billy's vanilla cupcakes

You may be wondering who Billy is and why I'm posting about his cupcakes. Or you might know that Billy didn't make this particular batch of cupcakes, but he did create the recipe.

On a Martha Stewart show about cupcakes, one of the recipes she features was from a guy named Billy who owns two bakeries in NYC. What intrigued me about his particular recipe was his method of combining the ingredients, that method being the butter being beat into the dry ingredients before adding the liquid ingredients. What's the difference between this and the traditional creaming method? Cassie from How To Eat A Cupcake explains in this post of hers, which you won't click until you finish reading mine. Summing it up, I call it the "insurance" method because there's less of a chance of ruining the cake by over-mixing the batter since the development of gluten is delayed. Or something.

What brings me back to this recipe whenever the desire strikes for vanilla cupcakes is the velvety, billowy texture of the batter. It's beautiful, really, and even if I didn't care for cupcakes at all and threw away the batter after making it, I'd keep making it just so I can stare at the awesome batter.

I made these for Father's Day. Instead of frosting them with a traditional buttercream (the recipe that's included with the recipe for these cupcakes is especially good, and it's what makes it the second vanilla since these are actually called 'billy's vanilla vanilla', or 'billy's double vanilla cupcakes') I opted for a caramel espresso Italian meringue buttercream. An Italian meringue buttercream involves making a sugar syrup and beating it slowly into the egg whites before beating in the butter. It's really not complicated, though I didn't let the sugar syrup reach the exact temperature stated in the recipe I followed since it started turning into more of a gloppy mixture than a syrup. I don't know anymore. Sigh. Regardless, the end product was alright.

Remembering a tip from Julia Child where she said if you make a mistake, pass it off as intentional since your recipients most likely won't know. What is this saying of your recipients, anyway? Are they that ignorant? Really though, probs what she meant was that most likely whatever the mistake was wasn't that big enough of a deal. UNLESS YOU ARE RUDE AND SERVE THEM SOMETHING TRULY HORRENDOUS AND ATTEMPT TO MESS WITH THEIR MINDS SO THEY FEEL BAD WHEN THEY ASK IF YOU HAD TROUBLE IN THE KITCHEN. Or maybe while the mistake looms large in your mind because you know what it did... Ugh. Would Gordon Ramsay do that, even if it's passable and not truly ruined? In the real world (because Ramsay and his kitchens exist in an alternate universe -- at the end of the universe, even) we don't really have time to remake a wrong. I AM CONFUSING MYSELF.

Moving on.

Wait, I didn't tell you what went wrong with these? I'm not going to. Don't you know what Julia Child has to say on this matter? Gosh.

This is the caffeine-induced result of staying up late and editing pictures for a blog post. I hope you enjoy this as much as my brother and I did.

Topped with edible gold flakes to add pizazz. I hate that word, it's like a person who has trouble spelling tried to spell 'pizza' and added an extra 'z' and it confuses me.

How are these cupcakes? I'm really trying to remember because it's been a while since (SINCE YOU KNOW WHEN!) Father's Day. Pretty much... pretty much I can't put it into words, and I hate that I forgot to take an innards shot, but I think from what I remember is that the crumb is soft, almost melting, and airy while not being open, if that makes sense to any of you.

Recipe after the jump.

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billy's vanilla cupcakes
Makes 30 cupcakes

Ingredients ~
1 3/4 cups cake flour, not self-rising
1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch cubes (this always confuses me since I never knew if it was room temperature butter, or from the fridge butter, but I think I've made them both ways, though once the butter just didn't come to room temp completely, and both times it came out fine)
4 large eggs
1 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
caramel espresso buttercream (scroll down)

Directions ~

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line cupcake pans with paper liners; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine flours, sugar, baking powder, and salt; mix on low speed until combined. Add butter, mixing until just coated with flour.


2. In a large glass measuring cup, whisk together eggs, milk, and vanilla. With mixer on medium speed, add wet ingredients in 3 parts, scraping down sides of bowl before each addition; beat until ingredients are incorporated but do not overbeat.


3. Divide batter evenly among liners, filling about 2/3 full. Bake, rotating pan halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 17 to 20 minutes.


4. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat process with remaining batter. Once cupcakes have cooled, use a small offset spatula to frost tops of each cupcake. Decorate with sprinkles, if desired. Serve at room temperature.

Why would you not serve it at room temperature? I've never once thought of refrigerating cupcakes after frosting so my guests have chilled cupcakes. What does that mean?

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sugared puffs

I came across a blog with a post about "Sugared Puffs", which came from a recipe by David Lebovitz, and decided it was something I needed to make. What lured me in was that these were unlike "doughnut muffins", being practically a popover with the addition of a spicy sweet coating of cinnamon sugar that lends an extra crunch.

What is a popover? Well, it's a thin, eggy batter with a small amount of flour-to-liquid ratio. Since there's no added leavening agent, what makes these "pop over" the tin is by liquid evaporation in the hot oven, thus it's steam-leavened. Like souffles, these will begin to deflate after you take them out of the oven. You traditionally bake these in a popover tin, the individual cups being more narrow and deeper than that of a muffin tin, but I made these in a muffin tin.
I would describe the taste of a popover as custard-like, which makes sense as eggs are one of the main ingredients, and since these are, of course, made with milk that's pretty much close to a custard. Biting through the crispy skin to the silky, moist innards is really a delight.

After baking and cooling a bit (outside of the tin), I brushed the tops with melted butter and coated the tops with cinnamon sugar, which really happened to be an apple pie spice mixed with sugar. I like my cinnamon sugar to be on the spicy side, so I always add more cinnamon (or apple/pumpkin pie spice) than the ratio states. (Nobody will mock me for playing by the rules.)

Please gaze upon the delicious innards

These were definitely good as soon as coated with the sugar, but it also tasted just as good the next day, albeit slightly less crunchy. My brother said these reminded him of elephant ears.

Sugared puffs would make a perfect lazy weekend breakfast along with a bowl of fruit and a steaming cup of coffee, or a nice teatime snackable. If you have any leftover, eat the next day for elevenses.

(Recipe after the jump)

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Sugared Puffs
Recipe by David Lebovitz, appeared in The New York Times

For the puffs:

Softened unsalted butter, for greasing the pan
2 tablespoons butter, melted
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1 cup flour

For the sugar coating:

2/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (I'm pretty sure I added a tablespoon, maybe a little more)
4 tablespoons butter, melted.

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Liberally grease a nonstick popover pan, or a muffin pan with 1/2-cup indentations, with softened butter.


2. For the puffs, put the 2 tablespoons melted butter, eggs, milk, salt and sugar in a blender and whiz for a few seconds.


3. Add the flour and whiz for 5 to 8 seconds, just until smooth.


4. Divide the batter among 9 greased molds, filling each 1/2 to 2/3 full.


5. Bake for 35 minutes, until the puffs are deep brown.


6. Remove from the oven, wait a few minutes until cool enough to handle, then remove the puffs from the pans. You may need a small knife to help pry them out.


7. Mix the sugar and cinnamon in a medium bowl. Thoroughly brush each puff all over with melted butter, then dredge in sugar and cinnamon mixture to coat completely. Let cool on a baking rack. Makes 9 puffs.

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Fox & Obel

A while ago, Steve from Victorian Pantry told me about a little market-cafe-restaurant place in Chicago called Fox & Obel that I should go to the next time I was here. Well, the 5k about a week ago was the perfect opportunity to stop by.

Right here ---> please imagine a picture of the outside of Fox & Obel with the sign taken on the corner of the street. Because I spaced and forgot to take it.

Immediately upon entering the market area I'm reminded of the scene in You've Got Mail where Meg Ryan's character is shopping in what I figure is their neighborhood's version of this store, swerving around food signs and displays to keep from being seen by Tom Hank's character. There's pretty much a wide variety of different things, like the shelf dedicated to mineral waters I've never even seen before.

Once in the cafe section I order a single espresso and a dried cranberry-white chocolate-macadamia cookie.
The espresso was incredibly smooth, and still strong, but not bitter at all. Pretty much one of the best espresso I've had in my span. Back in the day I tried a SBUX espresso and I had to swallow it like when parents gave their kids castor oil. In retrospect, I really didn't need to do that to myself.
Way back in my day, my mom would occasionally buy me a white chocolate-macadamia cookie from a Mrs. Fields stand in the mall. Those cookies remain one of my favorite to this day, although I never really eat them anymore, nor have I once made any. Pretty much the memory associated with it is what makes it more special than other cookies I've eaten, but it's why I always order anything with white chocolate and macadamia nuts if I see it in the display. (Oh, the cookie was good, though chewy not by the ingredients but by intentional underbaking.)

This is their raw (I think) gazpacho, which tasted like a light salsa, but more soupy. Pretty good. I didn't taste any of the bread until the next day, and even then it was decent.

I'm going to leave you to look at the remaining pictures I took until you lose your focus or quit out of boredom. I didn't get to take as many pictures I'd have liked to, or put very much thought in the angling of said pics I didn't snap, because I forgot to charge the camera and the battery was running low, so I hope you enjoy those I did take.

Still inside the cafe



Spices -- I love the containers they use



The most incredible collection of olive oils and vinegars






Entrees


KONA! I noticed it didn't specify the grade


If I could have just one last wish, it'd be for a piece of tasty fish

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n00b can't have granola, and other things

Hello, blog world! I begin with yet another I've-been-busy/bored/unmotivated-but-I'm-back-now sentence. I could go into why I am lacking motivation to cook and bake and blog about it, but I'll spare you.

This recipe is one I made up at the moment and is good, though in need of a little tweaking; there is definitely something there somethemore. I almost destroyed my :granolatimes: since I forgot that you bake granola with a lower heat, so I lowered the heat but it still came out a little toasty. Not burnt, just toasty.

I've noticed that I tend to stick to the same flavors in everything I make (which probably contributes to my lack of motivation), those flavors being orange. Yes, there was orange in this in the form of grated orange rind and orange juice concentrate. With the addition of a little ginger powder and almond extract I feel like it wasn't a total copy of similar tastes.

Now I will give a shout-out to Stonyfield yogurt for their cream-on-top whole milk yogurt. I eat the whole milk yogurt with the cream on top because I don't feel like I'm fat.

Since I rarely talk about running I figure now is the time to do so. My current plans that are confirmed is the 10k at Sunburst, which I ran last year, and a 5k in Chicago a week-and-a-half afterwards, which I ran a few years ago and played a game of 'red rover, red rover, let the runner blast through the side-by-side walkers with their arms linked'. I'm getting my brother into running so he can enter the Sunburst 5k and I've been tailoring the plan he's using to fit what I need to do to be ready for the 10k marathon. I'm not where I need to be, but I feel like I should do fine. The brother is running well as apparently paces himself better than I do because he always blasts past me at the end of the run.

One aspect of running I've come to embrace is the timed run as opposed to mileage. I still run a mapped out route, but I don't memorize the mile splits and I run based on effort; I feel this has helped me regain some semblance of pacing.

Now my long-term goal is a half marathon at the end of September. Based upon the way things might go, I'm shooting for a sub-2 hour time and given the fact I have a few months to train with a few 10ks thrown in between for good measure (and race food), this seems like an attainable goal (along with attainable race food). I'm still nervous because even thinking about entering a half goes against my basic racing principle of not entering a race simply to enter a race unless I feel like I'll be able to race the race, otherwise it's just an expensive long run.

I swore I had something else to share with you, I just can't remember what it is. Probably wasn't very important if I didn't bother to remember it, who knows.

Another shout-out to Ninez from Nina Runs for Bob who has a marathon coming up this weekend. You've put in the training and I know you have what it takes to pwn the distance!

EoP

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Shepherd's Pie

In hindsight this wasn't the very best meal to make on an 81° evening, but I opted not to take the lazy route and turn leftover roast into dang quesadillas. The recipe for this version of shepherd's pie comes from an Everyday Food magazine, though I added a few twists of my own based on the rub mixture I used on the roast which added a nice flavor. Since the recipe called for water in the gravy mixture, I used the broth from the roast as well as the roasted onions, carrots, and portobello mushrooms along with fresh onions, carrots, and garlic.

While prepping these I completely spaced out and forgot to take a few shots without the mashed potato topping. I don't know why I mention this now since this picture is A.C., after cooking.

I know I could have taken a better picture, for your sake, instead of this which resembles (fill in the blank). And this I know to be true because as I was eating it I realized that the shot where the fork is in the air above the bowl with a combination of filling and topping would have made a perfect picture, but I digress.

The seasonings were spot on, and the process was definitely sped up since the meat was pre-cooked. You can make the filling a day before, as well as the mashed potatoes, and this would make a great dish to freeze for future meals (since that's what the recipe says, and since it yields 8 servings).

Recipe after the jump.

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Shepherd's Pies
From Everyday Food, October 2004

for filling:	for potato topping
2 pounds freshly ground lamb (or ground beef)	2 1/2 pounds russet potatoes, peeled and quarted
1 large onion, finely chopped	coarse salt and ground pepper
4 carrots, coarsely chopped	1 cup milk
5 garlic cloves, minced	6 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
coarse salt and ground pepper
10 ounces frozen peas, thawed

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425°. Heat a large skillet over high heat. In two batches, cook lamb until no longer pink, about 5 minutes per batch. Transfer lam to a colander set in a bowl; let fat drain off and discard.


2. Add 1/2 cup water to the skillet, scraping up browned bits with a wooden spoon. Reduce heat to medium; add onion and carrots. Cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes, adding garlic at 3 minutes. Stir in tomato paste. Add flour; cook, stirring, 2 minutes.


3. Add Worcestershire sauce, 2 cups water (or beef broth), and lamb. Season with 2 teaspoons salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Simmer, until thickened, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes. Stir in peas; cook 1 minute. Divide among eight 8-ounce ramekins or two 9-inch glass pie dishes.


4. Meanwhile, make potato topping. In a medium saucepan, cover potatoes with salted water by 1 inch; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer until fork-tender, 15 to 20 minutes. Drain, return to pan on medium heat and toss until most of the excess moisture is gone.


5. Microwave milk and butter until butter is melted and milk is heated. Mash or rice potatoes, stir in milk mixture, and season with 2 teaspoons salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.


6. Spread potato topping over pies; use a fork to make peaks, and sprinkle with paprika. Bake on a baking sheet until tops are browned, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool slightly; serve.

To freeze, cool pies completely before covering with plastic wrap and freeze for up to three months. Reheat frozen pies (small or large) in a 375° oven for about an hour.

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GT's Banana Bread

This recipe for banana bread came from a forumite on a running forum and it's going in my recipe spreadsheet.

While this recipe uses all whole wheat, the texture as dense as you'd expect.

I just deleted a sentence explaining the subtle nuances of the whole wheat coupled with a bit of nutmeg and how it compliments the banana flavor because it sounded strained, so just make the recipe because I said so and because you'll like it. :GT:

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GT's Banana Bread

>Ingredients:

• 3/4 c plus 2 tbsp sugar


• 1.5 C whole wheat flour


• 1 tsp. baking soda


• 1/2 tsp. salt


• 1/2 tsp. nutmeg


• 1 large egg, beaten


• 3 smashed over-ripe Banana (me: mixed with 1 tsp lemon juice)


• 1/4 C melted butter


• Me: 2 tbsp. milk


• Optional: chopped toasted walnuts, maybe like 1/2 cup

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Grease an 8x4-inch loaf pan and set aside. Whisk dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Mix wet ingredients in a separate bowl; add to dry ingredients and stir just until combined. Note from recipe concerning thickness of batter: It's thick but it's supposed to be; you won't complain.


2. Spoon batter to loaf pan and bake for about an hour or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out cleanish. Cool in pan for 10 minutes before removing banana bread and letting cool on a wire rack.

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What I Ate on Easter Day

Breakfast

Hot cross buns from The Bread Book, spicy, slightly sweet with a pastry cross and brushed with a thinned cream cheese buttercream immediately after baking. This recipe is highly recommended.

Lunch/Dinner


Portobello risotto



Bread from The Bread Book. I make this every Easter.



Dessert



Key Lime Pie with Swiss Meringue Circle-things

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