Happy Birthday - Round 2

Remember Thomas the Tank Engine from last year? Mary-Ann orders a few dozen chocolate cupcakes for her son's birthday. Got to love loyal customers. Buttercream frosting, thank heavens the event was indoors!

It's a Boy!

I missed out on Cruz's baby shower and I regreted it. It was a mistake I was eager to learn from. I made sure to be front at center at Bryce's baby shower. That and Julnette would never let me live it down if I didn't make carrot cake cupcakes.

My First Wedding Tasting

I happened to be catering cupcakes the same day Greenfish served lunch at LinkedIn. Mina, who happens to be the sweetest person ever (you really would have mistaken her for a fallen angel) asked if I would be interested in catering a wedding with her. UMMM, HELLO? ABSOLUTELY! I was jumping in my skin. Calm, cool and collected, "Sure." We exchanged cards and that was that.

I met the lovely couple at local coffee shop in Noe Valley. I asked them how they met and I think my heart melted and poured out onto the table. I really wanted to be a part of their special day. We talked pricing, quantity, deposits and decorations. It was hugs all round before we left to continue on with the rest of our day. They said they would be in touch. Pretty stoked.

More Red Velvet

I catered cupcakes for my best friend's wedding shower and her sister-in-law a year later requested the same red velvet cupcakes. Some people just can't get enough. Happy baptism Bella.

It's Raining Babies at Zynga

Round 2: LinkedIn orders 156 Cupcakes

green tea cake with cream cheese frosting
lemon cake with cream cheese frosting
red velvet with cream cheese frosting

Thomas the Tank Engine

ten hours later...




The final product: 36 chocolate cupcakes with vanilla buttercream frosting.

You've Never Heard of Red Velvet? WHAAAAA?

My Aunt and Uncle were in town from the UK this week for my older brother's wedding. We caught up on how our cousins were doing, their plans to build a house in the Philippines, and how my baking plans were going. I told them about the 150 cupcakes I need to make in about three weeks for my best friends wedding and that's when one of them blurted out, "Whots Red Velvet?".

I have to remember Red Velvet is a southern dessert. And I guess I couldn't be too shocked. Before I lived in Australia, I had never heard of Vegemite.

On the day of their departure, I stopped in Blissful Bites Bakery and ordered them a few keepsakes to bring home, including four Red Velvet cupcakes. (The owner was born and raised in Korea, then eventually made his way to San Francisco. With a passion for baking, he attended CCA and a few years later opened Blissful Bites.)



On any given day, they normally have twelve-fifteen different flavors on hand. Stop in and support local businesses.

Mocha Sundays

"Do you do this for a living?", Serene asks.

"No, not yet."

These cupcakes are full, moist and rich. I couldn't be any happier with them. Devil's Food Cake Cockaigne topped with mocha buttercream.

YUMMM!!





Devil's Food Cake Cockaigne
Adapted from the Joy of Cooking

4 oz. Unsweetened chocolate
1/2 cup Milk
1 cup Light sugar; firmly packed
2 cup Cake flour, sifted
1 tsp. Baking soda
1 Egg yolk, room temp
1/2 tsp. Salt
1/2 cup butter, room temp
1 cup sugar
2 Eggs yolks, room temp
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup Milk
1 tsp. vanilla
2 Egg whites, room temp

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
2. Prepare the following custard: Cook and stir in a double boiler over-not in- boiling water the unsweetened chocolate, milk, brown sugar, and 1 egg yolk. Remove from heat when thickened. Cool to room temperature
3. In a separate bowl, combine cake flour, baking soda and salt
4. In a small bowl, combine milk, water and vanilla
5. In another bowl, beat the butter until soft.
6. Gradually add sugar, then beat in the egg yolks on low speed, one at a time
7. Add the flour to the mixture in 3 parts alternating with a mixture of the water, ilk and vanilla. Mix on low until smooth
8. Stir in the chocolate custard
9. Whip the egg whites until stiff but not dry. Fold lightly into cake batter.
10. Scoop batter with a three tablespoon ice cream scoop into paper lined pans
11. Bake for about 18 minutes or until toothpick pulls clean
12. Cool completely and frost

Mocha Buttercream
Shortening, butter, confectioners sugar, vanilla extract, unsweetened powdered cocoa, water, and instant coffee

This recipe yields 2 dozen

Birthday Cupcakes

My younger brother is one of the hardest working people I know. He gets to work at 7 am and leaves around 11 at night, six sometimes seven times a week. At the whim of his client (*ahem* Genentech), he was unable to spend his 27th birthday with friends and family. In a desperate attempt to bring a piece of home to him, I searched high and low for a bakery that would delivery an extra special order with a 24-hour notice.

Cupcake Jones to the rescue. They warmly answered the phone and happily accomodated my request. One dozen cupcakes delivered to his work tomorrow between the hours of 10 and 2. 'Would you also like a candle and card to accompany this delivery?' she asks. How sweet. (I'm wondering if they are hiring.)

The cupcakes made in time and looked impeccable. 'Dangerously delicious' were his exact words. I could hear him smiling on the other end than as he thanked us for making his day.

Happy Birthday J.


White Chocolate Raspberry: white chocolate cake filled with raspberry white chocolate pastry cream topped with white chocolate buttercream, raspberry drizzle, and grated white chocolate

Bananas Foster: banana spice cake filled with caramel pastry cream topped with caramel buttercream, caramel sauce and a banana chip


Downtown Cupcake Brown: delicious devil’s food cake filled with sour cream chocolate ganache topped with fresh grated dark chocolate


Velvet Painting: red velvet cake filled with vanilla bean pastry cream topped with cream cheese icing, and a hand candied rose petal

Fleur de Sel

You might wonder why an 8 oz jar of Fleur de Sel (french for flower of salt) averages around $8 a pop. It is a result of sea water, hand harvested off the coast of France and naturally processed by the sun and wind. It's culinary uses are endless - try it with salads, meats, desserts and everything in between.

Pictured below is just one of many popular combinations (with chocolate and caramel)





This is a chocolate caramel fleur de sel cupcake baked fresh from Noe Valley Bakery. And yes it tastes as amazing at it looks.

I couldn't help but wonder what # tip they used to frost these cupcakes. What porportion of baking soda/baking powder did they use to get these babies so plump? Does the bakery create large batches of these? Does that mean they really add only one egg at a time? Wouldn't that entail overworking the dough? Piping the filling into each one must have been fun. I'm guessing they use real butter instead of shortening and eggs, also at room temperature. Dry ingredients are added in parts ...

Chocolate Chunk Hazelnut Sundays

Teacake Bakeshop is something kind of wonderful. They have three locations throughout Northern California, one in Corte Madera, one in LaFayette and one Emeryville. They specialize in cupcakes, cookies, and brownies, all made from scratch in small batches. The shop is oh so adorable and their kitchen was immaculate. I couldn't help but smile seeing blocks of butter and stacks of eggs resting at room temperature.

We ordered one pink velvet cupcake (I had just made another test run batch for Julnette's wedding and wanted to compare) and one Chocolate Chunk Hazelnut cookie. My goooshhh, the cookie was mammoth.. so soft... the chocolate and hazelnut ratio was perfect. There isn't one thing I would have changed. And the cupcake.. how the hell did they get the frosting so soft? I'll have to play around with the recipe I've been using.

It has been a week since my visit to the Teacake Bakeshop in Corte Madera, so I decided to whip up a batch of chocolate chip hazelnut cookies. Pictures will be posted soon, in the meantime enjoy these photos courtesy of britt.piehl.





**I remember chatting it up with the staff and they were so enthusiastic about being a part of the Teacake team. They talked about their involvement with the community (ie. student deal Wednesdays and book donation Thursdays). They also offer baking classes at their LaFayette location. This place just keeps getting better.

Trial and Error

Julnette, (one of four best friends) is getting married this June and has asked me to do her wedding cake/cupcakes. I gladly said yes and am slowly realizing what I signed up for. She is expecting a party of at least 100 people. Not too bad, right?

That gives me about two months to kitchen-test a full-proof red velvet cupcake recipe and three months to figure out how I'm supposed to pull this all off - gracefully. Do I make the cupcakes the night before or the day of? Do I frost the night before or the day of? Do I pipe or slather on the frosting. Cupcake tower? No cupcake tower? Not to mention how should I setup the cake they plan to cut into? Eek!

Here goes my first test run. This recipe is from Simply Recipes. I couldn't find Dutch processed cocoa powder, so I used Hershey's Special Dark (a blend of dutch and unsweetened cocoa powder). On top of all the stress, I presented the cupcakes to a mix of strangers and friends .. Verdict: Two thumbs up! This batch made 24 and luckily I was able to get my hands on the last cupcake and take a picture. I'll be making red velvet at once every two weeks tweeking it here and there to make sure I've got it just right..



Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe

1 1/2 cups of sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) of butter, room temperature
2 eggs, room temperature
2 1/3 cups of cake flour
2 tablespoons of Dutch-processed cocoa powder
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 cup of buttermilk*
1 1/2 tablespoons of red food coloring
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 teaspoon of distilled white vinegar
Frosting ingredients

1/2 cup of butter (1 stick), room temperature
8 oz of Philly cream cheese (1 package), room temperature
2 - 3 cups of powdered sugar
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
*You can make your own buttermilk by adding a tablespoon of distilled white vinegar to milk and letting it stand for about 10 minutes.


Method
The cupcakes

1 Preheat the oven to 350°F. Beat the butter and sugar in an electric mixer for 3 minutes on medium speed until light and fluffy.

2 Add the eggs, one at a time, beating until each is fully incorporated. Be sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl to ensure even mixing.

3 In a large bowl, sift together the cake flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. In another bowl whisk together the buttermilk, vinegar, vanilla extract, and red food coloring.

4 Add a fourth of the dry ingredients and mix, then add a third of the wet. Continue adding in a dry, wet, dry pattern, ending with the dry ingredients.

5 Scoop into cupcake papers, about 1/2 to 3/4 of the way full. Bake for 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Rotate the pan after the first 15 minutes of baking to ensure even baking.

6 Allow to cool for one minute in the pan then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Makes about 2 1/2 dozen cupcakes.

The Frosting

1 Cream the butter and cream cheese together, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl to ensure even mixing.

2 Add the vanilla extract and mix.

3 Add the powdered sugar, continually taste to get to desired sweetness. Pipe onto cooled cupcakes.

Vanilla Buttercream Cupcakes

I've been baking everyday for the past two weeks and I couldn't be happier. If I'm staring out into space and not listening to what you're saying, it's because I'm thinking of what to bake next. Either that or wondering which culinary school I should be attending. With almost a full carton of buttermilk and new years nearly upon us, I decide to make Vanilla Buttermilk Cupcakes found on Nicole Weston's Baking Bites website. The frosting is an easy Vanilla Buttercream recipe from SimplyRecipes.com.

Looks like the new year is off to a great start.


Vanilla Buttermilk Cupcakes
1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
¼ cup butter, room temperature
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
¼ tsp almond extract (I omitted this bc Jason is allergic to nuts)
1 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 350F. Place liners in a 12 cup muffin tin.
In a medium bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar together until it looks creamy. Beat in the egg and the vanilla and almond extracts until mixture is smooth.
Add half of the flour mixture to the butter mixture and stir until almost combined. Add buttermilk and stir, again, until almost combined. Add the rest of the flour and stir until all ingredients are mixed in.
Divide batter evenly into muffin cups.
Bake for 18-20 minutes at 350F, until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean.
Let cupcakes cool for 10 minutes and then remove from the muffin pan. Cool completely before frosting.
Makes 12 cupcakes

Vanilla Butter Cream Frosting
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/4 cups of powdered sugar
1/2 vanilla bean (or 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract)

Beat the butter and slowly add in the powdered sugar. Scrape the seeds out of the vanilla bean (or vanilla extract if using) and beat in.

Peg and Deb's Pumpkin Spice

'Peg & Deb don’t claim to be pastry chefs-just two girls who set out to do their own thing.'

You go girls!

I can't help but support them.

sugar Sweet sunshine
126 Rivington Street
New York City, NY 10002




Pictures courtesy of roboppy