain products. In the first two decades of the 18th century, however, it became a base food of the poor, especially in winter.^[23] The expansion of the economy between 1760 and 1815 saw the potato make inroads in the diet of the people and became a staple food all the year round for farmers.^[24] The large dependency on this single crop was one of the reasons why the emergence of Phytophthora infestans had such devastating effects in Ireland, and had far less effects in other European countries (which were also hit by the fungus).^[25]

The potato’s spread was essential to the development of the cottier system, delivering an extremely cheap workforce, but at the cost of lower living standards. For the labourer, it was essentially a potato wage that shaped the expanding agrarian economy.^[24]

In 1844, Irish newspapers carried reports concerning a disease which for two years had attacked the potato crops in America.^[30] According to James Donnelly, a likely source was the eastern United States, where in 1843 and 1844 blight largely destroyed the potato crops. He suggests that ships from Baltimore, Philadelphia or New York could have brought diseased potatoes to European ports.^[35] W.C. Paddock suggests that it was transported on potatoes being carried to feed passengers on clipper ships sailing from America to Ireland.^[31]

Once it was introduced, it spread rapidly. By late summer and early autumn of 1845, it had spread throughout the greater part of northern and central Europe. Belgium, Holland, northern France and southern England by mid-August had all been stricken.^[36]

In Ireland, the Great Famine was a period of mass starvation, disease and emigration between 1845 and 1852.^[1] It is also known, mostly outside Ireland, as the Irish Potato Famine.^[2] In the Irish language it is called an Gorta Mór (IPA: [ənˠ ˈɡɔɾˠtˠə ˈmˠoːɾˠ], meaning “the Great Hunger”)^{[fn 1]} or an Drochshaol ([ənˠ ˈdˠɾɔxˌhiːlˠ], meaning “the bad times”).

During the famine approximately 1 million people died and a million more emigrated from Ireland,^[3] causing the island’s population to fall by between 20% and 25%.^[4] The proximate cause of famine was a potato disease commonly known as potato blight.^[5] Although blight ravaged potato crops throughout Europe during the 1840s, the impact and human cost in Ireland – where one-third of the population was entirely dependent on the potato for food – was exacerbated by a host of political, social and economic factors which remain the subject of historical debate.^[6][7]

The famine was a watershed in the history of Ireland.^[8] Its effects permanently changed the island’s demographic, political and cultural landscape. For both the native Irish and those in the resulting diaspora, the famine entered folk memory^{[fn 2]} and became a rallying point for various nationalist movements as Ireland was then part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Modern historians regard it as a dividing line in the Irish historical narrative, referring to the preceding period of Irish history as “pre-Famine”.

The band Black 47 takes their name from the worst year of the famine, 1847. It was a very serious thing & there isn’t much to joke about. But the fact that Ireland bounced back (granted there were huge migrations to other countries as well) is a testament to their strength. Not to mention a reason to celebrate Ireland! It’s no surprise after reading that that potatoes & Ireland are so intertwined, though, is it?

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My grandma always used to order them from an Irish gift company every St. Patrick’s Day. These are the ones she used to order; they’re O’Ryan’s. They’re so delicious, and unexpected. I searched around for recipes & I found one I liked at bakedbree.com. Most of the recipes are similar if not the same, so you can’t really go wrong. Really you can just mix some cream cheese, butter, coconut, vanilla & confectioner’s sugar until it’s the right consistency and go from there without a recipe if you want. They’re just like little truffles.

IRISH POTATOES (COURTESY OF BAKEDBREE.COM)

Ingredients:

• ½ stick of butter softened
• ½ brick of cream cheese softened (4 oz.)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 cups confectioners sugar
• 2 ½ cups sweetened shredded coconut
• 2 tablespoons cinnamon

Directions:

1. Beat together butter and cream cheese. Slowly add the confectioners sugar.
2. Add the vanilla, then the coconut and mix until combined.
3. You may want to chill the coconut mixture a little before you roll them. I like to use a small ice cream scoop. These are really rich, so you want them to be small.
4. Roll the coconut mixture into a ball. Then roll the coconut mixture into the cinnamon and put on a parchment lined baking sheet. Keep the finished Irish Potatoes in the fridge.

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And there you have it. Totally easy, totally fun and really yummy. Great to make with kids, too. Since they have to be kept in the fridge, I decided to put them in a jar for storage. Glass keeps out odor & moisture better than plastic, anyway. Plus it doesn’t impart nasty old flavors from previous things that have been stored in it. So I used a flip-top jar to keep my potatoes nice & cold. I really suggest you get some glass jars for storage if you don’t already have them. Way better for you than plastic.

On that note, enjoy, and Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

“Only two things in this world are too serious to be jested on, potatoes and matrimony.”
(Irish saying)

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Typical, yes. But adorable, and delicious, and super simple to re-create (I used Wilton’s shamrock cutter). It really is. ‘Cause Lord knows I am not the best cookie maker in the world. Cupcakes are my thang. But yet these managed to come out looking spiffy, right? You wanna get the recipe, right? Okay but first, didn’t you ever wonder what exactly the deal is with the Irish & their shamrocks?

The shamrock, a four-leaf clover, is a special symbol in Ireland because of its emerald green color that may have earned for Ireland the label “Emerald Isle.” The country prides itself on its abundant green fields. The verdant color represents spring and the essence of life. Superstitions abound about the four-leaf clover because this kind of clover is considered rare or hard to find. A common clover has three leaves only; and its shape resembles a solar cross that ancient men used as a compass.

According to Irish belief, the origin of this object of superstition can be attributed to the Druid priests of old England. The Druids performed healing and worshipping rites in oak trees in the forests where they encountered a four-leaf clover. They initiated the superstition that bearers of this type of clover will be able to open their third eye by reciting incantations, and curing people of their illnesses.

Prior to this discovery, the ordinary clover (with three leaves) had already been declared by St. Patrick as a wonder plant. Born in the 4^th century, St. Patrick was responsible for the establishment of Christianity in Ireland. The saint is also believed to be responsible for preventing snakes from inhabiting the Irish territory. He talked to the Druids and replaced their pagan beliefs with Christian teachings. St. Patrick also introduced to the Druids the shamrock as a representation of the Holy Trinity—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit—united as one flesh because the clover has three leaves linked as one.

The shamrock is still a popular talisman today and a charm for good luck. It is believed that anyone who possesses it will be blessed with luck in anything, even in gambling, and will be saved from the evil effects of witchcraft and sorcery. There are certain conditions, though, for its power to remain effective: the owner of the shamrock must keep it handy and away from the public eye and never give it to someone else. Graves often have carvings of the clover image to serve as protection.

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GREEN SHAMROCK SUGAR COOKIES

Ingredients:

• 2 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
• ¾ tsp. baking soda
• ½ tsp. salt
• 1 cup butter at room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract (or almond, if you prefer)
• Green food coloring

Directions:

1. Measure the flour, baking soda and salt into a medium-sized bowl. Stir well and set aside.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar for about 1 minute. Add the egg and vanilla extract and mix until well combined.
3. Gradually add the flour mixture to the butter and sugar, mixing well after each addition. The dough should be stiff.
4. Add green food coloring to the batter*. Knead the dough until the color is evenly distributed, but do not overbeat.
5. Gather the dough into a ball, flatten into disk beginning at the edge of the dough and working toward the center. Cover with plastic and chill for at least 2 hours or overnight.
6. Preheat the oven to 350° F. Unwrap the dough; place one half on a large piece of plastic wrap, cover with another piece of plastic wrap and then roll until it is ¼”-inch thick. Lift off the top sheet of plastic wrap and cut out shamrocks. Keep re-rolling the dough to utilize all your scraps.
7. Place each shamrock on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, about ½”-1″ apart. Bake for 8 minutes or until the edges begin to lightly brown. Remove to a rack to cool completely before dipping in the almond bark.

*Depending on the type you use, the amount varies. Liquid food coloring may require 2-3 drops, whereas Americolor or Wilton gel colors will require only a tiny amount. I chose to make mine a pale green, but making them bolder would be awesome too, as would making them “marbled”- all you have to do is either split the dough in half & only color one half, then roll them together, or just be sure to not incorporate the food coloring completely.

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Now the fun part! You may be thinking, “wait, you mean all that wasn’t the fun part?” Well no it wasn’t. THIS is the fun part. The dipping!

Like I said I used Log House almond bark, which is just basically vanilla-flavored non-cocoa candy coating made with vegetable fats, but you can use anything you like. White chocolate, dark chocolate, green Candy melts, whatever. Melt it according to the directions (I used my brand spankin’ new Wilton Chocolate Pro that Jay got me for Christmas, but a double boiler or even a microwave works too) and dip, dip, dip. Any angle you want. Have a bowl or a shaker of sprinkles handy, if you’re using them, and a baking sheet or counter lined with parchment. After you dip in the almond bark (or whatever), then dip in the sprinkles right away, then place on the parchment to dry.

I apologize for the supreme lack of good photographs in this post. But I’m going to be honest: number one- I was having difficulty translating the adorable factor via camera, and two- I wanted to eat them. See, I’m a big fan of sugar cookies myself. I like how they’re soft & can go in whichever direction & however you want them to, because they’re easily decorated & colored & even flavored. I mean, is there anything you CAN’T do with sugar cookies? No. Except maybe use them to pay for goods at the mall. But otherwise, they’re perfect. Use a cherry or chocolate frosting, use no frosting, use almond, peppermint, anise or even
lemon extract in ‘em. So versatile.

And these would work just fine using round cookie cutters (or even hearts or scalloped flowery ones) too. Between the color of the dough & the shamrock sprinkles, I think you’d be good; they’d get the picture!

]]> http://cupcakerehab.com/2012/03/sham-rockin-all-over-the-damn-place/feed/ 2 http://cupcakerehab.com/2012/02/simply-put-i-love-you/ http://cupcakerehab.com/2012/02/simply-put-i-love-you/#comments Mon, 13 Feb 2012 18:50:40 +0000 Marilla @ Cupcake Rehab http://cupcakerehab.com/?p=19022 And sometimes that’s all you need to say.

But make sure you say it with a cupcake.







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These are vanilla cake (Crumbs’ recipe) topped with a delicious chocolate sour cream frosting (Sprinkles’ recipe) made with 90% chocolate. Funny thing about that chocolate. A few weeks ago, me & Jay were out shopping & we saw that the Lindt store in our mall was closing. Ever since Jay went to Switzerland with his band in August, he’s been a fan of Swiss chocolate (thanks to me, who requested he bring me back some in the first place!) and Lindt is the most popular brand. Although I will say the chocolate he brought back from Europe tasted much better than the Lindt you buy here, I still like American Lindt. Same thing with Cadbury- when I go & buy the imported Cadbury chocolates, they’re so much better than the American version made by Hershey’s. Anyway, all of the chocolate in this Lindt store was 50% off, from the huge bittersweet bars to the little tiny milk chocolate bars. Needless to say, Jay went a bit cocoa- looney and purchased about $50.00 worth of chocolate (the full price would’ve been over $90.00) in a variety of flavors: dark chocolate mint, white chocolate with coconut, dark chocolate sea salt caramel, Mozartkuglen, bittersweet chocolate, milk chocolate, etc. And of course, he bought a ton of crazy dark chocolate: 50%, 65%, 70% and 90%. Jay really likes dark chocolate, you see. However, this high percentage dark chocolate was more like baking chocolate. There was no sweetness about it. Excellent quality, yes, but way too bitter & chalky.

So I got to steal all those bars to bake with! And chocolate is love, right? Or at least it mimics the feeling of being in love, thanks to compounds like phenylethylamine.


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So that’s how these cupcakes were born. I had some 90% Lindt chocolate I was looking to use up, I found a new (to me) frosting recipe, and I had all these white chocolate chips. I piped the frosting on with nothing but a disposable pastry bag (no tip) then used an offset spatula to smooth it out. Why, I don’t know, because I just ended up covering up my neat-o frosting job with chips & sprinkles. Best frosting ever, by the way; not sure if it was the Lindt or the recipe… but wow. Oh! And let me take a minute to say I used a small batch of homemade buttermilk that I keep in a little Ball® jar in my fridge to make the cupcakes, and I’ll never use anything else again. Who’da thunk that a homemade not-even-real version of buttermilk would make the cakes taste so much better than store bought buttermilk? Hm.

SPRINKLES’ DARK CHOCOLATE FROSTING

Makes enough to frost 2 dozen cupcakes, can be halved

Ingredients:

• 10 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
• 1 pound unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 pound plus 8 ounces powdered sugar
• ⅛ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• ½ cup sour cream

Directions:

1. Melt and cool chocolate (until just slightly warm). Beat butter until light and fluffy.
2. With mixer on low speed, gradually add powdered sugar. Add salt, vanilla and sour cream and mix until very smooth.
3. Add chocolate and mix until just incorporated.

*Don’t over-whip and add too much air into the frosting. The consistency should be rich and dense, like ice cream!

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Happy Valentine’s Day.



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]]> http://cupcakerehab.com/2012/02/simply-put-i-love-you/feed/ 2 http://cupcakerehab.com/2012/02/queen-of-hearts-linzer-tarts/ http://cupcakerehab.com/2012/02/queen-of-hearts-linzer-tarts/#comments Fri, 10 Feb 2012 05:20:24 +0000 Marilla @ Cupcake Rehab http://cupcakerehab.com/?p=18706
All I kept thinking of when I saw these Linzer cookies on a white plate was the Queen of Hearts.

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I’m sure by now you’ve noticed the fairy tale theme, right? Snow White, the Twelve Dancing Princesses, now the Queen of Hearts? If you haven’t noticed, what do I have to do, beat you over the head with my 800+ page volume of the collected works of the Brothers Grimm? Anyway… the Queen of Hearts poem above was supposedly in reference to the motif, or rather the suit, of hearts in playing cards; the character had been subject of songs & poems long before Lewis Carroll used her for his stories (although there is an extension of the above poem that includes characters from each suit- i.e., “The King of Spades flirts with maids”, etc, and why they never gained popularity I don’t know). Lewis Carroll’s Queen of Hearts (from Alice in Wonderland) has been interpreted many different ways. Disney’s popular red-faced fat woman & Tim Burton’s short squat big-headed version are just two of the many, many variations. Contrary to popular belief, she is not the same person as the Red Queen from Through The Looking Glass. She’s her own person, the embodiment of passion & fury. It used to be that the Queen was represented in a more flattering way, but even still, before Disney & Burton there were versions of her that weren’t so pretty. Some of my favorites are:



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Although Lewis Carroll’s particular version of the Queen didn’t bake any tarts, unlike the poem’s version, she just bitched & moaned about her red roses being white roses painted red. At any rate, the original Queen of Hearts baked some tarts, and in many illustrations they were heart-shaped, so these cookies or “tarts” made me think of that right away. Of course, it’s not the real version, as it goes with most baked goods we’re familiar with:

The Linzer Torte (or Linzertorte) is an Austrian torte with a lattice design on top of the pastry.^[1] It is named after the city of Linz, Austria.

Linzer Torte is a very short, crumbly pastry made of flour, unsalted butter, egg yolks, lemon zest, cinnamon and lemon juice, and ground nuts, usually hazelnuts, but even walnuts or almonds are used, covered with a filling of redcurrant jam or, alternatively, plum butter, thick raspberry,^[2] or apricot jam. It is covered by a lattice of dough strips. The dough is rolled out in very thin strips of pastry and arranged to form a criss-cross design on top of the preserves. The pastry is brushed with lightly beaten egg whites, baked, and sometimes decorated with sliced almonds.

Linzer Torte is a holiday classic in the Austrian, Hungarian, Swiss, German, and Tirolean traditions, often eaten at Christmas. Linzer Torte is often made like small tarts or cookies in North American bakeries.

Linzer sablés (German: Linzer Augen, “Linzer eyes”) are a cookie-sized version, made by cutting a circle of a similar dough, covering it with jam, placing a donut-like circle with a hole in the center piece of dough on top, and dusting with confectioner’s sugar.

I used a heart-shaped cutter, obviously, but you can use whatever shapes you want; hearts, stars, circles, diamonds, flowers, etc. Even just circles will work.







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LINZER COOKIES- THE CUPCAKE REHAB WAY


Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour (or one cup all-purpose and one cup almond flour)
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• ¼ cup powdered (confectioners or icing) sugar
• ¼ cup granulated sugar
• ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• ½ teaspoon pure almond extract (or ¼ teaspoon if using almond flour)
• Preserves for filling (raspberry, strawberry or quince work nicely, I also used candy apple- can be jelly, jam or thick preserves) or if you prefer, Nutella or a thick chocolate sauce

Directions:

1. In a separate bowl whisk the flour with the salt. Set aside.
2. In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), cream the butter until smooth (about 1 minute). Add the sugar and beat until smooth (about 2 minutes). Beat in the vanilla & almond extracts. Gently mix in the flour mixture just until incorporated. Flatten the dough into a disk shape, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill the dough for at least an hour.
3. Preheat oven to 350° degrees F with the rack in the middle of the oven. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
4. On a lightly floured surface roll out the dough to around ¼”- inch thick. Cut into rounds or whatever shapes you wish using lightly floured cookie cutter, cutting out smaller shapes from the centers of some. Re-roll & re-cut all the scraps until finished. Place the cookies on the prepared baking sheet and place in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes. This will firm up the dough so the cookies will maintain their shape when baked. Bake for 8 – 10 minutes, or until cookies are lightly brown. Cool on baking sheet for 10 minutes, then gently move to rack to cool completely.
5. Once cooled, spread preserves or jam or jelly on top of the “bottom” pieces, or “whole” pieces, going almost to the edge. Place the “window” or cut-out pieces on top, being careful not to press too hard or break them. Use the cut-out shapes as extra cookies, or “glue” them on top with a little bit of jam as I did. Or, “glue” them on before baking using a dab of water. Then sprinkle all cookies lightly with confectioner’s sugar.

Psst.. if the sugar on the jelly part bothers you, here’s a secret: it disappears after a while, and all that’s left is the sugar on the cookie. Like magic.

Oh and I should warn you. THIS IS A SHORTBREAD DOUGH. Therefore, it is very delicate. It will break if you move them too fast. They have to be thoroughly cooled and even then, if you make large cookies & don’t support them as you move them, they will break. Be aware. Example:

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You know The Island of Misfit Toys? That’s the island of broken cookies. Oh well. They tasted just as good. Lesson learned; don’t watch TV while making cookies. Stick with the music. Although they made a good excuse to snack on some while putting the rest of them together. And don’t worry if your top pieces are a bit differently shaped than the bottom, they look great anyway, trust me.

I used Wilton heart-shaped cutters that came four to a box; two smooth edged red heart cutters, and two scalloped edge heart cutters. I got them at Target, they were around 5 bucks I think. They’re quite large, about 4-5″ across for the biggest one, so I got less cookies out of the recipe. If you have small cutters, then you’ll get far more. Duh. I happen to think they’re amazing because they’re so much bigger than normal. I want to make some heart-shaped homemade pop-tarts with them next.

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Everybody thinks of them as Christmas cookies, but once they’re done in heart-shapes they become perfect for Valentine’s Day. So easy, so pretty. I used homemade (of course) strawberry jam (the dark red) & homemade candy apple jelly (the lighter color), but anything goes. For this time of year though, the heart-theme with the red colored filling is nice, but lemon curd also works nicely, as does apricot jam or jelly. And for St. Patrick’s Day, what else but shamrock-shaped cookies filled with bright green, glistening mint jelly? Actually that’s a really good idea…

Anyway, they’re great to package up (gently) and give to someone special. But if anyone takes or eats your cookies without asking, off with their heads!

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]]> http://cupcakerehab.com/2012/02/queen-of-hearts-linzer-tarts/feed/ 6 http://cupcakerehab.com/2012/01/opium-cakes/ http://cupcakerehab.com/2012/01/opium-cakes/#comments Sun, 22 Jan 2012 15:30:41 +0000 Marilla @ Cupcake Rehab http://cupcakerehab.com/?p=18109 Opium den images courtesy of Retronaut

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Opium used to be the big drug back in the day. I guess it was the crystal meth of the time, around the turn of the century/1920′s. It contains something like 12% morphine, and codeine & hydrocodone are derivatives of the same family of drug- hence the name opiates. It’s serious stuff. Laudanum was made from opium & alcohol & was used to treat a variety of stomach ailments fairly regularly back then. But in modern times, all we know about it is what we read from an Edgar Allan Poe story or William S. Burrough’s novels, not to mention glib pop culture references. We all remember that Seinfeld episode where Elaine’s urine test comes back positive for opium because she ate a poppy seed bagel, right? I always thought such a thing couldn’t happen, unless you eat 1,000,000 poppy seed bagels in one day. But I was wrong: eating poppy seed muffins, cakes or bagels can indeed land you in a heap of trouble. As a matter of fact, back in January of 2005, Anahad O’Connor wrote in the New York Times Science section that “eating just two poppy seed bagels heavily coated with seeds can result in morphine in a person’s system for hours, leading a routine drug test to come back positive… [therefore] because of this possibility, the federal government recently raised the threshold for opiates in workplace testing to 2,000 nanograms a milliliter, up from 300.” And by that reasoning, this cake could possibly get you fired from your job or make you lose custody of your kids. It’s loaded with poppy seeds. Loaded. Both in the cake itself and on top.

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Which is fine with me. I love me some poppy seeds. Poppy seed bagels are my favorite bagels ever. So when I was reading one of the (many, many, many, as you can see here) books I got for Christmas, Cake Ladies by Jodi Rhoden, and I saw this triple layer poppy seed cake with almond icing, I just had to make it. I never make cakes, as you probably know. This was an exception. It’s a huge cake: a pound of butter & a half-dozen eggs. But worth it. However… I ended up halving the recipe & making two dozen cupcakes instead. I know, I know.



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But it just seemed so big. So many eggs, so much butter, etc. And it is big, because if half the recipe makes two dozen cupcakes, the whole recipe must make FOUR DOZEN. That is huge. And crazy. And ¼ cup of poppy seeds is a lot of poppy seeds. It’s a wonder I didn’t get high off it. As far as the taste goes, they were pretty unique, I have to say. Very different, but I loved them. Cardamom, nutmeg, cinnamon, poppy seeds, almond extract & the tang from the vinegar-milk combination; all very subtle but what flavor! A surprisingly delicious winter cupcake. Moist cake filled with tons of warming spices, albeit subtle like I said, and then some crunch from the seeds. I topped them with the almond buttercream from the book and then some little flowers made of almond slices with poppy seeds for centers. Really cute, I thought. Next time, however, I’d make little red poppies out of fondant. ‘Cause that’d be doubly cute.





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Of course, I’m giving you the adapted cupcake version of the recipe that I made. For the full cake recipe, you’ll have to buy the book. Bwahahaha.

POPPY SEED CUPCAKES WITH ALMOND BUTTERCREAM ICING (adapted from a recipe by Lisa Goldstein of Celo, NC, from Cake Ladies by Jodi Rhoden)


Ingredients:

Cake:

• 3 large eggs, at room temperature, separated
• ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1 stick unsalted butter, softened, at room temperature
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• ¼ cup honey
• 1 cup milk at room temperature
• 1 tablespoon vinegar
• 1 ½ teaspoons pure almond extract
• 1 ½ cups all purpose flour
• 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
• pinch salt
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• ½ teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• a pinch of ground cardamom
• ¼ cup poppy seeds

Icing:

• 1 stick unsalted butter, softened, room temperature
• 2 ½ – 3 cups confectioner’s sugar
• ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• ½ teaspoon pure almond extract
• 2-3 tablespoons half-and-half (plus more if needed)

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 350° F. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the egg whites together with the cream of tartar on high speed, until soft peaks form. Set aside.
2. In a separate bowl of the stand mixer, this time fitted with the paddle, cream the butter, sugar and honey together until light and fluffy. While beating on low speed, add egg yolks, one at a time. Beat after each addition. Scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl, and beat again until the mixture is smooth, light and creamy.
3. In a glass measuring cup, combine the milk, vinegar and almond extract. Set aside.
4. In a separate bowl, sift the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, cardamom and nutmeg. Add that mixture to the creamed butter mixture in three parts, alternating with the milk mixture, and mixing lightly but thoroughly between each addition, until ingredients are just combined.
5. Add the poppy seeds, folding them in by hand until combined. Quickly re-whisk the egg whites by hand if they’ve separated, then fold them into the batter gently, in three batches.
6. Add cupcake liners to muffin tins and fill each with batter, around two-thirds full. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in each cupcake comes out clean. Allow to cool 10 minutes in tins, then remove to wire rack. Cool thoroughly before frosting.
7. To make the icing, cream the butter and confectioner’s sugar together in the bowl of a stand mixer until it makes a thick paste. add and combine the vanilla & almond extracts. Then add the half-and-half, one tablespoon at a time, blending on low speed until fully incorporated.
8. Add more if needed to achieve a creamy, fluffy consistency. Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the paddle, bottom and sides of the bowl. Re-mix until no lumps remain.



Excuse the frosting job on the back left one; I was trying to find the best way of doing it

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They came out really rustic-looking. So much so I almost wish I had one of those cake stands made of an old tree. They’d be so sweet on one of those. Dammit, I wish I had one now! I’m going to have to get my hands on some cut down trees & get Jay to start cuttin’ it up! He’s a big, handy fella. He can do it. Why buy when you can DIY!

If you’re looking for a unique recipe to try, this is it. It’d be fabulous as a triple layer cake, too, of course. And in case you’re wondering, I got a lot of cookbooks for Christmas, so you’ll be seeing a lot of recipes from them in the coming months. And I’m not into New Year’s resolutions so they’ll be loaded with butter & eggs & sugar. I’ve got to maintain my girlish figure somehow.

And if poppy seeds don’t interest you, later on this week there’ll be a post featuring a giveaway I’m doing together with Yoyo from Topstitch, so keep your eyes peeled.

]]> http://cupcakerehab.com/2012/01/opium-cakes/feed/ 8 http://cupcakerehab.com/2012/01/viva-los-alfajores/ http://cupcakerehab.com/2012/01/viva-los-alfajores/#comments Tue, 03 Jan 2012 05:13:09 +0000 Marilla @ Cupcake Rehab http://cupcakerehab.com/?p=17092 Well Happy New Year, everyone. It’s 2012, we’re all another year older & the winter has officially dug in its heels. Its quite cold & blustery & the wind whistles like a Dickens’ inspired movie. So yeah- I’d say it’s wintertime. Apparently, it’s not going anywhere until the spring, so we just have to deal. Life should be enjoyed, as much as possible, despite (and maybe even because of) the miserably cold weather. And what better way to enjoy life than with cookies? This is another cookie recipe from The Cookiepedia by Stacy Adimando. Remember that book? I did a giveaway for it back in November. Pretty much as soon as I got it, I knew there would be four recipes I’d have to make immediately: the frosted maple pecan cookies (made those babies already), the pistachio cookies (still on the list), the pignoli cookies (I keep forgetting to buy almond paste so these are still on the list) and of course, the alfajores with dulce de leche. And those, my friends, are what this post is about.

I admit, I had no freakin’ idea what the hell an ‘alfajor’ was before this. But I’m not one to turn down making a delicious looking cookie. I don’t know how anyone could deny a cookie, let alone a shortbread-like cookie, let alone a shortbread-like cookie made into a sandwich with dulce de leche filling.



While they have origins in Moorish Spain, alfajores are especially popular in South America. They are simple shortbread sandwich cookies with a sweet filling of dulce de leche. Different doughs are used for the cookies depending on the country. Some use normal flour dough, while others add cornstarch or even cassava flour for a more delicate crumb.

- courtesy of whats4eats.com

Literally translated, dulce de leche means “sweet from milk”. It is prepared by slowly heating sweetened milk to create a product that derives its taste from caramelised sugar. It is a popular sweet in Latin America, where it is known under a variety of names. In Chile, Ecuador and Panama it is known as manjar. In Peru, Colombia and Venezuela it is referred to as manjar blanco or arequipe, depending on regional variations. In Mexico and Nicaragua is is commonly called cajeta. It is also found in Brazil, known by its Portuguese name doce de leite.

A French version, known as confiture de lait, is very similar to the spreadable forms of dulce de leche. A Norwegian version, Hamar-pålegg (“Hamar spread”), better known as HaPå, is a relatively thick and not so sweet commercial variant.

- Wikipedia

Yes. Yes, yes, yes. Shortbread & caramel sandwiches. That’s basically what I said: “What the what?!” Insane. Insane goodness. They really are. And very easy to put together, especially since you can use store-bought dulce de leche with absolutely no problem. I however, used a clever little method that’s a personal favorite of mine to make a caramel-like filling using a boiled can of condensed milk. Mmm. This particular cookie recipe uses flour & cornstarch to create the perfect soft crumbly-ness that goes excellently with the thick caramel heavenly-ness in between it.







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ALFAJORES WITH DULCE DE LECHE (from The Cookiepedia)

Ingredients:

• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
• ½ cup sugar
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• ¾ cup cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 egg
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• powdered sugar, for dusting
• Dulce de leche, for filling

Directions:

1. Cream the butter & sugar together for a minute or two, until they look light & fluffy.
2. In the meantime, sift the flour, cornstarch, baking powder & salt in a bowl & set aside.
3. Add the egg & egg yolk one at a time to the butter mixture, mixing after each addition. Add the vanilla and mix briefly. Add the flour mixture & mix until the dough just starts to come together.
4. Working quickly, turn out the dough and use a little heat from your hands to make it a solid ball. Pull out a large piece of plastic wrap, then flatten the dough on top of it to make a disk. Double wrap it and refrigerate for 1 hour until firm.
5. Preheat oven to 325° F. Line several cookie sheets with parchment paper or Silpats®. Roll out the dough to ¼”-inch thick on a lightly floured surface. Rotate the dough between rolls to make sure it’s not sticking. Using a 2-inch fluted or round cutter, cut out cookies & carefully place them on the cookie sheets, placing them about 1 inch apart.
6. Chill the sheets again for 15 to 20 minutes, until the dough is once again very firm. Then bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until the tops of the cookies have just firmed & the bottoms are just starting to color slightly. Cool on wire racks before assembling the sandwiches.
7. Drop, pipe, or spread a teaspoon of dulce de leche into the center of each cookie, then top with another. Sift powdered sugar over the assembled sandwiches.







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These are perfect winter cookies. Filling, and sweet but not too sweet. Comforting. And like I said… easy. I know this time of year everyone is sort of taking a deep breath after the craziness of the holidays have ended. But these are definitely worth the little effort they require. Plus, who doesn’t like an excuse to have the oven on this time of year?

Okay so, on to the dulce de leche. The author recommends using an artisanal or high-end brand, herself. Like I said, I used a caramel-like substance made from boiling a can of condensed milk & it was amazing. Not everyone is as ballsy as I am, and that can be a dangerous method. So naturally use whatever your comfortable with, and whatever brand you like. Of course, you can also make your own dulce de leche (she gives a recipe- but you’ll have to buy the book for that one!). Let me also state that they’d work amazingly well with a jam or chocolate filling, as well as a chocolate coating.

And of course, the packaging has to match the spectacular nature of what it holds, right?

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My new favorite way of packaging cookies to give away is in jars. I started doing it with the first cookie recipe I made from this book, and it got such rave reviews I kept doing it. For Christmas, I gave tons of cookies, brownies & pieces of homemade fudge as gifts & most were in either tins or jars like the one above. This time, I dressed up the jar with an authentic vintage Air Mail envelope & some soft twine. I thought the name of the cookies was exotic enough that the envelope would be an appropriate label. These jars can be found in a lot of places, especially in plastic… the glass version like mine is a bit more costly usually, however occasionally you can get them for a good price. But you don’t have to just use flip-top jars. Even using quart or pint Ball® jars is an excellent idea- fill it up with cookies, put the lid on, cover the lid in a square of pretty fabric (or cupcake liner!), screw the band on, then tie on a label with some string or some ribbon & you’re good to go. They’re also great for giving chocolate dipped pretzel sticks or candied citrus peel because those items can be delicate.

So there you have it. Alfajores. Who’da thunk it?
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]]> http://cupcakerehab.com/2012/01/viva-los-alfajores/feed/ 0 http://cupcakerehab.com/2011/12/pie-are-squared-or-2%cf%80r/ http://cupcakerehab.com/2011/12/pie-are-squared-or-2%cf%80r/#comments Tue, 27 Dec 2011 17:15:07 +0000 Marilla @ Cupcake Rehab http://cupcakerehab.com/?p=16450 Did you all have a Merry Christmas, Happy Kwanzaa and/or Happy Hanukkah? I had an excellent holiday, & since Jay worked both Christmas Eve & Christmas Day, I got a third day of celebrating in yesterday on the 26th, filled with awesome gifts & copious amounts of food. And since our holiday celebration with Jay’s family has yet to be had, there’ll be yet another day of fun & gift-giving to come in January. Which is nice, it’s good to break up the monotony & boringness of January with an enjoyable event. Especially since once the hustle & bustle of the holidays & Christmas dies down, & I’m no longer being kept busy with that, I’ll feel the sadness of the losses I’ve experienced in 2011 far more poignantly once again. Ah. Such is life.

Photo: Mission Pie, San Francisco; credit: Dave Cook, Flickr

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So back before Thanksgiving, when I found out what the plans were/whose house it would be at & I was figuring out what to make & bring, I had a plan. My plan was that I was going to make two pies, hence the title of the post. Why was I going to make two pies, you ask? Well, a few reasons. One- I had recently acquired two new pie plates; one gorgeous Lola-pink 9″ pie plate from my wonderful friend Brianne (who sells Longaberger, the makers of the aforementioned pie plate which is no longer available in pink) and another beautiful eggplant-colored pie plate from Michael’s that I got for an obscenely low price. So low I won’t even tell you because you’ll hate me. But you see, the pink pie plate was important. It was especially important that I show it off properly. I ordered this cute little basketweave pink pie plate back in like, May or June, and I waited for it until October 30th… patiently. It was limited edition, immediately retired, the shipment was delayed & it was back-ordered & whatever else. And then it finally came & Brianne ever-so-kindly delivered it to me during a time when she was a bit otherwise preoccupied (her new house in Connecticut that her, her husband, her 3-year-old & her almost 2 month old newborn baby had literally just moved into was slammed by the freak October snowstorm & lost power for days). So this plate was a major thing for me. The other pie plate is lovely, and is a gorgeous color with a fluted ruffly edge, but it doesn’t match Lola or my website, so it doesn’t have as much significance. Anything that matches Lola is a must with me. My kitchen is not a masculine place, hah. Plus, being it was part of their breast cancer initiative, Horizon of Hope, & my mom is a survivor, the pink color has double significance.

Reason two for the pie dramatics: I like pie- not really fruit pies, but chocolate, Shoo-fly or creamy ones; like coconut cream, chocolate cream, etc. Those are the kinda pies I can get diggity down with. Just me, a pie, a fork & some whipped cream. And reason three? Because I have a ton of pie recipes that I’ve never made. For example, Nigella Lawson’s Girdlebuster Pie. Tell me you aren’t intrigued by the title alone! And there are tons more, some of which are very traditional, some not so much, and others slightly too complicated for an everyday pie. But nonetheless, I had these two pretty little pie plates & I so desperately wanted to use them. That said, I had all intentions of making two pies for Thanksgiving. But alas I did not. And why not? Because this one pie that I tested out in the few days before turkey day was so simple yet so amazing I couldn’t bear to make another. What was it? Maple syrup pie. MAPLE. SYRUP. PIE. Read it again: maple syrup pie. Thanks to that book by Patty Pinner that it came from, my pie-making life was changed. Seriously. This pie made me rethink my non-pie-making self. It took no time at all and yet there it was, smelling all fantastic &… maple-y. Like a Shoo-fly pie but maple. I’ve made some things from the book before (namely a lemon ice cream that was so creamy & delicious it was like frozen lemony perfection) but this is just… so crazily simple & yet so delicious. I just don’t even know. But… *sigh* …unfortunately, the pie didn’t photograph well, and didn’t last very long either, admittedly. It did taste like sticky, sweet, gooey heaven on a plate.

However… it just didn’t look very good in pictures. Actually it looked downright awful; kinda poo-ish. And I used the eggplant colored pie plate, so it was all kind of dark. If you’re a blogger who takes pictures of food you know things like shoo-fly pie, pecan pie, chocolate frosting & chocolate cookies are the hardest things to photograph well. Especially in bad lighting, and my kitchen sadly has horrid lighting. And on top of that, like I said, it definitely didn’t last long enough for me to attempt another photo shoot in better light. So I was on to my next (& newer) plan: another pie. I didn’t know what kind, yet, but I just knew I’d have to use these pie plates for something photogenic & post-able!

And so Halloween came & went. Then I made the maple syrup pie, then Thanksgiving passed, & no more pie. Two batches of cupcakes instead. Then it started to inch closer to Christmas, and still no pie. Cupcakes, gingerbread cookies, brownies, etc… but I still hadn’t found the perfect pie. I kinda stopped looking for one in all the holiday hubbub. The pie plates looked more & more lonely every day. And then… crustless cranberry pie came into my life.

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They say you find it when you’re not looking. Whatever “it” is.

See back before Christmas, Rosella, a friend of mine who I’ve known since freshman year of high school (which is far longer ago than I’d like to admit) had me & my mother over for coffee with her & her mom (& Rosella’s one year old baby, Giovanna). I know Rosella so long I remember when her niece was Giovanna’s age. I know her from back when we wore spike bracelets to school, when she dyed her hair green in her mom’s white bathroom sink & we “borrowed” her parents’ Infiniti to go joyriding a few too many times. I could mortify us both by posting a picture of us way back then but I won’t. And anyway, we’re talking about pie. So we all got together & Rosella served this crustless cranberry pie. Wow. SOLD. And I don’t even like cranberry. Forreals. Cranberry, almond, streusel… it was like a berry crumble-type thing. Like a coffee cake. Made in a pie plate. And it was so good. So that night I asked her for the recipe & she told me it was from AllRecipes.com! So I downloaded the app immediately. My faith in recipe websites has been restored.

CRUSTLESS CRANBERRY PIE (courtesy of Jean at All Recipes, with alterations)


Ingredients:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour plus 2 tablespoons set aside for topping
• 1 cup white sugar
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup whole fresh cranberries (or whole frozen)
• ½ cup sliced almonds, divided, half set aside for topping
• ⅓ cup brown sugar
• ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
• ½ cup butter, melted, plus 2 tablespoons butter just softened, set aside for topping
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• ¾ teaspoon vanilla extract
• ¼ teaspoon almond extract

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350° degrees F. Grease one 9″-inch pie pan (or 8″ x 8″ glass baking dish).
2. Combine the 1 cup flour, white sugar, cinnamon and salt. Stir in the cranberries and half the almonds, and toss to coat. Stir in the ½ cup melted butter, beaten eggs, vanilla and almond extracts. If you are using frozen cranberries, the mixture will be very thick. Spread the batter into the prepared pan.
3. In a small bowl, mix the 2 tablespoons flour, 2 tablespoons softened butter, brown sugar & ¼ cup almonds together to make a streusel-like topping. Sprinkle mixture on top of pie.
4. Bake at 350° degrees F for 40 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted near the center comes out clean.

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This would be great with fresh blueberries in the summer, too. Or raspberries, or blackberries, or even chopped strawberries… with a bit of lemon zest. Totally adaptable. The original recipe calls for walnuts, but I took the advice of the commenters & went with almonds since that’s what Rosella did with her version, so if you prefer walnuts then that’s okay too. It’d probably be great in any capacity. I can even see it with a spoonful of fresh berry jam on it, or vanilla ice cream. Served warm or room temperature, with coffee, tea or cranberry ginger ale, it’s fantastic any way you like it. I scaled back the amount of cranberries from two cups to one, because I felt like one cup was just fine. Feel free to add the full two cups. But even if you don’t, and you end up with a practically full bag of cranberries, you can make tons of other neat cranberry stuff- amaretto cranberry sauce, pomegranate cranberry sauce, cranberry muffins (this recipe would work excellently in muffin form), cranberry bliss bars, etc. Or even make a second pie. I mean, this is a pie you can have for breakfast.

Photo: Lauretta Jean’s + Café Vélo, Portland; credit: Leela Cyd Ross

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It’s true- I had it for breakfast, around 10 a.m., that day at Rosella’s mom’s house. It’s a dessert, it’s a breakfast, it’s a pie, it’s a cake. It’s everything. So really, where have you been all my life, crustless cranberry pie? The dish that made me like cranberries. Sorta. I’m still not big on them, but this pie definitely made me rethink my almost 30-year long cranberry strike. I made it for my “second Christmas” yesterday & it was a massive hit. And in my beautiful pink pie plate! Squee. Best of all? This one was extremely photogenic. And I’m no master pie-maker, I’m totally more a cake-girl than anything else, but because this is more like a coffee cake you don’t have to be a master pie-maker! No pesky crust, no bothersome filling. Easy as 1-2-3. You don’t even have to make it in a pie plate. But when you have such a pretty one like I do, why not?



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Clearly the mathematical reference in the title is purely for satirical reasons. I failed math one semester in high school, it shames me to say. I got a whopping 35 on one of my math regents. I’m not bragging, and I am certainly not proud of it. I can’t help it though, I use the other side of my brain. I got a 90 on my History Regents, an 88 on Chemistry and a 92 on English. But you give me a math equation involving numbers & my mind shuts off. This doesn’t make baking difficult at all, though, because of a bevy of apps that provide me with the exact measurements & equivalents that I need, if I should need them (most of them I have memorized by now). I never thought I’d say it but my iPhone has made my life considerably easier, thank you Jay. So yes, I know the term 2πr, and that it means that the radius squared multiplied by pi (π) or 3.14 or ²²⁄₇, equals the circumference of a circle. However that’s where my knowledge ends. Don’t even ask about my problems with the Pythagorean Theorem. I was pretty decent at truth tables but linear pairs? Forget it. Yes, I pity my future children too; they will be seeking math homework help from the internet. Or iPad apps. But that’s okay, because they will be so insanely excellent in History & English they’ll really frighten you. As well as correct your grammar.

So really, I did make two pies. Just not at the same time, and nowhere near the same type. Pie(s) are squared.

]]> http://cupcakerehab.com/2011/12/pie-are-squared-or-2%cf%80r/feed/ 2 http://cupcakerehab.com/2011/12/christmas-goodies-cupcakes/ http://cupcakerehab.com/2011/12/christmas-goodies-cupcakes/#comments Sat, 17 Dec 2011 05:40:47 +0000 Marilla @ Cupcake Rehab http://cupcakerehab.com/?p=17898 It seems like all my decorations this year are retro & vintage ones. I’m using all my Nana‘s decorations, some of which date back to the 1940′s. They’re all so special to me & it makes it feel like she’s still here. So I guess it’s a retro Christmas around here.



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Sometimes I just need to make a logo, even if it’s for nothing. Sorry. Involuntary graphic-designer twitch.

Anyway I’ve been getting a lot of love from Pinterest, so I want to say hi & thanks! Tons of you have been clicking through from there- so I hope you’re liking what you see, and keep coming back. I’ve also been getting a lot of Christmas goodies via snail mail lately. I guess that means I’ve been a good girl this year? I think I have been, but I guess every naughty person says that, right? Anyway this particular gift (& inspiration) is in the form of a Christmas table runner my amazingly-talented-with-a-needle-&-thread Californian friend Yoyo made for me. A custom made table runner. How friggin’ lucky am I?

Crazy lucky. And look! It has cupcakes on it!

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A Christmas table runner with pink candy stripes & cupcakes… I can’t even deal with the cuteness. It’s just the best, and the color scheme & patterns match almost perfectly with all my grandma’s vintage Christmas stuff. The pinks & greens & lighter than usual Christmas colors just went so amazing with the white plastic trees & retro Christmas ball candle holders. And as usual, it all inspired me to make cupcakes that went with it!

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And yes, they’re little cuppy cake trees. I seem to be all about the trees this year, eh? Now that I look at them, though, they’d be great for a little girl’s birthday too. The pastel colors are so sweet. They almost melt my cold heart.

Whoops, that tree to the right is leaning a bit!

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I took purposely washed-out vintagey kind of photos of them, & used my grandma’s vintage jadeite plates for a more 1950′s-ish presentation. I think it worked, don’t you? Those salt & pepper shakers are from Santa’s Village in Jefferson, NH. If you’ve never been, you should go!

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The cupcakes are just a plain vanilla cake, with vanilla flavored pastel green-tinted buttercream. As far as the frosting on the cakes, I used a large star tip to create that look. If you make 12 cupcakes, make enough frosting for 24 cupcakes; the trees need to be frosted twice as high as normal. The color is Wilton icing color in Leaf Green (only a drop!). Candy pearls are by Wilton, pink liners, larger pink candy ‘baubles’ (candy-coated chocolate) & pink candy pearls from Sweet Cuppin Cakes Bakery & Cupcakery Supplies. Green sanding sugar was bought at Target ages ago, but you can get it anywhere. And of course- runner by Topstitch! If you’re in the market for awesomesauce handmade items, check out Yoyo’s blog & her store. She’s always updating it with new material. And I’m sure for the right price she’ll do custom items for you, too, so just ask.

Christmas is getting closer & closer. Are you all ready?



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]]> http://cupcakerehab.com/2011/12/christmas-goodies-cupcakes/feed/ 5 http://cupcakerehab.com/2011/12/north-pole-cupcakes/ http://cupcakerehab.com/2011/12/north-pole-cupcakes/#comments Mon, 12 Dec 2011 04:30:03 +0000 Marilla @ Cupcake Rehab http://cupcakerehab.com/?p=17405 I know I’ve been posting a few Christmas-y goodies, but no cupcakes. How is that possible? There are like 12 days until Christmas & I haven’t posted any Christmas cupcakes!? Well things are gonna change, as of right now. The funny thing about these is they’re a rip-off of a cupcake I saw in one of those little baking booklets on sale at the supermarket checkout line. I loved the idea of the red/white swirled cake & thick white frosting topped with crushed candy canes. But see, I’ve done that particular angle before (quite a bit, too, actually). So instead I used some of these Andes peppermint crunch baking chips that I bought back in October on top.

And of course, my grandma’s little vintage elves had to get in on the act. Are you prepared for the cuteness overload?



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Super duper über cute. Those elves (or pixies?) are the coolest. I also have ones that are “candle huggers.” I think they were made by a company called Gilner in the 1940′s & 1950′s (and I think even some go back to the 30′s). These are from the ’40′s, when my grandparents were first married. Apparently they’re very collectible.

I kept the rest of the cupcake true to the original I’d seen, of course my own spin on it since I didn’t have their recipe. Peppermint twist “North Pole” cupcakes (topped with Andes Peppermint Crunch chips)! I bought this bag of Andes chips before Halloween… because I’m crazy. Well that & also because I knew I had to use them to bake with this year. I didn’t know at the time what I would make, but I knew it’d include those. Then I saw that little booklet of baking ideas with its adorable red & white striped cupcake on the cover. Brilliant. I could incorporate the Andes baking chips with red/white peppermint cupcakes- without having to use the tired old candy cane method! ‘Cause yeah, that’s cute & all, but let’s face it- it’s been done to death.

So I did what that little baking booklet did!

Or rather, my version of it.



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‘NORTH POLE’ PEPPERMINT TWIST CUPCAKES

Ingredients:

• 1 ¼ cup all-purpose flour, sifted
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• ¾ cup + 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1 ¼ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• ½ teaspoon peppermint extract
• ½ cup + 2 tablespoons whole milk
• 1 large egg
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• a pinch of salt
• red food coloring (please remember to use a good quality NO-TASTE red food coloring!)
• Andes Peppermint Crunch baking chips (or crushed candy canes)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350° degrees F.
2. Line a cupcake pan with baking cups; depending on how big your cupcake tins are, you can make between 8 and 12 (I got 12 but I could’ve easily filled mine more). Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Set aside.
3. Place the unsalted butter in the bowl of a stand mixer. Add the sugar; beat on medium speed until well incorporated. Add the egg, mix it in slowly. Combine the vanilla extract and milk in a large liquid measuring cup.
4. Reduce the mixer speed to low, and add ⅓ of the flour mixture to the butter mixture, then gradually add ⅓ of the milk mixture, beating until well incorporated. Add another third of the flour mixture, followed by a third of the milk mixture. Stop to scrape down the bowl as needed. Add the remaining flour mixture, followed by the remaining milk mixture, and beat just until combined.
5. Scoop about ¼ – ½ of the batter into a separate bowl. Mix in the peppermint extract well, then mix in the red food coloring, drop by drop, until red color (not pink) is achieved.
6. Spoon plain vanilla batter into baking cups, filling each about halfway. Add 2-4 teaspoons of the red batter to it & using a knife or toothpick, swirl & swish it around until there’s a swirled pattern. DO NOT THOROUGHLY MIX IT- you’ll end up with pink cupcakes, not red swirl. Bake for 15-18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cupcake comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting.
7. After frosting, sprinkle baking chips or crushed candy canes on top.



Elf not included.

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The frosting tip is this one, and the frosting is a plain ol’ vanilla confectioner’s sugar buttercream (an Italian meringue or Swiss meringue would be nice too). For cupcakes like this, I prefer to use a plain white liner so that you can see the swirl through it, but do whatever works for you. And like I said, I seriously stress the no-taste red color. If you don’t use it, you might taste an unpleasant bitter or chemical-y flavor that will overpower the peppermint & vanilla. Some good choices are Wilton’s No-Taste Red gel food coloring and Americolor Super Red gel paste food coloring. Same goes for making red velvet cupcakes, although with the cocoa powder I find it isn’t as noticeable.

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I told you I was all vintage inspired this season. So on the kitchen table, in addition to these lil’ pixie people, I used my grandma’s vintage Christmas tablecloth & some of my mom & grandma’s vintage Santa’s. My mother has a Santa collection that would make Martha Stewart cry; you need a certain kind of Kris Kringle? Ask her. She has a bunch that belonged to my great-grandmothers, my grandma, and ones that were hers from when she was a child. Not to mention the tons of them she’s gotten as gifts or bought herself over the years. She has every single type of St. Nick you could ever want- Victorian, Colonial, 1950′s, 1920′s, plastic, metal, plaster, hollow, solid, papier mache, German Santa’s, Irish Santa’s, folk Santa’s, traditional Santa’s, modern Santa’s, American Santa’s, Santa’s in cars, Santa’s on sleds, cat Santa’s, happy Santa’s, sad Santa’s, angry-looking Santa’s, tall Santa’s, tiny Santa’s, etc. I’m not joking. Any type of Santa you can imagine, she’s got. But I just chose to borrow some of the 40′s/50′s/60′s ones for my little retro display. It seemed they’d be more fitting with the tablecloth.



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Even though my grandma isn’t here physically this Christmas, her things are all around & in that, she is here. Here are a few close ups of the tablecloth. It’s so cute. I’m going to try & look through some old pictures & see if I can find any of either my grandparents’ apartment or their house at Christmas with this on the table. I mean how amazing is this? So stylized. It’s right out of Christmas in Connecticut.

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Basically, this all boils down to the fact that I love all things peppermint & candy cane-like, I love all things vintage and I love baking with them & using them as inspiration. Luckily, my family saved a lot of their fantastic vintage stuff for me to swoon over. I’ll never understand people who don’t like vintage items! What is WRONG with you people?! This stuff is phenomenal. They just don’t make things like this anymore. Not to mention, a quick look on eBay or Etsy & you’ll see, this stuff goes for quite a bit of money. So if you’re lucky enough to have it, you’re sitting on a goldmine. Especially the Gurley candles (which I have a TON of, for every holiday), some of them go for a fortune!

Not that I’d ever sell. But anyway, I do love seeing/hearing about other people’s Christmas goodies that have been in their family for ages (or at least a few years), so if you feel like sharing, please do! You can add links to pictures or stories or whatever you like in the comments. I’m a nosy bitch so humor me……

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]]> http://cupcakerehab.com/2011/12/north-pole-cupcakes/feed/ 2 http://cupcakerehab.com/2011/11/god-save-the-cupcakes/ http://cupcakerehab.com/2011/11/god-save-the-cupcakes/#comments Tue, 29 Nov 2011 06:35:53 +0000 Marilla @ Cupcake Rehab http://cupcakerehab.com/?p=3261

I know it’s officially “Christmas time” (or at least that’s what the retailers want us to believe), but humor me with this one non-X-mas related post, & then I promise you for the rest of the month it’ll be non-stop holiday hijinks.

Last year, actually almost 2 years ago- early in 2010- my insanely talented friend Chrisie (who you may remember from my giveaway in 2009, when she donated an absolutely gorgeous Cupcake Rehab painting) contacted me with a request. I know Chrisie for a loooong time, well about 10 years. We met at F.I.T. in a Fashion Illustration class (that was so much fun) & I’m pretty sure the universe broke when they put us in a class together. Anyway, she had an idea; she wanted to make an entire series of cupcake paintings, inspired by me and Cupcake Rehab, and the next one she wanted to do was a punk cupcake. Now seriously… if anyone knows me, they know that there is probably no better person to create such a cupcake. Okay, maybe that’s not 100% true, but I’m into punk, and cupcakes, so really I am sort of an authority on a punk cupcake. I used to be a punk cupcake...

Not that you’d really know it anymore- I’ve grown up and mellowed out a lot since my days of spike bracelets & collars, pink hair (my favorite of the “not-normal” colors I’ve ever had), rebellion, anarchy, anti-authority and the ever-chic look of wearing safety pins in my ears. Now I shop at places like Anthropologie & wear ballet flats & J. Crew sweaters (but yes, underneath the sweater is a Clash t-shirt), my significant other is a cop (even if he is in a death metal band, he’s still law enforcement!) & while I do sort of have a ‘faux hawk’, or rather a side cut, I haven’t dyed my hair in months (for the first time in 13 years I see my natural color, & I dislike it just as much as I used to, except now there are strands of gray for me to dislike as well). But I still listen to the music, and believe in the ideology. Bottom line is this: I learned a long time ago it isn’t worth it arguing over what’s really punk and what’s not, or who’s really punk and who’s not, especially when it’s based on outer appearance or clothing. Just like it’s pointless to assume that someone is less “punk” than you because they don’t dye their hair/shave it into mohawk/don’t have fully tattooed biceps/etc. You shouldn’t always judge a book by it’s cover, and knocking others for listening to things besides one genre of music isn’t “punk” either; it’s pretty lame, and you’ll realize it one day. Being an individual means being yourself & NOT wearing a uniform, even if that uniform is neon Liberty spikes, a studded & patched denim jacket & piercings. I do still wear my jacket, though.

“The Jacket”

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So anyway, I’m getting way off track here. Let’s just stick with the cupcakes. Chrisie pitched me her concept: a cupcake with a pink mohawk, and I had these liners from Sweet Cuppin Cakes Bakery & Cupcakery Supplies that were black with white polka dots, and I figured they’d be perfect (I also used them on my white chocolate almond cupcakes and others, they’re awesome liners). With those things as my base ideas, I started coming up with stuff immediately. I decided to make a vanilla cake with a dollop of chocolate buttercream frosting dyed black, and then do the hot pink “mohawk” on top of that in royal icing. Then I started thinking about “props”; stuff that would add a bit more to the “punk” theme for her painting. I remembered that I was in possession of an old spike bracelet I used to wear in high school, so I thought I’d put it around the bottom of the cupcake like a spike collar. I also suggested maybe incorporating a sort of Sex Pistols kind of typography and safety pins somewhere. I took the photos on a black background so it’d look a bit more dramatic, and also so it’d be easier for her to paint in whatever background she wanted. She came up with an amazing composition! (I’ll post the recipes I used for the frosting after all the images for anyone who’s interested)

So here’s the big reveal! I have been SO EXCITED to share this with you, for so long now. I’ve been waiting patiently since January of 2010 to post this, that’s a big deal for me! This is coming from someone who can’t keep birthday presents a secret without losing it & can’t stand to wait ’til Christmas to open my own gift. That said, I’m not one to rush an artist into creating a piece of artwork, so I’ve been patient, and it’s been totally worth it. She told me about a month ago it was done & sent me the pictures of the finished product, but I wanted to wait until after Thanksgiving to blog it. Here are two pictures of my cupcakes that helped to inspire her, followed by the amazing painting Chrisie did from using my pictures as reference.

So friggin’ cute with the little mohawks.


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And… are you ready? Seriously?

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Are you?

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Okay, drumroll please. Here’s her painting! Ta-da!



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How incredibly awesome and beautiful is that!? It’s ridiculous. I know, I cannot even fathom her talent. It’s like a friggin’ photograph. I’m telling you- she’s crazy. Chrisie is so amazingly talented, and she recently opened her own baking business, Eat Cakes. To get on the mailing list, shoot an e-mail to eatcakeorder@gmail.com. To see more of her artwork or commission her to do a painting, visit ccomis.com. There might be more collabo’s between the two of us involving cupcakes & paintings in the future. I’m excited.

So now I’m just waiting for the “punks” to come here & get on me for selling out & making such a cliched “punk cupcake” so I can stick my foot up someones’ ass… okay anyway, here’s the 411 on how to do the frosting, including food coloring & tips. The cupcake is just a plain vanilla cake so that’s easy enough for you to figure out.




“BLACK” CHOCOLATE BUTTERCREAM FROSTING

Get some:

• 1 sticks unsalted butter, softened
• ¾ cup dark cocoa or three 1 oz. unsweetened dark chocolate squares, melted
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 cups (approx. 1 lb) sifted confectioners’ sugar
• 3-4 tablespoons milk
• 2-3 teaspoons black food coloring (I personally recommend Americolor Super Black for this)

Then do this:

1. Cream shortening and butter with electric mixer. Add cocoa and vanilla.
2. Gradually add sugar, one cup at a time, beating well on medium speed. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl often. When all sugar has been mixed in, icing will appear dry.
3. Add milk and beat at medium speed until light and fluffy. Add food coloring a little at a time, until desired shade is reached. Keep bowl covered with a damp cloth until ready to use.
4. For best results, keep icing bowl in refrigerator when not in use. Refrigerated in an airtight container, this icing can be stored 2 weeks. Re-whip before using. Also, keep in mind the longer the icing sits the darker it will get, so don’t add too much color, it’ll just wreck the consistency of your frosting. Using a large round tip, pipe a circle of frosting on each cake. The using an offset spatula, smooth it down into a flat surface for the ‘mohawk’ to sit on.

ROYAL ICING “MOHAWK”

Ingredients:

• 2 large egg whites (or substitute powdered egg whites)
• 3 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon bright pink food coloring (I used Wilton Rose icing color)

Directions:

1. Combine the egg whites and confectioners’ sugar in a medium-size mixing bowl and whip with an electric mixer on medium speed until opaque and shiny, about 5 minutes.
2. Whisk in the extract, this will thin out the icing. Beat for another couple of minutes until you reach the right spreading consistency for the cupcakes. Then add the food coloring and beat.
3. Using a large star tip (I used Wilton 1M), after the buttercream frosting on the cupcakes has “set”, pipe three to four “stars” in a row on each cupcake. Ta-da! Mohawk!

So put on some X-Ray Spex or some Sex Pistols, do your best Joe Strummer imitation, brush your bangs into your eyes like Joey Ramone and eat some mohawk cupcakes. Or don’t. I don’t care either way. Oi, oi, oi.

]]> http://cupcakerehab.com/2011/11/god-save-the-cupcakes/feed/ 8 http://cupcakerehab.com/2011/11/thankful/ http://cupcakerehab.com/2011/11/thankful/#comments Wed, 23 Nov 2011 17:55:11 +0000 Marilla @ Cupcake Rehab http://cupcakerehab.com/2011/11/thankful/ I’ve been hearing about sweet potato cupcakes for a few years now. Retro Bakery in Las Vegas features a Candied Yam cupcake every Thanksgiving season, and seeing how I follow them on Twitter, I kinda salivate each time they’re pictured or mentioned. I don’t actually like sweet potatoes, but I do like sweet potato fries and when there’s marshmallow on anything it’s probably gonna be delicious. So sweet potato cupcakes with toasted marshmallow-y frosting? Sign me up, baby. My friend Sami made a version of sweet potato cupcakes from Better Homes & Gardens with a chocolate syrup-type frosting & she wasn’t a fan, but I thought I’d try this version anyway. After all, I’d had it saved & waiting to be used for almost a year.

See here’s the deal: I don’t just bake or make edible stuff for Thanksgiving or Christmas. My mixer isn’t pulled out for the holidays then covered up again for another year; she’s in a place of honor where she belongs. I always have a variety of flours & sugars, not to mention honey, sprinkles, buttermilk and unsalted butter in the house at all times. I’ve got cookie cutters that are discolored & well-worn, not brand new & shiny. I have baking pans & cookie sheets out the ass, most of which have seen better days. I have plastic bins overflowing with muffin & cupcake liners for every day of the week let alone season. I have Mason jars & lids stashed everywhere & there’s liquid pectin in my fridge. I’m a full-on, from-scratch baker/cook/canner, 12 months out of the year. I make time to bake & make homemade food & confections every week, because it’s not only enjoyable but also because it’s important to me. It keeps me happy, well-fed and most importantly sane. So I have recipes bookmarked (both on Firefox & literally bookmarked in books), earmarked, cut-out of magazines & taped to notebooks, some even stored in the “notes” section on my iPhone. They’re everywhere. I get them in e-mails from family members, on Facebook, on Twitter (or I should say via Twitter, since fitting a recipe in 140 characters is kinda hard) and more. Both virtual copies & hard copies. They’re stashed all over my house from the bedroom to the kitchen to the living room. I have notes on the calendar about them, memos in my phone about them, and reminders on my laptop. I spend my spare moments before I fall asleep searching the internet for things like whiskey-pickle recipes or unique ways to use up dried cranberries. Insane? No. It’s entirely possible that people who don’t do that are far more insane than I am. Because of the fact that it keeps me sane.



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Anyway while I bake a lot, and make a lot of cupcakes… I wanted to make an extra special batch of cupcakes for this Thanksgiving, and I do think these fit the bill. I toasted the frosting & I think that just adds to it. Of course, I can’t have one yet because they’re all for tomorrow- but I tasted some batter & OH MY GOD. I don’t even like sweet potatoes & that’s some good shit.

Jay will be home from Texas for turkey day, too, which is an added bonus. I’m picking him up from La Guardia in a couple of hours, after a long day of baking & packing up food. Mi familia will be together tomorrow & stuff our faces full of that food, & that’s just the way it should be. This Thanksgiving is the first one I’m, or we’re, celebrating without my grandma. It’s rough, and I know Christmas will be tougher still. But she wouldn’t want me to complain or be sad. She loved the holidays, & so I’m doing my best to celebrate her memory as well as each holiday. This Thanksgiving we’ll all raise our glasses of wine & toast to Aggie, and of course Uncle Pat, and at the same time be thankful for all we do have & that includes family, and of course for me it includes these two sweet little faces…

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SWEET POTATO CUPCAKES

Ingredients:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• pinch of freshly ground nutmeg
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon baking soda
• pinch of salt
• ½ cup butter, softened
• ¾ cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup canned whole sweet potatoes (unsweetened), mashed
• ¼ teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350° degrees F. Line twelve 2 ½-inch muffin cups with paper bake cups; set cups aside.
2. In medium bowl stir together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, nutmeg and salt; set aside.
3. In large mixing bowl beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add sugar and beat on high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating on low speed after each addition until combined. Add sweet potatoes and vanilla, beating until combined. Add flour mixture; beat until combined (batter will be thick).
4. Divide batter evenly among prepared muffin cups. Bake about 20 minutes or until tops spring back when lightly touched. Cool in pan on wire rack for 1 minute. Remove from pan and cool completely.

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SEVEN-MINUTE FROSTING

Makes about 4 cups, plenty of frosting for 12-18, possibly even 24 cupcakes, depending on how high you frost!

Ingredients:

• ¾ cups plus 1 tablespoon sugar
• ⅓ cup water
• 1 tablespoon light corn syrup
• 3 large egg whites, room temperature

Directions:

1. Combine ¾ cup sugar with the water and corn syrup in a small saucepan; clip a candy thermometer to side of pan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until sugar dissolves. Continue boiling, without stirring, until syrup reaches 230° degrees.
2. Meanwhile, in the bowl of a standing electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whisk egg whites on medium-high speed until soft peaks form. With mixer running, add remaining tablespoon sugar, beating to combine.
3. As soon as sugar syrup reaches 230° degrees, remove from heat. With mixer on medium-low speed, pour syrup down side of bowl in a slow, steady stream. Raise speed to medium-high; whisk until mixture is completely cool (test by touching the bottom of the bowl) and stiff (but not dry) peaks form, about 7 minutes. Use immediately.



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Just remember: you really do need a stand mixer for this frosting. Unless you have Incredible Hulk muscles & don’t mind standing there beating egg whites until stiff for possibly 15-20 minutes or more and then beating the hot frosting itself for 7+ minutes by hand. However, you can make a marshmallow frosting using Fluff that’s awesome too, and tastes similar (a bit sweeter) & can be toasted as well.

And of course I boxed them up in Bake-A-Box boxes. The liners are greaseproof natural, unbleached liners from Layer Cake Shop. I bought the fall leaves from Sugar Robot on Etsy. They’re paper… but they’re edible! How awesome is that?! Supposedly they taste like vanilla. We’ll see. Oh, and those other cupcakes are cinnamon-vanilla (recipe here) with a vanilla frosting in plain white liners for the finicky among us who perhaps won’t eat the sweet potato cupcakes. These have little vintage-inspired turkey toppers on ‘em.



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Anyway, I hope you all have a wonderful day tomorrow, even those of you who don’t celebrate it for whatever reason. Enjoy your friends & families, & pets. I hope that you’ll consider a donation to help feed someone who can’t feed themselves tomorrow, or if you’re able to you’ll volunteer at a shelter or food bank or soup kitchen. But at the very, very least, please make a $5 or $10 donation to the ONE campaign, Feeding America, Meals on Wheels, or Share Our Strength. Please think about those less fortunate than you, when you’re “counting your blessings” tomorrow.

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]]> http://cupcakerehab.com/2011/11/thankful/feed/ 2 http://cupcakerehab.com/2011/11/cupcakes-made-with-brown-butter-spice-everything-nice/ http://cupcakerehab.com/2011/11/cupcakes-made-with-brown-butter-spice-everything-nice/#comments Fri, 18 Nov 2011 06:15:31 +0000 Marilla @ Cupcake Rehab http://cupcakerehab.com/2011/11/15787/ Before I start in, I want to congratulate Polly for winning my giveaway & getting a copy of The Cookiepedia! Enjoy it! It’s an awesome book, and I’m sure you’ll get a lot of use out of it this baking season. Speaking of baking…

So, I bought these really cute fall leaf sugar decorations & I wanted to use them desperately, and what else would I use them on but cupcakes!? Cute little fall cupcakes that are dark chocolate cupcakes, spiced with cinnamon & cayenne pepper topped with brown butter frosting. Simple, but let’s be honest, I just made them to use the little leaves. Yes, I made cupcakes just to use decorations I bought.



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But in all fairness, it’s fall! I was so inspired by the fall colors in the table runner & the icing leaves, not to mention the gorgeous fall leaves outside my window.

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So I had to. I really did. Despite the fact that I’ve been baking so much lately (& cooking) that I think by December 1st, Jay will have to roll me down the stairs & into the car… or possibly just roll me down the street like a not-as-blue-but-just-as-round-Violet Beauregarde. Yeah. Despite that, I had to make them. And of course, I had to do the brown butter thing. Jay’s leaving tomorrow morning at 10 a.m. for San Antonio, Texas. He doesn’t get any cupcakes as punishment for leaving me & going off to do cool stuff without me. Alas, someone has to do the dirty work around here- baking, cooking, etc. We can’t all be rock stars; some of us have to rock out the kitchen instead of the stage. At least he’ll be home by Thursday!

What was I saying? Brown butter, that’s right. Brown butter is so amazing. If you’ve never had it, you need to make it immediately. I’m not kidding. It’s a game changer; a sweet, caramel-y, soft, kind of burnt taste that is sublime in frosting. You’ll want to frost every cupcake you make with it. Great with caramel, vanilla, chocolate, spice cake, malted milk cake, apple cake, just about anything/everything. It’s basically perfect. I’ve used it before on cream soda cupcakes & that was heavenly.

DARK CHOCOLATE SPICE CUPCAKES

Makes 12 cupcakes

Get these ingredients:

• ¼ cup Hershey’s® Special Dark unsweetened cocoa powder (or another dark cocoa powder of your choice)
• 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
• ⅔ cup granulated sugar
• 2 eggs, room temperature
• pinch of salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• ½ cup whole milk
• ½ cup vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon ground cayenne pepper

Then you should:

1. Preheat oven to 350º degrees F. Line a 12-count cupcake tin with cupcake liners.
2. Sift together cocoa powder, cayenne pepper, cinnamon, flour, salt and baking powder. In another bowl whisk together sugar, eggs, vanilla, milk and vegetable oil. Gradually whisk flour mixture into sugar mixture. Mix until thoroughly incorporated.
3. Fill cupcake liners ⅔ full. Bake in preheated oven for 12 – 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
4. Allow to cool for several minutes in the cupcake pan, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely. Frost only when completely cool.

BROWN BUTTER FROSTING

Ingredients:

• 1 cup butter
• 4 cups powdered or confectioner’s sugar
• 2-4 tablespoons half-and-half
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• dash of salt

Directions:

1. For brown butter, in saucepan heat ½ cup butter over medium-low heat until lightly browned, about 8 minutes; cool thoroughly. Using a fine mesh sieve, strain the butter so that any large burned fat solids aren’t included in the frosting. Fine specks are expected & totally fine, though.
2. In bowl, beat the other ½ cup softened butter with mixer on medium 30 seconds. Add cooled brown butter; beat until combined.
3. Add powdered sugar, vanilla, and dash salt. Beat in 1 to 2 tablespoons half-and-half, use more if needed until spreadable. Use frosting immediately. If frosting begins to set up, stir in a small amount of boiling water.

Probably wasn’t a good idea to use black liners & take the pictures on a black runner, but I did like how they matched

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The ‘use immediately’ thing is 100% true. The nature of this frosting is that it sets up fairly quick. That can be a pain in the ass at times, but it’s well worth it.

I absolutely love brown butter frosting, I can’t say enough about it & I’d love it on just about any cake or cupcake or cookie. But on these it’s especially delicious. The cupcakes are like a Mexican hot chocolate-type of flavor, which I love, not to mention incredibly moist. Combine all that with the brown butter flavor & it’s just amazing… it’s so warming & fall-like. A great Thanksgiving cupcake. And don’t be scared of the cayenne! I promise you, it adds a slight warmth (or heat) but it won’t make you run for the hills. So many people are afraid of using cayenne or chili powder in their baked goods, but I’m telling you, when mixed with chocolate & cinnamon- it’s mind blowing.

And in true holiday form, as per usual, here’s the Thanksgiving tree in all her glory!





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For those of you who are unaware, my mom puts up a tree for every holiday. I post pictures of them with one of my holiday posts; it starts after Christmas with her white winter tree, then Valentine’s, St. Patrick’s Day, Easter, etc. Most recently I posted the Halloween tree. They’re usually the same though, year to year, with just a few changes- new ornaments, perhaps some new lights or ribbon, etc. It’s a fun tradition I always look forward to.

One thing that will be different is I won’t be hosting Thanksgiving this year, so for once I won’t be doing all the cooking! I will, however, be doing the baking. I do look forward to sharing those baked goods with you next week, but in the meantime, go make these cupcakes. Seriously.

]]> http://cupcakerehab.com/2011/11/cupcakes-made-with-brown-butter-spice-everything-nice/feed/ 4 http://cupcakerehab.com/2011/11/tricks-treats-trick-number-one-its-not-halloween-anymore/ http://cupcakerehab.com/2011/11/tricks-treats-trick-number-one-its-not-halloween-anymore/#comments Wed, 02 Nov 2011 05:45:06 +0000 Marilla @ Cupcake Rehab http://cupcakerehab.com/?p=16160

Boo hoo. So sad. And treat number one? Well, treat one is much more fun than the trick… it’s cupcakes made from leftover Halloween candy! I didn’t get much more than 5 or 6 trick or treaters this year, so I had a lot of candy left.

The spread… pre-trick-or-treaters.. looked basically the same after


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Yes, it’s been done. Numerous times. In the form of brownies & cookies, too. But please, give me this much. I love this holiday & I have trouble letting go. I know it’s November now, & everyone is preparing for Thanksgiving already. But let me have my one last Halloween post, okay? Thank you. I’ll miss all my decorations, my Halloween tree & all my table settings. *sad face* No more ghosts & goblins for another year. But I’d like to thank the ladies from Georgetown Cupcakes- you may know them from the TLC TV show, DC Cupcakes- for the video that got me wanting to make these. It also used up some (notice how I said some) of that delicious leftover Halloween candy that I managed to not shove into my face while waiting for the doorbell to ring. You can find the recipe on their TLC page, but I listed it below as well. I ended up with some Reese’s, some Whoppers, Snickers, Butterfinger, Nestle Crunch and Hershey bar mini’s to play with, not to mention candy corn, so I made cupcakes with them. Oh, and some Dots, but I didn’t think they’d work well in cupcakes. Yes. Cupcakes stuffed with Halloween candy. I can’t really imagine anything more fattening & root-canal inducing, can you?

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Oh, but so cute. And so good. And since we got SNOW on Saturday, I think I deserve it. Snow. In October. That’s just not right, you know? It goes against all things I know & love about New York, like (usually) no snow until after Thanksgiving. For me to properly deal with snow in October, I need freshly made baked goods daily, tons of Netflix & copious amounts of liquor. Okay, okay, so it was like an inch or two of slushy snow. But that’s after a whole day of freezing rain & sleet! That sucks. Anyway back to these here cupcakes. Like I said I got this idea from a video posted by Katherine & Sophie of the now famous Georgetown Cupcakes. Oh, and let me just say I wouldn’t mind having a KitchenAid mixer or two that coordinated with every holiday, like these ladies’ black & orange ones. Let’s get on that, shall we? All donations gratefully accepted.…




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TRICK OR TREAT CUPCAKES (adapted very slightly from Georgetown Cupcakes)

Ingredients:

• 2 ½ cups of flour, sifted
• 1 teaspoon baking powder, sifted
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 8 tablespoons softened unsalted butter
• 1 ¾ cups granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs at room temperature
• 2 ¼ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 ¼ cups whole milk at room temperature
• 12 different bite-sized mini candy bars, chopped into small pieces

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350° degrees F.
2. Line a cupcake pan with baking cups; depending on how big your cupcakes are, you can make between 12 and 18. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Set aside.
3. Place the unsalted butter in the bowl of a stand mixer. Add the sugar; beat on medium speed until well incorporated. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing slowly after each addition. Combine the vanilla extract and milk in a large liquid measuring cup.
4. Reduce the mixer speed to low, and add ⅓ of the flour mixture to the butter mixture, then gradually add ⅓ of the milk mixture, beating until well incorporated. Add another third of the flour mixture, followed by a third of the milk mixture. Stop to scrape down the bowl as needed. Add the remaining flour mixture, followed by the remaining milk mixture, and beat just until combined.
5. Spoon batter into baking cups, filling each about halfway. Add one type of chopped-up candy bar to each baking cup and press into the batter. Bake for 15-18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cupcake comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting.

Clockwise from top left: Baby Ruth, Butterfinger, Hershey, Reese’s, Kit Kat & Whopper cupcakes, post-baking


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Better view of my superawesometotallycool skeleton plate!

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I upped the baking powder by a half teaspoon because I felt that with the candies in them they needed an extra bit of oomph to rise nicely. The orange & black liners and the little sprinkles (or are they jimmies?) are by Wilton. I topped them with a thick swirl of vanilla-flavored orangey-colored buttercream, although a dark chocolate frosting would be sweet. But if you wanted to get all crazy fancy-pants, you could color the batter too. I like to keep it simple (yeah right). Oh, I should also state that I got 2 dozen cupcakes from this recipe. My pans must be from an alternate universe.

Hurray! Delicious, overly sweet, totally over-the-top tooth rotting goodness in a cupcake. Amazing. I love it. They really put me back in a 9-year old trick-or-treater mood. Which is hard to do given I’m now 30 years old & nobody gives me candy, not to mention the fact I didn’t even dress up this year. Poopsticks. Anyway… I ate them with a big ol’ mug of this:

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Yes, I ate them with green hot cocoa. What of it? I made some green hot cocoa, ate some trick or treat cupcakes & snuggled up under my leopard print blankie to watch The Bride of Frankenstein. Awesomesauce. The hot cocoa wasn’t really that spectacular; it tasted sorta how it looks. But worth a shot anyway… or I should say, the packaging was worth it. I’m a sucker for packaging. That’s probably why I fell for that tall, dark, handsome chunk of manhood I’ve got. Give me a death metal t-shirt wearing, guitar-playing, Wu-Tang-Clan-lyric-knowing, food loving, hysterically funny dude that’s taller than me (I’m 5’9″ & that’s not an easy task believe it or not) with a shaved head & even if I didn’t like him, I’d probably still go for it. Kidding, kidding. It’s the candy- the candy makes me crazy.

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So anyway, yes, Halloween is over for this year. Another 361 days or so until it rolls around again. But there’s plenty to keep us occupied until then, what with Thanksgiving looming & Christmas right around the corner (52 days!) we’ve got plenty to do, and cook, and bake…

But right now, I’m just gonna enjoy what remains of All Hallows Eve. Before I wrap this up, I want to make sure you crafty types check out my friends’ new site: All Crafts on Deck. Each Friday they giveaway a fat quarter & they’re gonna be featuring all sorts of awesome & amazing crafts & tutorials (I even wrote one up for them!). So go!

Indy does not understand Halloween, why he has to dress up & why he can’t have any chocolate.

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Yeah, pit bull mixes are really dangerous. He’s totally about to rip my face off in that picture…

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