Vanilla on Vanilla

Why not go back to the basics and make them really good? Personally, I'm a huge fan of vanilla when it's done really well. Both the cupcakes and the frosting itself contains vanilla beans to really bring out the vanilla flavor. As a reminder, here is a link to the eBay store where I purchase vanilla beans; you get them in bulk, and you get them relatively inexpensively: Vanilla Products. Enjoy!

Vanilla Cupcakes
yield: about 16 cupcakes

1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 1/3 cup sugar

3 extra-large eggs
1 tbsp pure vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

2/3 cup milk
1 vanilla bean

Pre-prep: Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean and add it as well as the remaining husk to the milk in a sauce pan. Heat over medium until simmering, cool, and let steep over night in the refrigerator. 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and line 2 muffin tins with 16 cupcake liners. In a bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar on medium speed for about 3 minutes or until light and fluffy. Add in the eggs, one at a time, followed by the vanilla. Scrape down the bowl as necessary, and avoid over-beating.

Mix in the dry ingredients alternately with the vanilla-milk in a 3:2 ratio, beginning and ending with the flour. Scrape down the bowl as needed. Pour batter into the prepared cupcake tins and bake at 350 degrees for 15-18 minutes they are until light golden and a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean. Frost with very vanilla frosting.

Very Vanilla Frosting
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
3 - 4 cups confectioner's sugar
1 vanilla bean
1 tbsp vanilla extract
about 1 tbsp cream, as needed

Cream butter on medium speed for 3 minutes until light and fluffy. Add in confectioner's sugar gradually, reserving the final 1/2 cup. Add in the vanilla, vanilla bean seeds, and 1 tbsp of cream. Beat in remaining sugar to smooth consistency.

Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting

Peanut butter and chocolate is a classic combination exemplified by the perfection of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. I'm straying from my usual Chocolate Cupcake recipe because it has a deep cocoa richness. However, I want something a little lighter, and I think using chopped chocolate in the batter will add a certain candy-like quality that will be helpful in mimicking the aforementioned peanut butter cups. I'm adapting my recipe from Cait's Plate which I happened across yesterday while searching Tastespotting. Her recipe melts the chocolate, so I'm not adding in any extra chocolate; I'm simply changing the form of the chocolate already in the batter.

Chocolate Cupcakes
yield: 24 cupcakes

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt

1 cup butter, cut into 8 pieces
1 cup natural cocoa powder

4 eggs
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup greek yogurt

4 oz chopped semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees (325 for dark pans) and line two 12-cup muffin tins with cupcake liners.

Sift the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together in a separate bowl.

On the stove top over medium heat, melt the butter. Mix in the cocoa until homogenous and let this mixture cool. Use the microwave in a pinch and a whisk will incorporate the cocoa perfectly.

In the bowl of a stand mixer combine the eggs, sugar, vanilla, and greek yogurt. Add cooled chocolate mixture to combine. Mix in the dry ingredients gradually, scraping down the bowl of the mixture as necessary. Finally, fold in the chopped chocolate. The batter will be thick.



Fill muffin tins, and bake at 350 for 18 - 20 minutes until they pass the toothpick test. I use dark pans, and at 325 these took about 25 minutes. Cool the cupcakes in the pan on a wire rack. Remove after 10 - 15 minutes and cool completely before frosting.



Peanut Butter Frosting

2 cups creamy peanut butter (I used a mixture of Jif and a natural peanut butter)
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla

2 cups confectioners sugar
heavy cream as needed, about 1/2 cup

In the bowl of a stand mixer beat the butter and peanut butter until fluffy and combined. Add in the salt and vanilla until thoroughly combined. Gradually add the confectioner's sugar. The frosting will begin to get thick after the first cup or so. Add the remaining sugar followed by 1/4 cup of cream. Add more cream as necessary. You'll reach a point where the creaminess just happens. For me it was after a little more than 1/2 cup of cream. Beat the frosting until fluffy, scraping down the bowl as needed.

Frost cupcakes. I garnished with halved Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. Decadent? Yes. The cupcakes are incredibly rich, but the frosting is fluffy and not too sweet. You can definitely taste the salt. The frosting is perfection.



I'm going to make these again next weekend. The cupcakes are solid, but I think I may revert back to the sour cream in the original recipe. The batter was incredibly thick and I overfilled my cupcakes, so I'd like to get it right. The frosting, as I mentioned, was perfect, but there was quite a bit left over, so I'm going to modify the amounts next time. I hate throwing such delicious frosting away, but there was about a cup too much.

A Rolling Scone Gathers No Mess

This is kind of a scone mega post. Kind of. I'm rewarding my callers with brunch, and having 25 on a shift means this weekend is going be filled with cooking. And we all know I love brunch. I won't bore you with the 4 quiches I'm making (two spinach, sausage and potato, and lorraine), but I do want to post about the scones.

I've only ever made one scone recipe before, but they turned out so well that I'm going to alter that cranberry orange scone recipe in order to make blueberry lemon scones. It's changed somewhat. I added more butter and a little more cream. These scones are therefore richer, but the dough is also easier to handle. Additionally, I found a great recipe for maple pecan scones over at Kitchen Misfit that I just have to try. After all, if I ever want to own a bakery or anything of the sort when I retire, I had better starting mastering these classics. I'll start with an updated version of my cranberry orange scones.


Cranberry Orange Scones
yield: about 8 scones

2/3 cup heavy cream
1 large egg
1 tbsp orange zest
1/4 cup sugar

8 tbsp butter, chilled and cut into tiny bits
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1-2 tbsp orange juice
3/4 cup confectioner's sugar

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Whisk the cream, egg, orange zest, and sugar together in a small bowl until well combined.

In another bowl, stir together the bread flour, salt, and baking powder. Blend in the butter with your finger tips or a pastry blender just until the mixture resembles coarse meal.

Stir the cranberries and the cream mixture into the flour mixture with a fork until it forms a sticky, but hopefully manageable, dough.

Knead the dough gently for 30 seconds just so it comes together. Shape the dough into a long rectangle and cut the scones into 8 triangles using a sharp knife. This is much easier than using a biscuit cutter and having to reshape the dough. Transfer the scones to the prepared baking sheet.

Bake the scones for about 15 - 18 minutes or until golden brown. Let them cool on the baking sheet before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely. In a small bowl, whisk together the orange juice and confectioner's sugar to make a glaze. Drizzle the icing over the scones. These scones are not too sweet, but the icing adds a little punch of sugar and orange flavor.




Blueberry Lemon Scones
yield: about 8 scones

2/3 cup heavy cream
1 large egg
zest of one lemon
1/4 cup sugar

8 tbsp butter, chilled and cut into tiny bits
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup frozen wild blueberries

extra cream and raw sugar to finish off the scones

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Whisk the cream, egg, lemon zest, and sugar together in a small bowl until well combined.

In another bowl, stir together the bread flour, salt, and baking powder. Blend in the butter with your finger tips or a pastry blender just until the mixture resembles coarse meal.

Stir the blueberries into the flour first, followed by the cream mixture. Use a fork until it forms a sticky dough. Be careful not to break up the blueberries too much.

Knead the dough gently for 30 seconds just so it comes together. Shape the dough into a long rectangle and cut the scones into 8 triangles using a sharp knife. Transfer the scones to the prepared baking sheet. Brush the scones all over with cream and sprinkle with the raw sugar.

Bake the scones for about 15 - 18 minutes or until golden brown. Let them cool on the baking sheet before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely. All in all, this is a wonderful variation on the cranberry orange recipe!




Maple Pecan Scones
yield: 16 scones but this recipe can be halved

3 cups old-fashioned oats
1 cup chopped pecans

3 cups all purpose flour
1 tbsp + 1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 1/2 sticks (20 tbsp) butter, cold and cubed

1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup maple syrup
2 large eggs

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spread the oats and pecans out on a baking sheet. Toast in preheated oven for 10 - 12 minutes, stirring halfway through. They should be fragrant and toasty when finished. Let cool.

Raise oven temperature to 425 degrees. In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Using a pastry blender, cut in the butter until a coarse meal forms. Of course, a food processor makes this whole process much easier, but I digress. Add in the cooled oats and pecans.

In a separate bowl, whisk the milk, cream, maple syrup, and eggs until combined. Fold the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients until a cohesive dough forms. Divide the dough in half. Transfer each half to a lightly floured surface and pat into 7" circles. Cut each circle into 8 wedges and place the wedges on a parchment-line baking sheet. Bake at 425 for 16 - 20 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. If you wish, make a glaze using about 3 tbsp maple syrup and 1/2 cup confectioner's sugar to drizzle over the cooled scones.

Lemon Cupcakes!

Sunday is the birthday of one of my student supervisors at work. She requested lemon cupcakes with cherry buttercream frosting, so I can only oblige her. However, I love blueberries and lemon as well. So I'm going to use the same lemon cupcake and top one dozen with cherry buttercream. With the second dozen, I'm going to fill them with lemon curd and top them with a wild blueberry buttercream. Naturally, fresh fruit is always the best, but since these fruits are getting pulverized by the mixer, I'm going to use frozen wild blueberries (I was lucky enough to find some delicious fresh cherries at the local Fresh Market). I think the best way to incorporate the blueberries will require that I let them thaw and drain since I want to to avoid adding excess liquid to my frosting.

Incidentally, about a year ago, I made some amazing lime cupcakes filled with lime curd and topped with lime frosting, but I never posted the recipe. The original recipe for Key Lime Cupcakes is found over at Bon Appetit. I have to say I preferred regular limes. Key limes have a lemony quality that I'm not fond of. Either way, I'm using a modified version of that recipe for my lemon cupcakes.

Luscious Lemon Cupcakes
yield: 24 - 28 cupcakes

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
2 1/2 cups sugar

4 large eggs
5 tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 tbsp finely grated lemon zest (about 3-4 lemons worth)

2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups self-rising flour

1 1/2 cups buttermilk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees (325 if you're using a dark pan). Line two 12-cup muffin pans with cupcake liners.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy, about 3-5 minutes on medium speed. Add the eggs, one at a time, followed by the lemon juice and lemon zest. The mixture may look curdled; don't worry.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flours. Add the flour in three additions alternately with the buttermilk in two additions. Using a scant 1/3 cup batter, pour into lined muffin tins. I had enough batter for about 28, though I was very careful not to overfill because that seems to be a problem with me. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 20-25 minutes.



Cherry Buttercream Frosting
yield: enough frosting for 1 dozen cupcakes

This recipe, and I think the whole idea my friend had for these cupcakes, comes from une Gamine dans la Cuisine. Those are some beautiful pictures!

1 cup of unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/4 tsp salt

3 to 4 cups of confectioner's sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
zest of 1 lemon

1/2 cup fresh cherries, finely chopped


Make sure to avoid adding too much of the cherry juice to the frosting. It can break down the buttercream.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter and salt until light and fluffy. Gradually add 3 cups of the confectioner's sugar. After the sugar, add the vanilla, lemon zest, and cherries. If the frosting is a little loose because of the cherry juice, add more of the confectioner's sugar gradually until it's of spreading consistency.

Blueberry Buttercream Frosting

1 cup unsalted butter
1/4 tsp salt

3 to 4 cups confectioner's sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
zest of 1 lemon

1/2 cup thawed, drained, wild blueberries

In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter and salt until fluffy. Gradually add 3 cups of the confectioner's sugar. After the sugar, add the vanilla, lemon zest, and blueberries. The blueberries don't need to be chopped because the mixer will pulverize them enough. If the frosting is loose, add more confectioner's sugar.

Lemon Curd
yield: about 3/4 cup lemon curd

2 lemons, zested
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp cornstarch
pinch of salt

3 large egg yolks
1/4 cup lemon juice

4 tbsp butter, sliced into 4 pieces

Combine zest, sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a medium saucepan. Whisk to combine. Add egg yolks and whisk until pale yellow. Whisk in juice and set pan over low - medium heat. Stir with a wooden spoon until thick. Usually, this takes 10 minutes of cooking over a medium low flame. Strain through a mesh sieve into a bowl. Add butter, one piece at a time and stir until combined before adding another piece. Cool. Cover and chill. This makes about 3/4 cup lemon curd (and can be used to make lime curd as well). This can be made up to 5 days in advance.

Notes on Assembly

For the cupcakes, both frosting recipes made plenty for the dozen cupcakes they needed to frost. So I may dial those recipes back in the future. I only used the lemon curd filling in the blueberry cupcakes to give them a real lemony bite. Otherwise, I simply used a rosette tip to pipe the frosting on top! Wonderful!

Earl Grey Cupcakes with Lemon Frosting

Many of the recipes I researched seemed very similar: 1/2 cup butter, 1 cup sugar, 1 1/2 cups flour, etc. The method for getting the tea in the cupcakes did change. Some used tea steeped in milk. Others used teabags. Some even used the tea from the tea bags rather than loose-leaf tea. The starkest contrast between the cake recipes came in the form of leavening. 3 recipes using the same proportions of other ingredients used wildly different amounts of baking powder: one used 2 tablespoons (!), another used 1 1/2 teaspoons (and explained that the cupcakes fell), and a third used 2 1/4 teaspoons.

It's needless to say, but this made me want to find my own way. An Earl Grey cupcake is nothing more than a delicious yellow cake infused with tea. Therefore, to start, I needed a delicious yellow cake. I can't think of any better that Hershey's Golden Cake (found in my mother's vintage Hershey's cookbook and, apparently, nowhere online). I used the same recipe in the same amounts and made roughly two dozen cupcakes rather than three 9-inch layer cakes, and I added the earl grey tea. So for simple, golden cupcakes, use the cold milk, unadulterated by tea.

Thankfully, the recipes for the lemon frosting were much more consistent, so I'm using one found over at Honey and Jam.

Earl Grey Golden Cupcakes
yield: 24 cupcakes, at least

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup shortening
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup powdered sugar

2 tsp vanilla extract
5 eggs, separated

2 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

1 1/4 cup milk
8 earl grey tea bags

First, we'll start with the tea. In a small saucepan heat the milk to just below a boil. In a bowl, empty 3 of the tea bags into the bottom and add the remaining 5 bags, unopened. Pour the hot milk over the tea leaves and tea bags, and let it set until cool. Refrigerate until cold. You can do this the night before. This process ensures a strong tea flavor along with ensuring that the batter will be flecked with bits of tea leaves.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees (325 if you're like me and your cupcake tins are rather dark). Line two 12-cup cupcake pans with liners.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, whip the egg whites until medium-stiff peaks form. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.

In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the butter, shortening, sugar, and powdered sugar. Cream on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the vanilla and egg yolks, one at a time until incorporated. Be careful not to over-mix. Add the flour in three additions and cooled milk in two, beginning and ending with flour. Fold in the whipped egg whites in 3 additions, being careful not to deflate them and mixing in the first addition to lighten the batter.

Fill cupcake tins no more 2/3 full and bake for 20 - 24 minutes at 325 (around 18 - 20 at 350), or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. I slightly overfilled my cupcake tin and came out with 24. Had I been a little more frugal with the batter, I probably could have gotten 26 out of this recipe. Frost with lemon frosting recipe that follows.


Lemon Frosting

1 cup butter, softened
3 - 4 cups powdered sugar
zest of 3 medium-sized lemons
3 tbsp fresh lemon juice

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter until light and fluffy. Gradually incorporate 3 cups of confectioner's sugar, one cup at a time until fully incorporated. Next, mix in the zest and lemon juice. If the frosting is a little too loose, incorporate more confectioner's sugar until it's of spreading consistency. This frosting is magic. Overall, everyone at work loved the cupcakes, but I need to find a better way to get more tea flavor into them...

Coconut Cupcakes

It's been about a month and, truthfully, I've done quite a bit of baking in the interim. However, as it usually happens around Christmas, I relied pretty heavily on tried and true recipes. There is a lemon cookie recipe I need to post about on here, but otherwise I stuck to my usual gamut with the addition of the very successful Thin-Mint Cupcakes. Since Christmas, I've been on a baking embargo because of the ridiculous amount of sweets I consumed! It's about to be my best friend's birthday, though, and she requested coconut cake. How could I turn her down? These cupcakes were a hit, and I definitely plan on making them again.

This recipe is adapted from Ina Garten's Coconut Cake. Her recipe is delicious, but I wanted cupcakes that were more intensely flavored with coconut. To that end, I substituted coconut milk where her recipe called for milk in the cake batter. Additionally, I made a coconut pastry cream to be used as an optional filling for the cupcakes. In hindsight, I'm not sure that the coconut milk really made a difference in the flavor. I should know better than to question her expertise. However, the filling is to die for. I highly recommend using it.

Coconut Cupcakes
yield: about 16 cupcakes

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/3 cups sugar

3 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 tsp pure almond extract

2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the pans
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp kosher salt

2/3 cup coconut milk

1/2 cup sweetened shredded coconut

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2, 12-cup cupcake tins with paper liners.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on medium-high speed for 3 to 5 minutes, until light yellow and fluffy. Crack the eggs into a small bowl. With the mixer on medium speed, add the eggs 1 at a time, scraping down the bowl once during mixing. Add the vanilla and almond extracts and mix well. The mixture might look curdled; don't be concerned.

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the dry ingredients and the milk to the batter in 3 parts, beginning and ending with dry ingredients. Mix until just combined. Fold in the 4 ounces of coconut with a rubber spatula.

Pour the batter evenly into the cupcake tins. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-18 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool in the pans for 5 minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.



Coconut Frosting

12oz cream cheese, at room temperature
1/3 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon pure almond extract

3 cups confectioners' sugar

6 ounces sweetened shredded coconut

For the frosting, in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, combine the cream cheese, butter, vanilla and almond extract on low speed. Add the confectioners' sugar and mix until just smooth (don't whip!).

Frost cupcakes. There's no need to get too fancy with the frosting; simply press the coconut into the frosting to adhere. I topped mine with "luster pearls," a decorating splurge from Williams Sonoma.



Optional Boss Battle: Cocount Pastry Cream Filling

1/2 cup half & half
1/2 cup coconut milk
1 tsp vanilla

1/4 cup sugar, divided
1 1/2 tbsp cornstarch
pinch of salt
3 large egg yolks

2 tbsp butter

In a medium saucepan, bring the half & half, coconut milk, vanilla, and 3 tbsp of sugar to a simmer over medium high heat, stirring to dissolve the 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 1/2 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 seconds to a minute. The mixture will thicken very quickly.

Remove the pastry cream from the heat and whisk in the butter. Pour into a bowl and let cool. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until cold. Use as a filling in the coconut cupcakes by removing the center of a cupcake and piping in the pastry cream. Frost and top with coconut (and sugar pearls if you want to get fancy).

My Ideal Fruitcake

I love fruitcake, when it's done well. But frankly, I'm not a fan of loads of spices and candied things in my fruitcake, or any at all for that matter. Between the alcohol, the dried fruit, and the citrus zest, fruitcakes have a lot going on in the flavor department without the addition of cloying spices like cinnamon, allspice, and cloves.

So when I decided to consult some recipes and develop my own fruitcake, I wanted to leave out the spices and accent the fruit angle. With that said, you won't find candied cherries or candied peel in this recipe. You may as well use Skittles and Starbursts if you go that route. What you will find is over 2lbs of fruit, bourbon, and lemon and orange zest. You will find a moist cake with a complex, fruity flavor. You will find my ideal fruitcake.



Fruitcake
yield: one bad ass fruitcake

6 oz calimyrna figs (about 8)
4 - 5 oz dates
8 oz apricots
6 oz currants
8oz raisins

1 cup good bourbon (I prefer Knob Creek or Woodford Reserve, but Maker's can work in a pinch)

Note: Don't go insane about the amounts. Eyeball it. 6 oz of figs is one package. Raisins come in 12oz boxes so use roughly 2/3 of the box.

First thing's first: chop the figs, dates, and apricots so that they're roughly the same size and a little bit larger than the raisins. Pour the bourbon over and stir the fruit so that it's all coated. Let this mixture macerate in the refrigerator overnight or longer if you can. Let the fruit come back to life a little bit. A quick zap in the microwave (5 minutes, stirring every minute or so) can speed this process up as well.



1 cup butter, softened
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 tbsp vanilla
zest of 2 medium lemons
zest of 2 medium to large oranges
4 eggs

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup almond flour (finely ground almonds)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder

Preheat oven to 325 degrees and grease and flour a 9-inch bundt cake pan. Sift together the flours, salt, baking soda, and baking powder. Set aside. Bring out the macerating fruit. I let mine go for about 24 hours and there wasn't enough liquid to worry about draining off.

In the bowl of a mixer, cream the butter and sugar for 3 minutes on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add in the vanilla and the zests. Beat the eggs in one at a time until fully incorporated. Gradually add in the dry ingredients mixing until just combined. Fold in the fruit. Pour into bundt pan, smoothing the top. The cake pan will be quite full. Bake at 325 degrees for about 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Let the cake cool in the pan for 15 - 20 minutes.

Using toothpicks or skewers, poke holes in the cake, and brush the bottom with extra bourbon. Let it sit until the bourbon is absorbed. Invert onto a plate or cake carrier. Brush with more bourbon now that the cake is right-side up. Wrap in a bourbon-soaked cheesecloth, then in plastic wrap. Store in an airtight container adding bourbon to keep the cheesecloth moist as needed. Let it sit for two days at least.