Lovin' My Oven: A Blog of Cooking and Reading: art

Last Thursday I was showcased for "Cupcake Art" at RAW San Jose's Mixology event. I had a great time, sold a bunch of cupcakes, and got a ton of feedback, ranged from pleased with my little cakes to downright enthralled (Do note, some of my fans had had several drinks. Still.) I've already blogged about my Rose Cheery cupcakes here and my Earl Grey and Chrysanthemum Peach cupcakes here, so I'll focus this entry on the new-comers.

After all that testing of fruit and florals, I was really craving something chocolate-y. My first impulse was to make half of the rose cherry cupcakes into chocolate rose cherry cupcakes, which I did.

All you need to do to make them chocolate is substitute 1/3-1/4 of the flour in the original recipe with cocoa powder and continue baking as usual. (So 1/2 cup flour and 1/4 cocoa powder for a small batch).

But I wanted something else even more deeply chocolate and decadent. I settled for mocha cupcakes with a layer of chocolate caramel. I based the recipe on this one on Bakingdom, but I tweaked it a bit. She has you brew 2 cups of coffe and add cocoa powder, but I have some delicious Godiva Chocolate Truffle coffee that I wanted to use instead. Since the original cook felt that the coffee flavor didn't come through as strongly as she'd hoped, I made my coffe extra strong.

So for my version of Mocha Caramel Cupcakes:
(makes 24 cupcakes)

Fill coffee filter with:

3 generous tablespoons Godiva coffee (or another chocolate-y blend)

Pour boiling water through it over a measuring bowl until the liquid reaches the 2 cup level. Then stir in:

1 1/5 packets instant Columbian coffee (or your preferred blend, just be sure it's strong)

Put the coffe in the fridge to cool and sift together:
2 cup flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt

And cream in the mixer:
1 cup butter
2 cups sugar

Add:

3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla

Alternate adding the coffee mixture and the flour mixture to the mixer, mixing each time until just incorporated and ending with flour.

I poured my batter into a cupcake tin that I greased with shortening because I wanted to slice them in half and layer with the chocolate caramel sauce (which I didn't have time to make, and bought - Archer Farms brand). You can do it that way or bake as usual with cupcake liners. Regardless, bake for 20-23 minutes at 350 degrees. Sadly, I accidentally didn't get any close up photos of the finished products, but you can catch a glimpse at the end of this post, and here are the finished cakes.

Now, for my final cupcake, as some of you might know, I wanted to do a Jasmine Fig Cupcake. I adore the scent of jasmine, and love to bike around town during the summer, catching whiffs of it here and there, so I would have loved to capture it in a cupcake, unfortunately, none of my methods were successful and so I fell back on the tried and true lavender. These were delicious and sold out, just like my Lavender Honey Cupcakes last month.

Lavender Raspberry Cupcakes
(makes 24 cupcakes):

First, I wanted to make lavender sugar, a fairly easy process. In the food processor, combine:
1/2 cup sugar

2 heaping tbsp dried lavender

You may need to pick out bits of lavender that didn't get fully ground.

You also want to crush:
1/3 cup raspberries

And cook them in a saucepan with a bit of sugar in order to evaporate away some of the water. I even added a little cornstarch (like, in 1/4 tsp increments) to thicken things up. I then put that in the fridge to cool while I prepared my batter.

Now we can use the lavender sugar with the recipe. Cream together:
1 cup butter
1/2 lavender sugar
1 1/2 cup white sugar

Add:
4 eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla

Sift:
3 cups cake flour
1 tbsp baking powder
a pinch of salt

Alternate adding the flour mixture and 1 cup milk to the mixing bowl, mixing until just incorporated and ending with the flour. Then fold in the raspberry mixture. Pour into a baking tin and cook for 20-23 minutes at 350 degree.

Baked and frosted!

My final recipe is the tasty frosting I used on the cupcakes that I didn't use super fancy piping techniques for (the lavender raspberries above is one of them):

Pour into the mixing bowl:
1/4 cup vanilla instant pudding powder
1/4 cup sugar
3 cups whipping cream
1 tsp vanilla

Mix it all on low speed for a minute or two, then bump up to medium high speed. Continue to mix for 6 or 7 minutes, or until the consistency is somewhat stiff. This frosting will not be as stiff as butter cream, but you can pipe it out into nice little blobs on top of your cupcakes, especially if you let it sit for 15 minutes or so in the fridge. If it sits out for awhile, it will droop a bit, especially if you haven't let it sit in the fridge. For my show, since they were sitting out, I frosted them in the morning, let them sit in the fridge for most of the day, then took them out at night and they held up pretty well.

The other cool thing about this frosting is that you can add things too it. I added food color to get the lavender shade and added lemon juice and zest to the frosting for the Earl Grey Cupcakes. This can make the frosting a bit less stiff, so beware :)

Pictures from the event!

It has been a Long Time since I paid attention to this blog, but my focus is renewed! Last week I made a tasty assortment of baked goods for an event put on by an excellent women's group in San Jose - Women Rising. There was art, food, dancing, singing, joy, and, of course, empowerment. I worked as one of the vendor, selling baked goods for folks to enjoy after hitting up the taco bar, and I'd love to share the recipes and photos with the world!

Since it's been so lovely and June-like here the last few weeks, I decided to go with a fruit summer flavors theme. I broke my baking up throughout the week, making a different dessert each day.

Monday - Watermelon Cake Pops

First, I made watermelon cakepops (inspired by a photo circulating Pinterest lately).

Since I had such elaborate plans for my cupcakes, I decided to stick with the tried and true cakepop method - box cake and a jar of cream cheese frosting. I know, but such are the concessions one must make to time. I would have liked to make a white cake from scratch, working in some watermelon Jello powder and dying it pink, to get the homemade and watermelon taste, but I could not find the watermelon Jello or the time, so that will be a project for later.

The process is pretty straightforward for the cake bit - make up the boxed cake (I used strawberry) and crumble it into a big bowl, mix in (most) of the cream cheese frosting, and roll that mixture into balls.

I added chocolate chips for the watermelon seeds!

Once you have your cake balls, you come to the hard part - dipping them in the chocolate. I used Wilton's melting chocolate since it was at Michaels and came in green. These were my two amateur requirements - looking around now I see a lot more information from people who, unlike me, actually make candy more than once or twice a year: what type of chocolate to use, how to dye and flavor it, other chemistry considerations. But since I'm a baker, I'll just tell you what I learned in this particular adventure.

The first step is to dip your sticks in a bit of melted chocolate to get them to stick firmly in the cake balls.

Also, you should put them in the fridge to harden the chocolate and firm up the cake balls themselves for about 15 minutes before trying to dip them. I learned this the hard way after two or three fell off the stick and broke apart in the chocolate and I had to fish them out.

After 15 minutes of waiting, this was my set up. I have always distrusted microwaves for cooking (they are appropriate only for "heating") so I used the faux double boiler method (metal bowl on top of a pot of water). Apparently, it is helpful to keep the fire pretty low, as the chocolate will thicken if overheated (I'm pretty sure this happened to me). A way to thin the chocolate out is to add a bit of vegetable oil, but not too much or the chocolate can seize (I did 1/4 tsp about three times, stirring between each time). As you can see, I only took a few pops out of the fridge at a time because I was scared the would warm up and crumble again.

I couldn't take a picture of my entire dipping strategy because I was alone and it required two hands, but basically, I took a spoon, covered with a thin layer of the chocolate, in my left hand, and a cake pop in my right. I dipped it straight down into the chocolate and then gently moved the stick from side to side and front to back to get chocolate over the area around the stick and cover the pop completely (twirling it in there wasn't working). Then, I lifted the pop out and put it against the spoon, twirling it around so that the spoon took off the excess chocolate without ruining the smoothness.

After that, I stuck each pop into a convenient piece of Styrofoam to harden, then kept them in the fridge in a Tupperware until the big day. Here's the finished product!

Tuesday - Lavender Honey Cupcakes

I love lavender. I love it's smell, I love how it looks, I love its flavor. The combination of lavender and honey is absolutely perfect and I want to use it to make everything, all summer long (a week after this, I made honey lavender gelato - look for that recipe in a few days!)

There are several ways to get the lavender into the food, but I used the easiest and quickest and just threw 2 hefty tablespoons in the food processor with a 1/4 of sugar (I didn't want to use too much since I wanted most of the sweetness from the honey).

To make the batter, I mixed:

2 cups softened butter
1 cup honey
2/3 cup greek yogurt (you could use sour cream instead)
6 eggs
2 tsp vanilla

in the mixer until smooth. Meanwhile, I prepared a bowl with:

4 cups flour
2 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoon baking powder
A bit of salt

I sifted these dry ingredients and poured them into the batter, mixing a few minutes more until everything was incorporated. Look how thick it got!

Then it was into the cupcake tin and into a 350 degree oven for about 17 minutes. Let them cool for a bit in the tins before removing them and letting them cool all the way on a rack. (I frosted all the cupcakes on Thursday, scroll down to see).

Wednesday - Mint Julep Cupcakes

These and the ones below I took from a blog called Baked Perfection, the author of which has really clever ideas for flavor combinations and uses my preference for adding sour cream/yogurt to cake recipes to get that nice, cakey moistness. Check her out!

I followed her recipe pretty closely, creaming in the mixer:

1 cup softened butter

This batter was much thinner, but still
made nice, hearty cupcakes.

2 cups sugar

then beating in

3 eggs

then

6 tbsp bourbon (I didn't have any so I used whiskey, which was fine)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp mint extract

In a side bowl, I sifted

3 cups flower
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
a pinch of salt

I alternated mixing a bit of the flour mixture and a bit of 2 cups of Greek yogurt in to the batter until everything was incorporated, spread it into cupcake tins, then baked them in a 350 degree oven for about 23 minutes, let them cool a bit in the pan, and transferred them to a rack.

Here they are, frosted and ready to go, with festive, mixed drink umbrellas. See the frosting recipe below, after the final cupcake recipe.

Thursday - Blackberry Lime Cupcakes

This is another flavor idea from Baked Perfection, and I was really excited about is since blackberries are my favorite summer fruit. Again, I followed her recipe for the cupcakes themselves pretty closely.

I creamed in the mixer:

1 cup softened butter

2 cups sugar

then beating in

3 eggs

then

5 tbsp fresh squeezed lime juice

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 limes worth of zest

In a side bowl, I sifted

3 cups flower

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

a pinch of salt

Like before, I alternated mixing a bit of the flour mixture and a bit of 2 cups of Greek yogurt in to the batter until everything was incorporated, spread it into cupcake tins, then baked them in a 350 degree oven for about 23 minutes, let them cool a bit in the pan, and transferred them to a rack.

The blackberry aspect of the cupcake came in with the filling. I mashed up a 12 oz package of berries in my nifty African grinder thing (I'm always excited when I have a chance to use it) and put them in a pot with just a bit of sugar and honey (like, a teaspoon of each). I let it heat up over medium heat and reduce a little bit until it was a thin jam consistency (10 minutes or so). Then I took it off the heat and let it cool before putting it in a pastry bag and squirting a bit into the center of each cupcake. I left about 1/2 a cup to the side to add to the frosting.

After I made these, it was time to frost all the cakes. I am on a constant quest to find a buttercream that I don't think is too sweet, and I did not find the solution this time, but it wasn't too bad, definitely less sweet than others I've had. Since I made all the butter cream at once, then divided it into 3 to frost all the cupcakes (about 75-80), this recipe is pretty big. Feel free to divide it by three or even four to get a small amount.

First, I creamed:

3 sticks of softened butter

then, slowly so as not to cover my kitchen, I added

7.5 cups powdered sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt (this helps counter the sweetness)
4 tbsp milk

I mixed that in, then added

7 1/2 MORE cups of powdered sugar (I know)
3 tsp vanilla
3 tsp lemon juice (also counters sweetness)

I beat it until fluffy, then separated it into three to alter it for each cupcake.

For the Honey Lavender Cupcakes, I just added a tablespoon of honey (the extra sweetness was balanced a bit here, as this was the least sweet cupcake. I also added a bit of red and blue food dye to get a pretty color. Then I piped it on and sprinkled a bit of decorative dried lavender pieces on top.

For the Mint Julep Cupcakes, I drizzled a 1/4 tsp mint extract and a tbsp of whiskey in the frosting and mixed it in. I also added a couple drops of green food color for effect. Then I piped that one on and decorated each cupcake with a cocktail umbrella.

For the Blackberry Lime Cupcakes, I added the 1/2 cup of blackberry filling that I had set aside. This, unfortunately, thinned out the frosting a bit past my liking, but it also make a cool swirly effect when I added a bit of flour to stiffen things up a bit. This is some science that I'll need to study further in the future. I piped it on and stuck a blackberry atop each one.

Friday - Chocolate Mousse

Okay, so this is not a fruity summertime treat, but it has gotten great feedback, so I thought I'd make it as a sort of evening standout treat. And it did, apparently, because it sold out first.

First, I chopped up

12 ounces of semisweet chocolate
1 stick of butter

and melted it in the bowl-over-pot method I used with the cake pop chocolate. As that cooled, I separated and whipped up

8 egg yolks
3 tbsp sugar

until they thickened. When the chocolate was no longer a danger to the eggs (cool enough to stick my finger in it), I whisked them together. In another bowl, I mixed

3/4 cup of whipping cream
2 tbsp sour cream

until stiff peaks formed, then folded it into the chocolate mixture. Finally, I whipped

2 egg whites
1 tbsp sugar

into soft peaks, then folded that into the chocolate. Then I poured the chocolate into Dixie cups, ground a bit of sea salt over each for flavor contrast, and stuck them in the freezer for 10 to 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, I whipped up (yet again) some heavy cream with a bit of vanilla and powdered sugar to top the mousse cups. When they came out of the freezer, I sprinkled a bit of cocoa powder on them and they were ready!