strawberry cupcakes

This was the cake recipe I had picked out to make my sister (but as seen in prior entry, she had a requested favorite) for her birthday, and I just got around to it yesterday as some much needed relief and change of pace after a week of pretty intense studying for my classes and Kaplan training (and another week to follow, oof). The kitchen and this recipe were just what I needed. As SK warns on her website, be careful when you try this batter because it tastes absolutely amazing. I really could have sat down with the whole bowl and gone to town without ever needing the oven. That said, I held back and baked them, and it was worth it as well. The batter may have ruined me a bit because it was so delectable, but the cupcakes were really yummy. I didn't have any food coloring so they turned out pretty white and don't have a strong strawberry taste, but it worked well. SK recommended a cream cheese frosting that was really creamy and did work well in a thin layer, but I think I like the whipped cream cheese frosting that I used for Ebe's cake.

For the cake
4 1/2 cups cake flour
3 cups sugar
5 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
3 sticks (12 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups pureed frozen strawberries*
8 egg whites
2/3 cup milk
1 to 2 drops red food dye, if using (to make the pink color pop more)

For the cream cheese frosting
3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks; 6 ounces) unsalted butter, softened
3 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 350»F. Butter three 9-inch round or 8-inch square cake pans [I used a cupcake tin with cupcake paper cups]. Line with parchment or waxed paper and butter the paper.

2. Put the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large mixer bowl. With the electric mixer on low speed, blend for 30 seconds. Add the butter and strawberry puree and mix to blend the ingredients. Raise the speed to medium and beat until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes; the batter will resemble strawberry ice cream at this point. (Deb note: I must warn you not to try the batter at this point. Not even a smear of it. How unbearably good it is will shock you, and lead to more dipping. Only you can stop this from coming to pass.)

3. In another large bowl, whisk together the egg whites, milk and red food dye, if using, to blend. Add the whites to the batter in two or three additions, scraping down the sides of the bowl well and mixing only to incorporate after each addition. Divide the batter among the three prepared pans.

4. Bake the cakes for 30 to 34 minutes, or until a cake tester or wooden toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow the layers to cool in the pans for 10 to 15 minutes. Invert and turn out onto wire racks and peel off the paper liners. Let stand until completely cooled before assembling the cake, at least an hour.

Make the cream cheese frosting
5. In a medium bowl, cream together the cream cheese and butter until creamy. Mix in the vanilla, then gradually stir in the confectioners’ sugar. Store in the refrigerator after use.

restaurant week austin

I was driving home from the gym a couple weeks ago and saw that there were a bunch of banners hanging over Lamar advertising various events (home tours, etc), one of which was Restaurant Week 2011. I was curious to check it out. I got someone to agree to go with me, and we made two different reservations. Both were really delicious and felt like such a treat to get to experience. I also went to dinner with my parents for my sister's birthday, and the restaurant was participating in restaurant week and had their menu as an option. A quick recap of all three:

Fabi and Rosi
This is the restaurant I went to with my family. First of all, it is an adorable setting - it's in a house and it has a lovely front yard seating area and really nice indoor ambiance. I ate off the regular menu, but my stepdad and sister ate of the restaurant week menu. He got the Short Ribs Sauerbraten and it was heavenly delicious. My sister got the Truffle Ravioli, but my heart was taken by the short ribs. Amazing. Their dessert, Crack Pie with hooch cream (check the website if you don't believe me) was crazy, incredibly delicious.

The Melting Pot
Being that I love cheese, it shocks me a bit that it took me this long in life to eat fondue. Well let me say, I won't go that long again. I got a groupon for it in my inbox this morning and promptly bought it, so see you again soon. To be honest, it was the cheese and dessert courses that really did me in. They were totally incredible. We had the spinach artichoke cheese and a dessert off the regular menu, dark and dulce chocolate fondue. It was really right up my alley. The restaurant week menu was a three course meal, as they all are. The entree course is a bit interesting as they have a broth at the table and bring you raw meats/veggies to cook in it. It was good, but next time I'm just doing the cheese + dessert. To note: I would not go on this as a date unless you are looking forward to a few hours with someone. Just a warning, not for blind/potentially awkward dates. I had a great time though.

Jasper's Restaurant
This was the last one that I went to (last night). I had some trouble locating it within the maze that is The Domain, but I got there eventually. They had a really amazing menu that was pretty similar to their normal menu. We got the crab cakes, prosciutto wrapped shrimp + grits (yum!), ribs (2nd in the country), salmon, molten chocolate cake, and cherry bread pudding. I was very full and very happy. 

knife skills

My friend emailed me this knife skills video by Jamie Oliver, and it is super great. It is only 5 minutes long, but it gives some really good pointers. As Eryn knows from being my sous-chef, I am definitely not an impressive lady with a knife. I can get by, but I definitely need practice and have wanted to take a knife skills class for the past year so that I can feel confident in what I am doing in terms of that. But alas, I haven't gotten around to it yet (also, they are a little prohibitively expensive at about $50 a pop).

But this little video seems to go over the basics well and quickly, with an eye on safety, and I think it will definitely help me out.

facts about chocolate

My dad sent me an email the other day with these facts about chocolate, so I thought I would copy it here to pass along some fun food facts.


Five Facts About the Origin of Chocolate: Ray Major

1. Chocolate is fruit
“Cacao beans are seeds found inside the fruit or pod of the cacao tree. Roughly 500 cacao beans will produce one pound of bittersweet chocolate. To put this into perspective, it takes two men one day to harvest and prepare enough cacao to make 120 pounds of dark chocolate — a labor-intensive process, but well worth it!

Nearly 95 percent of the world’s cacao can be found +/- fifteen degrees from the Equator. Anywhere there is a tropical rainforest cocoa can grow. And, every growing region in the world produces its own unique flavor.”

2. Chocolate is like wine — it has terroir
“Genetics of the planted varieties affect cacao flavor, as does the care and techniques used in fermentation and drying the beans, and environmental influences of the growing region — what vintners call ‘terroir.’

Cacao from Pará State, Brazil — for example — has notes of pear, green apple and white wine. Beans from Indonesia have bright acidity and citrus notes. Panama is characteristically earthy and spicy with a strong chocolate flavor. What you like really depends on what you are looking for in your chocolate and how adventurous you are.”

3. Blending beans gives the best flavor
“Each type of cacao has a very unique taste, but few have a complete flavor profile from start to finish. Madagascar beans have citrus, fruity front notes that then tail off in complexity; Ghana beans start slowly with big notes of chocolate in the middle; and Trinidad beans have licorice, tobacco, leathery notes that linger on in the end.

If you combine these three, the flavor profile stretches much longer in your mouth than it otherwise would by itself. The blend will make a more complex and interesting chocolate bar.”

4. The meaning of percentages
“The number you often see on premium dark chocolate bar labels is cacao content; the percentage of the bar that is derived from the cacao bean in the form of chocolate liquor, cocoa butter or cocoa powder.

If an extra dark chocolate bar label reads “82% Cacao,” that means that 82 percent of the formula is derived from the cacao bean. You can normally assume the remainder of the percentage to be sugar.”

5. Cacao vs. cocoa…there’s no real difference!
“The vernacular can be confusing, but cacao and cocoa really mean the same thing. The Latin word for cocoa is cacao, so most European countries use this term while English-speaking countries have adopted use of the familiar word cocoa, as in cocoa powder.

In the artisan chocolate industry, cacao is generally used in reference to anything mentioning cacao in its raw form — the tree, bean or seeds, nibs, percentage.”

parmesean chicken couscous

I didn't use a recipe for this! Yes, it isn't complicated, but I still have been pretty reliant on recipes and hesitant to shy away from it. I have made a lemon chicken recipe a couple times lately, so I guess I was feeling like I had a sense of what to do and then was ready to mix it up a little. I saw that I had one chicken breast left over in the fridge, a few basic ingredients, and midway through cooking I remembered that I wouldn't want chicken alone, and so I decided that couscous was a good save since pasta would take too long.

1 chicken breast
1/2 lemon juice
1/4 cup white wine
1 pat butter
1 tbsp half and half
1/3 cup dry couscous
1-2 tbsp grated parmesean

I put the butter and squeezed the lemon juice into the pan to heat up. Once it was melted, I mixed it up, and then I put my chicken breast in. I poured in about a 1/4-1/2 cup of wine and about a tbsp of half and half. I swished it around the pan to mix it up and coat the chicken in it. I waited until the chicken was cooked pretty well on one side before flipping it, probably about 4-5 minutes. Then I flipped it over and mixed it around with the sauce, which was starting to cook off a bit but there was enough under the chicken to keep it from burning.

While the chicken was cooking, I put some water on to boil in my electric water heater (I don't have a coffee maker or microwave, which drives my mother crazy, even though she doesn't live here, so she insisted that I at least have this). Once the water was boiling, I mixed 1/2 cup of water with 1/3 cup of couscous and some salt. I covered the couscous and let it sit for about 5 minutes before fluffing it.

Once the chicken and couscous were done, I put the couscous in a bowl, sliced the chicken on top, poured in any of the remaining sauce from the pan, and grated some parmesean on top. I mixed it all together, and I was a very happy camper with my lunch.

Nutritional information (for 1 cup couscous and 1 chicken breast):
513 calories
11g total fat
49g carbs
44g protein
*note: I wasn't exactly sure how big my chicken breast was, so I used an entry for 3.5 oz

lemon mint cake

I was watching the Food Network at the gym the other day and saw Giada making this cake. It looked pretty simple, and I'm a growing fan of souffles, so I decided to try it out. I got a bit frustrated because my mixer didn't really manage to beat the egg whites to the appropriate level of stiffness, but I think the cake turned out pretty well even though it wasn't perfect. The flavors were interesting, but it was really good with the simple syrup over it. Even the boys liked it, and they all sort of balked at the lemon mint combination.

 Exhibit A: my not so stiff egg whites. Sigh.

Cake:
3 eggs, separated, at room temperature
1 cup sugar, divided
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/8 teaspoon salt
8 mint sprigs, leaves chopped
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon lemon zest
1 cup all-purpose flour

Syrup: [this will make much more than you need for the cake, but as Giada mentions on the show, you can use it for cocktails and other desserts]
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 tablespoon lemon zest

Fresh mint sprigs, for garnish


Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour an 8-inch round cake pan.

For the cake: In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the egg whites to soft peaks. Add 1/2 cup sugar and beat until the mixture holds stiff peaks.

In a separate large bowl, beat the vegetable oil, the remaining 1/2 cup sugar and salt. Add the egg yolks 1 at a time. Add the chopped mint, lemon juice and lemon zest. Add the flour and mix until just combined. Set aside.

Slowly add 1/2 of the egg white mixture into the oil mixture. Using a rubber spatula, carefully fold in the remaining egg white mixture. Spread the batter into the prepared cake pan and bake for 40 to 45 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. Transfer the cake to a cutting board and allow to cool before slicing.

For the syrup: In a small saucepan, combine the sugar, water, lemon juice, and lemon zest over medium heat. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer until the sugar has dissolved, about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, Remove the pan from the heat and allow the syrup to cool, about 20 minutes.

To serve, spoon some of the syrup onto each small plate or shallow bowl and lay a slice of cake on top. Drizzle the cake with additional syrup and garnish with a small sprig of mint

Nutritional information (for 1/12 of cake with syrup)
177 calories
6g total fat
31g carbs
3g protein