Pistachio Cake with Honey Buttercream Frosting

I have to admit, I first bought Baked Explorations for my mom's Christmas gift, then decided she would prefer a more classic reference cookbook over these "reinvented" recipes, then gave Explorations as a gift to another friend. As I poured over the recipes with her, I realized that I had to have it - and promptly ordered one for myself. This pistachio cake, inexplicably called Aunt Sassy Cake in the book, was one that caught my friend's eye. I must have gotten cake envy at that point, because suddenly I wanted to make it.

So I did. Just because I wanted to.

A generous taster compared this cake to a fine scotch; my family called it "subtle"; another taster ate for a bit and agreed "it's subtle, and I like it." I say I LOVE it, but it may not appeal to everyone in the whole world - it's not your typical American cake, even though it comes from this cookbook, and is not super sweet nor obvious in its flavor. It does taste like pistachio, even though it is not artificially-colored bright green, and I think that's a good thing. What's more, the ever difficult-to-achieve texture of the scratch cake is rendered light and fine by the nuts and the shortening (just find a trans-fat-free version, they do exist!). I took care with the mixing of the cake batter, and was pleased with the results.

Everyone agreed that the frosting is a keeper; it is the first cooked buttercream I've ever made, and the texture is fabulously smooth and light. The honey flavor is clean but not overwhelming, and would pair very well with a banana cake. It's a little more time-consuming than uncooked buttercream, but it is not difficult to make and worth the wait.

Pistachio Cake with Honey Buttercream Frosting

aka Aunt Sassy Cake from Baked Explorations

Cake:

1 C shelled pistachios (unsalted roasted gave a good flavor)

2 1/2 C cake flour

3/4 C all-purpose flour

1 T baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp salt

1/2 C (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

1/2 C vegetable shortening

1 3/4 C sugar

1 T pure vanilla extract

1 large egg

3 large egg whites, at room temperature*

1/4 tsp cream of tartar

Honey Vanilla Buttercream:

1 1/2 C sugar

1/3 C all-purpose flour

1 1/2 C whole milk

1/3 C heavy cream**

1 1/2 C (3 sticks) unsalted butter, soft but cool, cut into small pieces

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

3 T honey

Cake:

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Butter three 8 or 9-inch round cake pans, line the bottoms with parchment paper, and butter the parchment. Dust the parchment with flour and knock out the excess flour.

In the bowl of a food processor, pulse the pistachios until they are coarsely chopped. Transfer about 2 tablespoons' worth of the coarse pistachios to a large bowl. Continue to process the rest of the pistachios until they are almost powdery - but not a superfine dust. Stir the pistachio powder into the reserved coarse pistachios. Sift the flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together over the large bowl containing the pistachio mix. Stir to combine.

In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and shortening on medium speed until creamy, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the sugar and vanilla and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the bowl, add the whole egg, and beat until just combined. Turn the mixer to low.

In a measuring cup, make 1 1/2 C ice water (for a total of 1 1/2 C of liquid). Add the flour mixture to the mixer in three parts, alternating with the ice water, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. For each addition, turn the mixer to low to add ingredients, then up to medium speed for a few seconds until incorporated. Scrape down the bowl, then mix on low speed for a few more seconds.

In a medium bowl, whisk the egg whites and cream of tartar until soft peaks form (You can do this by hand. Don't be intimidated, it should only take 2 to 3 minutes). Do not overbeat. Gently fold the egg whites into the batter.

Divide the batter among the prepared pans and smooth the tops. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through the baking time, until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean (if you use 9-inch pans, check the cake at 35 or 40 minutes). Transfer the pans to a wire rack and let cool for 20 minutes. Turn the cakes out onto the rack and let cool completely. Remove the parchment paper.

Buttercream:

In a medium, heavy-bottomed saucepan, whisk the sugar and flour together. Add the milk and cream and cook over medium heat, whisking occasionally, until the mixture comes to a boil and has thickened, about 10 to 15 minutes.

Transfer the mixture to the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on high speed until cool (this takes at least 7 to 9 minutes of mixing; you can speed up the process by pressing bags of frozen berries or frozen corn against the sides and bottom of the mixing bowl). Reduce the speed to low and add the butter; mix until thoroughly incorporated. Increase the speed to medium-high and beat until the frosting is light and fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes.

Add the vanilla and honey and continue mixing until combined. If the frosting is too soft, put the bowl in the refrigerator to chill slightly, then beat again until it is the proper consistency. If the frosting is too firm, set the bowl over a pot of simmering water and beat with a wooden spoon until it is the proper consistency.

Cake Assembly:

Place one cake layer on a serving platter. Trim the top to create a flat surface, and evenly spread about 1 1/4 C frosting on top. Add the next layer, trim and frost it, then add the third layer. Spread a very thin layer of frosting over the sides and top of the cake and put it in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes to firm up (This is known as crumb coating and will help to keep loose cake crumbs under control when you frost the outside of the cake). Spread the sides and top of the cake with the remaining frosting. Garnish the cake with crushed pistachios and refrigerate it for 15 minutes to firm it up before serving.

This cake will keep beautifully in a cake saver at room temperature for up to 3 days, if the weather is cool and humidity free. Otherwise, put it in a cake saver and refrigerate for up to 3 days. Let the cake sit at room temperature for at least 2 hours before serving.

*if you only have extra large eggs, use the one whole egg, but reduce the egg whites to two.

**I didn't have whole milk, so I used 1 C of 1% milk, and increased the heavy cream to 1/2 + 1/3 C (don't make me add fractions!).

Cake Bonbons

I have to admit, this recipe is supposed to be called "cake balls," but while being a bit giggle-inducing that name is also a little misleading: people expect to bite into the chocolate coating and find, well, a ball of cake, when in reality it is a ball of FROSTING and cake, which makes it moist, light, and buttery. You almost wouldn't guess there is cake inside, since it mostly tastes like a confection you would buy at a candy store.

In addition to being frightfully yummy, these goodies are also a fabulous back up plan when cakes don't turn out properly. If you make a cake, and it is too dry, crumbly, flat, dense, etc., you can just break it up into crumbs in a bowl, mix in some frosting, form balls, dip them in chocolate, and suddenly the failed cake is a delicious and presentable treat. Not a bad back up to have!

I ended up making these mocha cake bonbons because I made cupcakes that fell apart a bit when picked up; I had played around a little too much with the recipe, and the result tasted good but had the wrong texture. I even decided to make the cake balls after I had decorated the individual cupcakes - just threw them in a bowl and broke them up, evening the frosting throughout.

You've got three flavors to choose in a cake bonbon: the cake, the frosting, and the dipping chocolate. And hey, you can even top them with a decoration or flavor accentuations like I did here with instant coffee flakes and coarse sea salt.

Cake Bonbons

1 cake (the equivalent of one cake mix, which makes a 9"x13" pan, two 8" or 9" pans, or 24 cupcakes)

1 recipe buttercream or cream cheese frosting (see below for recipes)

2 12-oz packages of chocolate chips (I used one of milk and one of dark - why not?)

After the cake is baked and cooled, break it up into pieces in a large mixing bowl. Add the frosting, and mix in evenly throughout the cake crumbs. You want the texture to be relatively smooth, so you can form 1" diameter balls of the mixture that will stick together. If you've started with an already frosted cake (wedding cake leftovers, for example), just dump the frosted cake into a bowl and stir. Refrigerate or freeze the formed balls on parchment-lined baking sheets until they are firm, so that they won't fall apart when you dip them in the melted chocolate.

When the formed balls are ready, melt one bag of chocolate chips (I like to do this in a 2-cup Pyrex glass measuring cup so that there's some depth when you dip the balls in it). If you're doing the melting in the microwave, just heat it in 30 second intervals and stir well in between so that you do not burn the chocolate. Many prefer to melt chocolate in a double boiler, but I find the microwave simpler and sufficient.

Dip each ball in the chocolate, using a fork in each hand to pull the coated ball out of the chocolate while letting the excess drip off. Set on parchment to dry, and top with any decorations or flavor accentuations. Repeat with second bag of chocolate chips (I do one bag at a time, since the chocolate cools down as you're dipping the balls).

Buttercream Icing
1 C butter
1 t vanilla
1 lb. powdered sugar (approx. 4 C)
2 T milk or cream (reduce for stiffer icing)

Cream the butter and vanilla with an electric mixer or stand mixer until well combined.

Add the powdered sugar gradually until smooth.

Add milk 1 T at a time; use less for stiffer icing.

Cream Cheese Frosting
1 cube butter, softened at room temperature
8 oz. cream cheese (do not use low-fat cream cheese)
1 tsp vanilla
1 lb. powdered sugar, sifted (about 4 C)

Cream together the butter and cream cheese with a hand mixer or stand mixer.
Add vanilla and, gradually, the powdered sugar.
Whip until light.

Adaptable Icings: Buttercream and Mascarpone Frostings

I accidentally had a cupcake for lunch on Valentine's Day; it wasn't planned, it just was there in front of me at noon, and I thought "I can't just Not Eat that cupcake." So I ate it. Which reminded me that I made all of these cupcakes last weekend for a friend's birthday...

She had requested a variety of frostings - chocolate, cream cheese, and vanilla bean - so I decided go on a spurt of cupcake creativity. The kind of spurt where I make 6 different flavors, using a basic cake and frosting as a foundation. I honestly started out with about 10 flavors in mind, which I whittled down to 6, which finally became 5 in the absence of key ingredients and extra time.

This time I went with my favorite mascarpone chocolate cupcake recipe, minus the mixed-in chocolate chips. For one of the flavors I mixed in some spice, and for one I added some white chocolate chips, but the rest I left plain chocolate. And then came the icings:

Vanilla Bean Buttercream Frosting
This is really just a basic buttercream with a vanilla bean scraped in.

Cream together:
1 C (2 sticks) salted butter
1 tsp vanilla
the seeds of one vanilla bean scraped into the bowl

Add:
1 lb (about 4 C) powdered sugar
2 T milk or cream or soy milk

To make this into a chocolate buttercream, add:

1 T unsweetened cocoa powder
4 oz melted dark chocolate (bittersweet chocolate chips work fine)

To make this into a cinnamon chocolate icing (think Mexican chocolate, with cinnamon mixed into the batter as well!) add:

1 tsp ground cinnamon

Mascarpone White Chocolate Frosting
For the remaining cupcakes, I made a mascarpone icing, similar to cream cheese but a little less sour. Together with the chocolate cupcakes that had white chocolate chips mixed in, it had the effect of a chocolate cheesecake. I split off some of this frosting to also make a raspberry mascarpone icing, for which I filled the chocolate cupcakes with raspberry jam. To fill cupcakes, cut a cone out of the top of the cupcake, into the middle of the cake, and then lop off the tip of the cone, fill the space with jam, and replace the top of the cake.

Cream together:
1/4 C (1/2 stick) salted butter
1/4 C mascarpone cheese
1 tsp vanilla

Then add:
2 C powdered sugar
3 oz. melted white chocolate chips

To make this a raspberry mascarpone white chocolate icing (shall we just call this "raspberry" for short?), add:

several tablespoons of good raspberry jam (to taste)


When making these frostings, cream the butter/mascarpone and vanilla well together first, until it's getting fluffy, and then after slowly encorporating the powdered sugar and other additions, beat it long enough to make it light and smooth. You want it to make voluptuous cupcakes, n'est-ce pas?

It's always my feeling that food should be decorated to look like it tastes, so I encourage you to find creative ways of doing so - while it might seem too obvious to put white chocolate chips on top of white chocolate frosting, I like the way the textures and shapes look together. And hey, you know what you're eating when you pick it up.

Be forewarned that the amounts of icing produced by these recipes are not proportionate to one batch of 24 cupcakes; the vanilla bean buttercream is more than enough to frost 24, but the mascarpone icing is about enough for 12.

Bon appétit!

Seven-Minute Icing

My mom's been telling me about seven-minute icing for years: how easy it is, how classic it is, how light and fluffy it is, and how CHEAP it is since it doesn't include butter. So, even though I'm very attached to piping buttercream on cakes, last week I took the opportunity to whip some up (hello, obvious pun).

True to its reputation, is was easy and fast. I was really excited to put it on my Oreo fudge cake, since the chocolate cake and its filling of fudge and crushed Oreos is quite rich, and the seven-minute icing was a lighter alternative to buttercream (even though nobody complains about buttercream, trust me!). It also was perfect on Oreo cupcakes - the ones with whole Oreos baked into them! - and good ole white cake with sprinkles. One word of warning: if you're frosting a cake with a moist filling, like the Oreo fudge cake, take care to refrigerate the cake overnight before serving in order to prevent the filling from leaking out and the cake from sliding when transported.



It turns out that seven-minute frosting is basically marshmallow without gelatin and corn or agave syrup, so the process is quite familiar to me. Beat the egg whites, make a syrup, and beat the syrup into the whites. Et voilà!

I have to admit that I was spurred on to make this icing by two friends who separately sent this recipe to me - and who happen to be married to each other, by the way. How could I not make it after that lovely coincidence? This whimsical and pretty treat is a sweet tribute to my friends. Who apparently associate me with cupcakes.



Seven-Minute Icing
from King Arthur Flour

2 large egg whites
1 C sugar
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
1/3 C water
1/8 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract

Prepare icing once cake or cupcakes are completely cooled and you are ready to frost them.

Beat the egg whites in a stand mixer until they are foamy and thick; they should mound in the bowl without holding a peak. Set aside while you prepare the syrup.

Combine the sugar, cream of tartar, water, and salt in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently until the sugar is dissolved.

Begin to beat the egg whites again, immediately pouring the sugar syrup into the mixing bowl in a slow stream while the mixing continues. As you beat, the mixture will thicken. Once all the syrup is added, stir in the vanilla and continue to beat until the icing is thick and will hold a peak.

Immediately spoon the hot icing onto the cooled cake/cupcakes, swirling decoratively (that's the funnest part!). Decorate with sprinkles, cookie crumbs, etc.

One recipe is enough to frost 2 dozen cupcakes.

Chocolate Macarons with Coffee Buttercream

I continue to be content with my Parisian macaron recipe (can I call it mine now that I've adapted it to a new flavor with the strawberry macarons?), especially after it worked so well with the coffee buttercream that I made this week. I'm starting to realize that macarons get a large proportion of their flavor from the cream in the middle; the cookies themselves have to be mainly made of ground almonds, and any flavor they have has to be from some sort of dry ingredient source in order to not disturb the all-important texture of the macaron. So, this time I introduced coffee to my chocolate macarons with a few flecks of instant coffee on top of each macaron and a nice coffee cream in the middle. I was told these are the best I've made yet, although I am afraid they did not look as perfect as they have in the past. Still, very content.

I thought I'd include the whole macaron recipe, in all its glorious detail, plus a recipe for the coffee buttercream, which would be striking on chocolate cake as well.

This recipe is as verbose as it is because it has VERY IMPORTANT tips that will make your macarons succeed, so do read it carefully. Macarons are very much about proper technique. I've italicized a few parts that I missed the first time I made them, or that I find very unique about this recipe.

Chocolate Macarons
From NPR's The Splendid Table

5 oz. (1 1/3 C) finely ground almond powder or blanched almonds (see step 3)
2 C plus 2 T powdered sugar
1/4 C unsweetened Dutch cocoa powder (high quality if possible) plus more for dusting
1/2 C egg whites (about 4 large egg whites)

1. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper, put each baking sheet on top of another baking sheet (or use two insulated baking sheets) and fit a large pastry bag with a plain 1/2-inch or 3/8-inch tip; set these aside for the moment.

2. If you've got almond powder, just sift the almond powder with the confectioner's sugar and cocoa. If you're starting with almonds, place the almonds, sugar and cocoa in the work bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade and process until the mixture is as fine as flour, at least 3 minutes. Stop every minute to check your progress and to scrape down the sides of the bowl. This is not a quick on-and-off operation. Although the almonds may look as though they're pulverized after a minute or so, they won't be. The nuts really need 3 to 5 minutes to be ground to a powder or flour. When the mixture is ground, press it through a medium strainer. In all probability, you'll have about 2 tablespoons of solids that won't go through the strainer - discard them.

3. For this recipe to succeed, you need 1/2 cup of egg whites, which may mean using 3 egg whites plus a part of another white. The easiest way to get a portion of a white is to break the white into a cup, beat it lightly with a fork and then measure out what you'll need. (If you put the egg whites in a glass measuring cup, the whites should come just to the 1/2-cup line when the cup is on the counter and you've crouched down to check the measurement at eye level.)

4. Once the eggs are measured, they need to be brought to room temperature so they can be beaten to their fullest volume. You can leave the whites on the counter until they reach room temperature, or you can put them into a microwave-safe bowl and place them in a microwave oven set on lowest power; heat the whites for about 10 seconds. Stir the whites and continue to heat them -still on lowest power - in 5-second spurts until they are about 75 degrees F. If they're a little warmer, that's okay too. To keep the eggs warm, run the mixer bowl under hot water, dry the bowl well, pour the whites into the bowl and fit the mixer with the whisk attachment.

5. Beat the egg whites at low to medium speed until they are white and foamy. Turn the speed up and whip them on high just until they are firm but still glossy and supple - when you lift the whisk the whites should form a peak that droops just a little. Keep the whites in the mixer bowl or transfer them to a large bowl. Working with a rubber spatula, fold the dry ingredients gently into the whites in 3 or 4 additions. There are a lot of dry ingredients to go into a relatively small amount of whites, but keep folding and you'll get everything in. Don't worry if the whites deflate and the batter looks a little runny - that's just what's supposed to happen. When the dry ingredients are incorporated, the mixture will look like a cake batter; if you lift a little with your finger, it should form a gentle, quickly falling peak. Try to incorporate all the dry ingredients in a total of 50 strokes or less.

6. Spoon the batter into the pastry bag and pipe it out onto the prepared baking sheets. (To keep the paper steady, "glue" it down by piping a bit of batter at each corner of the baking sheet.) Pipe the batter into rounds about 1 inch in diameter, leaving about an inch between each round. (Because you're going to sandwich the baked cookies, try to keep the rounds the same size.) When you've piped out all the macarons, lift each baking sheet with both hands and then bang it down on the counter. Don't be afraid - you need to get the air of the batter. Set the baking sheets aside at room temperature for 15 minutes while you preheat the oven.

7. Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. You need to bake these one pan at a time, so dust the tops of the macarons on one pan with cocoa powder (or sprinkle decorative nibs on top to match the filling flavor) and slide one of the sheets into the oven. As soon as the baking sheet is in the oven, turn the temperature down to 350 degrees F and insert the handle of a wooden spoon between the oven and the door to keep the door slightly ajar. Bake the macarons for 10 to 12 minutes, or until they are smooth and just firm to the touch. Transfer the baking sheet to a cooling rack (see step 8 for information on removing the macarons from the parchment), close the oven door, turn the heat back up to 425 degrees F and, when the oven is at the right temperature, repeat with the second sheet of macarons.

8. To remove the macarons from the parchment - and they should be removed as soon as they come from the oven - you need to create moisture under the cookies. Carefully loosen the parchment at the four corners and, lifting the paper at one corner, pour a little hot water under the parchment paper onto the baking sheet. The water may bubble and steam, so make sure your face and hands are away from the sheet. Move the parchment around or tilt the baking sheet so that the parchment is evenly dampened. Allow the macarons to remain on the parchment, soaking up the moisture, for about 15 seconds, then peel the macarons off the paper and place them on a cooling rack (I don't usually do this step, but it is helpful if you want to be absolutely certain your macarons do not tear when you remove them from the paper).

To finish:

Make a ganache and let it cool, or make a buttercream (coffee buttercream recipe below).

1. When the macarons are cool, sandwich them with ganache, buttercream, or ice cream. For the ganache/buttercream: Pipe or spread a dollop of filling about 1/2 inch across on the flat side of one cookie and use the flat side of another to complete the sandwich and to spread the ganache so that it runs to the edge. Transfer the filled macaroons to a covered container and place them in the refrigerator to soften overnight before serving.

Keeping: Baked, unsandwiched macaroons can be kept in an airtight tin at room temperature for 3 days. Once filled, the macaroons should be chilled and served the next day.

Coffee Buttercream

1 stick (1/2 C) unsalted butter
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 C powdered sugar, plus extra to thicken as desired
1/2 T coffee (strong instant is fine) or more to taste
1/2 T heavy cream or milk (heavy cream makes it richer!)

Beat the butter and the vanilla until soft with an electric or stand mixer, and then gradually add the powdered sugar. Add the coffee and heavy cream/milk, and beat until light and fluffy. Add more powdered sugar if it's too thin to keep shape between cookies.

Brandied Strawberry Banana Cupcakes

Presenting the recipe that couldn't wait til the weekend: Brandied Strawberry Banana Cupcakes. As with many ideas, it started with ingredients in my kitchen that were calling out for a meaningful use. Bananas that I didn't feel like eating and leftover strawberry buttercream from the strawberry macarons...hmmmm...strawberry banana cupcakes! Since Giada de Laurentiis' chocolate mascarpone cupcakes had worked so well for me, I went for her banana cake recipe I had seen a while ago, and was not disappointed! (Click here to watch a video of the recipe, here for the recipe on the Food Network)

These beauties are an adaptation of that recipe, with the spices removed and fresh diced strawberry, sugared and soaked in brandy, thrown into the mix. With or without the strawberry buttercream, they are moist, fruity, and light. And not too sweet! I would almost call them a "muffin" without the frosting. A lot of the strawberry flavor is in the frosting, however, so I wouldn't skip it altogether - perhaps just make it a glaze by adding less powdered sugar to the buttercream if you want to lighten the effect.

Brandied Strawberry Banana Cupcakes

1/4 lb fresh strawberries
several T sugar
several T brandy (optional)
1 1/2 C flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 C sugar
1/2 C canola oil
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 eggs
2 bananas, mashed well

Wash, cut off the tops, and dice the strawberries into approximate 1/4 inch cubes. Set in a bowl and sprinkle with a few tablespoons of granulated sugar and a few tablespoons of brandy (even if you eliminate the brandy, do sugar the berries, since this will draw out their juices). Let sit for at least a couple of hours or overnight if possible.

When the berries are ready, preheat the oven to 325 degrees and line a 12-muffin pan with cupcake liners. Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl and set aside: flour, baking soda, salt, and baking powder. In another bowl mix the sugar, oil, vanilla, eggs, and strawberries (which should be at least 2/3 C including the liquid that has developed with it).

Add half of the dry ingredients to the wet, and mix in until just combined. Mix in the mashed bananas, and then add the rest of the dry ingredients. Be sure to avoid overmixing - mix just until the dry ingredients are incorporated.

Divide into 12 cupcake molds, and bake for 25 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely before icing.

I don't even really like banana and strawberry flavors together, but I loved these! I suppose I shouldn't make fun of Giada's bobblehead so much...come on, you know you've heard that one before. I repent, Giada, your cupcakes are amazing!

Strawberry Macarons and AMANDINE!

This has been a week heavy on the baking, partially because of Mother's Day, but also because I just CANNOT STOP BAKING. I was proud of myself for waiting until today to bake something that I thought up on Sunday - two days is a long time to wait when you've got all the ingredients sitting in your kitchen! I almost made myself wait until next weekend, but then I thought "that's ridiculous! by then I won't even care about this idea and will have moved on to another!" And so I baked. Although I do believe that that particular recipe was improved by ideas I thought up in the tween time, but that is a story for another post.

In any case, my baking schemes do offer additional opportunities to procrastinate actual work that needs to get done (like I need more than the internet and TV afford!), so predictably the recent increase in my workload corresponds closely to the amount of goods my kitchen has been producing. It seemed a perfectly natural choice to make strawberry macarons for my sister's belated birthday gift, rather than simply purchasing a membership to REI (sorry, Amy, that may be a gift for another time...).

I think the macarons turned out wonderfully; I was nervous to tinker with the recipe that worked for me, but I did, and it did, so I'm all pumped up to try other flavors! I took the recommendations from Tartelette's strawberry macaron recipe by drying strawberries in the oven and processing them into powder, then replacing the cocoa powder in my chocolate recipe with the powdered strawberries.

Then came my real innovation: strawberry buttercream. The strawberry flavor in the macaron was rather subtle, and my sister LOVES strawberries, so I definitely wanted to kick the flavor up a notch. I basically added concentrated strawberry purée to a buttercream recipe, and the lovely pink cream in the macaron above came about. Here's a guesstimated outline of the recipe (I made no measurements when I was actually making the cream):

Strawberry Buttercream

1/2 lb strawberries
1/2 cube (4 T) butter
at least 2 C powdered sugar
1 T heavy cream

Wash the strawberries and cut their tops off. Throw them in your food processor and purée completely. Heat the purée in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring frequently to avoid burning, until the purée condenses down and thickens significantly (sorry I can't be more specific; think of this as reducing the water content of the berries and concentrating the flavor). Set purée aside to cool.

Once purée is cool, cream it with the butter in a stand mixer or with an electric hand mixer. The butter may not incorporate completely, but that's okay - it'll mix in better once the sugar is added. Add the powdered sugar bit by bit until the icing reaches the consistency you want. Make sure it is thick enough to hold its shape when spread, since you don't want it running out of the macarons or off the cupcakes or whatever. Mine was a little on the thin side. Add the heavy cream in just to make the mix more creamy. Yum!

I also finally made it to Amandine on Mother's Day, a bakery on Wilshire that I would have visited the previous week had it not been for a barricade of re-paving road work. The re-paving now finished, I successfully purchased some puff pastries that are certainly some of the best in L.A. I also bought my grandmother an almond raspberry tart, since she loves almonds, and the tart had a nice dense texture to it as well as good almond flavor.

These pastries, along with with the scotchmallows I made for my mom (layer of marshmallow, layer of caramel, glued together with chocolate) AND the dim sum feast we all ate together made for a nice Mother's Day. Not to sound completely selfish, but it's nice when our mother's desires coincide exactly with our own, isn't it?

Lemon White Chocolate Cupcakes

A few weeks ago, I made 36 cupcakes for an event, only to have a mere 6 cupcakes consumed at the event. Needless to say, I ended up eating more of these Lemon White Chocolate affairs than necessary, since boxes of cupcakes on the counter are difficult to avoid (darn you, clear plastic containers!).

The whole thing made me doubt my decorating choice, as an unknowing guest at the event said to me, "What's the deal with that cupcake icing?" I told her crisply that I had made the cupcakes, and thought it would be fun to squirt the frosting on them like funnel cakes. I don't think I'll continue to be in touch with that particular fellow guest.

Even after this cut to my confidence, I can't deny that the cupcakes themselves taste fabulous. After forcing my relatives to eat the leftovers (one of whom was licking her plate), I received an order for these cupcakes for a non-profit fundraiser. Take that, guests who didn't eat my cupcakes! Your loss.

Really, these are very nice, and follow my preferred principle of doctoring boxed cake mixes. The result is very light, very moist cake, poignantly lemony, and ever so slightly white chocolaty. It makes a beautiful layer cake, or 24 cupcakes (which you may decorate any way you like!). You can even eliminate the white chocolate if you just want a lemon cake, or replace the cream cheese frosting with buttercream. Trader Joe's has fabulous lemon curd and decent white chocolate chips.

Lemon White Chocolate Cake

6 oz white chocolate chips
1 box white cake mix (use butter cake mix for a richer cake)
2/3 C water
1/3 C oil
3 large eggs
2 large egg whites
2 T fresh lemon juice
1 tsp lemon zest
1/2 C store-bought lemon curd (half of a 10 oz jar)

Grease and line 2 nine inch pans or line 24 cupcake molds. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Melt white chocolate in glass bowl in microwave for one minute on high. Stir with rubber scrapper until melted and smooth.

Place mix, water, oil, eggs, egg whites, lemon juice, and zest into large mixing bowl. Pour in slightly cooled white chocolate. Blend with electric mixer 1 minute . Scrape bowl and mix for 2 minutes at medium speed. Divide batter into the two pans or cupcake tins. Bake until golden brown and it springs back when lightly pressed with your finger, about 28-32 minutes. Cool on wire racks and then remove from pans to cool on racks until completely cool.

Spread lemon curd between layers or on top of each cupcake. Frost with buttercream frosting (add 1 T lemon juice and 1 tsp zest for more lemony flavor) or Lemony White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting.

Lemony White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

6 oz white chocolate chips
8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
4 T (1/2 cube) butter, room temperature
1 T fresh lemon juice
1 tsp lemon zest
3 C powdered sugar, sifted

Melt white chocolate in microwave on High for 1 minute. Stir with rubber scraper until melted and smooth.

Beat cream cheese and butter until well combined using electric mixer on low for about 30 seconds. Add lemon juice and zest and melted chocolate, beat on low just until combined, about 30 seconds. Add powdered sugar and blend on low until incorporated. Increase speed to medium and beat until fluffy, 1 more minute.

Cupcake Couture

I like to make cupcakes mainly because they provide many mini opportunities to get creative, but I actually enjoy eating normal cake more than eating cupcakes (the chance to cut extra slivers off a whole cake is irresistable!). I have yet to go crazy for the cupcake couture that has swept the middle/upper classes of our nation; every time I hear someone raving about one of the famous shops, their ecstasies focus on the icing of the cupcakes. Great icing is simple to make at home (see my buttercream, dark chocolate buttercream, and cream cheese frosting recipes), but good cake is difficult to make from scratch consistently (see my comments at the end of this post).

Judging by the fancy cupcakes I've tasted, the couture shops also struggle with producing good cakes from scratch, as my tastings have ranged from bread-like cake with mediocre texture to very nicely flavored, moist cake. I have also noticed that people often comment about the sweetness of a cupcake when gauging the quality of the cake; in my book, good cake is more a product of flavor and texture than the level of sweetness. Sweetness is a personal preference that often ranges widely according to cultural upbringing or just individual taste.

In the end, however, I am not avoiding cupcake bakeries (or any bakeries, for that matter!), and have enjoyed the majority of cupcakes that I've tried. I'm not criticizing my friends who love these cupcakes, I'm just saying that my love for food requires me to honestly speak my mind and expect the best from well-renowned and even award-winning bakeries. I would love to learn from their clean decoration designs, flavor combinations, and, yes, their quality recipes. So here are some samples!


Vanilla Bake Shop: one of Martha Stewart's favorite cupcake shops in the country, found at Wilshire and 5th in Santa Monica. These cupcakes were NOT disappointing! They had mini cupcake versions of their full-sized cupcakes (a brilliant idea for those of us who want to try different kinds), pictured in the two photos above: coconut, bittersweet chocolate, chocolate with vanilla icing (top photo), and mocha, mint chip, and black berry (lower photo), amongst other flavors. It was also notable that they had a small selection of Parisian macarons; the pistachio macaron (top photo) was just the right consistency with natural flavor, but this strawberry one was the worst macaron I've ever had - see the stiff outer layer and the crumbled interior? Despite the strawberry macaron (whose demise I will chock up to seasonal un-tested recipes), I very much enjoyed Vanilla's cupcakes, especially the blackberry cupcake that was filled with a light custard reminiscent of fruit tarts. Well done.


Dots, in Pasadena, has mixed reviews online, but I found their mini cupcakes to be nice. The cake did not amaze me, but it wasn't bad. They are cute, have a variety of flavors, and were a nice treat when brought to a party.


Plus the box was really cute!


I would also like to mention Miette, which I visited at the Ferry Building in San Francisco; their shop is adorable, and I had to buy a cupcake there just because I loved its design (the Old Fashioned below, on the left; gingerbread on the right). I waited a bit to eat it, so the 7-minute frosting was starting to melt a little. With such light frosting, the cake is key, and it was not quite right. This was a typical so-so cake from scratch for me. Just a little too heavy and too roughly textured. So sad that such a beautiful cupcake was disappointing to eat!


Others I've tried: Auntie Em's in Eagle Rock (bread-like cake texture, but good frosting) and Violet's Cakes in Pasadena. I had red velvet from both, but have never had red velvet cake that I LOVED. Another trend that I haven't gotten into - I prefer straight up chocolate.

I think I'll stick to Parisian macarons if I'm going to splurge on a luxury baked good that I can't make myself! For now, that is.

Dark Chocolate Buttercream Icing and Cupcake Decorating

I made cupcakes last week just because decoration ideas began to grow in my mind like weeds; although I normally save baking for occasions where others can eat my food, I just couldn't wait this time. Which means I had to invite people over spur of the moment to eat my food!

I found a recipe that was possible with the contents of my kitchen and set to work, consulting my scrap paper of scribbled notes as I planned out my flavors and decorations. These dark chocolate cupcakes came out in chocolate-orange, chocolate-caramel, and chocolate-walnut permutations.


More importantly, I got to play with my star, leaf, and round tips to produce these decorated cupcakes. I especially love this pile of leaf squigglies (above) and this cute pyramid of round plops (below).


I'll need to tinker with the cake recipe a tad more, but the dark chocolate buttercream icing pictured at the top of this post turned out great. Here 'tis!

Dark Chocolate Buttercream Icing

2 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
2 C powdered sugar
2 T cocoa powder
1 tsp. vanilla extract
8 oz. melted semisweet or bittersweet chocolate
pinch salt

Beat the butter with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until smooth. Reduce the speed to medium-low and slowly add the powdered sugar. Beat until smooth. Beat in the cocoa powder, vanilla, melted chocolate, and salt. Turn the speed up to medium-high until the mixture is light and fluffy.

Try it with white chocolate sometime!

Fall Cupcakes

Since I'm taking forever to write this post, I decided to just post the pictures without the full recipes, but you've got the idea from my previous cupcake posts: make a white cake mix and add flavors, decorate with buttercream or cream cheese frosting tinted with complementary flavors and colors!

Here we go:


These are the vanilla bean brandy and mint chip cupcakes. As you might guess, the former are flavored with the seeds of a vanilla bean and a small touch of brandy, and the latter were given a light touch of mint extract and sprinkled with dark chocolate chunks (and green food coloring reminiscent of the ice cream!).


On the left are the caramelized apple cupcakes, which are based on a Tarte Tatin idea; I caramelized an apple, puréed it, and mixed some in with the batter. Then I made some brown sugar caramel and coated the bottom of each cupcake liner with the caramel and poured the batter in on it. They stuck fantastically to the pan, so greasing it would have been good, but in the end I was able to peel the paper off each cupcake and turned them over into new liners, as pictured here. Since a Tarte Tatin is an upside-down cake, I thought it would be appropriate...and I added more caramel on top for good measure. On the right are pumpkin spice cupcakes, to which I added spices based on my family pumpkin pie recipe, plus some pumpkin purée. Both of these cupcakes were moister than the others because of the fruit purées, and the others were lighter.


Mint chocolate chip, topped with chocolate buttercream that had just a hint of mint extract (the stuff is strong, so be careful!) and dark chocolate chunks.


Pumpkin spice, swirled on top with cream cheese frosting that had a bit of the pumkin pie spice in it (see the flecks?), and an abstract pumpkin piped on with a few green sprinkles to insinuate a stem. The pumpkin decoration is a bit too abstract, since people still had to ask what the flavor was, but I still think it's cute.


I kept the vanilla bean decoration simple, adding more vanilla bean seeds to the buttercream, but again included brandy to keep a thematic kick to the cupcake.

And, finally, the caramelized apple took a squiggly dollop of cream cheese frosting on top, with more brown sugar caramel mixed in.

I've just learned that there is a book out there called The Cake Mix Doctor which basically does what I've been doing with these cupcakes - it tells you how to start with a cake mix and flavor it up in all sorts of ways. This reinforces for me the fact that cake mixes are fairly fool proof; you can do a lot to them and they'll still turn out great!

I've added fruit purées of varying densities, extracts, cocoa powder, coffee, caramel, fruit juice, spices, sprinkles, dried fruit, Oreos, coconut, nuts, honey, almond paste, and candy (i.e., all manner of liquids, fats, and sugars!) and every one has been a success. As my mom says, cake mixes are full of stabilizers that home cooks don't have access to for cakes from scratch, which means that cakes from scratch can be pretty difficult to get right (something I personally have proven with a number of dense, heavy cakes). It takes mastering a number of correct techniques in order to get a good scratch cake.

So, don't feel bad if you rely on cake mixes! Why not use a fool-proof method of achieving a moist and well-textured cake? Just get creative by doctoring the batter up a bit to satisfy your inner food artist. And make sure to use homemade frosting, since that part is super easy and makes an immeasurable difference in the final product.

A Little More Cupcaking Around

Last week there were 2 occasions that served as excuses to make something special; I schemed for several weeks to come up with something sufficiently inspiring, and this is what came about. I am starting to feel like I need a coup de foudre, as the French would say, in order to want to make something. A coup de foudre could literally mean a "clap of thunder," but it is mostly used to describe love at first sight - a moment of passion that seizes you all of a sudden, with involuntary captivation. Any foodies out there get me? I feel a bit lost in the kitchen without the electricity of creative passion. While this general premise previously inspired me, this time the new prospective flavors and icings got me all whipped up again.

General premise: make a good white cake mix (or from scratch if you have more time and a good recipe) and divide the batter evenly up into 6 bowls. Plan your flavors and make icings to match! Last week I opted to top half of them with buttercream frosting and half with cream cheese frosting, to make some of them a little less sweet and the selection more diverse.

Here they are (left to right): coconut, Oreo, orange ginger, mocha, brown sugar au fleur de sel, and chocolate dipped strawberry.


I find these naked cupcakes to be nicely photogenic, with their varying colors and surfaces, but wait 'til you see what they became...as a general decorating technique, I wanted the decorations to clearly reflect the cake flavor, while being pretty, of course! If you decide to do a batch of only one flavor, do make sure to increase your flavoring proportions appropriately.

Buttercream Icing
1 C butter
1 t vanilla
1 lb. powdered sugar (approx. 4 C)
2 T milk (reduce for stiffer icing)

Cream the butter and vanilla with an electric mixer or stand mixer until well combined. Add the powdered sugar gradually until smooth. Add milk 1 T at a time; use less for stiffer icing. I recommend starting with stiffer icing for these cupcakes, since you will be adding more liquid for some of the flavors which will make it softer. When you are piping icing onto cakes, you generally want the piped icing to be stiffer than icing spread on the cake with a spatula (stiff icing will pull the cake apart as you spread it, but when piped holds shape better).


Oreo Cupcakes
Batter: Mix in 2-3 tsp. unsweetened cocoa powder. Pour batter into cupcake pan and insert a whole Oreo into each cupcake - place flat on top of the batter and gently push down until batter rises over the sides of the Oreo. Fill in the middle top with plain white batter (see the unfrosted ones above with white tops and brown sides?). Once baked, this results in a soft cookie on the interior that you can see the profile of when a bite is taken of the cupcake - so cute!

Decoration: Buttercream frosting: Load plain frosting into a piping bag with a medium round tip. Pipe in concentric spirals on top of cupcake, building up as desired. Top with halves or quarters of Oreos and microplane/grate some dark chocolate over the top. Use reduced-fat or sugar-free Oreos to make this a tad healthier.



Mocha Cupcakes
This mocha guy is very similar to the mocha cupcake I made last time, but I added small chunks of chocolate on top and made the coffee slightly stronger. Still a hit! I love how he stands at attention at the head of the other cupcakes in this picture.




Brown Sugar au Fleur de Sel Cupcakes
It is nearly impossible to pick a favorite for myself from among these 6 flavors, but I will say that this one appeals strongly to my current salty/sweet attraction.
Batter: Make caramel in a saucepan on the stovetop: let 1/3 C brown sugar sit in the saucepan with 1 T water (do not stir, but swish pan occasionally) until bubbles form on the surface; then pull the pan off the heat before it burns, and stir in 3 T butter and 1/4 t fleur de sel or sea salt until butter is melted and all is thoroughly combined. Let cool slightly, then mix into the cake batter. Pour into the cupcake pan and top each with several flecks of fleur de sel.

Decoration: Buttercream frosting: Stir in broken-up brown sugar and a pinch of sea salt (to taste). Make sure to break up the brown sugar chunks and only add small salt pieces, as they will block the decorating tip if they are too big. Use a large star tip in your decorating bag and start making concentric spirals on top of the cupcake, building up to a conical swirl on top. Sprinkle with brown sugar and a few flecks of fleur de sel. Use the fleur de sel sparingly, as it is easy for it to overwhelm the sweetness - a little bit goes a long way. If you are not going to serve the cupcakes immediately, you may want to wait on sprinkling the brown sugar on top; it may dissolve into brown liquid droplets if there is any condensation on the cupcakes in the refrigerator.


Cream Cheese Frosting
1 cube butter, softened
8 oz. cream cheese
1 lb. powdered sugar (approx. 4 C)
1 t vanilla

Cream the butter and cream cheese with an electric mixer or stand mixer until well combined. Add the vanilla and powdered sugar gradually until smooth. This icing starts out softer than the buttercream; if you find that this icing gets too thin when you add the flavoring, feel free to mix in more powdered sugar one spoonful at a time until it thickens up as desired.


Coconut Cupcakes
These were the most disappointing to me, simply because I got very excited about the idea of coconut being paired with toasted pecan, but in the end there wasn't a strong coconut flavor to the cake. I was unable to find coconut extract, and ended up using a coconut pudding mix when I could have had more success with coconut milk. Still, the cake ended up moist due to the pudding, and it tasted good if not super coconut-y.
Batter: Stir in 1/4 of Dr. Oetker Organic Coconut Pudding Mix package and 1/4 C shredded sweetened coconut.
Decoration: Cream cheese frosting: Mix in another 1/4 package of coconut pudding mix. Using medium star tip pipe in concentric spirals onto cupcake, building up into a cone. Top with toasted coconut shreds (toast your own on the stove top, stirring constantly) and toasted pecan bits.


Orange Ginger Cupcakes
Lovely, light, freshly orange cupcakes; these were good for folks who preferred less sweet dessert. The ginger is barely discernable.
Batter: Mix in 2 T freshly squeezed orange juice, 1 large pinch orange zest, and a pinch of grated fresh ginger.
Decoration: Cream cheese frosting: Add 2 t freshly squeezed orange juice and a pinch of freshly grated ginger; stir in more powdered sugar to thicken as necessary. Add a small drop of red food coloring and a few drops of yellow if orange color is desired. Pipe onto cupcakes with medium round tip and top with orange zest.


Chocolate Dipped Strawberry Cupcakes
I consider these cupcakes a fabulous success; the batter ended up very moist and full of strawberry flavor with a tint of chocolate, and the cream cheese frosting was a great complement.
Batter: Add 1/4 C condensed strawberry purée (if making 6 cupcakes, reduce for less). Instructions for the purée on this previous post. Use a small grater or microplaner to grate enough bittersweet chocolate into the batter so that when stirred in the occasional fleck is visible in the midst of the strawberry seeds. These will not rise like the other cupcakes, but don't worry! They will taste great.
Decoration: Cream cheese frosting: Pipe on with medium round tip. Top with a strawberry half, stem included, and surround with small bittersweet chocolate chunks. If making a day ahead, wait until right before serving to put the strawberries on top.


Final tip: Take a sharp knife along when you serve them so that folks can try slices of the different flavors without going sugar crazy!