Guest Baker: Thanks!

We had a special guest baker with us today. =)

She just got back from teaching English in China for a year.
She spent 11 days in Tibet.
Her Mandarin is much better than mine.
The day before, she was walking around downtown Toronto in a bridal gown (to promote a wedding contest).
She sends me postcards from her travel.
She sent in these lovely lyrics before.

It's Julia!

Our friend was in town (and in the country) and had been craving cupcakes for a year now. So we had her over to bake. We taught Julia some simple fondant work and gave ourselves a mini contest.

The Three Blind Mice Contest

• Using the extra pink fondant, make a little mouse.
• No extra details are required, only the body, tail, and ears.

So Howard, Julia, and I each made our simple mouse. We would love if you could judge them. I've labeled them L, M, and S (Large, Medium, and Small) here so you can keep track of the different camera angles:

The top view.

The front view.

The back view.

So who made the best mouse? Please let us know in the comments below which one you liked (L, M, and S). We'll reveal who made which later on! ;)

Check out the beautiful cupcakes of "Thanks" Julia made for her friend Carolyn!

REESE'S Pieces Cupcakes

I have some REESE'S Pieces...

...and chocolate and peanut butter cupcakes.

I think you know how to do the math here! To create your REESE'S Pieces cupcakes, use your favourite chocolate cupcake and the peanut butter frosting below.


Peanut Butter Buttercream
(Makes enough to frost 24 cupcakes)

250g of cream cheese
1/2 stick of unsalted butter
4 cups of icing sugar
2/3 cups of peanut butter

1. Make sure your cream cheese and unsalted butter are at room temperature. Leaving it out for 1-2 hours will work too.
   
2. Using a stand mixer, combine the cream cheese and butter until combined.
3. Add in 2 cups of icing sugar, mix well. Add the remaining 2 cups of icing sugar and mix until combined. This way the icing sugar doesn't fly out of your bowl!
4. Finally, add in the peanut butter and mix until the buttercream is smooth. Pipe the frosting onto your cupcakes and top with a REESE'S Pieces.

If you also live in Ontario, we hope you had a yummy Simcoe Day!

We're off to visit New York City in a couple of weeks. *So excited!* What do you suggest we do for sightseeing? Most importantly, where do you recommend we eat? I've started making a list of bakeries, let me know if there are any you recommend!

Wordless Wednesday: July 28, 2010

Butterscotch and Chocolate Buttermilk Cupcakes

This is what I did when Howard was watching the World Cup.

Butter.
Buttermilk.
Butterscotch.
Buttercream.

Please don't run away in fright. It's not that buttery! Okay, maybe it is, a little. I originally intended to enter the Sweetest Kitchen's Mystery Box Cupcake Challenge #1. But, since my fiddling with a recipe didn't work and the tea wasn't the dominant flavour, I decided not to. So maybe next time, I'm really looking forward to seeing what's in store next (click here to find out more about the challenge)!

Chocolate Buttermilk Cupcakes
Recipe adapted from Caprial's Desserts
(Makes about 36 cupcakes)

3 cups of flour
2 cups of brown sugar
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 cup of cocoa powder
1 1/3 cup of vegetable oil
1 1/2 cup of buttermilk
3 large eggs
1 1/2 cup of Earl Grey tea
1 tablespoon of vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F) and have all ingredients at room temperature. Also have your cupcake liners and pans ready.
2. Using your stand mixer, is the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and cocoa on low speed.
3. Add in the oil and buttermilk, mix on medium speed until well combined.
4. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing on low.
5. Finally, add the tea (I used two teabags and steeped it quite a bit) and vanilla extract until well combined. Evenly divide your batter into the liners and bake for 20-25 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. Let the cupcakes cool before frosting.

From the original recipe, I used brown sugar instead, it was suppose to be 2 1/2 cups of sugar, but I didn't want it too sweet. One thing I do regret cutting back on was the baking soda - there were originally 1 1/2 tablespoons of it - which would help it rise. As a result, these cupcakes turned out very dense. They didn't rise very much, I usually fill the cupcake liners to about 3/4 and the cupcake didn't even pass the top of the liner. Also, instead of the tea, it was suppose to be coffee! But I wanted to see if I could get the tea flavour to come out in a chocolate cake. Not really. I will be searching for tea powders to use instead of teabags in the future.

Butterscotch Buttercream
(Makes enough to frost 30 cupcakes)

1 stick of unsalted butter
3 cups of icing sugar
1 tablespoon of hot Earl Grey tea
1/4 cup of melted butterscotch

1. Using a stand mixer, combine the butter and icing sugar until smooth.
2. Melt your butterscotch chips using a double boiler. Or microwave them for very short periods of time and use a spoon to whisk it smooth, making sure there are no lumps.
3. Add the hot tea into the butter and sugar mixture and mix.
   
4. Carefully pour your melted butterscotch in and mix until well combined. There should be a smooth consistency for you to pipe.

I had leftover tea, so I used it for the buttercream. Don't worry, the flavour isn't strong enough to show up. The butterscotch wins!

Couldn't resist putting in these cute little cats for the photos:

Stretch to the left and...

...stretch to the right!

Guacamole

How is every one's weekend? It feels nice to have a long weekend to relax and eat. Boy, did we eat. To name a few, we went to Toronto Ribfest, Smoke's Poutinerie, Montana's, and many more. Lots of meaty goodness there, but I'm looking forward to something lighter and greener now.

Like guacamole! Mole...

Isn't that the cutest juicer? My mom found it and helped me with this photo shoot. =)
I know guacamole isn't something baked, but at least the tortilla chips were - not by us though. ;)

Guacamole
Recipe adapted from Food Network Kitchens Favourite Recipes
(Makes about 4-6 servings)

2 cloves of garlic, peeled
2 teaspoons of salt
1/4 medium red onion, minced
3 ripe avocados
1/2 cup of cherry tomatoes, diced
1/4 cup of chopped cilantro
1 jalapeno
2 tablespoons of lime juice

1. Smash the garlic cloves and sprinkle with 1 teaspoon of the salt. Put in a bowl with the onion.
2. Cut the avocados in half lengthwise, twist and lift the pits out. Use a spoon to scoop the avocado out of the peel. Place in the onion mixture.
3. Mix the tomatoes, cilantro, jalapeno, lime juice, and the remaining salt with the avocados.
4. Serve immediately with tortilla chips! We bought the Tostitos Scoops tortilla chips, the little bowls are a great bite size!
   

This guacamole was a great summer snack (yes, we finished it already). Next time, Howard said he would add more lime and jalapeno but cut back on the cilantro. But note, he doesn't like cilantro. I love cilantro, but agree with his addition of lime and jalapeno.

We hope everyone had a great long weekend (Canada Day and Independence Day)! Time to start up the barbecue for dinner now... then continue to episode 9 of A Pasta in Love. Look, I'm watching dramas featuring food now!