Cupcakes in three parts

Sunday: Cupcakes and assembly

I developed the filling and frosting recipes on my own with the help of reliable sources like Cooks Illustrated and other blogger's experiments. Ultimately, my frosting turned out lighter and fluffier than most Bailey's frosting recipes I found (many were simply butter, confectioner's sugar, and Bailey's). I will say that the cream cheese subdued the Bailey's flavor a bit, but the flavor is still delightful. I suppose I'll get official results from my coworkers and friends tomorrow.

Rather than try to develop my own cupcake recipe, I decided to use a recipe from a reliable source: Dave Lieberman from the Food Network. Here's a link to his recipe for Chocolate Stout Cupcakes. The only things I changed were halving his recipe and not using his icing.

In general, I found his recipe incredibly easy. It's interesting that he uses a brownie or muffin method to make the cupcakes. For cupcakes (and regular cake) you incorporate dry ingredients into a fat/sugar mixture alternately with a liquid like buttermilk. However, these guys are less labor intensive; you simply incorporate the dry into the wet, fill some muffin tins and bake. Easy as pie. Or cupcakes. Or whatever.

Assembly

I took a small pairing knife and cored out each cupcake. I aim for a hole the size of a nickel and a depth of about halfway into the cupcake.

Then, I used a pastry bag fitted with a narrow tip to fill the cupcakes with the Kahlua pastry cream. *See below for pastry cream and frosting recipes.

Next, I used a wider rose tip on a pastry bag to frost the cupcakes. I started by going around the opening to 'cap' the pastry cream.

The result? Deliciousness. I will say that these cupcakes turned out very well, but the Kahlua pastry cream is definitely gilding the lilly a bit; they would be great with the frosting on its own if you didn't want to go to the trouble.



My apologies for the crappier than usual picture. For the life of my I can't find my digital camera...

Cupcakes in three parts

Saturday: The frosting

Irish Cream Frosting

1 8oz package of cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup of butter, softened

1/4 cup Bailey's Irish Cream Liqueur
2 cups of powdered sugar

Beat the cream cheese and the butter until combined and creamy. Stream in the Bailey's with the mixer running until incorporated. Mix in the powdered sugar until smooth.

Taste. Add a little more Bailey's for flavor or powdered sugar as needed. The frosting will appear a little thin compared to traditional American buttercream or cream cheese frosting, but put it into a bowl and let it chill. It will become a thick, luscious delight.

Cupcakes in three parts

Friday: The filling

Kahlua Pastry Cream

2 cups half & half
1 tsp instant espresso powder
1 vanilla bean

1/2 cup sugar
3 tbsp cornstarch
pinch of salt
5 large egg yolks

4 tbsp butter
1/3 - 1/2 cup kahlua*

In a medium saucepan bring the half & half, espresso powder, vanilla bean (the whole bean and the scraped seeds), and 6 tbsp of the sugar to a simmer over medium high heat, stirring to dissolve the espresso powder and sugar.

In a separate bowl, whisk the remaining sugar, cornstarch, salt, and egg yolks until smooth. Temper the egg yolks by gradually whisking in about a cup of the hot half & half mixture. Pour the tempered egg mixture back into the saucepan, reduce the heat to medium and whisk constantly for about 30 second to a minute. The mixture will thicken very quickly.

Remove the pastry cream from the heat and whisk in the butter and kahlua. Pour into a bowl and let cool. Cover with plastic wrap, pressing to the surface to avoid a skin from forming and chill until cold. Can be made 3-5 days in advance.

*Two notes:

1.) The kahlua does not cook out. If this is a problem, simply eliminate it from the recipe; you will be left with a delicious mocha pastry cream because of the espresso powder.

2.) By removing the espresso powder and the kahlua, you will have a delicious vanilla pastry cream that is perfect as a filling for pate choux cream puffs or fruit tarts.

My French Obsession

No, it's not the band Placebo with it's androgynously sexy lead singer. It's Macarons. I've attempted french macarons three times this weekend and each time I've been met with failure. Granted, I've been careless.

For my first attempt, I neglected to let the macarons rest before putting them into the oven; stupidity on my part.

For my second attempt, I adjusted the icing sugar content; again, stupidity on my part.

For my final, and perhaps most successful, attempt I can't quite figure out what went wrong. The macarons turned out quite tasty but they lacked a foot and were cracked on top. However, they didn't look like the examples of overbeaten-batter macarons that I've seen on the internet. I let the batter rest; I made sure to fold in the almond flour and icing sugar quickly but effectively. Basically, I've all but chalked it up to lack of experience making proper macarons. I've found another recipe on a blog that looks quite promising (my first recipe came from Bon Apetit magazine). I know these confections are not beyond my ability to make. That will be my challenge.

At least until I run out of almond flour. I mean, really, how expensive is that stuff?! On a delightful side note, I love being from a rural county in Kentucky. Our local Kroger is like most other Krogers; they have the health food section, but the specialty ingredients never move. I was able to find not only a bag of almond meal, but also a bag of Quinoa flour for 2.50 each on manager's special. Naturally I checked the expiration dates and they were months away; how could I pass it up? But I digress. I'll post later about my macarons.

I will also post about a delightful and tasty, if not messy, vegetable lasagna experience.

Dan

Cinnamon Roll Addendum

I wanted to post a few changes to my cinnamon roll recipe. My previous recipe made delicious cinnamon rolls; however, I noticed that the dough was not as substantial and the cinnamon rolls fell apart easily. They were also overly sweet. I wanted to post a new recipe containing some changes that time has proven more than acceptable.

Begin these cinnamon rolls a day before you need them.

Cinnamon Rolls Improved

2 packages of active dry yeast
1/2 cup hot water
1 tablespoon sugar

1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup milk (warmed)
1/2 cup prepared mashed potatoes, chilled

1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon salt

4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

In the bowl of your mixer, pour the hot water over the sugar and yeast. Let this mixture dissolve for about 5 minutes or so. In the meantime, combine the butter and milk in a pan on the stove. Heat until the butter is melted, but avoid overheating. To cool down this mixture, add the cold mashed potatoes.

Once the yeast mixture is ready, strain in the milk mixture to remove any potato lumps that may remain, stirring with a fork to combine well. Add the sugar gradually, still mixing with a fork. Then add the egg and salt. A fork seems to incorporate the egg more easily. Fit the bowl into your mixer with the dough hook attachment and add 2 cups of flour. Let the mixer go until a very wet dough is made and flour is incorporated. Now, add the remaining flour, 1/2 a cup at a time with the mixer running. Personally, I hold back 1/2 cup of flour to incorporate by hand.

Once the dough comes together, pour it out onto a floured surface and knead just until it forms a smooth ball. This should not take terribly long. I use the flour I held back to avoid having too stiff a dough. Let dough rest in an oiled bowl in the refrigerator overnight with wax paper covering it. The dough will proof overnight and will have doubled in size by morning.

Topping

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 tbsp cinnamon

Prep two 8 or 9 inch square or round pans by lightly buttering the bottoms and sides of the pans. Foil pans make for easy removal; you can simply cut the pan away from the rolls. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees

Like my proofing process, my topping has changed substantially. Begin by rolling the dough out to a 12 x 24 rectangle, but avoid rolling it too thin. Cinnamon rolls should be unapologetically large with thick, cinnamon-and-sugar coated layers. Combine the sugars and cinnamon in a bowl. Spread the softened butter evenly over the dough. Sprinkle over the sugar mixture, pressing to adhere. Roll up the cinnamon roll tightly. Cut into cinnamon rolls about 1 1/2 inches thick. Rather than measurements, I shoot for about 10 - 12 cinnamon rolls.

Place them in the pans. Avoid overcrowding. These rolls need a chance to nearly double in size, but they do need the pan or other cinnamon rolls to grow with as well. 6 - 8 per pan seems to work fairly well. Let these rolls proof for at least an hour. The second rise may take a bit longer since the dough came from the refrigerator. Bake at 350 degrees for about 18 minutes, but check after 15 to be safe. You'll be looking for deep, brown tops and centers that are baked through.



Frosting

2oz cream cheese, softened
1 tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup confectioner's sugar

These cinnamon rolls are not nearly as sweet as my past ones. The frosting is delicious, but you decide if it's necessary. Combine all ingredients together until a thick, smooth frosting is formed. Add more sugar or milk to make the frosting thicker or thinner as necessary. Top the warm rolls with the frosting.



I wanted to post these updates in part because my recipe and process has fundamentally changed; recording that change here will allow me to come back to it later. I’d love to experiment with these more, but I don’t get much of a chance. After all, even a successful experiment leaves me with about a dozen cinnamon rolls heh.

In the future, I see a great sourdough bread experiment -also Brown Sugar cookies (and a brown sugar snickerdoodle variant), french macaroons, and chocolate-orange tarts.

Hiatus

I cooked for what felt like the first time in forever today. Since the move to Dayton and the start of work, I've relied pretty heavily on quick-fix meals and ready to eat dinners, not to mention the occasional pizza.

But it felt really good to actually cook today. I made some cold sesame noodles using carrots and a low-fat sesame sauce for lunch tomorrow. I'd love to post about that later, but I also want to tweak the sauce and my carrot-cooking method. In the mean time, I also made some really amazing chocolate truffles, the first confection of this holiday season.

I'd love to try Ina Garten's rum raisin truffle recipe, but I need to get comfortable with the basic process first. These are some pretty basic truffles that are creamy and amazing. They are at their most awesome when brought to room temperature, and they last in the refrigerator for a couple weeks.

Chocolate Truffles

4 oz Bitter-sweet chocolate
4 oz Semi-sweet chocolate

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 tbsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp coffee liqueur

Almonds, cocoa nibs, cocoa powder, etc...

Finely chop the chocolates and place in a heatproof metal bowl. Heat the cream until it just boils and strain over the chocolate. Let sit for a couple minutes, then stir. All (or certainly most) of the chocolate should be melted. Let sit and stir occasionally until the resulting ganache is creamy and smooth.

Add the vanilla extract and coffee liqueur to the ganache, whisking until well blended. Let the mixture sit at room temperature for about an hour. If necessary, place in the refrigerator and allow the mixture to firm up.

Scoop mixture by teaspoonfuls onto parchment paper. Chill in the refrigerator and prepare your toppings. I chopped some cocoa nibs and toasted some chopped, sliced almonds for this recipe. Once the balls of ganache have chilled, roll in the toppings. Serve at room temperature but keep in the refrigerator to maintain freshness and firmness.



These will make some delightful work gifts and a nice dessert later this week. I can't wait to try out those rum raisin truffles. I'd also like to try some strawberry balsamic truffles, but we'll have to see how things go...

Just a quick note...

Currently I am away from my kitchen; so for the next few weeks, posts will be sparse at best.

Also, corn chips and chocolate go surprisingly well together.

.
.
.

No.
Really.

I was watching this food network show (after so many they start to bleed together). It wasn't a cooking show per se, but it showed off different restaurants. One restaurant in particular featured a bar snack to accompany beer: pretzel sticks, corn ships, salt-roasted pecans, and melted milk chocolate.

I can't describe how well these components fit together. A new notch on the ol' salty + sweet headboard, I guess. It was delicious with a dark beer to boot.