Archive for March, 2009
All good things come to an end.
It’s the end of March and the last day of NaBloPoMo.
I’ve been staring at my blank blog for an hour now trying to figure out what to write to sum up the 31 posts in 31 days experience but to be honest all I can think about is the Tuesdays with Dorie Coconut Butter Thins that I didn’t get a chance to bake (Sorry Jayne!) and my Taste & Create that is due tomorrow but have no idea what I am doing yet (Sorry Debb!).
You wanna know the truth?
I am tired and overwhelmed and anxious.
Apparently I am not superwoman (although I do dig the cape).
Is buying a home suppose to be this stressful?
Bunday Monday
Since I am slightly obsessed with cupcake pops right now…
(image credit: Bakerella)
Aren’t they adorable?? I am a sucker *snort* for those heart noses.
I just have to make them.
Now if only I could figure out how to keep the pop on the stick and why my food safe pen is spazzing… Suggestions welcome.
Um… yeah. About those cupcake pops.
I fail.
Maybe I should just stick to REAL cupcakes.
Me and “C.Pop” met through a mutual friend but realized quickly that it’s gonna take more than a first date to be BFF. Let’s just say that more than a few of my pops drowned a slow chocolate-y death. Who knew dipping cake into chocolate was a talent that I didn’t possess? (They are slippery suckers!)
Please take a moment of silence for the fallen.
…
Don’t worry. I am not one to give up quickly. Actually my personality can quickly change failure into an obsession. Therefore the 2nd batch of cake balls is chilling in the frig as I type this blog post. Maybe I should run out to the grocery store for some lifesavers?
(That was my attempt at a joke. Just laugh dammit!)
Let’s the popping begin!
Did you know that today is National Something-On-A-Stick Day? I swear! I am not making that up. Seriously. How’s that for timing?
The cupcake pop challenge starts now…
It’s on like donkey kong.
Be afraid. Be very afraid.
Cupcake Pop Challenge
I am 2 hours and 15 minutes from my NaBloPoMo Friday posting deadline. Eek!
… and then it hit me. Well I can’t take too much credit. Let me back up. After my foodie question of the day, I got some comments, a couple emails, multiple tweets and direct messages (DMs) from readers expressing their surprise at my cupcake pop aversion.
I guess it’s kinda silly being a self-proclaimed cupcake-ista to be afraid of making cupcake anything but what can I say? I am. But after some encouraging tweets from Bakerella (The Cupcake Pop Masta!) and some lyrical ♫♪words♫ from twitter partner in crime, Rebecca from Ezra Poundcake, I’m throwing down the cupcake pop challenge!
(image credit: Bakerella)
I’ll be doing my cupcake pop thang this Sunday, March 29th. If you wanna hold me accountable play along, feel free to put your big girl apron on and get your hands dirty! I don’t care which pop you wanna make. You wanna follow exactly what Bakerella did? Cool. You wanna adapt or do your own thing? Even better.
Me? I might adapt. Or not. Depends on my mood. I’m kinda moody lately. HAHA
Fine print: Post your pictures, experience, tips, suggestions etc on your blog by Sunday 1159pm PST. Feel free to use my banner. Linking me is optional. (Linking will alert me to check out your blog though.) I’d say that linking Bakerella would be a nice and appreciated gesture.
Sounds fun, Clara? What do I get for participating?
Uh… you get the satisfaction of biting off Hello Kitty’s head when you’re done. What more do you need? LOL
With that I leave you with some wise words from Rebecca:
“We can’t be intimidated by floating “Hello Kitty” heads. We’re way too gangsta!”
True dat.
Foodie Question of the Day
What dish are you TERRIFIED to tackle? (baked good, bread, main dish etc)
(Thanks to Rachel for the question suggestion!)
I’d say I am more scurred than terrified of something that’s been on my must-bake list for a LONG time. Bakerella’s Cupcake Pops.
Clara, why scurred? You LOVE cupcakes!
I have no idea! Maybe because I think Bakerella has already set such a high standard (she was on Martha Stewart for goshsakes!) that I just want to stare at my computer in awe and not even try. But since admitting to her via twitter (@bakerella) my cupcake pop fears, I promised I’d put my big girl apron on and try soon. Very soon. (And I have to send her pictures. Eek!)
Maybe this weekend?
But no promises. I’m a wuss.
TWD #57: Have you seen the muffin man?
To be honest I am not much of a muffin (wo)man.
I kinda feel like baking/eating a muffin is cheating on my cupcake addiction so I rarely make muffins. Besides what’s the point? Cupcakes are a vehicle for frosting and since muffins typically don’t have frosting, there is no point. HAHA
This week Sihan of Befuddlement chose the Blueberry Crumb Cake for all us TWD bakers. You can find the recipe on her blog.
Now I know you are probably all confused b/c there is no “muffin” in Blueberry Crumb Cake but since I was not in the mood to juggle all of my pyrex pans to find the 8×8 square pan (btw if anyone has a easy-to-access pyrex storage idea I am ALL ears!) I decided to go with my cupcake pan. Plus individual servings means portion control, travel-bility and sharing distribution. Score!
Oh yeah I didn’t do blueberries either… I just broke all the rules this time!
What I learned this week:
I really hate using my pyrex pans b/c the way I store them now they are all stacked on top of each other and of course the one I use the most is the 9X13 and the 8×8, both of which are on the bottom.
Blueberry Raspberry Crumb Cake Muffins
Recipe adapted from Baking: From My Home To Yours, Dorie Greenspan
I decided to switch out the walnuts for almonds.
… and the blueberries for raspberries.
I love raspberry-almond-lemon flavors!
I filled cupcake liners about 2/3-3/4 full.
I got 14 muffins and baked for about 30-35 minutes.
ENJOY!
Husband rating: A
He had a muffin (or 2) with his coffee and raved about this recipe. He especially loved the almond-crumb topping. It probably would have been an A+ if I had used blueberries though. He’s more of a blueberry than raspberry man.
Wifey rating: A/A+
I totally cheated on my cupcakes and I liked it! (I am currently listening to “I Kissed a Girl” by Katie Perry). Love the raspberry, almond and lemon flavors. Always a great combination for me. The crumb topping was delicious! Definitely will make again.
Next week: Coconut Butter Thins page 145
Bunday Monday
Sometimes Snickerdoodle likes to take her bunny aggression out on the Yellow Pages. It’s all good. At least she gets some fiber too.
Pink Beater Blade **GIVEAWAY**
Pink Beater Blade for KitchenAid 4.5 and 5-quart tilt-head
Check out my cupcake blog for more information!
If you are a baker, you won’t wanna miss it.
Girl Scout Samoas Cheesecake
Tis the season.
… And I’m not talking about Santa Claus and jingle bells.
(image credit: ninethreestudio)
Like me, you may have fallen prey to a horrible abomination simply called “The Girl Scout”. Sure they look like cute little girls with pigtails, brown and green uniforms with brown sashes that display pieces of flair but deep down lurks something evil.
Girl Scout Cookies.
Samoas, Tagalongs, Thin Mints, Do-Si-Dos etc etc.
I know they all have difference names now but those are the cookies’ names I grew up with and there’s no changing the names for me. Sorry Caramel deLite. Samoas is and always will be Samoas. (Glad I got that off my chest.)
You probably have a Girl Scout Connection right? Same here. My coworker’s daughter is a girl scout and when she gave me the order form I was just going to order 1 box to support her daughter but something happened and I found myself spending $40 for cookies.
E-V-I-L… I tell ya!
I still don’t know how that happened. I have no memories of it. I do remember a brilliant flash of red light a second before though. Weird. What’s my name again?
(AIG compensation to whoever knows what movie I am referencing. Ah heck. Even if you don’t know, you still get the compensation.)
Recipe adapted from Baking: From My Home To Yours, Dorie Greenspan
Makes 1-9×2.75inch springform (I used my 9-1/2 x 3 inch springform pan)
INGREDIENTS
For crust
1-3/4 cups Samoa cookie crumbs (I used about 20 cookies pulsed in food processor)
1 tbsp sugar
Pinch of salt
2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
[NOTES: I reduced the amount of sugar and butter from the original recipe b/c the cookies have a good amount of sugar and butter already!]
For cheesecake
Four 8-ounce boxes cream cheese, at room temperature (I used Neufatchel Cheese instead)
1-1/3 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1-1/3 cups sour cream or heavy cream (or combo of both) (I used all heavy cream)
INSTRUCTIONS
To make the crust—
Butter the springform pan. (Don’t skip this step!) Wrap the bottom of the pan in a double layer of aluminum foil; put the pan on a baking sheet.
Combine the cookie crumbs, sugar and salt together in a medium bowl. Pour melted butter over cookie mixture and stir until all of the dry ingredients are uniformly moist. Pour the cookie mixture into the buttered springform pan and use your fingers to pat an even layer of crumbs along the bottom of the pan and about halfway up the sides. Put the pan in the freezer while you preheat the oven.
Preheat the oven to 350°F and place the springform on a baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes. Set the crust aside to cool on a rack while you make the cheesecake.
Reduce the oven temperature to 325°F. Put a kettle of water on to boil.
To make cheesecake—
In a stand mixer (or hand mixer), fitted with a paddle attachment beat the cream cheese at medium speed until it is soft, about 4 minutes. While mixer is till running, add the sugar and salt and continue to beat another 4 minutes or so, until the cream cheese is light. Beat in the vanilla. Add the eggs one by one, beating for a full minute after each addition to produce a well aerated batter. Reduce the mixer speed to low and stir in the sour cream and/or heavy cream.
Put the foil-wrapped springform pan in the roaster pan.
Use a rubber spatula to make sure that nothing has been left unmixed at the bottom of the bowl. Pour the batter into the springform pan. Put the roasting pan with springform in the oven and pour enough boiling water into the roaster to come halfway up the sides of the springform pan.
Bake the cheesecake for 1 hour and 30 minutes. Turn off the oven’s heat and prop the oven door open with a wooden spoon. Allow the cheesecake to luxuriate in its water bath for another hour.
After 1 hour, carefully pull the cheesecake out of the oven, lift the springform pan out of the roaster. (Warning: Be careful, there may be some hot water in the aluminum foil.) Remove the foil and let the cheesecake come to room temperature on a cooling rack.
When the cake is cool, chill the cake in refrigerator for at least 4 hours, although overnight would be better. Remove the sides of the springform and cut with a long thin knife that has been warmed under hot water and wiped dry.
ENJOY!
Husband rating: A+
Even though he’s more partial to Tagalongs than Samoas, he raved about this cheesecake but did request that I use the last box of Tagalongs for the next cheesecake. haha
Wifey rating: A+
Samoas? Awesome. Cheesecake? Delicious. Samoas Cheesecake? Practically perfect (dessert) in every way! The only thing that kinda sucked is that I forgot to the butter the pan so the samoas cookie crust stuck to the pan but I wasn’t above scraping it off. Lesson learned. Don’t forget to butter your pan!
Other rating: A+
I brought the cheesecake over to a girl’s night and even though we’re all on “diets”, I love that they rationalized that cream cheese is “dairy” and not dessert. HAHA. Heard nothing but raves. I have to give props to one of my girls who gave up sweets for Lent and stayed strong all night but did request that I “… best make this dessert again after Lent for her.” LOL
NFR: My Life in 6 Words (and 6 sentences)
… and you thought twitter’s 140 characters or less was hard?
1. Bunny loving cupcake blogger needs sleep
2. Candles don’t fit on cupcake anymore.
3. I am craving mcfries right now.
4. Friday is date night with husband.
5. Ready to get frosted at 5pm.
6. Thank Goodness It’s Finally F***ing Friday!
How would you describe your life in 6 words?
See what other people wrote here.
My favorite one.
“The fruit loop among the cherrios.”
Aint that the truth. But proud of it.
Foodie Question of the Day
What food do you dislike but still prepare/cook/bake for someone you love?
I think most readers know by now that I do not eat bananas.
The soft smushy texture makes me gag. I don’t really like the smell of them either. I think it stems from a childhood memory. I was sick. Not just *cough cough* sick but flu sick and my mom gave me a banana to eat. FYI banana flavored puke is not a good thing. Just saying…
Kinda ironic that I like banana+strawberry smoothies but I think you gotta mix it with other things so it’s not “just” banana flavor. If banana is the star of the show, I probably aint gonna eat it! *pushing the banana cream pie away*
But my bunnies adore bananas so I’ll pinch my nose while unpeeling a banana (I am so talented, no?) for my bunnies. Is that love or what? I won’t even do that for my husband. HAHA
Oh yeah… I don’t do beans either. No side order of beans and rice for me. Just give me my cheese enchiladas with an extra scoop of guacamole and I’m good!
Happy Thursday-It’s-Almost-Friday readers.
TWD #56: Freedom Yogurt Cake
(Is it still Tuesday? Let’s pretend it’s still Tuesday and I didn’t fall asleep before my pictures were done uploading last night and that’s why I didn’t post, k? Would you do that for me? Thanks.)
Remember when we tried to rename our french fries to freedom fries?
I tried to remember to call my french fries –> freedom fries to be a good little patriot but I am such a creature of habit that I quickly returned to good ol french fries. Don’t get me wrong. I love America. But it’s like calling a muffin a cupcake. It just doesn’t do it for me. It’s not the same.
This week our host, Liliana of My CookBook Addiction chose French Yogurt Cake for all the TWD bakers to whip up. You can find the recipe on her blog.
What I learned this week:
There’s nothing like homemade whipped cream.
French Yogurt [Strawberry Short] Cake
Recipe from Baking: From My Home To Yours, Dorie Greenspan
Mmmm… I love the smell of lemon sugar. *deep breathe* Dorie says you can replace the ground almonds with more flour but I splurged on the almonds.
I used two 4-1/2″ springform pans and 2 mini loaf pans and baked for about 30 minutes.
I used my serrated knife to cut the tops and then slice each cake in half.
I used strawberry preserves, homemade whipped cream and fresh strawberries for each layer. Holy yum!
Then just stack one layer on top of another to create the cake. My french yogurt strawberry short cake was about 6 inches high. I admit it’s a little rustic but so freaking cute (if I do say so myself).
ENJOY!
Husband rating: A+
My husband had one slice and said “where’s your mini cake? This one is all mine!”
Wifey rating: A/A+
I loved the almond bits in the cake coupled with the strawberry preserves and whipped cream. Even the mini loaves by themselves were yummy. Definitely will make this again.
Next week: Blueberry Crumb Cake pages 192-193
